Dad attacked man in the street over son's birthday money

Angered Andrew Bossons saw the man on Stockingate in South Kirkby and went to confront him, hitting him to the back of the head before punching him again when he turned around.

Bossons, 39, denied an initial charge of grievous bodily harm, but later pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm at Leeds Crown Court which was accepted by the Crown.

Prosecuting, Andrew Nixon said the incident happened on December 18, 2019, when the victim had been walking along the road with his girlfriend and another friend, when he went into bushes to relieve himself.

He then felt was a blow to the back of his head, so turned around to find out who had struck him when Bossons punched him again, leaving blood running down his face.

The victim required stiches to two cut, and also had a cut to his eye.

Bossons was arrested the next day and told police during interview that the man had stolen his 14-year-old son's money.

He also said that the victim had been holding a brick and a needle when he approached him, and that he took the brick off him and threw it away, saying he acted in self defence.

The court heard that Bossons, of Church Mount, South Kirby, works as a warehouse operator and has no previous convictions.

A probation report was read out in court that said that he was "remorseful and regrets his actions" but was angry about his son's birthday money.

It continued: "He came across him (the victim) by chance and wanted to remonstrate with him. He wished he had called the police instead."

Mitigating for Bossons, Imran Khan said: "He must have got involved for a reason, which was in reaction to his child.

"He is good father and a good family man."

The judge, Recorder Paul Greaney QC said: "In short, you maintain you acted in self defence, but you accepted you went well over the top.

"The prosecution accept there was a trigger, regarding you son, but it was not justification for what happened that day."

He handed him a four-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, and gave him 150 hours of unpaid work.