Rugby fan’s visit ends in the cells

First-time offender David Robinson (48), of Horsham, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to assaulting a member of the door staff at the Royal Yacht in the early hours of Saturday.

The defendant appeared in the dock with a black eye that he had apparently suffered during the melée. He was fined £500 and ordered to pay £600 compensation for damaging the doorman’s tooth.

Centenier Peter Garrett said that at about 1.40 am the doorman saw an altercation inside the premises involving people wearing rugby shirts.

The doorman intervened and the defendant resisted so he was taken to the ground. During the struggle Robinson connected a punch with the doorman’s cheek and then punched him a second time.

Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris said that it would appear that a number of people were pushing each other and the incident blew up from there.

‘From what I understand, Mr Robinson was just gracing our shores for the weekend but did not see much of them,’ he said.

Advocate Catriona Fogarty, defending, said her client was the managing director of a successful engineering company in the UK and had never been in any trouble before and was well able to pay a fine.

In sentencing, Mr Harris said: ‘You should not have got involved as you are old enough to have seen that type of behaviour before. I am mindful of the fact that you have spent the weekend in custody and I wouldn’t have sent you to custody.’

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