A MAN has been fined £2,500 and encouraged to stop drinking after admitting getting into a fight while he was drunk on licensed premises.
Christopher Joseph Couillard (36) got into a “verbal argument” at the Pembroke pub in January, which then escalated into “a physical altercation” with another man, the Magistrate’s Court heard on Monday.
During the argument, he pushed a woman to the ground and pinned the man to the floor.
Couillard was described as “intoxicated” with “slurred speech” when he was arrested later in the evening.
Advocate Chris Baglin, defending, said that Couillard had entered a guilty plea at the first opportunity and that he was at low risk of reoffending.
Handing down the sentence, Magistrate Bridget Shaw encouraged Couillard not to drink at all.
She said: “[This] is not the way a responsible adult behaves in public or in private.
“Violence, losing your temper, heavy drinking is not the way to resolve any disagreement you might have with a friend.
“The friend didn’t make a complaint in this case. If he had done, I think it is likely you would be facing a charge of assault today.”
She added: “You have to be aware that alcohol is obviously a disinhibitor. So it you hdan’t been drinking, it might be that you would have kept your temper and your wouldn’t have ended up here today.
“You are still socialising in licensed premises, so you still have to be very careful about the amount you drink.
“Maybe not drinking at all would be the better option.
“You are lucky, on this occasion, you are not facing a more serious charge and that you didn’t cause a more serious injury. If you had hurt someone, you would have been entirely responsible for that. You cannot put the blame on the drink.”
Magistrate Shaw imposed a £2,500 fine and banned Couillard from venues with category 1, 4 and 7 licenses. She said he could continue to frequent restaurants, but encouraged him not to drink there.
