Hartlepool man banned from going out to celebrate Christmas after causing havoc in two bars

Daniel Harrison, 34, ran amok with a pepper spray in The Blacksmith Arms pub leaving drinkers with streaming and painful eyes, and a couple of days later he threatened the boss of Amigo’s fun bar with a CS gas canister.

He had previous convictions for possessing prohibited weapons, said prosecutor Lucy Wright.

Now he has a six months electronically tagged curfew to keep him indoors at home after his appearance at Teesside Crown Court.

Judge Stephen Ashurst said that the rest of us are still waiting to hear what we can do at Christmas but Harrison already knows.

Harrison had been out of trouble for 10 years until the drink got the better of him, said Daniel Penman defending.

He said Harrison was terrified of going to prison because he had an inoperable brain tumour which could kill him and he could also lose his sight.

The judge said that he would spare him from an immediate prison sentence partly because of his medical condition.

But he added: “In view of your behaviour last Christmas I want to make part of your sentence a curfew which does not enable you to behave in that manner this Christmas.”

Miss Wright said that Harrison’s girlfriend dragged him away when he produced the gas canister in Amigo’s, and he was not traced until police officers identified him months later as they checked the bar’s CCTV recordings.

Mr Penman said in mitigation: “He recognises that he was extremely foolish.

”Ten years ago he did breach a court order but he did eventually comply and he committed no further offences. Last December he was extremely unwell and he had been drinking when he was carrying the pepper spray.

”For 48 hours he behaved very badly, but since that he has behaved himself again.”

Harrison, of Wharton Terrace, Hartlepool, was given a 12 months jail sentence suspended for two years with rehabilitation requirements of 40 days and the curfew after he pleaded guilty to possessing the prohibited pepper spray on December 28 and the CS gas canister on December 30.

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