Barred man rugby tackled by Much Wenlock pub landlady
A man who was rugby tackled by a pub landlady as he picked up a wheel brace has been handed a community order.
Olivia Garner threw herself on top of Andrew Charles Prinold in the car park of the Honeysuckle Inn in Newport after he was thrown out following an argument.
Magistrates told Prinold that if he hadn't have been stopped and the police called the situation might have been "very different".
Mr Timothy Talbot- Webb, prosecuting, said that on March 8 last year, the day before the incident, Prinold had been thrown out of the pub after an argument.
Magistrates heard that the following day, staff at the pub had phoned Prinold to tell him he was barred and was no longer welcome there as a result of his behaviour the previous night.
But the defendant returned to the pub that evening and another confrontation took place, the court was told.
Prinold was seen to walk across the pub car park to his vehicle and take a wheel brace out of the front passenger seat of his car, said Mr Talbot- Webb
Mrs Garner then crossed the car park and rugby tackled Prinold to the ground so he was unable to get back inside before police officers arrived.
Prinold, 32, admitted possessing an offensive weapon in a public place at the start of his trial at Telford Magistrates Court.
He stood before magistrates' again yesterday and was handed a 12-month community order, with a supervision requirement.
Officers searched Prinold on the night of his arrest and found him to still be in possession of the wheel brace.
The court heard that Prinold later told officers that he had been headbutted during a row in the pub and as he could not fight back due to a broken hand, he had gone to get the wheelbrace.
The court was told that Prinold, of Adbaston, near Stafford, had previous criminal convictions but none that were recent or relevant to the case.
Mr Steven Meredith, for Prinold, said that his client did not accept that he had gone back to the car to arm himself, but accepted that he did have the wheel brace on his person at the time of the arrest.
"He did not take the wheel brace out of his pocket. It was not used, it was not wielded, it has not been threatened at anybody," said Mr Meredith.
He added that Prinold, a qualified mechanic, had been considering a job in the USA but had concerns over his criminal record.
Prinold was ordered to pay a £100 fine, £425 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
