A WREXHAM man threw stones at a woman outside her home before he headbutted and spat at police officers who came to arrest him.

Shane Gary Griffiths, 32, of Beechley Road, had been invited to a barbecue at a house in Ellesmere in June last year, but got himself involved in an altercation with another man.

After the pair scuffled on the floor, Griffiths left the property but was pursued by several other party goers. He picked up a handful of gravel and threw it at Nichola Munn, hitting her, although he claimed he had no intention to hurt her.

Justin Espie, prosecuting, told Mold Magistrates Court the incident occurred on June 22 last year.

Ms Munn had called the police to tell them that Griffiths had attacked her boyfriend and when police arrived at his mother's home to arrest him, he spat out at two female officers as he was being led to the car. As one of the officers was placing him into the vehicle, Griffiths headbutted her, which resulted in her suffering bruising to her left eye.

Mr Espie explained how Griffiths had originally entered a not guilty plea to the assault charge, but had changed on the day of the trial on the basis that it only constituted him throwing stones and not anything else. A restraining order, barring Griffiths from entering Ellesmere was necessary in this instance as he had contacted the victim the day before the proposed trial telling her what to say. She had since moved home, but was still living in the area, so a town wide ban was considered proportionate.

Probation officer Leah Cosgrove told the court that Griffiths, who is currently living in shared accommodation, had been working as a warehouse operative for a number of years. He admitted to her that he had been in trouble when he was younger, but how he had been behaving himself since the birth of his two sons and was disgusted by his behaviour. He had displayed genuine remorse and knows his behaviour on the night in question was wrong and fully accepted any punishment that would be coming his way, as he felt he deserved it.

Griffiths, who was not being represented in court, told the magistrates that he was very sorry for what he had done and accepts that the police officers had just been doing their job at the time.

Magistrates told Griffiths he might be surprised to learn he wasn't being sent to prison on this occasion, despite the fact the offence and been both "nasty" and "serious". Telling him that the abuse of police officers will not be tolerated, they dealt with the three charges of assault under one 12 month community order, with a requirement he complete 100 hours of unpaid work and complete a thinking skills programme.

He was also ordered to pay Ms Munn £100 in compensation, while he must pay the female officer he spat and headbutted £200 and the other £100. He must also pay a surcharge of £85.