Judge berates 37-year-old Daventry man for 'acting like a teenager' in drunken punch up

The judge said: "I expected to see a 17 year old take the dock today but you are a mature man. This was awful behaviour."
Christopher Webb was scolded for 'acting like a teenager' for drunkenly beating a man in an alleyway near a McDonald's at 4am. He is 37.Christopher Webb was scolded for 'acting like a teenager' for drunkenly beating a man in an alleyway near a McDonald's at 4am. He is 37.
Christopher Webb was scolded for 'acting like a teenager' for drunkenly beating a man in an alleyway near a McDonald's at 4am. He is 37.

A Daventry man who drunkenly beat up another man was berated by a judge for 'acting like a 17-year-old' before being told to pay £2,500 in compensation.

Christopher Webb, of Daventry Road, Norton, was given a dressing down in court for the early morning punch up near a McDonald's as if he were a boy half his age.

The 37-year-old was caught on CCTV at 4am on a pathway off Vicar Lane in March 2020, where he took another man by surprise, punched him to the floor and beat him repeatedly on the pavement.

Apparently ashamed, he handed himself in to a police station the next day.

At Northampton Crown Court on Friday (April 16), His Honour Judge Rupert Mayo told Webb to stand in the dock before scolding him for his behaviour.

"When I read the court papers this morning I expected to see a 17 or 18-year-old in front of me," said the judge. "But you are a mature man.

"This was awful behaviour. You were in an alleyway near McDonald's where people gather after the pubs shut and effectively picked on this man.

"You caused him serious injuries and you're lucky they were not more serious."

The judge spared the 37-year-old immediate jail and instead handed him a suspended sentence of one year and 10 months. He was also ordered to pay £2,500 in compensation to his victim as well as paying court costs.