A man has been jailed following a drunken attack on two people as they waited for a taxi home.

Abdul Lamb admitted the unprovoked assault on the man and woman as they sat on the steps of Huddersfield Parish Church in the early hours of the morning.

Kirklees magistrates heard that the 23-year-old had a drink problem and was prone to “mischief” when at a loose end.

Vanessa Jones, prosecuting, said that the attack happened at around 1am on February 13.

Scott Hallas and Amy McShane had been out earlier that night and had called a taxi.

Mrs Jones said: “They were sat on the steps of St Peter’s Church opposite Kirkgate when they noticed a group of males coming towards them.

“One of the males ran towards Mr Hallas and he heard him mumble something that sounded like: ‘Give me your money’.

“This was perhaps meant as a lark but that was followed by Mr Lamb hitting Mr Hallas to the chest which caused him to fall back to the floor.”

Lamb, of Elim Walk in Dewsbury, walked away and Ms McShane went to check on Mr Hallas.

Mrs Jones said: “As she did that Mr Lamb returned and punched her to the rear of her head.”

Lamb left again and his friends came over and apologised to the pair before walking towards McDonald’s.

Police were called and they arrested Lamb at the restaurant after viewing the town’s CCTV footage.

Amjid Mahmood said that Lamb had a drinking problem and was seeking help to address this.

He said: “When he’s at a loose end he gets into mischief.

“He was drunk and can’t remember everything that happened.

“He doesn’t wish to detract from what he’s done and clearly this couple would have been very frightened.”

Magistrates told Lamb that the case was so serious that only custody was appropriate.

They sentenced him to 16 weeks in jail.

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