Jailed: Man who punched a woman and attacked police as New Year dawned

The man who committed the first crime of 2020 in York has been jailed.

Darren Robert Hamilton, 31, saw in the New Year by assaulting members of the public and police officers in the city centre.

Hamilton, from Stockton-on-Tees, was sentenced to 36 weeks behind bars for assault, two counts of common assault and three counts of assaulting an emergency worker.

North Yorkshire Police were called at 11.50pm on 31 December 2019 to a report of a man acting aggressively in the Principal Hotel on Station Road.

Officers established the man had punched a woman and threatened staff before leaving.

A police patrol located a man matching his description on Rougier Street a short time later.

At 12.01am on 1 January 2020, Hamilton was arrested, but he assaulted two officers and ran off. He assaulted a further officer after he was caught and handcuffed nearby.

He was charged, and appeared at York Magistrates Court on 2 January 2020, where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced.

In addition to being jailed, Hamilton must pay a victim surcharge of £122.

His crime was the first referred to in our report on Monday: