An 18-year-old student who failed to turn up in court to face an accusation of head butting a man was arrested by police and kept in the cells.

Vincent Narey, of Braithwaite Avenue, Keighley, appeared in Bingley Court on Monday having been arrested on Saturday, three days after he was due in court.

Narey pleaded not guilty on November 4 last year to assaulting Damian Thompson, in Brigg Gardens, Keighley, on September 20, and he was remanded on bail.

The trial was fixed for Tuesday last week at Bingley and when he failed to present himself, the hearing went ahead and he was found guilty, said prosecutor Nadine Clough.

Mr Thompson was head butted by Narey after he refused to let Narey get on to his bicycle.

Magistrates heard that Narey had previously breached a community order imposed for assault and was the subject of an electronic curfew. He had also breached his bail.

Tahir Hanif, for Narey, said his client’s problems were related to alcohol but he was now attempting to straighten out his life.

Presiding magistrate Stirling Moor told Narey: “For a man relatively young you are stacking up a criminal history. You committed assault while on a community order and you have breached bail. This latest offence is serious enough to justify a custodial sentence.”

The bench adjourned sentence until March 3 for reports to be compiled and remanded Narey on conditional bail.