Telford man who forced way into migrant hotel and assaulted guards avoids prison

Joshua Scott, 35 and of Wyvern in Telford, pleaded guilty to three charges of assault by beating when he appeared at Telford Magistrates Court on Tuesday, September 22.

Prosecutor Shakeel Ahmed told the court that the incident occurred on Thursday, August 20.

Mr Ahmed said Scott - “appearing to be in a state of intoxication” - followed a man back to the hotel where he was confronted by three security guards.

The court heard that Scott began to “rant” about “rapists and paedophiles” and pushed past a guard to enter the hotel.

“When inside, he started using his mobile phone to record some items on display,” Mr Ahmed said.

The court was told that Scott continued to push the guards, including one instance where he pushed one to the floor and slapped him round the back of the head with an open hand.

Mr Ahmed said that the incident was “fairly short-lived” and there were no lasting injuries.

The court was also told that Scott has nine previous convictions for 13 offences stretching back to 2008. Most recently, in April of this year, he had been handed a 12-month community order.

Defending, Georgia Taylor said Scott had “started out with good intentions”, apparently believing a male in the hotel had been following a young girl and making her uncomfortable.

She said: “This came at a time when Mr Scott was experiencing a period of personal crisis; he had instability with his accommodation and was drinking alcohol.”

Chair of the magistrates bench, Alan Parkhurst said the offence did meet the custody threshold, but they would not be imposing immediate custody.

Scott was sentenced to nine weeks in custody, suspended for two years. He will also have to pay £50 in compensation to each of the three victims.

“You’ve attacked three people who are just doing their job,” Mr Parkhurst said, “if you commit any offence in the future, you know what will happen.”