Postman claims he was the victim of son's attack

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A POSTMAN has told jurors he was attacked by a homeowner’s son outside an exclusive property following a row over deliveries.

Mail man Craig Jenkins said he was punched in the face by Matthew Hewston, suffering a cut that was later stitched up at hospital.

Mr Jenkins, who is 6ft 4ins tall, said Hewston made a grab for a parcel he was carrying after being told he could not have it.

“I thought he was going to steal it, so I pushed him away with my hand,” the postman told the jury at Stafford Crown Court.

“He staggered back a little bit. Within a split second he jumped up and punched me, twice I believe.” Hewston, however, maintains he was the one who was attacked by the postman outside his mother’s home in Rangemore Hall, Rangemore.

Properties nearby can sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds and the area was once the residence of Hilary Devey, the multi-millionaire businesswoman and star of hit BBC show Dragons’ Den, and the ancestral home of the Bass brewing family.

The defendant told the court that Mr Jenkins grabbed him by the throat and he only used his arm to brush the postman off him.

Hewston, 27, of The Cloisters, Rugeley, denies a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm.

Laura Hobson, prosecuting, said the incident happened outside the Rangemore Hall flats on January 13, following a row over the delivering of mail to the defendant’s mother’s home.

Mr Jenkins said: “He (Hewston) tried to take the parcel from me and I pushed him away.

“It was sufficient to stop him from taking stuff off me.”

Giving evidence, Hewston said the postman had been ‘rude and ignorant’ to his mother and they told him there would be a complaint made to the Post Office.

The defendant said: “The postman said ‘right, you are not getting any mail now, I’m refusing to deliver it’.

“He kind of pushed past, to which I put my hand out and said ‘give us the mail, mate’.

“He turned round then and went for my neck with his right hand, he had a grip on my throat. I tried to pull away, to no avail and I raised my left arm to knock his arm away and release his grip.”

Hewston phoned the police within minutes of the incident to make a complaint of being assaulted, but was himself arrested for assault when he went to the police station.

The jury is expected to be sent out today to consider its verdict.

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A MAN convicted of attacking his mother’s postman in a row over the delivery of mail to her home was remanded for reports by a judge.

Stafford Crown Courtather of three Matthew Hewston punched mail man Craig Jenkins in the face, leaving him with a cut under his eye which later needed stitches, a jury at Stafford Crown Court ruled.

Mr Jenkins told the jury that Hewston made a grab for a parcel he was carrying and, after pushing the defendant off, Hewston hit him twice in the face.

The postman said he thought Hewston was going to steal some mail.

The incident happened outside Hewston’s mother’s home in Rangemore Hall, Rangemore, on January 13 this year.

Properties nearby can sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds and the area was once the residence of Hilary Devey, the multi-millionaire businesswoman and star of hit BBC show Dragons’ Den, and the ancestral home of the Bass brewing family.

Hewston, 27, of The Cloisters, Rugeley denied a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm but was found guilty following a two-day trial.

Giving evidence, Hewston said the postman had been ‘rude and ignorant’ to his mother and they told him there would be a complaint made to the Post Office.

The defendant said: “The postman said ‘right, you are not getting any mail now, I’m refusing to deliver it’.

“He kind of pushed past, to which I put my hand out and said ‘give us the mail, mate’.

“He turned round then and went for my neck with his right hand, he had a grip on my throat.

“I tried to pull away, to no avail and I raised my left arm to knock his arm away and release his grip.”

Judge Patrick Thomas remanded Hewston on bail for reports and he will be sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on September 7.

“I genuinely don’t know what the sentence is likely to be,” the judge told him.

Gwynn Price-Rowlands, defending, said Hewston was a man of previous good character.

[Lounge Lizard]

And yet the nearby the Rangemore Club and Reading Room is the most civilised of institutions.