Doorstep assault lands Worksop man in jail

Michael Bryce banged on the man’s door after shouting threats and abuse, and hit him in the face, leaving him with a swollen right eye and a split lip, at 7.15pm, on February 23.

Earlier that afternoon he had rung the man and made threats, said prosecutor Robert Carr.

The court heard he received a ten week sentence for driving while disqualified, suspended for two years, in February, last year.

He breached it by missing appointments on April 6, 2018, and February 21, 2019, and the probation service said his compliance had been poor.

He also stole a £23 pair of pliers from Mole Country Stores, Worksop, on March 14.

Rebecca Williams, mitigating, said Bryce claimed the man threatened to shoot him with a shotgun and had made various threats.

“He decided to go to the address and speak to him and make him stop,” she said. “He says that the other man kicked out at him.

“But Mr Bryce accepts assaulting him and says it was retaliation rather then self-defence.

“He can’t remember the theft but accepts the evidence and pleads guilty.

Bryce, 38, of West Way, admitted assault, theft and breaching the suspended sentence, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Thursday.

Magistrates activated the suspended sentence for six weeks, and added eight weeks for the assault.

He was ordered to pay £100 compensation to the man he hit, and £23 to the store.