Reading Magistrates' Court: Newbury plasterer fined after threatening local journalist

A NEWBURY man has been fined and ordered to pay compensation after threatening a local journalist in a Thatcham pub.

Reading Magistrates' Court heard on Monday that Stephen Birmingham, of Queens Road, had taken exception to an article that Newbury Weekly News reporter John Garvey had written about him.

Alastair Yapp, prosecuting, said the incident occurred when Mr Birmingham and Mr Garvey were both drinking separately at the Taste of England pub on September 4 last year.

Mr Yapp explained how Mr Birmingham was reading a newspaper at the bar when he made a "loud comment" that "the only thing you can trust in here is the date".

The court heard how he then got up and walked over to Mr Garvey saying, "if you put my f***ing name in the paper again, I will do you".

Mr Garvey responded by telling Mr Birmingham he did not know who he was and had no power to keep his name out of the paper, the court was told.

However, Mr Birmingham then repeated the threat, replying: “You know who I am and what I am talking about. If you put my name in again, I will do you.”

The court heard that when Mr Garvey asked, "you’re happy to beat up a 60-year-old man are you?" Mr Birmingham simply replied: "Yeah".

At that point, the court heard, Mr Birmingham left the premises while Mr Garvey, who said he felt "shaken" following the incident, remained in the pub and finished his pint.

Sally Thomson, defending, described it as an "unfortunate incident" that lasted less than a minute.

She added that Mr Birmingham, a self-employed plasterer, had reportedly lost a client after they had read Mr Garvey’s court report and "this appeared to be the cause of his annoyance at the local paper".

Mr Birmingham did not attend the hearing due to medical reasons and instructed his solicitor to change his plea to guilty on the day of the trial.

In doing so, he admitted using threatening behaviour and words likely to cause alarm, harassment or distress to Mr Garvey at the Taste of England pub on September 4, 2021.

Mr Birmingham also has previous convictions for similar offences.

He was ordered to pay costs of £520 and a fine of £594.

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £59 and £100 compensation to Mr Garvey.