Jonathan Muirhead, of Collingham, pleads guilty to two counts of assault on train staff and of assaulting two police officers at Nottingham Crown Court

The incident happened on the 8.35pm LNER train from London King's Cross to Leeds on December 8, 2019, when train staff were made aware of an intoxicated man in the bike storage area.

When the train manager opened the door to the carriage, Muirhead began shouting threats, including “I’m going to kill whoever opens this ****ing door."

As staff opened the door, he grabbed the train manager by the neck and pinned her against the wall before pushing her to the ground.

Mr Andrew Peet, prosecuting, said Muirhead then raised a hand as if to strike her, but another staff member intervened so Muirhead pinned him to the wall and threw a number of punches towards him, including to his stomach.

Other passengers then intervened and as swiftly as the attack began, it stopped, with Muirhead then expressing sorrow and suicidal thoughts.

The train stopped at Newark Northgate train station at 10.08pm and Muirhead was arrested by waiting police officers, and they began the drive to Mansfield Police Station.

But when they drove through Kelham, he became increasingly agitated and tried to open the door of the moving police car and head-butt the officer sat beside him in the back seat.

Muirhead told police at Mansfield he had drunk a number of beers and half a bottle of brandy and remembered nothing about the incident.

He was then bailed to attend court on January 17, but failed to attend.

Mr Peet said Muirhead clearly had a problem with alcohol and had two previous convictions for battery, including a previous assault on a member of train staff, as well as a conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Defending Muirhead, Damian Sabino said his client had failed to attend court "because the magnitude of trouble he was in got the better of him and he hadn’t slept in days, before he eventually passed out in the early hours of the morning he was due to attend court."

Mr Sabino said on the weekend in question, Muirhead had travelled to London to visit his children and became distressed on the way home and had drunk a lot of liquor.

He said Muirhead was thoroughly ashamed of himself and is determined to address that behaviour, which had come about after his marriage broke down and he had moved back to the Newark area to be close to his family.

Mitigating, Mr Sabino argued against Muirhead's jailing as his ex-wife is a business owner and needs his support, especially in the current uncertainty the economy is facing due to the coronavirus outbreak.

His elderly parents, who were present in court with his sister, needed his help if they needed to self isolate, especially his father, who is partially blind.

He added Muirhead was making good progress in rehabilitation for his alcohol dependency, adding he’d had a significant fall from grace, but had a desire to change and appealed for a second chance for his client.

But Judge Stuart Rafferty QC said the time had come where he was now out of chances: “How many people are you going to hit before something is done?

"You’ve targeted people doing no more and no less than their job, and in doing that job, putting themselves at risk when incidents like this happen.

“It’s not their fault your marriage broke down and you’re struggling to see your children.

"You not only assaulted a woman, but a man too and being arrested didn't calm you down either, and the two police officers were added to the list as well.

"Of course a custodial sentence will cause hardship to a lot of people, but you weren't thinking of them when you were feeling sorry for yourself and pouring brandy down your throat at a rate of knots.

"Your parents are here to support you, and the difficulty of being a parent is that your children frequently disappoint you, but you don’t stop loving them or supporting them.

"I hope you will become the parent to your children that your parents are to you."