A stag-party man ran onto the track at York Racecourse as racehorses thundered towards him, forcing security staff into emergency action.
Blake Ions’ moment of madness occurred on a busy race day on 11 July when he ran across the track “while horses were oncoming towards him”, York magistrates heard.
The act was witnessed by thousands of horrified racegoers at the John Smith’s Meeting featuring seven races including the John Smith’s Nursery Handicap, City Walls Stakes and the £200,000 John Smith’s Cup.
Security staff sprung into action, whisked Ions to safety and restrained him, said prosecutor Alison Whiteley.
She told the court: “Ions ran across the track while horses were oncoming towards him. Security staff restrained him and officers noticed he was slurring his words and sweating heavily.”
She said that Ions, 26, who was on a boozy stag do with friends, had also been urinating in bushes at the Knavesmire course and “generally spoiling people’s enjoyment of the day” with his drunken and disorderly behaviour.
A police officer came over to deal with the matter but was met with a barrage of deeply offensive verbal abuse from Ions who was being extremely aggressive and unruly.
He was handcuffed, arrested and charged with using threatening behaviour and being drunk and disorderly.
Ions, of Appleton Road, Stockton-on-Tees, admitted the offences when he appeared at York Magistrates’ Court yesterday (26 August).
In a victim statement read out by the prosecution, the named officer said that Ions’ verbal abuse “felt malicious and spiteful”.
“I believe he made the remarks deliberately to belittle and upset me,” she added.
Ions’ solicitor Jane Maloney said that her client – who had nine previous offences on his record including two “against the person” – had been drinking with a group of friends who had gone to the racecourse for a stag do.
“He accepts he had too much to drink,” added Ms Maloney.
“He doesn’t remember making any comments to the police officer.”
She said that Ions, who is on benefits, was still under the auspices of the Probation Service after being released from prison for previous offences.
After telling his probation officer about his drunken shenanigans at the racecourse, Ions was given an electronic tag to wear to monitor his alcohol consumption and his whereabouts, prior to today’s sentence.
Magistrates fined Ions £320 for his disorderly behaviour and ordered him to pay the police officer £250 compensation for the injurious comments.
There was no community punishment because Ions was already being monitored for his alcohol consumption and would be wearing a tracker tag for the next six months.
A York farm shop which called on people to back its bid to continue operating has had its bid for planning permission blocked.
The Farmer’s Cart’s bid for retrospective planning permission lodged after opening at Oakwood Farm, in Strensall, was blocked by City of York Council over harm to the green belt.
It garnered 80 supporting comments for its application after saying on Facebook it wanted to continue supplying healthy Yorkshire food to the community.
But an objector said the business should have got planning permission before opening and raised concerns about transport and noise.
Refusal of owner Chris Jeffery’s application for a certificate of lawfulness comes after The Farmer’s Cart launched in November.
Produce from the working farm is sold at the shop which is housed in two portable cabins with goods displayed on stalls under gazebos.
The farm also supplies several Yorkshire businesses including crisp and cheese makers, a bakery, confectioner and jam and yogurt producers.
The Milk Box York independent drinks maker is also based at the site in Haxby Moor Road.
Plans stated the farm was also hoping to expand its production of lamb, beef and pork reared onsite along with honey, wool and other products.
They added the modest shop had brought substantial benefits including for the local economy and community by supplying produce for activities at local schools, food donations and business opportunities.
In a post appealing for support on Facebook, the shop said it had no idea how popular it would become when it first opened in November.
It said: “Thanks to you all it has become so busy and so we want to continue doing this because we love seeing you all enjoying our farm, our animals and our fresh fruit and vegetables.
“We only want to provide a healthy source of Yorkshire food, Yorkshire service and a Yorkshire community in our own small way.”
Supporters said there was a lack of similar shops selling local produce in the area.
But the objector, described as an interested party, said the shop had harmed the openness of the green belt locally.
They added there had been a sharp increase in comings and goings along the area’s quiet, rural roads since the shop opened, raising road safety concerns.
The objector said: “The shop will likely never sell more goods produced on the holding than imported so cannot be considered to be a farm shop.
“The time taken to walk from Haxby to the shop would be 47 minutes, carrying shopping would increase this further.
“There is no mains electricity to the site and installation would likely be prohibitively expensive, the generator currently used to provide electricity to the shop constitutes a noise nuisance.”
Haxby Town Council also objected, saying there were questions around how much of the shop’s produce was sold locally.
The Foss Internal Drainage Board and Highway Network Management also raised concerns over a lack of information about dealing with surface water and parking arrangements respectively.
Council planning officers said there were no special circumstances which outweighed the harm the shop had caused to the green belt.
They added the site was not sufficiently accessible by walking or on public transport.
