A MAN covered in blood who tried to hit a man on crutches with a metal bar on Good Friday has been spared jail.

Piotr Siegien, 30, of Acre Avenue, Eccleshill, had dried blood all over his face and hands when he appeared in Darley Street in Bradford city centre in the early hours of April 19.

Siegien, a Polish national, approached a group of people stood outside a bar in the street and began to make a nuisance of himself.

Prosecutor Peter Adams told Bradford Crown Court Siegien “would not leave the group alone” despite them asking him to leave them alone on a number of occasions.

Mr Adams said: “He then ran to a group of men who were skateboarding and pulled a metal bar out from the back of his trousers, which was about 50 centimetres long and an inch in diameter.

“It was cylindrical piping, but quite heavy. He was swinging it about and one of the men punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.

“Siegien got straight back up and ran to a different man walking on crutches and tried to hit him with the metal bar.

“He was tackled immediately by one of the skaters, and the group surrounded him and got the bar off him, handing to door staff at a nearby bar.

“One person present said his actions were distressing, and he was behaving very strangely, like he didn’t appear to know what he was doing.”

The whole incident lasted around 30 minutes, and when police arrived he threw a small bag of cannabis on the floor when he was being searched.

He was taken to hospital for treatment on a head injury, before being taken to Trafalgar House. When he was being taken into a holding cell, he called an officer a “pussy” and spat at him, meaning he had to be restrained and have a spit guard put on him.

Siegien told police he had been very drunk at the time and had been attacked by two men. He couldn’t remember spitting on an officer but apologised for doing so, and accepted he had a small amount of cannabis on him when he was arrested.

A statement from the assaulted officer said: “I do not come to work to be spat at. It is a disgusting form of assault.”

In mitigation Peter Hampton said spitting was “disgusting”, and Siegien was at a “low point in his life”.

He said Siegien wants to contribute to society and address his issues, and is “deeply ashamed of his actions”, and is motivated to get back into work.

In sentencing, Judge Jonathan Gibson said the incident was “plainly distressing and no doubt frightening”.

He said: “You were making a nuisance of yourself, and fortunately you did not hit the man on crutches.”

Siegien was handed an eight month sentence, suspended for 12 months for possession of an offensive weapon and assaulting a police officer, and a 12 month conditional discharge for possession of cannabis.

He was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, undertake 20 days of rehabilitation activities, and pay £100 compensation to the police officer.