Elderly woman hit with a metal pole in Wolverhampton pub violence
A man who punched a licensee and then 'banged' an elderly woman with a metre-long metal pole outside a Black Country pub that he was barred from has been sentenced.
Stephen Robinson was banned from the Bradmore Arms in Wolverhampton but went there to collect his wife who is employed as a door supervisor.
The 40-year-old assaulted two bouncers before being led outside by licensee Kevin Tonry, who he then punched in the throat.
Robinson, who had been an engineer, grabbed the metal pole from his car, which then struck elderly victim Margaret Hammonds, who was at the Trysull Road pub for a family meal.
When the police arrived Robinson bolted but was caught two streets away.
Robinson, who has several previous convictions for violent offences, was described as a 'decent bloke' by Recorder David Mason QC and spared an immediate jail term when he appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday to be sentenced.
Having admitted possession of an offensive weapon in public, four counts of assault by beating and driving without insurance, without a licence and while disqualified, Robinson was given an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years.
He is required to pay £100 to each of his four victims, to do 80 hours unpaid work, and to take part in a 'resolve' offender behaviour programme that aims to reduce violence in medium risk adult male offenders.
He was also issued a Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from entering the Bradmore Arms for three years.
"You have just obtained extremely good new employment. I thought 'do I really want to send a man like that to prison today?'"
