David BaleA Norwich father of two asked city magistrates to change his curfew hours - so he could take his son to football training and the family could go on holiday.David Bale

A Norwich father of two asked city magistrates to change his curfew hours - so he could take his son to football training and the family could go on holiday.

Paul Tyrell, 34, said he could not take his children on trips or to football practice because he had to be at their home every day between 6pm and 6am.

Magistrates refused to grant his application for the curfew order - imposed for assaulting a police officer - to be completely lifted.

But they did change his curfew hours to 10pm to 6am daily, from 6pm to 6am daily.

Even that did not satisfy Tyrell, and the 34-year-old from Mountbatten Drive, Sprowston said afterwards that he would appeal the decision.

He said: 'I will appeal because the curfew order runs until July, and it means that my wife Martina, two children Logan, six, and Oliver, nearly two, and I won't be able to go on holiday on June 19 and we will lose the �200 deposit.

'We already had to cancel the holiday to a cottage in Lincolnshire, costing �600, once before after I was given the curfew order, so we don't want to cancel again and, this time, lose the deposit.

'I've also got to go into hospital for an operation on my shoulder on June 3, which I won't be able to do if I'm still tagged.'

Tyrell, who represented himself in court yesterday, was originally given a 12 months community order for assaulting a police officer in August last year.

He was ordered to pay �100 compensation to the officer and carry out 120 hours unpaid work in the community.

He then appeared back in court for breaching the order and the curfew order was imposed by city magistrates for 14 weeks on April 8 - to run until July 14.

In pleading his case, he told magistrates: 'I would like the tag to be taken off.

'I have apologised to the police officer. I know it's not acceptable what I did, when I spat at him.

'But I was inebriated, although I know that's no excuse. But I'm not a thief. I did 64 hours of the 120 hours community service I was given.

'I also want to change my curfew hours. I have two small children, the eldest of whom goes to football training in Sprowston between 4.30pm and 6.30pm, which I cannot get to.

'My youngest child is two on June 1 and I want to take him on a trip to Banham Zoo.

'I love my children and they're at school most of the time, so I cannot see them. It seems to me that my wife and children are being punished with me being tagged.'

He said he had accepted the curfew order imposed by magistrates in April because he feared that if he didn't, he could go to jail.

Chairman of the bench, Julian Mobbs told Tyrell: 'The curfew was imposed for a reason and that was the punishment. But having heard your application, we will vary the hours of the order with effect from today.'

Tyrell was given the curfew order after Norwich magistrates in April decided to revoke the original community order imposed and resentence him for the original offences of assaulting a PC and failure to answer to bail.

The community order he was handed on this occasion included the curfew order from 6pm to 6am.