Knife-wielding thug jailed again for threatening Castleford shop manager and biting a police officer

David Yates, who has served a sentence for biting before, appeared at Leeds Crown Court where he admitted a string of new offences from November last year.

Outlining the case for the prosecution, Chloe Fairley, said that Yates had previously been banned from the Best-One convenience store on Airedale Road in Castleford in the past for thefts and making threats to staff.

On November 6 last year, he tried to enter the store to buy alcohol but was refused. He walked out of the shop and spotted the manager's Audi car, so walked over and slashed one of its tyres, which was caught on CCTV.

When the manager walked out to confront him, he noticed Yates had a knife in his hand with about a five-inch blade and he warned him he would stab him if he came any closer.

Then on November 22, Yates was spotted on CCTV again, this time throwing a brick at the window of the Best-One store.

Later that day police were called to a man who appeared to be unconscious outside an address in Castleford, which turned out to be Yates.

After being checked over by an ambulance crew, he was left in the hands of the police.

He spat at a police car, and as an officer tried to pull his hood over his face to prevent him from spitting again, Yates bit his finger.

Appearing at Leeds Crown Court via video link from HMP Leeds, he admitted charges of criminal damage to the Audi and the shop window, making threats with a knife, damaging a police vehicle, assaulting a police officer and possession of cannabis after he was found to have a quantity of the drug on him when he was arrested.

The court heard that Yates, who is now 33, had 66 convictions for 123 offences, including multiple violent convictions, criminal damage and public order offences.

He was jailed for 30 months in April 2019 for biting a security guard and a police officer and attacking a Tesco manager. He also threatened a woman with a spade and spat at police officers officer during his arrest.

Mitigating, Craig Sutcliffe said that Yates had been released from jail last year and "made a good start" by finding himself accommodation.

But he said Yates was then thrown out in October after he was the victim of a burglary, and since then was either 'sofa surfing' or living on the streets, so his drink and drug use escalated.

Mr Sutcliffe said: "He is a man of vulnerability, he has special needs and is unable to read and write.

"He will come out of prison in due course and hope to make a fresh start."

Judge Geoffrey Marson QC jailed Yates for 26 months, and said: "You have acquired quite an appalling criminal record.

"There's really no excuse for damaging property, threatening someone with a knife is a particularly serious matter and the court will simply not tolerate the assault of a police officer."