Man drunkenly attacked stranger, court hears

Assaults on police officers admitted, too

A court’s heard how a man drunkenly attacked a stranger he thought had stolen his mobile phone.

Twenty-three-year-old Liam Luke Kaighin, of no fixed address, admitted four charges when he appeared before magistrates at Douglas courthouse.

He pleaded guilty to assaulting two police officers as well as one count of assault and one of possessing Diazepam.

Prosecution advocate Rebecca Cubbon told the court Kaighin spotted a man outside a restaurant on Empire Terrace in Douglas at around 11.30pm on 23 July.

Kaighin, who was extremely drunk at the time, saw the man on a phone and claimed it belonged to him – the man told him to go away.

But Kaighin responded by punching the man in the back of his neck before making off – police found him nearby a short time later.

When they arrested him, he turned belligerent, spitting into one officer’s eye before spitting on another when he arrived at police headquarters.

Miss Cubbon said when Kaighin was searched as he was taken into custody, officers found 11 unprescribed Diazepam tablets.

There was no application for bail and Kaighin was remanded in custody to appear in court again on 10 October.