A LATCHFORD man who was drinking heavily ‘lobbed missiles’ onto a road – hitting a woman.

Robert Syers, of Henshall Avenue, Latchford, appeared in Warrington Magistrates' Court on Friday, where he was charged with causing danger to road users and assault by beating.

The incidents happened on Knutsford Road in Latchford on Thursday, October 4, with Syers receiving a 12-week sentence for his role in the crime, suspended for 12 months.

Chris Maloney, prosecuting, said victim Samantha Thomson heard two male voices swearing above her on a disused railway bridge in a ‘loud and aggressive’ manner.

After seeing stones and beer bottles thrown onto the road and hitting a white Nissan Juke, Ms Thomson came under attack herself and was forced to ‘run for cover’, before continuing to a shop to buy milk.

It was on her way back that she felt a stone graze past her face, leaving her ‘in pain and discomfort’.

She then called police who arrived with the men still throwing objects onto the road and pavement below.

The 26-year-old initially pleaded not guilty to both assaulting Ms Thomson by beating and intentionally causing stones to be thrown which would have been dangerous but changed this to guilty at a hearing last month.

In his mitigation, defence solicitor Gary Heaven said that Syers had been drinking heavily following the death of his grandmother.

Maureen Syers, 83, from Orford, was struck by a vehicle while crossing Winwick Road and died two days previously.

“It is difficult to believe the defendant would have acted like this if sober,” said Heaven, who also revealed the defendant has since disassociated himself from the other people involved and is due to start a new job next week.

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John Nelson, the chair magistrate, added in his closing remarks that the incident crossed the custody threshold due to its ‘serious and disturbing nature’.

The court also heard that Syers has seven previous convictions for eight offences between 2005 and 2015, four of which involved injuring a person.

As well as a suspended sentence, he was issued with a 12-month community order and made to pay £315 in court costs.

The sentencing of another man involved in the incident, Christopher Wood, was adjourned until next week.