Jailed: 'Aggressive' Wolverhampton drunk bit uncle's thumb 'down to the bone' and punched policewoman in the face in Telford corner shop rampage

Shrewsbury Crown Court was shown CCTV footage of Bateman’s uncle and his uncle’s partner arriving at the shop at around 7pm on June 6 last year to try and diffuse the situation, only for Bateman to lose his temper in violent fashion.

He went to hug his uncle, using the opportunity to try and bite his face. When his uncle tried to push him away, Bateman bit his thumb, causing an open wound which went “down to the bone”. He also landed punches and kicks.

Bateman’s uncle’s partner fell underneath the pair as they wrestled on the floor, sustaining an injury to the back of her head. She could be seen on the footage doubled over in pain, leaning on a sweetie counter, with stock and baskets strewn all over the shop floor.

Bateman then ran outside, threatening: “I’ll get a knife.” He returned within seconds with a knife, which had a 5-6in blade.

“She was so frightened,” prosecutor Suzanne Francis said of Bateman’s uncle’s partner. Bateman’s uncle ran home and, on his way, could see that Bateman had used the knife to stab his car, leaving dents and smashed windows.

He attended Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and required stitches to his thumb.

They were not the only ones to bear the brunt of Bateman’s raging temper that day though.

Police were called to the scene to deal with Bateman, and an officer used a leg swipe technique to take him to the ground.

While they were on the ground, Bateman bit him on the leg, before he punched a policewoman in the face.

He was pepper sprayed, before trying to bite another female officer and spit on her.

“She asked if he wanted some water for his eyes and he said ‘shut the f*** up you little white bitch’,” Ms Francis said.

Bateman’s uncle said in a victim impact statement that the incident had made him “extremely anxious”. His partner said the rampage left her “scared to leave our own home” and that she felt “unsafe in her own community”. It was said that Bateman sustained an injury during his arrest which left him unable to walk for a period of time.

Bateman, of Wellington Road, Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possession of a knife in a public place, criminal damage, two counts of assaulting an emergency worker and one racially aggravated public order offence.

He has 17 previous convictions for 41 offences, and when he committed these crimes he was in breach of a suspended sentence order given to him for dangerous driving and other motoring offences.

Paul Smith, mitigating, described Bateman’s Donnington rampage as “an ugly incident”, but said he is “beginning to build bridges” with his family from prison.

“He expresses his remorse and wishes to apologise publicly to all those involved,” Mr Smith added.

Judge Richard McConaghy told Bateman: “It is clear you were drunk. You were behaving aggressively.

“This is not the first time you have been in trouble. I accept now you are remorseful for your behaviour that day.”

The judge jailed Bateman for 36 months and made him subject of a restraining order, banning him from contacting his uncle or uncle’s partner for five years.