16 months in jail for drunken attacks on teenagers and police

Saturday 22 October 2022

A 32-year-old man who punched and headbutted teenagers on a beach in front of families and children, and later broke the rib of a police officer while resisting arrest, has been jailed for 16 months.

William Watton-Roberts, who has 62 previous convictions for 116 offences, was sentenced by the Royal Court on Friday.

At a previous hearing, he had admitted four counts of common assault, one count of violently resisting arrest, one of threatening and abusive behaviour and one of possession of a controlled drug. 

Presenting a summary of the case, Crown Advocate Simon Crowder said that Watton-Roberts had been drunk on the beach by the Dicq Shack on 16 July and had began to sexually touch his girlfriend close to groups of teenagers and families.

Some young people approached the pair to ask them to stop, as it made them uncomfortable.

The Court heard that Watton-Roberts then used insulting, threatening and sexual language towards them before standing up and punching an 18-year-old female in the face. The girl walked away but Watton-Roberts followed her, knocked her phone out of her hand, spat in her face and slapped her right cheek.

Advocate Crowder said: "The defendant [Watton-Roberts] then approached another group of teenagers. A 15-year-old male intervened as he thought his friend was going to be assaulted. "The defendant said: 'If I can't fight a girl now I will fight a lad.' The Defendant headbutted him to the forehead. The young male was knocked backwards in shock but did not fall to the ground. "The defendant walked away and proceeded to argue with another group."

By this time, police officers had arrived and, having spoken to witnesses, including the female victim, who suffered a small cut to her eyelid from the punch and a red cheek from the slap, they arrested Watton-Roberts.

He violently resisted, kicking and kneeing one officer around ten times in his legs, and trying to headbutt another. "More police officers arrived, and the defendant was transported to custody," said Advocate Crowder. "There, he continued to be erratic and abusive and made threats to wait at [an officer's] home to assault him.

"Refusing to leave the van at Police Headquarters, he became aggressive and tried to kick another officer and threaten to headbutt him.

The 32-year-old then threw his legs in the air and wrapped them around the officer's neck and hit him on the back of the head.

Advocate Crowder said that one of the arresting officers had suffered tenderness and soreness in his knees, legs, left elbow and nose, in addition to pain through his back and shoulder from being kicked and kneed. He sought medical treatment the next evening and was found to have a broken rib.

He had to take time off work and could not drive for weeks, pick up anything heavy and had difficulty sleeping.

Defending Watton-Roberts, Advocate Olaf Blakeley said that he did not want to condone his client's behaviour but "to put it in context".

He said that witness statements from the beach suggested that there had been some provocation by the female victim in pouring beer on Watton-Roberts.

He added that his client's violence at Police Headquarters had involved him flailing out rather than aimed assaults.

The lawyer said: "I accept that my client has an amazingly long record of offending but he also had an amazingly difficult childhood. "He has learning difficulties and problems with social behaviour; this is not sentencing a normal person. Each time he is locked away, he leaves prison the same person as he was before.

"He needs the type of assistance which is not always given in prison."

Passing sentence, the Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, who was sitting with Jurats Steven Austin-Vautier and Kim Averty, told Watton-Roberts: "Your actions on the beach were highly unpleasant and must have been very frightening for the families and young people there.

"They were strangers to you and you acted without any provocation that we are able to identify."

He added that police officers were entitled to protection in carrying out "the unenviable task of having to control people like you."

Intoxication would continue to be viewed by the courts as an aggravating rather than a mitigating factor, the judge said.

Sir Timothy said that the Court had taken note of Watton-Roberts' troubled background and the fact that he had expressed regret for the way he had behaved.

The drug charge related to possession of a small quantity of cannabis.