Violence followed abusive insult
A MAN who kicked another in the head during a brawl in Todmorden town centre has appeared before Bradford Crown Court.
Muzzaffar Hussain, 20, of Stansfield Road, Todmorden, admitted affray.
He was given a community order for 12 months with 150 hours unpaid work and was ordered to pay 500 prosecution costs.
Ken Green, prosecuting, said the offence occurred on August 24 last year.
He said the complainant, Liam Belshaw, 20, had been drinking at the Golden Lion pub in the town. Mr Belshaw went to a nearby takeaway and an altercation involving at least three other men and Hussain started.
"The complainant was punched several times," said Mr Green.
The complainant removed his shirt and ran at Hussain in an aggressive manner. Those involved calmed down but minutes later violence flared again.
Mr Belshaw was followed to the Golden Lion pub and put to the ground. He was then kicked in the head and was left almost unconscious when the fight was eventually broken up.
Hussain was arrested a month later and told police he had been racially abused.
David Taylor, for Hussain, said he is remorseful and claimed that the offence was completely out of character.
He handed in a reference to Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC in which mention was made of Hussain being a talented player for Todmorden Cricket Club.
When passing sentence, Judge Durham Hall said: "You clearly binge drank and you have stopped now. I fully recognise that there was probably provocation on all sides but you should have stopped and said, 'I will not get involved'. But you got involved and lost your temper in drink."
He accepted that Hussain poses a low risk of re-offending.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Halifax
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
