A MAN who hit another man with a metal pole and smashed glass bottles in front of a group in city centre violence has been jailed.

Homeless John Wilfred Donald Flannagan, 36, had to be Parva sprayed in separate city centre violence when he vandalised the former Salvation Army building in Gillygate by tearing off cable and kicked a police officer, said Michael Cahill, prosecuting.

Defence barrister Susannah Proctor said Flannagan was now in a position to tackle the long standing mental health problems that led to his long list of crimes – if he was allowed to keep his freedom.

But Judge Simon Hickey said those who hit police officers must be jailed.

And he urged Flannagan to stop drinking and taking drugs as they exacerbated his condition.

Flannagan pleaded guilty to carrying an offensive weapon, affray, ABH, breach of a restraining order, criminal damage and assaulting an emergency worker.

He was jailed for 18 months at York Crown Court.

Mr Cahill said council CCTV operators saw Flannagan running up Davygate with a metal pole just before 1am on September 9.

“The defendant was acting erratically and appeared to be under the influence,” said the prosecution barrister.

On seeing a group of friends near the junction of Blake Street and Stonegate, he hit one of them with the pole, ran away and came back later with two glass bottles.

The victim suffered a wound.

On June 20, police saw Flannagan in a street near his aunt’s house, though the restraining order banned him from going within 100 metres of her home.

They were responding to a report that he had been in a house on her home street.