Disabled men fight on floor after Zimmer frames get locked together

Two disabled men ended up thrashing about on the ground with their walking-frames entangled when a long-standing feud came to a head. Roger Willicombe, 65, who lives in a homeless hostel in London Road, Kingsholm, Gloucester, broke his leg in the tussle but found himself in court on an assault charge. He appeared at Gloucester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday in a wheelchair, where he pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault.

Prosecuting solicitor Sharon Green said: "It was in the afternoon of August 20 when the defendant approached David Branagh-Ritchie, who is also a resident at the hostel. The two men do not get on and they have had a long-standing feud over money." The defendant swore at Mr Branagh-Ritchie and told him to come over to him, which he did. Miss Green, said: "The two men squared up to each other and then their walking frames became entangled and they both fell to the floor.



"The defendant then punched the victim to the face several times and had to be restrained by hostel staff. The incident was captured on CCTV and the police were called." The court heard that Mr Branagh-Ritchie suffered swelling and cuts to his cheekbone. Miss Green added: "When he was arrested, the defendant showed no remorse and said he would have done more damage if he had been able to."

In a victim's personal statement, Mr Branagh-Ritchie said that he found the defendant's remarks insulting and offensive." Defending solicitor Jon Holmes said both men had acted in a bad way. He said: "This was a most unsavoury incident. A long-standing dispute flared up into violence and there were abusive exchanges on both sides. My client gave as good as he got and he broke his leg in the incident." Magistrates imposed a nine-month community order with nine months supervision and a six-month alcohol treatment requirement.