TOMLINSON: MAN IN WATER AFTER HOVEL ROW

A tramp has denied pushing a council worker into a canal and hitting him on the head with a brick because he tried to clear away his makeshift hovel.

Roy Tomlinson, 46, attacked Jan Wegrzinski after the unsuspecting maintenance worker began removing debris he had used to construct a shelter, it is claimed.

Prosecutors say the Polish national was left with serious cut to his head by the assault.

Tomlinson appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court today for a plea and case management hearing in his case.

He spoke only to confirm his identity and to enter a plea of not guilty to a charge of wounding with intent.

Judge Anthony Pitts adjourned the matter ahead of a trial expected to last for two to three days on October 10.

It is alleged that Mr Wegrzinski and a friend were clearing rubbish from a canal embankment in Little Venice, West London, on May 11 this year.

Rough sleeper Tomlinson had been living in a ramshackle hut on the embankment, which the council worker began to clear away, not realising it was a shelter, it is said.

The prosecution say Tomlinson shoved Mr Wegrzinski into the canal and smashed hom on the head with a brick, before attempting to stop him getting out of the water.

Tomlinson, of (134) Seymour Place, Marylebone, West London, denies wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

ENDS

DOB: 8/1/65