A BRICKLAYER who had drunk seven pints at his sister’s wedding in the Bowood Hotel and Country Club assaulted a police officer with a beer glass after his mother had collapsed outside.

Daniel Joseph Drewett, 26, of Hazel View, Kempsford, Gloucestershire, pleaded guilty to assaulting PC Richard Gardner and causing him actual bodily harm when he appeared before North Wiltshire Magistrates on Thursday (aug 4).

Prosecutor Keith Ballinger told the court that at some point during the April 3 wedding reception in Calne, Drewett’s mother was discovered unconscious outside and police were ushering people away from the scene so paramedics could help her.

Mr Ballinger told the magistrates: “As PC Gardener asks Mr Drewett to move away, he stumbles and bumps into the officer and says, ‘You can f*** off.’ He then pushes and punches the officer in the chest with enough force to make him take a step back.

“In the process of arresting him, Mr Drewett moves towards him and struck the left side of his head with a beer glass. As the officer takes him to ground, Mr Drewett continues to lash out at the officer when colleagues stepped in to make the arrest.

“The police officer sustained a cut to the head and had to be taken to hospital. He believed it was an unprovoked attack.”

He said Drewett's last memory of the afternoon was going outside to check on his mother, but that he accepted responsibility for what had happened and he was sorry.

Defending him, Emma Handslip said: “Daniel has no previous convictions and he has never come to police attention before. He badly regrets a loss of his previous good character record.

“All he was trying to do was get to his Mum, but he had no recollection of what he did next.”

Passing sentence, chairman of the magistrates Maria Pitt told the court that Drewett's early guilty plea, previous good character and his regret would be taken into account.

He was given an 18-month suspended sentence, a community order for 200 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £100 in compensation, a victim surcharge of £80 and costs of £85.