'Paranoid' monkey dust user head-butted community support officer while high in Telford town centre

Jonathan Beatty-Thomas, aged 33, head-butted a police community support officer (PCSO) in Southwater, Telford, on March 3 this year. It came less than four months after he attacked an officer in Shrewsbury.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard how in this latest incident, PCSOs were approached at around 8.40pm by members of the public, who were concerned about Beatty-Thomas's "volatile" behaviour.

When officers went towards him, he was waving his arms and he reached for his waistband, suggesting he might draw a weapon. Officers called for back-up and security staff working in the area joined to help.

As Beatty-Thomas' arms were being restrained, he lunged forward and head-butted an officer, who was left with bruising and swelling to his face.

Olivia Appleby, prosecuting, told the court that Beatty-Thomas was handed a suspended sentence for his previous attack on a police officer, which took place in November, and that this offence put him in breach of the order. She said the offence is "aggravated" by the fact it was committed against an officer of the law, and that Beatty-Thomas was "determined to cause some injury".

Beatty-Thomas, of Sandcroft, Sutton Hill, pleaded guilty to one count of assault by beating of an emergency worker. He has 46 previous convictions for 90 offences on his record.

Kevin Jones, mitigating, said that Beatty-Thomas was under the influence of monkey dust - a drug which is currently class B but could be reclassified as a class A substance in the near future. "It left him paranoid and aggressive," Mr Jones said. He added that Beatty-Thomas' reliance on substances has been improved since he has been in custody.

Judge Peter Barrie told Beatty-Thomas his drug use may be an explanation but is "not an excuse" for what he did. "You were behaving in a way that caused concern to members of the public and police community support officers," he said. "You have a record for repeatedly breaching criminal behaviour orders."

He activated Beatty-Thomas' eight-week suspended prison sentence for the Shrewsbury police assault incident from last November, and sentenced him to 12 weeks for the Telford head-butt in March this year, meaning he will serve a total jail term of 20 weeks. He will have 12 months of post-release supervision when he is freed from custody.