A THORNBURY man has been remanded into the custody of a mental health hospital while awaiting sentencing for assaulting three people.

Jerome Murray, 35, of Market Square in Thornbury, appeared before Bristol Magistrates Court today, having already pleaded guilty on November 10 to assaulting two men and a woman.

The court heard that on September 22 2017, Murray punched a member of staff at Thornbury Leisure Centre twice after being prevented from entering the swimming pool in his boxer shorts.

Shortly afterwards, he assaulted two members of the public on Thornbury High Street, spitting at a woman near the bus stop, before “karate kicking” a man in the head – all three attacks being referred to in court at “unprovoked”.

Having been remanded into custody, in part at Llanarth Court, a medium-security mental health hospital in Monmouthshire, for the past nine weeks, District Judge Taylor chose to follow the request of a therapist to delay sentencing in order for a report on his mental health to be produced.

The sentencing will reconvene at Bristol Magistrates Court on December 20.