A drunken bricklayer who kicked off at a holiday park asked to be sent to prison so he could dry out and ‘get his head in a better place.
Lee Creed was on holiday at Littlesea Holiday Park, Weymouth, with his then partner and her children on June 27 last year when he was dragged from his tent by the police.
Officers had been called to the holiday park after reports of a drink driver on the site, Oxford Magistrates' Court heard.
When they turned up, Creed’s partner and her two children were asleep in the car. The defendant, asleep in a tent, shouted his protestations when he was woken up. He repeated: “Did you see me driving?”
The 33-year-old blew into a breathalyser for a few seconds but without enough force for the machine to register the level of alcohol on his breath.
Creed was put in handcuffs and responded by making the threat ‘you’re lucky I don’t nut you’.
Placed into the waiting police car, he repeatedly spat inside the vehicle, kicked out at the central console, the steering wheel and at one of the officers.
The defendant, described by one of the police officers as ‘seething with rage’, shouted that they should Taser him or he’d ‘knock all of you out’.
He was twice hit with bursts of pepper spray. After the second, he said: “I’ve not done anything to you.” Reminded that he’d kicked one officer, Creed replied: “And I’ll kick you again and I’ll carry on. If you think a bit of spray hurts me.”
The officers eventually removed him from the car and put him on the ground as horrified children and parents looked on. He called the police officers ‘horrible stinking ****s’.
Taken to Weymouth police station, he refused to blow into the breathalyser with the words: “I don’t agree to nothing.”
Six months later, on January 19 this year, he was in Chipping Norton town centre when he went into Sainsbury’s and stole a can of pre-mixed gin and lemonade, a bottle of wine and a prawn sandwich.
Mitigating, India Ferris told the court that when her client was before the court earlier in the year he’d asked to be remanded as he recognised he had a problem with an alcohol that he needed to address.
“He accepted he was struggling and needed help with substance misuse. He said he needed that time in custody to get his head in a better place,” the solicitor said.
The experienced bricklayer was remorseful and, if he were allowed his liberty, had work lined up with a former boss.
Creed, of The Beeches, Chipping Norton, pleaded guilty at earlier hearings to failing to provide a specimen, driving without a valid licence, assaulting an emergency worker, criminal damage, shoplifting and drunk and disorderly behaviour.
District Judge Kamlesh Rana told Creed: “Your previous record is abysmal. There is no reason why I shouldn’t send you to prison today. But I take into account your guilty pleas, I take into account the incredible courage you showed in saying ‘I have a problem’.
“This is your last chance, Mr Creed. I say this lots of times, I know, but I’m going to impose what I consider to be a community order that is a direct alternative to custody.”
He was given an 18 month community order with a year-long alcohol rehabilitation programme and a three month tagged curfew. He was ordered to pay £177.80 in compensation and banned from driving for three years.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article