A teenager who assaulted a Police officer was handed a conditional discharge by a magistrate.

Dwight Johckheere Trott, 18, punched the officer in the shoulder after a patrol was called to a report of rowdy youths in St. George’s on October 22 last year. Trott, of Redcoat Lane, St. George’s, pleaded guilty to assault in late 2006.

He claimed in court that the officer had pushed his aunt, so he retaliated. Asked to explain his behaviour by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner, Trott replied: “I was not in my right frame of mind at the time. I was drinking.”

Mr. Warner sentenced Trott yesterday after reading reports that suggested a non-custodial sentence would be appropriate.

“You are a young man and you have got to learn to behave yourself,” warned the Senior Magistrate. “Causing bodily harm to a Police officer is a particularly serious matter.

“I don’t know if you have been reading the newspapers or watching what’s going on in court but I have been sending people to Westgate recently for assaulting Police officers because that foolishness has got to stop.”

However, Mr. Warner said he had to take into account factors including the defendant’s age and the recommendation of the report.

He went on to tell the young man that he would give him a 12-month conditional discharge, which does not equate to a criminal conviction. Trott must submit to drug and alcohol tests and a 10 p.m. to 10 a.m. curfew.