RYEDALE drunkard David Freer - whose bad behaviour has made life a misery for his twin brother - was today starting a jail sentence for assaulting two policemen.

Magistrates at Pickering heard how Freer, 39, assaulted one officer after refusing to leave a pub - only days after being bailed for an identical offence. They jailed him for four months, two for each officer he assaulted.

Freer, of Cherry Avenue, Malton, hit the headlines last year when magistrates declared him an habitual drunkard and banned him from buying alcohol for three years. He has admitted 17 drinking offences over the past two years.

The order also prevented anyone buying alcohol for him.

The Evening Press last year reported the plight of Freer's identical twin brother, Mark, who found himself barred from Malton pubs because staff mistook him for David.

Pickering magistrates told David Freer, who admitted two offences of assaulting a policeman, two offences of being drunk and disorderly and two of resisting arrest, that they had considered a community service order, but felt prison was more suitable.

They also made Freer the subject of two exclusion orders banning him from the Cross Keys and the Blue Ball pubs at Malton.

Dawn Birkett, prosecuting, said police were called to the Cross Keys because Freer refused to leave. He was warned to calm down or face arrest, but swore at officers who arrested him, and kicked one of them in the jaw.

Days later, a similar incident occurred at the Blue Ball.

Ian Brickman, for Freer, admitted he had a drink problem and regretted his actions.

He said his client did not understand that the order preventing him from buying alcohol stopped him from entering pubs, and he had only wanted a soft drink.

Updated: 11:38 Saturday, February 17, 2001