Ex-soldier in booze and crime cycle after service

A FORMER soldier who lashed out at paramedics then urinated in a police van said he was struggling to break the vicious cycle of getting drunk and committing crimes.

Police and ambulance staff were trying to help James Bridgewood who they had found sleeping in the road in Huddersfield town centre.

They went to the King Street location shortly after 10pm on April 28, Kirklees Magistrates’ Court in Huddersfield was told.

Members of the public had alerted them to the fact that the 34-year-old was lying down on the ground sleeping.

When he was woken up and led into the ambulance to be checked he became aggressive, prosecutor Alex Bozman said.

He told magistrates: “The defendant was throwing his arms around in the direction of the ambulance staff, swearing and had to be restrained.

“He continued to be verbally abusive and police decided to arrest him.

“As he was taken to Dewsbury Police Station he urinated in the back of the police van and was aggressive throughout.”

Bridgewood, of Yews Hill Road in Lockwood, had to be carried into his cell due to his behaviour.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of being drunk and disorderly in public and told magistrates that he had suffered from mental health issues since serving in the armed forces.

Bridgewood served eight years from 2002 to 2010, including time in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In December 2014 he was locked up for 12 months after turning up at a Lockwood couple’s home armed with a knife and smashing a panel in the front door.

And in November 2016 he was convicted of burglary after breaking into the bedroom of a University of Huddersfield student.

Bridgewood was jailed for a minimum of three years because of his previous burglary convictions.

He told previous hearings that while serving in the Army he experienced traumatic situations and lost friends.

Bridgewood, who was not represented, told magistrates: “I’ve got PTSD and had to adjust to society.

“I use alcohol as a coping mechanism and as a result of that I’ve committed crimes and been locked up again and again.

“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been in and out of prison and I don’t want to drink.

“I’d like to apologise to the ambulance staff. Obviously I was drunk but that doesn’t make it right.”

Magistrates fined him £123 and told him to pay £85 prosecution costs plus £30 victim surcharge.