Notorious Portsmouth thug Gary Saunders fails to show at court after facing jail for causing serious injury to pensioner

Notorious Portsmouth figure Gary Saunders, 61, was due to appear at Portsmouth Crown Court after previously pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm - but was said to be too unwell to attend.

Saunders, of Osborne Road, Southsea, admitted the offence after causing a serious injury to a man in his 70s after cycling into him.

The victim, who was in Elm Grove, suffered fractures to his hand, wrist and arm after the incident at around 3.20pm on March 14 this year.

Saunders pleaded guilty at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court at the first hearing on November 9 before he was bailed ahead of his sentencing on Friday.

But he did not face justice after his defence lawyer Bridget O’Hagan told the court Saunders was unable to attend after he was struck down with illness and a cough - with the court asked to adjourn the case.

Recorder John Freeman reluctantly agreed to the request to adjourn, before adding: ‘This is his last chance.’

The case was then listed for December 17 with a pre-sentence report to be prepared for the hearing next month when Saunders will find out if he is jailed.

Following the incident in March, police appealed for witnesses after a ‘man on a bicycle collided with a man in his 70s, knocking him to the ground’.

At the time police said the suspect was ‘verbally abusive’ and cycled off.

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A police spokeswoman then added: ‘The cyclist has been described as a man of large build wearing a top hat.’

Saunders was given a suspended 41-week jail sentence earlier this year after being found guilty of a series of assaults – including spitting at a security worker in Fratton.

His latest guilty plea is for an offence that happened after those assaults.

Earlier this year he was also made subject to a five-year Asbo-style criminal behaviour order. Among other measures, it bans him from cycling on a footpath.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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