Drunk Barnstaple man discovered crawling along street on hands and knees

A DRUNK man who was discovered by police officers crawling on his hands and knees has been told to seek help by magistrates.

David John Houlston, 43, of Barnstaple, had bloodshot eyes and stank of booze when police officers arrested him around midnight on January 11 in Barnstaple High Street.

Houlston pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly and agreed his behaviour was out of order.

The court heard officers found Houlston crawling on his hands and knees, crying and saying he was scared.

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Mark Haddow, for the prosecution, said: “Officers helped him up and were leading him to the police van when he became abusive and made several pathetic attempts to punch the officers.

“He was at the very high end of the drunken scale. He did manage to hit one of the officers very softly in the chest and was arrested.”

The court heard Houlston has 25 previous convictions, many of which were for alcohol related offences.

Houlston told the court he was out of order and was seeking help from alcohol counselling service Addaction.

He was given a six month conditional discharge and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.

Presiding Magistrate Rose Day said: “You must seek help for your problems, this matter is in your hands now.”