Man spared jail after threatening parking attendant in city
A parking enforcement officer felt he was going to be head-butted when a man grew irate because he was taking a photograph of his vehicle, a court has heard.
The parking attendant had been on duty along Rouen Road in Norwich and was photographing a vehicle parked by John Mills, when the 40-year-old arrived and began yelling at him.
Norwich Crown Court heard Mills then approached the parking police in a way he “felt was a prelude to a headbutt.
Samantha Lowther, prosecuting, said the parking attendant felt “alarmed and distressed” during the argument at approximately 3.30pm on October 10 last year, but was still able to snap a picture of the defendant.
Mills, previously of no permanent residence, but presently of Bishop Bridge House, Norwich, appeared before court on Monday (January 6).
He confessed using threatening or insulting words and actions with purpose to induce fear or instigate criminal violence.
The defendant also accepted a number of other offenses, including obstructing or resisting a police officer, who had been contacted on August 11 after Mills had gone to an address in Diss he thought his ex-girlfriend had been staying at.
It was the incorrect address, and a lady lived there contacted the police.
Mills tried to resist arrest and attempted to run away, saying the officer “I’ve got a gun” before he had to be put to the ground by cops.
Mills also accepted criminal damage when a door at The Loft nightclub in Norwich was broken on October 11 last year, the day after the altercation with the parking police.
He also acknowledged failing to comply with a request to vacate Prince of Wales Road in Norwich after being urged to do so by police on November 10.
Michael Clare, mitigating, said Mills had undergone a “relapse” and began drinking alcohol again when he became homeless and went “off the rails” for a period of time.
He said the defendant, a groundworker, “behaved like an idiot” but now had housing again, was not drinking and had job lined up.
Imposing a 24-month community order, Recorder Douglas Herbert said he was giving Mills “another chance to put your life in some sort of order”.
He informed Mills he was approximately half-way through his life and advised him to “take the opportunity” and “make the second half a success for yourself”.
Mills was also sentenced to carry out 100 hours of unpaid labor, undertake 15 hours Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) and 120 days alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement.
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