A WREXHAM man who drove the wrong way around a Cheshire Oaks car park hurled abuse at a group of Christmas shoppers and stabbed their car's front tyre in a "maniacal" act of road rage.

Leon Mayo, 28, of Y Wern, had previously pleaded guilty at Chester Magistrates Court to criminal damage, threatening behaviour and possession of a bladed article, a pair of scissors.

Appearing at Chester Crown Court on Thursday, May 2, Mayo was jailed for 12 months as Judge Steven Everett said "the message must go out" that the courts will not tolerate people in Chester and Ellesmere Port who cause serious public order offences.

Prosecuting, Chris Hopkins told the court it was on Friday, December 21 when Christmas shoppers Hannah Bennett, Megan Holmes and Jessica Fairclough were in their car to go shopping at New Look in Cheshire Oaks.

Mayo was going the wrong way around the car park in his Mercedes and the two vehicles faced each other, with Mayo looking agitated, telling the other car to "get in the f***ing space" and give him room.

While the occupants of the other car tried to tell him he was going the wrong way, Mayo hurled abuse, calling the driver a "stupid bitch" and they had a "s*** £8,000 car".

The victims got out of the car to go in the store, but the driver was worried about her car.

At that point, Mayo got out the pair of scissors and punctured one of the front tyres of the car.

He then left the scene, laughing at the driver who said she was left extremely shaken up, with her friends finding the language used "disgusting" and concerned at the use of the scissors.

One of the complainants was anxious and nervous at the prospect of returning to Cheshire Oaks again, the court heard, as a result of the incident.

The damage to the tyre was valued at £23.

Mayo's car registration was taken and he and his vehicle were found later that day and he was arrested.

Among his previous convictions were assault causing bodily harm, domestic violence and resisting police officers.

Defending, Andrew Green said Mayo fully understood the precariousness of this case.

The scissors were in his car as it was coming up to Christmas and they were there with wrapping paper and gifts.

Mayo had recently been diagnosed with Crohn's, had lost his job at a Wrexham food factory five days before the incident and had also recently been the victim of a suspected arson attack which had forced him and his partner to leave their address and live with their respective parents.

The Mercedes he was driving was not a brand new car and he had been paying for it monthly. After losing his job, his father had stepped in to make payments.

There had been a lull in his offending, with this offence being the first since 2016, Mr Green added.

A pre-sentence report said Mayo was still living with the legacy of incident in his childhood.

References sent in by family and family friends "spoke of a different side to him, of a man who dotes on his daughter" whom he had been able to see each fortnight.

Judge Everett, sentencing Mayo, said: "This was a truly, truly nasty incident. There was just absolutely no reason for it and you were in the wrong from the very start.

"You were driving the wrong way and you did not give two hoots about any other person. The lady in the other car had done nothing wrong.

"You decided you were going to give her a mouthful of absolutely disgusting abuse in a maniacal way.

"The reference to them driving 'a s*** £8,000 car' is particularly disgusting and truly horrible.

"Christmas is supposed to be a time of goodwill but there was no goodwill on your part.

"The damage to the tyre would have been inconvenient, but the damage to them before and after Christmas has been significant. We have heard one of them doesn't want to go back to Cheshire Oaks.

"What you did in that maniacal way when stabbing that tyre was you used your scissors as a weapon. If anyone had intervened there would have been a flashpoint and who knows what the consequences would have been. You lost your self-control for no reason."

Judge Everett added: "I have to take into account your guilty plea, your illness and the issues going back many years which caused you trauma.

"But let me be crystal clear; whatever happened in the past, whether there was a fire or issues seeing your daughter, cannot be used as justification for your behaviour that day.

"Your record is not long but it is highly relevant, with offences for violence and domestic violence. There is a problem there, as I see it."

Mayo was jailed for 12 months and the scissors were to be forfeited and destroyed.