A man  has been fined for threatening police officers with a knife after spitting at his grandmother in a domestic incident six days earlier.

Brandon John Barratt-Bagnall, of Trevenna Way, Wrexham, admitted he threatened unlawful violence towards police on September 11, causing them to fear for their safety.

But Wrexham Magistrates Court also heard a police sergeant had described the incident as a “complete trainwreck” and a formal complaint has been lodged by the defendant’s grandmother about the officers who attended.

Rhian Jackson, prosecuting, said on September 5 there was a domestic incident at the home Barratt-Bagnall, 20, shared with his grandmother and he spat in her face.

Mrs Jackson told Wrexham Magistrates Court the grandmother did not wish to file a formal complaint and no charge was brought against him relating to the domestic incident.

Five days later, at about 6am, police went into the property and Barratt-Bagnall became “arguably aggressive”.

He was then escorted downstairs which was when he went into the kitchen and pulled out a large knife from the drawer.

Barratt-Bagnall swore and told police officers he was going to “stab you in the neck if you come near me”. Officers then called the control room and asked for armed police to assist them.

Barratt-Bagnall then started to chant: “It’s a stand-off.”

Just before the armed police had arrived, Barratt-Bagnall went into the garden and officers noticed he no longer had the knife in his hand. He was then arrested.

Melissa Griffiths, defending, said Barrat-Bagnall “does sometimes take cannabis” and suffers from a number of mental health issues including ADHD, OCD and PTSD following an incident in 2012 when the court heard he was “very badly assaulted by about 20 youths”.

She told the court his grandmother had supported him since he was three years old and he had “slipped through the cracks” after being transferred to adult mental health services from children’s services when he was 18.

Miss Griffiths said Barratt-Bagnall was chanting at the time of the incident because it was a “stress reliever” and “it takes him time to calm down” after taking his medication – which he had not had when police arrived at his home as he was sleeping.

According to Miss Griffiths, on September 6 Barratt-Bagnall’s grandmother phoned the police for some help as she was “having some difficulties with him”, but by the time they arrived he had already left the property.

Miss Griffiths added: “The police arrested him six days later when there was no complaint.

“There was no reason for them to go five days later to something where there was no complaint.

“His grandmother even asked ‘why are you here?’. The officer said [to Barratt-Bagnall on September 11] ‘we have got no choice’, but of course they did have a choice.

“He should not have taken a knife out of the drawer. But although he makes comments, he doesn’t actually do anything.

“They [the police officers] were not obliged to stay.”

She also told the court Barratt-Bagnall’s grandmother has lodged a formal complaint about the officers. Sgt Craig Lewis told her, after seeing footage,  the incident was “a complete trainwreck” and he would speak to the officers involved.

Barratt-Bagnall was made the subject of a community order for a year, which magistrates' chairman Catherine Wantling said would give probation officers the chance to work with him to deal with his problems.

She ordered him to carry out 20 days of rehabilitation to deal with “drug misuse and anger issues”.

Barratt-Bagnall must also pay a fine of £250, a surcharge of £85 and £85 costs.