ABSTRACT
The defendant had, on the relevant evening, been in the company of four friends. They had been in a public house and later they went to a club. During the evening, the defendant consumed a quantity of alcohol. He and his four friends left the club together and made their way along the road to a position outside Maskrey’s shop. There the defendant and one of his friends, David Woodhouse, were laughing, joking, and larking around. Woodhouse pushed the defendant who then started flailing his arms and legs, contriving not to make any contact with Mr Woodhouse. Mr Woodhouse issued a warning to the defendant that he might one day hurt someone. The defendant assured Woodhouse that he had everything under control and, to prove it, he made as if to strike the window with his foot. His foot, however, did make contact with the window and broke it. The defendant was the holder of a green belt and yellow belt in the Korean art of self-defence. He was a skilled and experienced practitioner of that art.
