Career criminal drank 13 pints of cider before repeatedly punching and kicking woman in street

Mark Charlotte, who has 39 previous convictions for 77 offences, was so drunk when he carried out the shocking attack in broad daylight he couldn’t properly remember the incident until being shown footage of it by the police.

Dad-of-one Charlotte, who is aged 41, had drunk around ‘12 or 13 pints of cider’ at The Court House in Barnsley on August 5 before the incident unfolded close to the pub at around 5pm.

Robert Sandford, prosecuting Charlotte at Sheffield Crown Court, said the defendant had been talking to the woman inside the pub.

He said when he left the pub, he was ‘very drunk’ and began to behave in an aggressive and disorderly manner outside.

The woman approached the defendant and said ‘Calm down, lad’.

Mr Sandford said: “It had little or no effect in pacifying the defendant and he attacked her in an unprovoked way.

“He delivered a number of punches to her head and body and at least two kicks, one of which was to her head area.

“When the police arrived, the complainant was lying in a pool of blood.”

In a victim statement read to court, the woman said: “I tried to help somebody and he attacked me. It has left me feeling like I don’t want to try and help people anymore.”

Mr Sandford said Charlotte was arrested and interviewed by police when he had sobered up and was shown CCTV footage of the incident.

“It is right to say when he was confronted with the evidence of his actions, he was taken aback by them. He said he would apologise to the woman if he had the opportunity,” he said.

He said Charlotte had previous dozens of previous convictions dating back to the 1980s and including time in prison for violent assaults.

Mr Sandford said Charlotte was serving a suspended sentence for burglary and theft at the time of the assault.

Ian Mullarkey, representing Charlotte, said his client had shown ‘genuine remorse’.

He said his client has led a ‘troubled life’ involving drug and alcohol problems but has sought to improve matters in recent times while coming to terms with the break-up of a long-term relationship.

Mr Mullarkey added: “The defendant can’t assist with what was going through his mind. He had taken on board a great quantity of alcohol and had taken prescription medicine.

“One can only conclude he was incapable of exercising any real form of judgement. But he does wish to apologise.”

Recorder Margia Mostafa, the judge in the case, sentenced Charlotte to 19 months in jail - 16 months after assault causing actual bodily harm and a further three months for breaching the terms of his suspended sentence.

She told the defendant his behaviour had been ‘disgraceful’.

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