A Harrogate man has been handed a suspended prison sentence after magistrates told him they were giving him a chance to avoid getting into more trouble.

Aaron Peter Wilson, 44, of Russell Street, appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court to be sentenced on 16 charges on Friday.

The offences were committed on six separate dates between July 2022 and March this year.

They included six counts of assaulting people by beating them and one of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of violence.

There were also eight counts of criminal damage, all of which were committed on cars in Harrogate and Knaresborough. The value of the damage caused ranged from £11.85 to £510.

Prosecuting, Alison Whitely told magistrates the victims had often encountered Wilson in the street:

“These people are members of the public minding their own business who have been randomly picked on, either by their property being damaged or being assaulted.”

Ms Whiteley highlighted Wilson’s history, which included 26 previous offences.

She said some of the crimes he was being sentenced for on Friday were committed while he was subject to a community order for a separate offence.

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However, in defence, Martin Townend of Watson Woodhouse Solicitors told the court that most of the offences took place between July and September 2022, with just one incident in March 2023.

He said Wilson had been out of trouble since his last conviction in 2018, a period when he was “in a good state of health”.

He said:

“Mr Wilson has been diagnosed with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]. When he was younger, he did some voluntary work in Bosnia when the conflict was in force.

“He saw things in that country that have affected his mental health. When he has flashbacks, he drinks to make those flashbacks stop.”

Drinking problems

Mr Townend said all Wilson’s offending had occurred when he had been drinking. He often then made loud comments in public, such as accusing people of being drug dealers or paedophiles, causing strangers to object, which led him to lash out.

Since the last offence, Mr Townend said Wilson had found work through one local charity and was volunteering with another. He had also joined an organisation offering support with staying sober.

Mr Townend added:

“In the main, he is sticking to not drinking, because he realises the drink is the catalyst for this behaviour… he has started to look at himself, not really like what he has seen, and he has taken steps himself to do something about it.”

The magistrates were given a lengthy report to consider, including psychiatric assessments, before deciding how to sentence Wilson.

For all 16 offences, he was given a total prison sentence of 26 weeks, suspended for 18 months.

He was also ordered to wear an alcohol tag for 120 days, meaning if he drinks during that time he will be made to return to court if he drinks. He must also complete 30 days of rehabilitation activity.

Magistrates imposed a victim surcharge of £154, but did not award costs because of Wilson’s limited means. Nor did they award compensation, saying no invoices had been submitted to account for the value of the damage done to the cars.

Wilson was warned that some of the three magistrates had wanted to send him straight to prison. The suspended sentence, he was told, was a “very serious order” and if he got in any trouble during its term, or failed to comply with the other requirements, he would be jailed.

A Birstwith man has been found guilty of assaulting a man and damaging his BMW after an altercation on Waterside, Knaresborough.

Aaron Peter Wilson, 43, had been riding a bike east along the road when his pedal collided with the black car, which was being parked by its owner.

Wilson did not stop at the scene, but carried on riding along the road.

Giving evidence at Harrogate Magistrates Court today, the victim said:

“I got back in and I pursued him with the car and parked up probably about 10 metres away from him. I got out and went to go and confront him.

“He was standing in the middle of the road with the bike at his feet. He was inflated, aggressive. He had flexed muscles and was trying to look a bigger person than he was.

“He was very threatening.”

He said Wilson then put his bike between the two of them, before grabbing the victim’s shirt around the collar, causing a deep scratch to his shoulder. He added:

“I was being choked because I had a button-up collar. The buttons were done up, except the top one.”

A member of the public arrived on the scene and the pair tried to stop Wilson leaving by blocking his path. Wilson then began knocking on nearby doors, before entering the garden of a house and lying down.

Meanwhile, the victim had called the police, who arrived a few minutes later and arrested Wilson.

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Defending, Martin Townend of Watson Woodhouse Solicitors, argued Wilson was acting in self-defence after the collision, which took place around 10.30pm on July 24 this year.

Mr Townend said the victim began shouting at Wilson and chased him in his car, with the other man joining him in a way that left Wilson fearing for his safety.

Giving evidence, Wilson – whose address on the court lists was in High Birstwith but who was said in court to be of no fixed address – said:

“Thank God I went into that property and laid down. They didn’t cross the threshold.

“They were threatening me. That’s why I went into the property and laid down, just hoping the police would turn up.”

However, magistrates were unconvinced by his argument and said his evidence as a whole was “really not consistent”.

They found him guilty of both causing damage to the BMW and assaulting the man by beating him.

Further charges

Wilson then changed his plea on two other charges relating to an incident at Nidderdale House on Cambridge Road, Harrogate, on July 16. He admitted assaulting a man by beating him, and using threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

He also entered a guilty plea to causing more than £1,100 of damage to a Volvo in Harrogate on July 3.

Magistrates requested a pre-sentence report before he appears again for sentence on January 12.

In the meantime, he remains in prison for breaching a community order handed to him on a separate charge.