Man attacked victim with a sock stuffed with golf ball
9:00am Saturday 19th January 2013 in Local
HORRIFIED customers watched as a man was chased into Bolton’s main post office and attacked with a sock stuffed with a golf ball, a court heard.
Rastafarian Maurice Flavius carried out his attack in front of 30 people, including pensioners and children in buggies on November 20 last year at the post office in Deansgate.
Flavius, aged 44, claimed he had previously been attacked by a group of men, which included his unidentified victim, and was trying to make a citizen’s arrest.
But Recorder Craig Osborne dismissed suggestions by Flavius’s defence counsel Nicholas Ross, that he had the two golf balls with him as a stress reliever and not a weapon as “nonsense”.
Jennifer Birch, prosecuting, told the court the victim ran into the post office at 9.20am and CCTV showed Flavius hit him 10 times with the sock during the 10-minute attack.
Miss Birch said: “He was not concerned whether the weapon made contact with anyone else.”
Police were called and Flavius, of Park Road, Bolton, was arrested and charged with affray and possessing an offensive weapon.
He pleaded guilty to both offences.
The court heard that until last year, when a relationship broke down, Flavius had not been in trouble with the law, having come to England from St Lucia five earlier.
But since February, 2012, he has had six convictions, mainly for domestic-related incidents.
Recorder Osborne said was sceptical of Flavius’ story, regarding it as “highly implausible”.
Flavius was given an eightmonth prison sentence, suspended for two years, will be electronically tagged and subject to a 7pm to 7am three month curfew and was ordered to do 100 hours unpaid work.
