A GRANDFATHER who punched a man during a street disturbance in Penrith told a judge he “intervened” to protect his granddaughter.

At Carlisle’s Rickergate court, Kim Gilmour, 61, of Mill Street in Penrith, admitted an assault by beating on February 16. The offence involved two punches delivered in rapid succession.

Prosecutor George Shelley outlined the facts.

He said the victim had been in Penrith town centre, intending to catch a bus home but while waiting he became involved in an altercation with a group of youths.

He said the youths were spitting at him.

The prosecutor said: “He walked away in the direction of the Woolpack pub, intending to catch the train home but he said the youths followed him.

"They continued to shout towards him.”

The victim remembered being grabbed by somebody in a high-vis jacket. CCTV images showed a girl in the area who was in a state of distress, who approached the man and spoke to him.

It was shortly after this that the defendant got involved, approaching the victim and punching him twice in the face. The man sustained “significant swelling” to one of his eyes.

Gilmour, who was not legally represented, said the distressed girl in the video was his granddaughter. “She ran up and said this lad had been hitting her, so I went to protect my granddaughter,” he said.

He accepted punching the man twice in the face, describing what he had done by saying he “intervened.”

District Judge John Temperley told the defendant, who has no previous convictions: “It’s highly regrettable that a man of your age who has never been in trouble before appears in a court for something like this.

“Whatever the background, the way you behaved was not the way to deal with whatever happened before you became involved. But I am fairly confident that this is a one-off offence.”

The defendant was fined £400, with a £160 victim surcharge ad £85 costs. He must pay the victim £100 in compensation.

As the case ended, Gilmour, who works as a wagon driver, said the incident had led to him losing his shotgun licence. The judge added: “Make this the one and only time you are in this court.”