Man involved in Whitehaven pub fight spared jail but banned from premises

A man involved in pub violence has been given a suspended prison sentence — and banned from the premises by a judge for six months.

Customers gathered around a table in Whitehaven’s Anchor Vaults as trouble brewed between Gordon Kirkbride, 59, and another man on August 7 last year. Kirkbride had a jacket thrown at him and was then punched by the other man before retaliating.

“It is a pub fight,” prosecutor Peter Barr told Carlisle Crown Court today. “Scuffles. Punches thrown. People fall to the ground.” There were no serious injuries reported, however.

Kirkbride claimed he had been trying to protect the pub landlady, who was taken to the floor by the other man, whose partner Kirkbride admitted punching. That other man had since been sentenced by magistrates for his criminal conduct.

In the crown court, Kirkbride admitted affray and was said to have a number of mental health issues.

After reading background information, Judge Simon Medland QC imposed a six-month prison sentence which he suspended for two years. Kirkbride, of Rudds Court, Whitehaven, must complete a one-month electronically monitored night-time curfew. Judge Medland also banned him from entering the Anchor Vaults for six months.

“You are getting on for 60 and you are too old for behaviour like this,” said Judge Medland. “Whether or not you were trying to protect the landlady of the pub, you are not a bouncer there; you have no right to do that. You ended up in an unseemly fight with this man.”