A ‘BELLIGERENT’ man with ‘an appalling drinking problem’ has been jailed for several assaults on emergency workers in the form of spitting.

Luke Woodburn, of Salthouse Road, Barrow, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court on October 24 after admitting three counts of assaulting an emergency worker, two counts of using threatening/abusive/insulting words/behaviour with intent to cause fear of unlawful violence and a for assault by beating on February 1 and March 3 this year.

The 27-year-old was due to be punished for the offences last week, but His Honour Judge Michael Maher refused to pass sentence due to the defendant turning up to court ‘blind drunk’.

READ MORE: Judge refuses to sentence defendant who turned up to court 'blind drunk'

Judge Maher said Wilson made ‘a thorough nuisance of himself’ when police and fire crews attended the scene of a house fire on Derby Street in Barrow on February 1 at around 10:00pm.

Prosecutor Peter Wilson said: “The defendant was disruptive and aggressive when hampering the efforts of the emergency services to deal with the blaze inside the house.”

The court heard Woodburn was knocked to the ground by another male, which was the catalyst for his aggresion towards PC Burrows and PC Herron who were trying to break the incident up.

Mr Wilson said: “The defendant threatened to kill PC Klijn before spitting in the face of PC Burrows. He then threatened to spit in the officer's mouth.

Woodburn was caught spitting at emergency service workers once again on March 3 whilst in the presence of women and young children in the A&E department at Furness General Hospital, the court heard.

Whilst checking in with the receptionist for chest pains, the court was told Woodburn was abusive towards the worker.

He told the receptionist: ‘When are am I going to be seen? If I have a cardiac arrest, it will be your fault’.

Mr Wilson added: “The defendant became disruptive when officers took him to the floor using their PAVA spray.

"He then spat at PC Bleasedale and a security guard who was helping the officer to apprehend him.”

The court was told Woodburn had 19 previous convictions for 37 offences.

His barrister Caitlen Corrigan apologised to the court for his behaviour on the last occasion.

In mitigation, she said: “There is a common thread to his offending and that is alcohol. He suffers when he is intoxicated and partakes in these kinds of events. He has been on a detox for the past week in custody and is grateful for that.

“The disruption to the complainants is minimal. Thankfully, no one sustained any actual injuries.

"He understands there could be an immediate custodial sentence imposed on him today. This was part of the reason he was drinking before the hearing last week.

Jailing Woodburn for 11 months, Judge Maher said: “You seem to spit at officers at an alarming regularity.

"You were belligerent to emergency workers who were trying to do their job. The violence is disgusting, albeit very short lived.

“This is completely unacceptable and that is putting it mildly. There is something of a Jekyll and Hyde attitude when you have alcohol inside you.

!You have an appalling drink problem, yet you continue to bite the hand that tries to feed you with the assistance that you are offered.

“Nothing other than an immediate sentence will deal with this.”