Man, 63, told “getting too long in the tooth” for street fight

A 63-year-old Warrington man was told by a judge that he was “getting a bit too long in the tooth” to be involved in altercations, after clipping another man with his car, knocking him to the ground.

Peter Clarke had earlier lunged at victim Jeremy Noonan and his son Lewis during the row outside the Noonan’s home but fortunately, neither man was seriously injured.

A judge, who saw CCTV footage of the two incidents, told the 63-year-old dad, “You are getting a bit long in the tooth to be behaving like this, you really are.

“The trouble is people watching are put in fear, they don’t want to see people like yourself fighting in the street, it is appalling.
“I would advise you very carefully to think twice before getting involved in confrontations again,” said Judge Garrett Byrne.
Clarke, of Princess Avenue, Poulton-with-Fearnhead, pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour and careless driving.

Cecilia Pritchard, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court yesterday (Tue) that on August 31, 2022 Clarke visited Canada Close, Warrington, where his daughter then lived.
An argument developed between him and Jeremy Noonan, who also lived in the close, about an earlier incident and Mr Noonan’s son Lewis was also present.
Clarke shouted that if his wife got pushed again, “It will be the last thing you do, next time I’ll rip your head off.”
He appeared confrontational with his fists clenched as if he wanted to start a fight, said Miss Pritchard.
Clarke got into his white 4 x 4 vehicle and set off and collided with Jeremy Noonan who fell to the floor hurting his elbow.
“There was a further altercation between the three of them and the defendant then drove off.”

Zahra Baqri, defending, said that Clarke, who had previous convictions many years ago, had been looking after his family.
He pleaded guilty on the basis that he did not purposefully drive at Mr Noonan but accepted it was his duty as a driver to be careful about people stepping into the road.
“I accept I shouted and swore at them as they approached me and during that exchange, I accept my behaviour as shown in the footage.”
Judge Byrne imposed a 12-month community sentence on Clarke and ordered him to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitation activities.
He also fined him £200 and imposed five penalty points on his driving licence and imposed a five year restraining order.