Judge vows tougher action on troublemakers turning town centres into 'no-go zones'

A judge says courts will not tolerate violence which turns town centres into "no-go zones", in a week when three men were sentenced for separate single-punch attacks on the same Penrith street.

On Tuesday, two men were punished by magistrates in Carlisle.

Andrew Paul Hall, 39, of Wilson Row, Penrith, was handed a community order after he punched a man to the ground outside The Pinny pub, Burrowgate, in early September.

Hall admitted assault by beating.

Newcastle man James Minto, 36, of Ovington Grove, was then sentenced for a one-punch attack on a fellow customer in The Pinny which occurred on the night of 23 February.

Minto was given a suspended prison sentence having pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm, and in midweek, 25-year-old Eden Valley farmer Christopher Stainton appeared at Carlisle Crown Court having also admitted grievous bodily harm.

His offence occurred at around 2.30am on 14 November 2021 when his victim, bystander Lewis Robinson, was left with a double jaw fracture after intoxicated Stainton, of Renwick, punched him to the ground near the Warehouse nightclub.

Mr Robinson underwent an operation to insert plates and screws.

Stainton was handed a suspended prison sentence with community requirements, including an alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement - a wristband which flags up any consumption.

Judge Nicholas Barker told him: "This court is obviously concerned about young men drunk in town centres, brawling and fighting, causing [fear to] others who want to be nowhere near it; creating something of a no-go zone.

"Why would I want to be at Burrowgate at 2.30 in the morning with bunches of 20-year-old men, swinging haymakers at each other?

"Other people live there. Other people have a right to live there. This behaviour cannot be tolerated."

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