A MAN suffering from trauma from injuries caused by a car crash was hurt in an incident that led to police arresting him, Chester Magistrates Court has heard.
Kieran Houghton, 41 and of Winchester Avenue, pleaded guilty to two charges of using threatening or abusive words to cause alarm or distress and also obstructing a constable in the execution of duty on Tuesday.
Magistrates heard that on December 22 last year, Houghton was seen in Whitby Road ‘screaming in the street’ and a 999 call had been made with similar reports.
A PC Lindforth attended the call and found Houghton behaving erratically and that his pupils were ‘dilated’, he was ‘demonstrating great strength’ and his jaw was moving left to right ‘involuntarily’.
Prosecutor Valeriya Tonkinson added that he was also in front of members of the public which was causing concern.
Police tried to move him from the road but he pushed back, leading to PC Lindforth using pepper spray in his eyes.
Mrs Tonkinson added that through the incident, Houghton was shouting that ‘he couldn’t breathe’ while also asking for the officer to show him identification and that he needed help.
However, police continued to try and restrain him and when successful, took him to hospital for his inability to breathe.
Stevie Bate, defending, explained the full context of the incident to the court, stating that her client was distressed because he had nearly been hit by a passing vehicle.
She added that he had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from being in a car accident and that he was also on medication for paranoia.
He had not taken his medication which ‘leads his behaviour to being like on drink and drugs’.
Ms Bate added: “He said he was extremely stressed because of the previous incident and his PTSD was triggered by being approached by the police.
“There is no evidence that he acted violently towards them and that his size as a big and tall gentlemen would be why it was difficult for them to arrest him.
“That incident also broke his ribs hence why he was shouting he couldn’t breathe which was later proven at hospital.
“He also accepts that his behaviour caused others distress.”
Sentencing him, magistrates said: “This has obviously been very stressful for you and we will treat this by means of a financial penalty.”
He was fined £80 and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £32.
