A homeless crack addict who assaulted three Big Issue volunteers, including throwing his own excrement at one, has been jailed for six months.
Brian Spring, 48, attacked Gary Jones, Rebecca Donoher and Philip Davis at St Mary’s Church, in Kemp Town, as they tried to help him.
He had come to the church after soiling himself – but flew into a rage when they took longer than he would like to find him new clothes.
Yesterday at Brighton Magistrates Court, deputy district judge Henry Gordon told him that given the seriousness of the attacks, which left all three battered and bruised, only an immediate prison sentence would do.
He was also given time for assaulting two members of staff at the Glenwood Lodge hostel where he lived, and two police officers, one of whom he threw a Pot Noodle at.
Mr Gordon said that Spring was already known to the volunteers at St Mary’s Church as they had helped him when he sold the Big Issue.
“You asked them for help having soiled yourself and they came to your aid, searching for fresh clothes.
“In your view they were taking too long so you started shouting at them.”
He pushed both Mr Jones, who used a walking frame, to the ground, where he kicked him.
When Ms Donoher came to Mr Jones’s aid, Spring grabbed her and started choking her, hitting her head and kicking her ankle.
Mr Gordon said: “Mr Davis tried to intervene and Spring shouted abuse at him. He reached into his underwear and retrived a handful of excrement and threw it at him.
“He shoved him with both hands, pulling him to the ground and kicked him.” Mr Davis’s walking stick was broken during the attack.
In victim impact statements read to the court during an earlier hearing, Ms Donoher said she had since changed her walking route around Brighton because she was “constantly feeling on edge” in case she encountered Spring.
She said in her 30 years working to help the homeless, this was the first time she had been physically assaulted.
Mr Davis said it had made him question if people appreciated the work he was doing for them and why he was working at St Mary’s, adding: “I’m now left with a residual feelng of what’s the point and why do I bother.”
Mr Jones said his health conditions had worsened as a result of the attack and he was having flashbacks four or five times a week.
He said: “I used to help any homeless person I saw but now I don’t because I have lost trust in people.”
Prosecuting, Alex Holman said Spring’s attack on staff at his then home at Glenwood Lodge hostel in Grand Parade began after he was asked to move away from another resident’s door.
He became so violent, staff member Richard Marriot locked himself in the office, while Spring found a plank of wood and started smashing windows.
When police arrived, Spring attempted to headbutt PC Farrell. After being held in the cells at Hollingbury overnight, the next morning he threw a Pot Noodle over custody officer Daniel Skinner.
Mr Holman said: “He poked the Pot Noodle out of the cell hatch and threw it over a police officer.
“The officer said he wasn’t injured, but didn’t come into work expecting to have food thrown over him.”
Defending, Mark Charnley said Spring had sustained a brain injury in early 2020 which he believed affected his behaviour.
He said: “When he hears about this behaviour from people when he’s calmed down he cannot belive what he’s hearing.”
He said Spring had struggled with substance abuse since his partner died and he became homeless several years ago.
Mr Gordon sentenced Spring to 20 weeks in prison for each of the assaults on the homeless workers, to run concurrently, which was not reduced as he had denied the charges and been found guilty at trial.
He was also given nine weeks for the assaults on the hostel staff, reduced to six because of his guilty plea, to run consecutively to the 20 week sentences.
He was also given four weeks for assaulting the police officers, but these are to run concurrently with the others, bringing the total to 26 weeks custody.
He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154, but no compensation was ordered.
Fraggle!
IDIOT!!
It’s not the fact that he’s a “ Fraggle” (That’s debatable?)
what really gets up my nose is that it’s idiots like this that give the homeless community a bad name (I’m part of this community)
I personally know Rebecca and Phillip. They dedicate a huge amount of time and energy doing nothing but good and certainly do not deserve to be treated in this barbaric manner.
The problem with people like this are that they seem to be the ones that get homeless venues either a bad name or worse, getting venues closed down. Which we can ill afford to happen in the era of austerity and cutbacks at present.
Individuals like this are the ones who are able to garner a multitude of resources at the drop of a hat, whilst behaving like complete barbarians. Doubtless when he comes out of prison there will be a whole raft of support for him to yet again abuse? Yet some of us who try and exist by being honest and behaving don’t seem to benefit from these resources.
The conclusion that I draw from this is (Alice Through the Looking Glass scenario) that social care professionals here in Brighton, just act as professional apologists for this grotesque behaviour and worse capitulate to individuals like this for fear of tarnishing their precious professional reputations?
Rebecca and Phil, please don’t let this defeat you. Keep up the good work because there are a large number of us that really appreciate what you do.
Rebecca is a saint
Respect her !
What a disturbed individual. Really sorry to hear this about the volunteers. I think everyone here would join me in applauding the work that they do.
This is disgusting. Those volunteers don’t deserve that. No-one does.
I’d smear excrement all over him. Let him suffer the same penalty.
Ive written elsewhere will put it here, we need more detox beds, these people should be forced into detox to get clean, if this person is not from Brighton & Hove they should be reconnected to their home city, this city cannot keep taking these druggies in, especially as they often bring others down with em, so need to curb this, the police need to step up city centre patrols to stop very open drug dealing, its very visible in the city centre, and these dealers and often runners need to be taken off the streets and either placed into forced detox for the addicted runners, or prison for the main dealers.
These measures are for the addicts own good and the community which has to put up with this.
The guys a black belt in Whoflungdung!