A 58-year-old man has been given a 12-month suspended prison sentence after strangling a member of staff at Bath Marina and Caravan Park at Newbridge.
Bath Magistrates’ Court
Mark Phillips, who lives on a boat at the marina, initially appeared at Bath Magistrates’ Court in January to plead guilty to intentionally strangling Robin Vance on 13th May last year.
Phillips also admitted that on 15th May 2024, he had caused Mr Vance harassment, alarm or distress by using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, and on the same day assaulted PC Stephen Merryweather in the execution of his duty.
Magistrates had adjourned the case until Wednesday 18th March for a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the Probation Service.
Prosecuting, Kevin Withey told the court last Wednesday that Phillips had sworn at Mr Vance and told him: “I am going to kill you.”
He had squeezed Mr Vance’s neck “very hard” for about 20 to 30 seconds. Mr Vance had “feared for his life”.
Mr Withey said Mr Vance had been able to extricate himself and a complaint was made to the police. Two days later, when Phillips again saw Mr Vance at the marina, he threatened that he would make him drink dried battery acid.
Mr Vance called 999 and the police attended. Phillips swore at the police officer and struck him in the face with his arm. He was restrained and arrested.
Defending himself, Phillips told the court that he suffers from epilepsy and “tends to go a bit awkward in certain situations”. His condition has got worse since retiring, as he now has more time on his hands.
Phillips, who bought a boat for his retirement, said he had been asking for the wobbly mooring at the marina at Brassmill Lane to be fixed for between eight and 10 months as it was a “disgrace” and not safe for his 80-year-old mother.
He said he had been told “yes, yes, yes, we will do it”, but it had not been done.
“In the end I blew a fuse basically,” he told the court. He explained that he’d offered to pay Mr Vance compensation as a gesture to say sorry and to prevent the matter from going to court.
He described his victim as “a lovely man” and added: “It all went wrong. I am very, very sorry.”
Phillips also said that when arrested, he was taken to hospital as he was hallucinating. He told the bench he has been seeking help through Talking Therapies.
Magistrates said that only a custodial sentence could be justified for what Phillips had done. They gave him a 12-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, for the intentional strangulation of Mr Vance.
They also have him a concurrent suspended sentence of three months for the assault on the police officer and one month for the public order offence.
Under an 18-month community order, Phillips must also do 130 hours of unpaid work and 23 rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) days.
Magistrates ordered Phillips to pay Mr Vance £2,000 compensation for the trauma he suffered and to £500 to PC Merryweather.
Phillips must also pay prosecution costs of £85 and a court surcharge of £187.
