A homeless man found unconscious in a Carlisle garden in the early hours reacted violently when an ambulance worker tried to help him.

Allan Marshall, 25, who was living at a probation hostel because he had just been released from a lengthy jail sentence, had behaved violently just hours before the attack, smashing a window.

At Carlisle's Rickergate magistrates' courts complex, the defendant admitted common assault and criminal damage.

Prosecutor John Moran outlined how Marshall was released from a 28-month sentence on September 19, and was living at a city centre bail hostel along with other former offenders.

“The defendant had come back to the hostel at 11pm on September 23,” said Mr Moran.

“He was described as being drunk.

“By midnight, the residents should be in bed but the defendant was still awake and acting aggressively. He was told he would have to go back to his room otherwise he would be recalled and he started becoming verbally aggressive.”

Marshall used the palm of his hand to smash a window in the hostel and for everybody's safety staff allowed him to leave.

At 5.20am the next morning, an ambulance crew were called to an address in Carlisle because somebody had reported a man – the defendant – had been seen lying in a front garden, apparently unconscious.

As the two ambulance workers approached him, he did not respond so one of them went up to Marshall to check on his condition.

“At this point,” said Mr Moran, “the defendant opened his eyes and without warning punched the victim with his fist to the chest. When he was told not to do that, he became verbally aggressive towards the medical staff. “They were shocked by his behaviour.”

When police arrested Marshall and took him to the city's police station, he refused to comment when interviewed.

He has now been recalled to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence, said Mr Moran.

Chris Toms, for Marshall, said: “He struggles and this has not been a happy experience.

"He has dyslexia. It is quite severe and leads to him getting depressed and drinking,” said Mr Toms, pointing out that his client had little recollection of what happened that night because he had been drinking before he committed the offences.

District Judge Gerald Chalk jailed Marshall for 100 days for the assault, with 40 days concurrent for the criminal damage. He ruled that defendant must also pay a £115 victim surcharge when he is released from jail.