A man who drove into another man on a filling station forecourt in a dispute over a suspected fake £1 coin has been ordered by a court to pay out more than £300.
Danial Jordan Gaunt, 22, of Priestgate, Nafferton pleaded guilty to a charge of assault by beating when he appeared before magistrates in Bridlington.
He also admitted being in breach of a conditional discharge imposed on September 19 for theft.
Prosecutor Andrew Vaughan told the court that at 2.30pm on February 28 Gaunt went into the filling station at Thornholme to pay for £6 worth of petrol. A dispute broke out between Gaunt, a welder, and petrol station owner Mr Boyes, who suspected that one of the £1 coins he had tried to pay for the fuel with was counterfeit.
Gaunt tried to find alternative money but fell short of the required £6.
“There’s a heated argument between Mr Boyes, his mechanic Mr Hutchinson, and the defendant who is sitting in his car with the engine running.”
Also on the forecourt was Desmond O’Brien who thought a theft was taking place, the court heard. “He puts himself in front of the vehicle. The defendant drives, knocking
In mitigation Robert Vining said: “One word sums this up - ‘panic’. The defendant was in fear of what was going to happen to him. He was surrounded by people in a situation where he was totally innocent.”
“He wasn’t trying to escape, he had given them the money and got in his car. They were shouting outside, one of them was a big mechanic and the one who got assaulted is a door supervisor,” he added.
Gaunt was fined £170, ordered to pay £50 compensation to the victim, and £50 for breach of his conditional discharge which was ordered to continue.
He must also pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £22.