Jail for drunk yob who tried to fight guard after 20 cans
A DRUNK train passenger who threatened and abused a security guard and challenged him to a fight has been locked up.
Carlo Jones, who by his own admission had drunk 20 cans of lager, was travelling from Llanelli to Bristol to start a new job but only got as far as Cardiff station.
Swansea Crown Court heard the 21-year-old had a history of breaching community orders and suspended sentences, and a judge told him it was time he learned that “courts mean business”.
The court heard that just after 5pm on October 24 this year security staff were called to deal with a drunk and agitated passenger at Cardiff Central station who appeared to have lost his bag and was refusing to get off a train.
Georgina Buckley, prosecuting, said an “irate” Jones began swearing and shouting at staff before eventually leaving the premises. Outside the station he was seen to headbutt the man he had been travelling with, and was told he would not be allowed to resume his journey because of his behaviour. Police were called, and officers told the defendant to “sober up”.
The court heard that that evening one of the security guards who’d dealt with Jones caught a Swanseabound train at the end of his shift, and saw the defendant getting on to the same service. He moved to the far end of the train but Jones followed him and confronted him.
The prosecutor said Jones began abusing him, clenching his fists and challenging him to a fight. The defendant kept asking his victim where he was getting off, and told him: “If you get off at Neath, I’ll have you there.”
The security officer reported it to the train guard and was moved to the first class carriage. He then alerted the police.
Miss Buckley said when the train arrived at Swansea railway station it was met by British Transport Police officers, and Jones was found asleep in one of the carriages. He was woken up and arrested and became “verbally aggressive and violent”. He kicked out at officers, butted the floor and shouted obscenities.
In his subsequent interview he said he had drunk 20 cans of lager and had been travelling to England when he was kicked off in Cardiff due to his behaviour.
Carlo Jones, of Sandy Road, Llanelli, had previously pleaded guilty to a public order offence when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. The court heard he had eight previous convictions for 20 offences, and was subject to a suspended sentence for a previous public order matter at the time of the train incident.
Ian Ibrahim, for Jones, said the defendant was ashamed of his conduct and wished to apologise for his “disgusting” behaviour. He said Jones and a friend had been travelling to Bristol to start a new job the following day, and both had “foolishly” been drinking.
He said Jones had then lost his bag, which contained all his personal possessions, including his phone.
The barrister said his client had experienced a “very, very hard childhood” and by his own admissions had “gone off the rails” at the age of around 18 or 19. He said Jones was making progress in tackling his addiction to amphetamine and worked as a labourer assisting a tree surgeon for three days a week.
Judge Geraint Walters told Jones that at the age of 21 he had come before the courts “time and time again” for offences of low-level violence and criminal damage.
He said courts had repeatedly given him chances by imposing community orders and suspended sentences but it seemed he was incapable of taking those chances.
The judge told him: “The time has come for you to learn that the courts mean business. It is time to grow up, behave yourself, and respect orders made by the courts.”
With a discount for his guilty plea, Jones was sentenced to two months in prison, and the judge activated two months of the previously imposed suspended sentence to run consecutively, making an overall sentence of four months.
He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence.