Scarborough thug jailed for string of violent incidents - including 'unspeakably cruel' attack on herring gull

Billy Readman, 20, had been spared jail in April last year for wounding and carrying an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, mainly because he was 17 at the time and the court was not aware he was already under investigation for a previous violent offence.

Four months after being handed that “exceptional” sentence, and while still under investigation for the previous matter, Readman was involved in an horrific incident involving a herring gull which he found in a car park in Scarborough.

Readman, a burly figure, grabbed the stricken bird, picked it up and threw it against a brick wall.

He then stamped on its head, said prosecutor Eddison Flint.

He was only charged with an offence under the Public Order Act because it couldn’t be ascertained whether or not the creature was dead before the cruel act.

A woman took footage of the incident on her phone and handed it to police. She described the incident as “disgusting”.

When Readman was interviewed about the incident in October, he admitted the offence and said he found the bird behind a bin in the car park.

He was released under investigation again, but two days later he was involved in a “nasty” fight with another man in which “fists were being thrown” amid a “running battle” in the high street as young women screamed.

Footage of the fight, taken by a young woman, showed the two men brawling and shouting and then one of them having their T-shirt ripped off.

Readman was charged only with threatening behaviour, described by a judge as “massively undercharged”.

He admitted the offence.

This occurred just a few months after he received a court summons for a previous act of violence which occurred way back in December 2020, when he was with a group of seven or eight men who confronted a group of four youths in Peasholm Park.

During the altercation, one of the youths was “jumped” by Readman’s mob and punched and kicked in the face during a joint attack, causing a split lip, bruising and scratches to the forehead, lumps to the back of his head, cuts and swelling to his lip, back pain and bruising to his neck.

The victim tried to walk away but Readman struck him on the arm with a vodka bottle.

Readman, of Beck Lane, Cloughton, was arrested again and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which he ultimately admitted.

He appeared for sentence today (Feb 1) for the delayed ABH matter, the public-order offences and breaching a suspended prison sentence.

Mr Flint said the original matter for which Readman received the suspended sentence occurred in May 2020, when he and three other youths were drinking in an abandoned caravan in Scarborough.

Readman was “arguing and shouting” and assaulted one of the youths, who suffered a partially detached lip which required stitches and damage to his teeth.

The victim was ushered home by one of the other youths but later on, in the early hours of the morning, Readman turned up outside his home, where he was shouting and pulled a pistol out of his waistband.

He pointed the gun at one of the victim’s relatives who went back inside, fearing it was a real firearm.

Readman was charged with wounding and possessing a firearm.

He admitted those offences and was given a 16-month suspended prison sentence in April last year.

He had eight previous convictions for 15 offences including battery, criminal damage, resisting police officers, threatening behaviour, possessing cannabis and assaulting an emergency worker.

Defence barrister Nick Peacock said the root of Readman’s offending was his alcohol problem which was “out of control”.

Judge Sean Morris said Readman had wasted the chance he gave him last spring as he now fell to be sentenced for a series of violent offences including the “nasty” assault in Peasholm Park which he described as “bullying by a bunch of yobs”.

“A young man was jumped on by seven or eight males and you tried to wallop him with a vodka bottle,” added Mr Morris.

“The good people of Scarborough are sick of yobs hanging around Peasholm Park and I will lock people up if they (continue to) turn that park into a boxing ring for their pleasure.”

He told Readman: “I’m afraid when you give somebody a chance on a serious case…and then you throw it in my face by behaving like a yob on the streets, then what do you expect me to do?

“I’m told you need help with your drinking problem.

"Well, I’m going to help you with that (by) sending you somewhere where you won’t be able to touch a drop.”

Readman was handed a 21-month jail sentence, of which he will serve half behind bars.