Sheffield man receives warning from judge after swinging pool cue during pub fracas

Sheffield Crown Court heard on July 13 how John Ramsden, aged 41, of Emmet Carr Lane, Renishaw, Sheffield, had been at the Cutler pub, on Woodsetts Road, North Anston, when he was grabbed by the neck by an abusive man who had refused to leave the pub.

James Baird, prosecuting the case, explained how the abusive man had been asked to leave the pub and grabbed Ramsden by the neck before he was ejected from the venue.

Mr Baird said: “He responded by grabbing Ramsden by the neck and they ended up on the floor.”

Ramsden’s friends left the pub and he left by a fire exit, according to Mr Baird, but took a pool cue with him and was seen to swing it at the abusive man on the car park outside.

Mr Baird said Ramsden claimed he had picked up the pool cue to scare the other man away.

Ramsden, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to affray after the incident on May 27, 2019.

The court heard the other man received a community order with a rehabilitation requirement and was ordered to complete an abstention from alcohol programme for his part in starting the incident.

Khadim Al’ Hassan, defending, said it is unlikely Ramsden, who had never been in trouble before, will darken the doors of the court again.

Judge Michael Slater pointed out that a friend of Ramsden’s was injured during the incident and the judge also accepted Ramsden had gone outside with the pool cue as a “deterrent” in case there was trouble.

He told Ramsden: “I can see you had a very difficult time over the years, on the family side, and you have been fearful of this day for some time and you are genuinely remorseful about what happened to your friend.”

He sentenced Ramsden to an 18 month conditional discharge but warned that if he commits a further offence in the next year-and-a-half the affray incident will be re-considered.

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