MANSFIELD MAN SENTENCED AFTER BRUTAL BUS ASSAULT AND POLICE ATTACK
A man attempted to choke a police officer who was hand-cuffing him following an incident on a bus where he punched and kicked a female passenger in the head.Gordon Garside, 38, boarded a bus in Mansfield with a woman shortly before the pair began to have an argument.
Garside, of Redcliffe Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield, then responded to the argument by punching her and kicking her in the head.
She was left needing hospital treatment.
Responding police officers then attempted to arrest Garside soon after the incident, which happened at around 9.40pm on December 4, 2019, but during this, he managed to kick an officer in the head from the rear seat on the bus.
As officers placed him in handcuffs, he managed to slip free and attempted to choke the officer, before he was eventually restrained.
It is claimed he had been drinking heavily.
Garside, who pleaded guilty to both assaults, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday, July 23, and was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years.
He was also ordered to pay £340 in costs.
Inspector Nick Butler, district commander for Mansfield, said: “This was an appalling incident of violence committed by a man who responded to an argument with another passenger in a grossly disproportionate way.
"To make things even worse for himself he then launched a separate assault on the police officer who had stepped in to restore order.
“His behaviour on that night was absolutely disgraceful.
Police officers are there to protect the public, a role they fulfil with dedication and bravery every single day.
"Officers do not go to work to be assaulted and members of the public should be able to go about their business without coming under such an appalling attack.
"As a force we take such assaults very seriously and will seek to take offenders to court to be dealt with.
If he offends again in the near future he will go straight to prison.”
