Defendant Attacked At Ely Court House

A DEFENDANT was attacked at Ely court house after being accused of giving information to the police.

David Jeakins was punched in the face by Thomas Constable, falling on a table after passing under the metal detector.

Thomas Constable - who was in court that day facing a drugs charge - had accused David Jeakins of giving information to the police about the offence.

"He punched Mr Jeakins in the face," prosecutor Penny Cannon told Ely magistrates on Thursday.

"Security staff acted immediately; Mr Jeakins was left with a red mark on his face."

Constable, 23, of Ten Mile Bank, Littleport, admitted assaulting Mr Jeakins during the incident on October 29.

"Both the victim and Constable were attending court as defendants, but in unrelated cases," said Mrs Cannon.

"When Mr Jeakins got to the court he noticed Thomas Constable; they had known each other for sometime, until recently they were friends.

"Constable accused Mr Jeakins and his partner of passing information to the police regarding his drugs offence.

"Constable asked for a chat, but the chat turned nasty. Constable asked Mr Jeakins to go outside, but he refused."

When interviewed by police, Constable said he believed Mr Jeakins had given information to the police. He challenged Mr Jeakins, lost his temper, and punched him in the head.

Mitigating, Catherine Bradd said: "He accepts he punched the complainant. It was more a case of them both squaring up to one another.

"My client's home was raided on a drugs warrant, he was told police were given information that he had been supplying drugs, but he was simply a cannabis user."

She said Constable, who admitted possessing cannabis during his court appearance on October 29, had since given up the drug.

This week magistrates ordered Constable to pay �100 compensation to his victim, carry out 40 hours of unpaid work, and pay �85 costs.