Drunk man threatened to 'murder' neighbour before trimming her hedge with a kitchen knife

A drunk man chopped a neighbour's hedge with a knife and threatened her but apologised. Joe Oldfield had also wrongly accused a Wetherspoons worker in Wrexham of making a racial slur about him on another occasion.

The 35-year-old had been drinking on both occasions and could hardly remember anything about them, Caernarfon Crown Court heard.

Oldfield, of Bryn Hedd, Southsea, Wrexham, was jailed for a year for threatening a person with a knife in a public place. He also admitted using threatening words or behaviour in Wetherspoons but there was no separate penalty for that offence.

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Prosecutor Dafydd Roberts said the defendant lived opposite a neighbour. She was outside her house at 7.30pm on March 26 when Oldfield, in his house, called her a "rat", a "slag" and a "bad mum", the court heard.

She went indoors but a few minutes later she heard Oldfield shout "I'm going to slash your throat," and "I'm going to murder you."

She could see him chopping her hedge with a blade - described as a little kitchen knife - as Oldfield ranted: "Come on you little f****** scrubber, let's fight!"

Another neighbour called Georgina Cooper came over and calmed Oldfield down, said the prosecutor. Oldfield told Ms Cooper: "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

In a statement the first neighbour said she is concerned about Oldfield's behaviour especially if her children are outside.

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Mr Roberts also said that the previous month, on February 29, Oldfield had wrongly accused a Wetherspoons pub shift leader of making a racial slur. Footage from her body worn camera was played in court today showing him loudly but falsely accusing her of calling him a "White p****".

Police were called to the pub in Regent Street and he was arrested.

Alun Williams, defending, said his client had started drinking and lost his job. This led to a spiral of consuming alcohol almost every day. He has no recollection of the incident with the neighbour and a "vague recollection" of the Wetherspoons incident.

Mr Williams said Oldfield's behaviour had been "bizarre". He added: "He finds it difficult to be in company unless he's consuming alcohol."

But he is "completely different" when sober. He suffers from anxiety and is on medication for depression.

The judge His Honour Timothy Petts told the defendant that drinking so much he didn't know what he was doing whilst carrying a knife were a "dangerous combination". He said his attempts to stop drinking had been "sporadic and ineffective".

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