A DRUNKEN spectator who bit a security guard after being stopped following a stolen golf buggy crash incident during the Open golf championship has been convicted of assault.

Unknown to the jury, businessman Simon Lloyd was found guilty earlier this year of another offence of violence involving throwing “a chippy tea” at a driver in a road rage incident.

A judge warned the 47-year-old that when he returns for sentencing next month “all sentencing options remain open.”

Lloyd, who sat in the dock sipping water, looked disappointed at the verdict.

The jury at Liverpool Crown Court, which took just 45 minutes to convict him of assault causing actual bodily harm, heard that the incident happened on July 18 last year on a practice day at the Royal Liverpool at Hoylake, Wirral.

A stolen golf buggy, hired out to Netflix, was crashed into a portacabin being used by security staff as a refreshment room about 8.30 pm.

Lloyd was alleged to have been the driver but he was cleared of aggravated vehicle taking on the judge’s directions after the prosecution offered no further evidence.

CCTV footage was played to the court showing Lloyd being restrained by four security officers as he walked along a pathway leading from the prestigious golf course.

David Polglase, prosecuting, said that it showed Lloyd, who was later found to be almost twice the legal drink driving limit, “was aggressive and violent”.

In the footage Lloyd, who was plainly unsteady on his feet, was kicking out and trying to head butt John Bilsborough, who was a night security supervisor at the event.

Mr Bilsborough said: “I got behind him and pushed him back against the wall and stood behind him forcing him against the wall. I put my hand on his collar. I was trying to calm him down and he was saying, ‘let me go and I’ll fight you toe to toe’.

“He started trying to butt me, throwing his head backwards. It clipped me on the temple. He was struggling more and I put my left hand on his shoulder to make sure he stayed against the wall.

“I remember him turning his head sideways and trying to bite me. As he tried I moved my left hand but my right hand slipped off the back of his neck and he spun round and bit me on my right hand. 

“He bit my middle finger and then my thumb, grinding it,” said Mr Bilsborough.

He said he shouted at Lloyd to let go but he did not initially do so though eventually did. He said he stepped back as he saw the police arriving.

Lloyd, of Bertram Close, Meols, Wirral, said that he had been a member of the club for 30 years and had gone there that day to watch some of the golf and have lunch.

He said he had three or four single drinks of vodka and orange in the clubhouse and after going off to watch some more golf he set off along a pathway to his nearby home. He denied being drunk.

He said he did not initially know who the security men were who grabbed him and claimed they were grinding his face against a brick wall. He denied trying to head butt and said he had not bitten anyone.

He said he had not been “boisterous or violent. I was just minding my own business walking home.”

Judge Robert Trevor-Jones further remanded him on bail to await sentence on October 4 to enable a probation report update to be prepared to see how he has been complying with a community order imposed in February for common assault after the “chippy tea” incident in September 2022.