Man who attacked five men in Brackley and assaulted police officer avoids jail

Richard Murray, aged 33, of Hayman Road, Brackley, assaulted a group of men who were standing outside a mobile kebab van in Market Square, Brackley, in the early hours of the morning.

Northampton Crown Court heard Murray came “out of the blue” and barged one of the group in the chest and said “there are five of you, one of me. I’ll take you all on.”

Luke Blackburn, prosecuting, said Murray punched one of the men in the face, pushed another in the chest and took a kebab from a different member of the group.

A lone female police officer arrived at the scene and she attempted to remove Murray from the group.

However, after being arrested and handcuffed he attempted to break free, causing him and the police officer to fall to the ground. The police officer suffered a badly sprained wrist.

Recorder Martin Butterworth said Murray should be ashamed at acting like a “drunken teenager.”

After hearing that Murray was in employment, Recorder Butterworth said he believed the best way of dealing with the case was a “challenging community order”.

Murray, who pleaded guilty to affray and assaulting a police officer, must complete 100 hours unpaid work and a nine-month drug and alcohol rehabilitation order. He must also pay £150 compensation to the victims of the affray and £300 to the police officer.

He was also given a four-month curfew, from 8pm to 6am, which applies on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.