'CHASE' MAN IS TAGGED; Efforts impress judge.Byline: GARETH LIGHTFOOT A SCAFFOLDER who chased a man in a Middlesbrough town centre street melee has been spared prison. Middlesbrough man Craig Pollock Craig Pollock (born February 20, 1956 in Falkirk, Scotland), is a businessman and manager of the Formula One driver Jacques Villeneuve. Pollock worked as a teacher in the late 1970s eventually becoming director of sport at the College Beausoleil in Villars, Switzerland. got embroiled in a fight between two other men outside the Zetland pub. He chased one man involved in the scrap then threw punches at him though none hit home - before he was caught by police. The fracas erupted "in the blink of an eye", Pollock's lawyer Robert Mochrie told Teesside Crown Court. He said: "From the eyes of a drunk Mr Pollock, what he saw on that night was something kicking off between one of his friends and another male. It was Mr Pollock's friend who was perhaps being the aggressor AGGRESSOR, crim. law. He who begins, a quarrel or dispute, either by threatening or striking another. No man may strike another because he has threatened, or in consequence of the use of any words. in the incident. "What he saw was another male pushing his friend to the floor, perhaps quite rightly and justifiably. He reacted to that and he gave chase. He can't put any excuse forward for that. "When the male stops midway through that chase, punches were thrown. No physical contact was made." Pollock, 20, of Norham Walk, Ormesby, was remorseful re·morse·ful adj. Marked by or filled with remorse. re·morse  ful·ly adv. and apologetic
to police for the April 4 incident. He told officers he was
re-ceivinanger management help.
He admitted using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour. He was in breach of a suspended sentence A sentence given after the formal conviction of a crime that the convicted person is not required to serve. In criminal cases a trial judge has the ability to suspend the sentence of a convicted person. imposed in York Crown Court last year for drink-driving a stolen vehicle away from police at speed then crashing it, all while banned from driving. Mr Mochrie said Pollock's actions had greatly embarrassed his parents, who supported him in court. He said Pollock recognised his drink problem, made "tremendous steps" to address it, was working to divert himself from binge drinking binge drinking An early phase of chronic alcoholism, characterized by episodic 'flirtation' with the bottle by binges of drinking to the point of stupor, followed by periods of abstinence; BD is accompanied by alcoholic ketoacidosis–accelerated lipolysis and and would continue to abstain. Pollock was unusually candid, he spoke of previous incidents of domestic violence, said he had a full-time job, his partner was pregnant and he wanted to be a good father to the child. Judge Peter Armstrong told Pollock he would be going away if there had been actual violence on his part. "It's the sort of behaviour in the street at night in Middlesbrough town centre which does cause people alarm." Impressed with Pollock's efforts, he passed a three-month detention sentence suspended for two years, with 100 hours' unpaid work, 12 months' supervision and a four-month tagged curfew from 8pm to 6am from Monday to Friday, and ordered him to pay pounds 270 costs. |
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