A HOMELESS man who punched a guard in the face after sneaking back on a train has been jailed.

Karl William Lloyd, of no fixed address, turned and struck Callum Buckle as he left the train at Shotton Station on September 30.

Lloyd, who had been drinking, and three others boarded the train to Wrexham at Neston.

Rhian Jackson, prosecuting at Wrexham Magistrates Court, said Mr Buckle approached them to check their tickets but they did not have them.

Lloyd, 37, tried to pay on his card for the group, but it was declined.

No one else in the group could pay, and Mr Buckle told them they would have to leave the train at Shotton, Miss Jackson added.

They did so, but Lloyd and another man got back on via another door.

Mr Buckle again told them to leave, and as Lloyd was leaving he stopped and punched the guard in the forehead, just above the left eye.

He left the station and was arrested nearby.

In a statement read by Miss Jackson, Mr Buckle said he had to take time off work and lost £170 as a result.

He had felt “down and depressed”, and would wake in the middle of the night thinking about the assault.

Mr Buckle thanked British Transport Police and North Wales Police for their swift action on
the day.

Earlier this year Lloyd was handed a restraining order and a community order for common assault.

A two-week suspended prison sentence was imposed on June 25 after a breach.

 A further breach was dealt with at Wrexham Magistrates Court on August 18, with an extended suspension period imposed and a three-month electronic tag curfew.

In interview, Lloyd admitted to police he had drunk a bottle of brandy for the first time in five years and was having personal problems.

He added he had spun around and punched the guard after he touched his shoulder and told the officer he was “sorry” and had been “out of order”.

Lloyd, who appeared from custody after failing to attend Flintshire Magistrates Court on Monday, pleaded guilty to assault.

Alun Williams, defending, said this was a case where the question was not whether custody was justified, but for how long.

He said Lloyd had always intended to pay for the tickets on the train, but his card declined and the “situation deteriorated from there”.

Lloyd, who was born in Birkenhead and grew up in Neston, had lost his home shortly before the offence, and this had a “profound effect” on him, Mr Williams added.

The medication Lloyd was prescribed for an emotional instability disorder was not working and as a result he had consumed alcohol.

It appeared the effect of the alcohol and medication made him behave in a “very strange way”, Mr Williams said.

He added Lloyd had “lashed out against a background of the alcohol and medication” and was genuinely remorseful.

Magistrates heard Lloyd had attended 19 out of 20 probation appointments and had taken a relationships programme, which appeared not to be part of the order.

Mr Williams hoped that, after a short period of custody, Lloyd could engage with the probation service, find accommodation and get his life back on track.

Magistrates activated the two- week sentence and added a further 10 weeks for the assault and failing to attend court.

Lloyd must pay a £115 surcharge on his release.