OAP, 76, jailed for assaulting nine people and damaging Swindon pub

A Swindon pensioner has been put behind bars after assaulting nine people and causing damage to a pub.

George Cox, whose address was given as Sheppard Street, a care home on Marlborough Road, and no fixed abode, depending on the charge, appeared before magistrates in Salisbury earlier this month to be sentenced for 16 offences.

The 76-year-old pleaded guilty to seven counts of assault by beating, two counts of assaulting by beating of an emergency worker, two counts of criminal damage, one count of threatening to damage property, and four counts of using threatening abusive, or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm, or distress – two of which were racially aggravated.

George Cox (Image: Wiltshire Police)

On December 17, 2023, he assaulted a man in Swindon.

On December 18, he beat up two women and three other men, and used racially-aggravated threats as well as other abusive behaviour to distress the previous day’s victim. He also threatened to damage a computer belonging to Great Western Hospital and destroyed a £10 Wiltshire Police PACE Codes of Practice book.

On December 20, he assaulted two police officers.

On January 15, 2024, he assaulted a man and used threatening or abusive words or behaviour towards a victim.

On January 25, he used racially-aggressive threats and abuse towards two people and damaged a carpet and a kettle worth £530 altogether which belonged to The White Hart pub in Wroughton.

For this spree of offending, he has been jailed for 12 months, partly because the offences he committed are so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified, and partly because - as the court records note - "the defendant has a flagrant disregard for court orders, people, and their property".

The defendant must also pay £50 in compensation to each assault victim apart from the man he was racist towards on December 18, who is owed £150 in compensation.

Cox also owes The White Hart pub £540 in compensation for the damage he caused.

In 2019, he appeared in court for attacking a hospital nurse with his metal walking stick after doctors tried to send him home from the wards.

He hit his victim four times on the head and neck while she was sitting at her desk, leaving her with a cut on her head that needed to be glued.

For that offence, he had to pay hundreds of pounds in fines and compensation.