Man picked the wrong rival for a street fight

A 52-YEAR-OLD Derbyshire man picked the wrong opponent to fight when he came off worst in an earlymorning punch-up.

Derby Crown Court heard how Roy Vernum smacked his victim in the mouth, but ended up getting knocked unconscious and requiring hospital treatment after he retaliated.

The hearing was told how the pair were “bouncing around in the middle of the road” as they sparred in Swadlincote town centre.

But while his rival only suffered a split lip, Vernum received a fractured elbow during the altercation.

And because the offence put him in breach of a suspended sentence, Vernum faced a nervous wait to see whether or not he would be jailed.

Sentencing him, Recorder

Paul Mann QC said: “You were foolish and stupid to start a fight with this guy because he was far more capable than you. You did not just pick a fight, you lost a fight. He knocked you out and you ended up with some injuries which needed hospital treatment.

“It happened while you were the subject of a suspended sentence and people who are given a suspended sentence normally expect to serve it if they breach it.

“However in your case there are some exceptional circumstances.”

Lucky Thandi, prosecuting, said the offence took place at around 7.30am on

September 3. She said Vernum and the other man were living at the same housing association property in Midland Road, Swadlincote, and knew each other, but had fallen out previously.

Miss Thandi said: “Mr Vernum was walking down Midland Road and the other man was on his bike on the other side of the road. The defendant went over to him and threw the first punch, landing it on his face. The other man got off his bike and the two of them squared up to each other. “There seems to have been some bouncing around in the middle of the road with punches thrown between them. Mr Vernum ends up on the floor, there is a short lull and then there is some jabbing.”

An onlooker called the police.

Vernum, now of High Street, Woodville, pleaded guilty to affray and was handed a 28-day curfew confining him to his home address between 7pm and 5am. He was also fined £200, to be paid back at £10 per week.

The hearing was told the second man has denied any wrongdoing and faces a trial later this year at the magistrates’ court.

Stuart Newsam, mitigating, said Vernum had been offered work doing grounds maintenance at McDonald’s, which depended on whether he was sent immediately to custody. He said: “He volunteers at a church and a food bank and is a man in his 50s who has stability, structure and self-respect in his life for the first time in a long time.”

You were foolish to start a fight with this guy because he was far more capable than you.

Recorder Paul Mann QC