A beggar who kicked and swore at a pensioner after the older man suggested he get a job appeared before Bath magistrates on Wednesday 8th October.
Prosecutor Marie Doyle told the court that the man, who is in his late 70s, had seen Callum Lean begging in Union Street on 11th June and had offered him some “friendly words of advice”.
He told him he was a young man who should be able to get a job.
The elderly man, who fell and hurt his knee after being kicked, said in a statement a few days following the assault that he used to enjoy walking around the city but was now “scared to go out in Bath”.
Homeless Lean, who is an alcoholic, admitted the assault and that on the same day he failed to comply with a community protection notice.
The 33-year-old also admitted being drunk and disorderly in Stall Street in Bath on 8th June and on the same date causing criminal damage to a police van in Keynsham.
The court heard that Lean would welcome an alcohol treatment requirement (ATR) assessment prior to being sentenced for these offences and others of a similar nature that he had admitted at a previous hearing.
He was granted unconditional bail and will return to court for sentencing on 24th October.
