“He knows that he needs help"

Wednesday 14 February 2024

A 26-year-old man who was banned from pubs after assaulting three women will spend a week in jail before attending a rehab facility, after police found him drinking in town on New Year's Day.

Keenan Thomas Romao was sentenced to two months' jail for breaching the order excluding him from licensed premises.

But the Magistrate's Court heard that he had been in custody since New Year’s Day, so decided that he could be released next week, allowing him to begin a 12-week programme at the alcohol addiction centre on Wednesday.

Last year, Romao was banned from pubs and sentenced to 120 hours of community service after being found guilty of assault and grave and criminal assault.

Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, said that he had spat in the face of a woman in the Cornerhouse pub in La Motte Street, had hit another woman with his mobile phone outside the pub, and had grabbed a third woman by the leg, pulling her to the ground.

She added that he had been seen by a police officer drinking in a town centre pub in the early hours of New Year’s Day, putting him in breach of the exclusion order and the terms of his community service order.

Advocate Mike Preston, defending, pointed out that New Year's Day had also been Romao's 26th birthday, and he had “fallen off the wagon” by drinking that day.

But he added: “He knows that he needs help and he wants to go to Silkworth Lodge.”

Assistant Magistrate Adam Clarke said Romao should remain in prison until next Wednesday and must carry out the 120 hours of community service after completing the programme at Silkworth Lodge he will have to carry out his 120 hours of community service.

He told Romao: “You should never breach a court order. But your desire to go to Silkworth Lodge is to your credit.

"I hope you will grab that opportunity with both hands.”