A WREXHAM man who fell into a 'spiral of drinking' has been jailed following two incidents that were fuelled by alcohol.

Joe Oldfield, of Bryn Hedd in Southsea, appeared before Caernarfon Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday, April 18.

The 35-year-old previously, during a hearing on March 28 of this year, pleaded guilty to one count of using threatening/abusive/insulting words or behaviour and one count of making threats with a bladed article.

Dafydd Roberts, prosecuting, told the court that the first incident took place on February 29 of this year.

That night, Oldfield had been at the Wetherspoon on Regent Street in Wrexham and had become 'aggressive' towards staff after being asked to leave the premises.

He also made false allegations that he had been racially abused by staff, claiming that he had been called a 'white p***k'.

But, bodycam footage played in court showed that it was, in fact, him who used racist language during the incident, which lasted around eight minutes.

Police arrived at the scene and Oldfield was arrested.

The second incident occurred around a month later on March 26, Mr Roberts said.

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That night, Oldfield was spotted 'hanging out of the window' of his property, hurling abuse at a neighbour, calling them a 'rat' and a 'slag'.

He was heard by other neighbours saying 'I'm going to slash your throat' and 'I'm going to murder you'.

He then proceeded to approach the neighbour's property and began to offer them to 'fight' with him and also 'slashed' at their hedges with what was initially thought to be a 'black-handled kitchen knife'.

Another neighbour then came out to 'calm' Oldfield down and reported that the knife held by him was in fact a 'small butter knife'.

Part of this incident was also caught on a mobile phone camera and played out in court.

Oldfield had been under the influence of alcohol during both incidents, the court heard, and the defendant claimed to have 'no recollection' of either of them.

He added that he 'did not know what had come over him'.

Alun Williams, defending, said that Oldfield was someone who had fallen into a 'spiral of drinking' alcohol which had led to him losing his employment.

Mr Williams added that the defendant was a 'completely different person when sober'.

Sentencing Oldfield, Judge Timothy Petts said: "You have a long standing drink problem and your attempts to get off the drink have been sporadic and ineffective.

"People like you who get so drunk that they can't remember what they do afterwards, while carrying knives, is potentially a very serious problem."

Oldfield was sentenced to 12 months in prison.