Boy restrained bus station thug with judo move
A SCHOOLBOY used judo moves to restrain a thug who punched a Greggs worker and made threatening moves towards an elderly man in Huddersfield Bus Station.
Luke Greenwood attacked the 15-year-old victim when he got in between him and the elderly man who had told him off for punching the female Greggs worker.
The 27-year-old was jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The incident had unfolded as the victim was waiting for a friend outside Greggs bakery in the station at 3.15pm on May 10 last year.
Prosecutor Austin Newman said a female member of staff followed Greenwood out of the store and told him to pay for a bag of food in his hand.
Leeds Crown Court heard she stood in front of Greenwood and again told him to pay for the food but he punched her in the face, causing her hat to fall off.
Mr Newman said: “The defendant started to walk away.
“An elderly man voice his disapproval of his conduct towards the staff member.
“The defendant started to approach the man in an aggressive fashion.
“The complainant sought to interpose himself between the defendant and the male member of the public.
“He said, ‘Excuse me, can we talk for a minute?’”
Greenwood immediately punched the boy to the left side of the head and once more in the neck area.
The boy, who practices judo, got Greenwood into a hold and restrained him.
The pair started wrestling and went to the ground.
Security officers and a bus driver came and restrained Greenwood, who shouted at and spat blood at the boy.
The court was told Greenwood shouted racial abuse towards an onlooker as he was arrested and searched.
The victim went to hospital where an X-ray revealed he had a fractured wrist.
In his police interview, Greenwood said he had been to court earlier in the day and had started drinking while also taking prescribed medication.
He said the combination of the alcohol and drugs had caused him to black out and he had no memory of the incident.
Greenwood has 15 previous convictions for 26 offences, including for dishonesty, violence, racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress, failure to surrender to a court and criminal damage relating to a police van that was transporting him to custody.
Probation officer Mike Cooper said the defendant has a long history of alcohol abuse.
The court was told on a previous occasion that the defendant, of Newton Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire, suffers from a personality disorder and generalised anxiety disorder and had been chased out of town by a gang.
Judge Robin Mairs awarded the teenager a commendation for his bravery and public-spirited behaviour.