Judge's warning to chippy tea thug after what he did to security guard

A drunk man bit a security guard after being accused of stealing and crashing a golf buggy during the Open Championship. Simon Lloyd was detained by staff after the cart was taken while the tournament was being hosted at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake in summer last year.

The 47-year-old however denied that he was responsible for the theft and smashing the vehicle into an on-site building, and also claimed that he was acting in self-defence once apprehended. He has been on trial at Liverpool Crown Court and was unanimously found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm this afternoon, Monday.

Lloyd, who were a suit, shirt and tie in the dock, showed no reaction as the verdict was returned after around 45 minutes of deliberations. He will be sentenced on October 4, with jurors having been instructed to return a not guilty verdict on a second charge of aggravated vehicle taking after the Crown Prosecution Service indicated that it would be offering no evidence on this count midway through the case.

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David Polglase told a jury of seven men and five women during the prosecution's opening last week: "In July of last year, 2023, the Royal Liverpool in Hoylake hosted the 151st Open Golf Championship. As you would expect with such a large event, there was a large security and police presence.

"It appears that Netflix were doing some work there and a production manager from an outfit called World Feed Broadcast had hired out a golf buggy to Netflix for use by a particular person, not just anyone. You will hear from some of those employed by G4S as security staff at that golf tournament last year.

"They will tell you about an incident that took place on the evening of the 18th of July 2023, just before half past eight in the evening. That involved this defendant, and brings him into the dock here at Liverpool Crown Court.

"What do the prosecution say that this defendant did? In a nutshell, this. He was intoxicated. He took the golf buggy that I’ve referred to and drove it towards an exit, past some temporary buildings on the site.

"He had no entitlement to do so. He wasn’t a person allowed to drive that buggy. Members of the jury, he didn’t drive it particularly far. But, we say, he managed to drive it into a metal hut not too far from where the buggy had been parked.

"Having, before setting off on that journey, reversed into some fencing, he caused damage to the hut and the buggy. Security staff became aware of what had happened.

"This defendant was detained by security staff. He was being aggressive and violent, the prosecution say. One of the security staff that was involved in detaining the defendant was John Bilsborough. He was assaulted by the defendant and that assault included biting him to the finger and thumb, causing injury."

Lloyd, of Bertram Close in Meols, Wirral, was subsequently arrested and found to be nearly twice the legal limit for drink driving when breathalysed. He made no comment under interview.

Mr Polglase added: "It appears that the defendant's case is that he was defending himself from being assaulted in using force during the incident that led to Mr Bilsborough receiving an injury. He denies doing anything, it seems, to deliberately injure Mr Bilsborough.

"He denies that it was he who in fact took the buggy. He denies being the driver of the buggy that caused the damage in driving into the hut."

Mr Polglase told the court today that Lloyd has one previous conviction for assault following "an incident when the defendant and another man were driving, which involved him throwing a chippy tea at him". This resulted in him being handed a community order in February this year.

The ECHO reported at the time that a British Gas engineer had the food launched into his face as the takeaway wielding attacker sat behind the wheel of his Range Rover. The victim was left covered in curry, chips and rice after the furious motorist - who was identified after fleeing the scene in such a hurry that he left his shoes and sunglasses behind - hurled his tray of food through the window of his van.

An earlier trial before the same court heard that Neil Reeve was working in the Wirral area on August 25 2022 and had finished a job on North Parade in Hoylake at around 1pm. He drove off and continued onto Meols Parade before turning right onto Roman Road, where Lloyd attempted to overtake him in his silver Range Rover but was unable to do so due to there being another car in front of the white van.

He then drew level with the complainant on the wrong side of the road. Both had their windows down, and Mr Reeve asked him: "What are you doing?"

An angered Lloyd responded by shouting and swearing, at which the gas man drove on slowly. Sarah Holt, prosecuting, outlined how the defendant then overtook him but stopped at the roadside.

As Mr Reeve passed him, he was hit by the meal that the other driver had purchased at a chip shop moments earlier. He described "feeling the hot curry sauce on his neck" following the assault, and was forced to pull over as he was "covered in food".

Lloyd was then said to have begun trying to punch him and subsequently tackled him to the ground after both men got of of their vehicles. However, he was cleared of a count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to this part of the incident.

He then drove away "in such a hurry" that he left his shoes and sunglasses behind. The occupants of a nearby house meanwhile took Mr Reeve in and gave him a cup of tea.

Lloyd subsequently told detectives under interview that the other motorist had verbally abused and spat at him, and that he had then thrown his food in "reflex in the heat of the moment". He also stated that he had subsequently pushed the other man away in self-defence after he "came at him".

Mr Reeve was unable to continue working for the rest of the day as a result of the attack. His van was also unusable for several weeks.

Lloyd, who was represented by Jonathan Duffy during his latest court appearance, was released on bail ahead of his sentencing next month. Judge Robert Trevor-Jones, who presided over the trial, told him: "You now stand convicted by the jury of this remaining count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

"I am going to adjourn sentence so that I can receive the contents of a pre-sentence report and also a progress report as to the extent of your compliance with the requirements of the community order. I give this warning to you.

"The fact that I am adjourning sentence and extending your bail should not be taken as any indication as to the likely sentence. All options remain open. Do you understand?" Lloyd replied: "I do."