Source: Environment Agency
Riddle, 29, told Environment Agency bailiffs to ‘f… off’ when they approached him at Bridgwater Docks on January 9, 2013. They had watched two men including the defendant fishing with rod and line and asked them to produce their rod licences.
Both men were ‘rude and evasive.’ Riddle said he had left his licence at home and gave his address, but a false date of birth. He became increasingly agitated and began waving his arms about shouting and swearing. At one point he pushed past one of the bailiffs and said he was going home.
The defendant struggled violently as bailiffs arrested him on the dockside. Handcuffs were used to restrain him and the police called. Just before he was handcuffed, Riddle tried to use his mobile phone to call his family for assistance so they could ‘fight with the bailiffs.’ When the police arrived at Bridgwater Docks they were also met with a ‘barrage of abuse.’
Appearing before Taunton magistrates, Riddle, of Phillip House, Bridgwater, was ordered to carry out 50 hours of unpaid work after being found guilty of illegal fishing, obstructing a bailiff and a public order offence. He was also banned from fishing for one year and ordered to pay £100 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
Richard Dearnley for the Environment Agency commented:
“The defendant could have saved himself a lot of time and trouble if he’d purchased a coarse fishing licence for £27.00 and showed a little more courtesy when approached by bailiffs. We watched him cast five or six times. There is no question of doubt he was fishing. It’s the first time in the region an angler has received a community service order and one of the first cases of its kind in the country.”
