‘Landlord punched me and spat in my face’ (From Wiltshire Times)

‘Landlord punched me and spat in my face’

8:40am Friday 12th March 2010 in News By Craig Evry

Shaun Smith

A pub landlord landed a string of punches onto the head of his former barmaid’s husband in front of shocked customers, a court heard.

CCTV footage showing the landlord of the Malt House, Glyn York, battering Shaun Smith around the head, was shown during a trial held at Chippenham Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

York, 63, of Avondale Court, Yerbury Street, Trowbridge, was found guilty of common assault, despite insisting he acted in self-defence to protect himself against a man he alleges has waged a vendetta of intimidation against him and his business.

Mr Smith, 43, whose wife Lisa, a former barmaid at the pub, was sacked by York in the spring, told the court how the landlord confronted him at the pub in Roundstone Street on August 16.

He said he arrived at the pub between 11pm and 11.30pm and acknowledged Mr York, who was on a night off and sitting with friends. He said he had about three pints, but decided to leave at about 1am as York was ‘looking at him’.

He said: “Mr York stood up and confronted me. He said my wife was a ******* slag. I told him to ‘shut up’.

Following this exchange, Mr Smith said York punched him in the right eye, before saying ‘it’s my ******* town, don’t tell me what to do’.

“He was shouting abuse about my wife”, Mr Smith said. “I said ‘you’re too old, sit down’. He continued with four to five punches. Then he spat at me in the face. “I felt sickened that someone had spat at me. That upset me more than the blows.”

Mr Smith said he suffered bruising to the right eye and a fractured jaw.

He denied provoking the attack by headbutting Mr York first, which the landlord used as a defence in both police interview and in court.

In court, it was revealed Mr Smith has four previous convictions, including two for wounding.

Witnesses included 18-year-old Victoria Chilton, whose boyfriend was working behind the bar on the night.

She described hearing York hurling insults at Mr Smith about his wife, before saying he was ‘going to bury him’.

“I saw Mr York punch Shaun,” she said. “It looked to me quite hard. I thought Shaun was going to retaliate but he didn’t.”

Miss Chilton said she saw further punches and the spitting incident.

Other customers to see the fracas were sisters Christine Newman, Dorothy Burke and Shirley Collier, who all saw York punch Mr Smith.

Defending himself, York said he lashed out after being headbutted first, because he was scared of what Mr Smith was capable of.

“I had issues with Mr Smith’s wife who I had to fire,” he said. “Since then I have had a vendetta against me personally for at least seven months which has included violence, disruption to my property and business and intimidation of customers.

“When he headbutted me I was defending myself in fear of what he does to people. This man is evil, he’s twisted.”

York admitted he was forced out of the pub because of the number of violent incidents there and said he was now unemployed.

In police interview, York admitted to throwing one punch, but when he was told he had fractured Mr Smith’s bone, he replied ‘good’.

Magistrates ordered York to pay a £150 fine and £500 court costs, plus a £15 victim surcharge. No compensation was ordered, as magistrates ruled they didn’t want to ‘exacerbate the bad blood’ between the two men.