A drunk man who was found passed out at his nan's door and had kicked and abused police officers has narrowly avoided jail.
Ryan Cunliffe, 24, was given a suspended sentence in December after a naked drunken rampage where he threatened paramedics, damaged property and kicked a female PC in the head. During the incident Cunliffe, who had taken his trousers off after falling over while they were round his ankles, picked up a ‘for sale’ sign and used it as a weapon.
Cunliffe was back in Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, May 23, after being drunk on the streets of Haydock once again and was reported to be carrying alcohol, and had taken his trousers down. He was also reported to be following two women and the police were called to the Queens Road area.
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While searching for him they learnt family members were also out looking for him. His aunty told officers he was lying unconscious on his nan’s doorstep round the corner and they found him apparently asleep. He came round when roused but was aggressively swearing at the officers and then started crying and rambling. When they tried to take a bottle of wine off him he refused to let go.
Sarah Griffin, prosecuting, said that an officer took hold of his left arm and tried to handcuff him and when the wine was forcibly removed from him he continued to be abusive and shouting. He was told to stay on the floor for his safety but he tried to get to his feet and threw his head forward tying to bang it on a wall but missed.
He said he wanted to hug his dad, which was allowed and this calmed him, reports the ECHO. But he then tried to pull away from the officers and was abusive again, telling one officer, ‘f**k off, you d******d’ and ‘you’re a p***y mate.’
He was taken to the ground and while a woman officer was trying to control his legs he kicked her left knee causing pain and he was arrested. Miss Griffin said 24-year-old Cunliffe was put in leg restraints and shouted at the police ‘N***e, hope your kids pay for it, hope your kids grow up with cancer, hope your kids know you’re a paedophile.’
When interviewed Cunliffe, of Coronation Drive, Haydock, said he could not remember anything and was “mortified and started to cry.” He pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker during the commission of the 14 months prison sentence suspended for 18 months for affray last December.
Anthony O’Donohoe, defending, said that it was “an extremely sad case. This is a young man in the grip of a terrible addiction which started during lockdown.” He said that he comes from a good family and that night his aunt had been driving around looking for him.
Mr O’Donohoe said when he is not intoxicated Cunliffe is a “very polite, respectful man.” He has co-operated with the alcohol treatment requirement imposed when last sentenced and is taking anti-craving medication. He added: “He is in the terrible grip of this awful state of being addicted to alcohol at the moment.”
The judge, Recorder David Wilson, said Cunliffe had not gone out intending to commit an offence of violence and had been in a drunken stupor. He sentenced him to six months imprisonment suspended for 18 months and warned him “it is your last chance, be under no misapprehension of that”.
Extending the alcohol treatment requirement for another six months, he said: "You are at peril of imprisonment if you commit another offence before December 2023".
