Drunk thug who kicked cop in the testicles and screamed about 'dirty tarts' walks free after Wetherspoons tirade

A drunken lout facing jail after a 34 year career of drink-related thuggery in his hometown has been allowed back onto the streets.

As Andrew Cotterill, 55 walked free for assaulting two policemen and subjected them to vile abuse during an alcohol-fuelled tirade, a JP told him: ''Your pain is clear, you don’t want to be here.''

Cotterill has 25 offences on his record dating back to 1989 and in 2021 was issued with a Criminal Behaviour Order for bombarding police with hoax 999 calls in his hometown in Cheshire. He had a further conviction for battery in 2022.

READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community

The factory worker was arrested again last March after he kicked one policeman in the testicles and crushed a second officer with his bodyweight as they arrested him outside his local Wetherspoons pub in nearby Sandbach, for being drunk and abusive to staff and regulars.

Later when he learnt he was facing up to 12 months imprisonment Cotterill insisted he had mental health issues and said the latest incident had caused him to 'seek help'. He said he was now giving up alcohol and wanted to change.

At Crewe magistrates court, Cotterill, of Platt Avenue in Sandbach, was sentenced to a 12-month community order after he admitted two charges of assault by beating of an emergency worker and one of using threatening language, abusive words or behaviour likely to cause alarm or distress.

He must complete 20 rehabilitation activity hours and 150 hours of unpaid work and will also be subject to a nine-month alcohol abstinence order, which will measure his sobriety by way of an electronic tag. He was also ordered to pay £150 in compensation to one officer known only as PC Lyons, £250 damages to PC Hails and a