TWO MEN have pleaded guilty to ABH assault after attacking a man in his 60s when being challenged about riding scrambler motorbikes antisocially around children.
On June 20 at around 4pm, Jamie Townsend, 36 of Thackhall Street in Coventry, and Thomas Black, 29 of Dark Lane in Bedworth, were riding scrambler-style motorbikes on Keresley Recreation Ground.
The victim, who had been taking a walk with relatives including his granddaughter, had seen the two men and challenged them about riding the motorbikes recklessly.
Black and Townsend then rode off, and the victim continued towards a shop on Rathbone Close.
At around 4.40pm outside the shop, Black and Townsend reappeared and confronted the victim, shouting at him before pinning him to the floor and assaulting him.
Black and Townsend then left the area, and the victim was taken to hospital by ambulance where he was treated for injuries to his head.
The two men were identified and arrested the following day.
Thomas Black and Jamie Townsend have both been sentenced to 657 days in prison for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Black will serve this sentence consecutively with another of four years, two months, and 11 days he has received for a burglary in Coventry.
Both are required to also pay a victim’s surcharge of £187.
They were sentenced in Warwick Crown Court on December 9.
DS Rich Walker said: “Townsend and Black attacked a man who was concerned for the safety of children who could have been injured by their irresponsible use of motorbikes in a public park.
“In a better world, they could have taken a moment to consider how their actions could be putting their community at risk of harm and taken their bikes elsewhere.
“Instead, they will spend the next 657 days behind bars, hopefully contemplating the different choices they could have made.”
