Cockermouth man hit neighbour multiple times to back of the head

Brad Jenkin, 28, approached the victim as he returned to his flat at Kittson House in Cockermouth on the evening of April 3, Workington Magistrates’ Court heard.

Prosecutor Pamela Fee said Jenkin had asked the victim if anyone had been in his flat. The victim told Jenkin that he didn’t know because he had just been to Lidl.

The victim walked towards his flat when Jenkin came out and asked if he had been in his flat. The victim said he hadn’t. He could tell that Jenkin ‘had taken something’.

Jenkin had then hit the victim multiple times in the back of the head. They both fell to the ground and Jenkin was on top of the victim, who feared he would be assaulted again.

He shouted for a neighbour and then went into his own flat to contact the police. Jenkin had approached the door of his flat while police were called and said, ‘don’t mug me off, mate’.

Jenkin had gone to the Fletcher Christian pub but then ran away towards Main Street. Police arrived at the flats to speak to the victim.

Police saw the defendant trying to get into his flat. He ran back inside and attempted to shut the door. The officer deployed incapacitant spray and Jenkin was arrested for assault.

He was taken to the bottom of the stairs and told the officer, ‘I will spit in your face’. He then barged one of the officers into the wall, using his full body weight.

Jenkin pleaded guilty to obstructing a constable in execution of duty, assault by beating, assault by beating of an emergency worker and arrest by a constable for breaking bail conditions.

Mike Woolaghan, defending, requested that the case be adjourned for three weeks to allow a pre-sentence report to be carried out by the probation service.

He said the defendant was beginning to recognise that his mental health was ‘problematic’ and that he ‘desperately needs help’.

Jenkin, of Kittson House, Station Street, Cockermouth, will be sentenced at Workington Magistrates’ Court on May 14.