Ex-soldier fined for chair assault

Thursday 11 October 2018

A former soldier has been fined for hitting a woman with a chair leg, pushing her out of the room and punching her in the face.

Wayne Watson (27) was found guilty of grave and criminal assault after a trial in the Magistrate’s Court and has now been fined £1,500 for the offence.

The Court heard that Watson had been provoked by someone stamping on his face whilst he was lying asleep on the floor. 

Reacting suddenly, Watson struck the victim in the face twice with a chair leg before pushing her out of the room by putting pressure on her neck and punching her once in the face. Defence Advocate Paul Nicholls said that it was agreed “the injuries sustained were relatively minor.”

Pictured: Advocate Paul Nicholls represented Wayne Watson in Court and said that the incident was "out of character" for his client.

Advocate Nicholls addressed Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris, explaining that it was “an isolated incident” which was “out of character” for Watson. “He’s not a violent man. He’s never been violent towards women before. He came here to work with a view to saving money to go travelling with his then girlfriend. His life has been on hold for the better part of seven months."

Handing down his sentence, the Assistant Magistrate said: “In my judgement [at trial] I accepted that all this started because you were the victim of an assault by a different person… But if you’re waving a chair around there’s a danger of someone getting hurt.”

Assistant Magistrate Harris acknowledged that the assault was “out of character” and occurred “in the heat of the moment” before handing down a financial penalty of £1,500 as well as an order for the Prosecution’s court costs to be paid.

If Watson does not pay the fine, he could face six weeks in prison.