An Eden Valley farm worker violated his night time curfew and flouted a court order by helping a cow, a court heard.
Christopher Stainton, 25, was spared prison late last year as he was sentenced for fracturing a man’s jaw in a one-punch night time attack in Penrith town centre.
After Stainton admitted causing the man grievous bodily harm, he was given a suspended prison sentence with requirements. These included a night time curfew and alcohol abstinence monitoring.
Judge Nicholas Barker said that was a last chance, and ordered the sentence to run alongside a previously imposed suspended prison term. That had been handed down for offences including dangerous driving, arising out of a high speed Eden police chase.
But Stainton, of Renwick, was back at Carlisle Crown Court when he admitted a suspended sentence breach.
Prosecuting for the probation service, Olivia Beesley said: “There are seven hours of curfew violations. A warning letter was sent. There was no response from Mr Stainton.”
The breach — admitted by Stainton — was committed on November 9 and 10. The court heard Stainton had tackled the alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement successfully, and attended probation service appointments. A probation officer recommended that the order should continue.
Asked to explain the curfew breach, Stainton said from the dock: “I had to help a cow as part of work.”
Judge Barker asked him: “Did you think that was going to cause you a problem with the court?” Stainton replied: “Yeah. There was no one else there. I did ring the probation officer when I came back in.”
Judge Barker ruled that the order should continue but extended the alcohol monitoring requirement by one month.
“I remember well this case involving a fight in Penrith,” he said. “I remember having to think long and hard about whether or not, given your history, you should be subjected to a community order or whether you should be locked up.”
Generously, said the judge, the defendant had avoided jail. But he warned Stainton that the future alternative to him choosing work over a court order would be losing his liberty.
“No cow is going to get help from you then,” said Judge Barker, “calving, bad foot or whatever.”
