A man who assaulted another drinker in a pub after becoming enraged by comments about his mother and her cats has been sentenced to a community order.
David Parsons, 46, of Ewart Street, Saltney Ferry, appeared before Judge Nicola Jones at Caernarfon Court to be sentenced for one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He had pleaded guilty on the day of his trial on July 16.
The court heard the offence happened at Saltney Social Club on June 21, 2025, where Parsons and the complainant, Thomas Wynn, were both familiar faces.
Prosecutor Catherine Elvin said Mr Wynn offered to buy Parsons a drink that afternoon, but Parsons declined and said he needed to feed his mother’s cats.
Mr Wynn then made what he later accepted was a “crude, poor and foolish joke”, telling Parsons to drown the cats before also making a comment about drowning his mother.
A member of staff who witnessed the exchange regarded it as an attempt at banter but described Parsons as having “seen red”.
Parsons left the club and later posted a series of messages on Facebook about Mr Wynn, including that he “can’t let this go”, that Mr Wynn “needed sorting” and was “better off six feet under”.
The court heard Mr Wynn became aware of the posts but recognised his earlier comments had caused genuine offence and intended to apologise when Parsons returned.
When Parsons came back, Mr Wynn approached him with his arms open, attempted to shake his hand and tried to explain that his earlier comments had been a joke.
However, Parsons struck him three times to the back of the head.
The prosecution said Parsons had a jacket around his arm when he delivered the blows, which made a “hard thudding impact”, and Mr Wynn believed there was something solid inside it.
After the third blow, Mr Wynn briefly lost awareness and suffered a V-shaped laceration to his scalp which began bleeding.
A claw hammer was later found inside Parsons’ jacket.
Parsons voluntarily attended a police interview on July 24, 2025, after becoming aware officers wanted to speak to him, and initially claimed he had acted in self-defence.
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Sentencing him, Judge Jones said Mr Wynn’s comments had gone “beyond banter”, but Parsons’ response had gone too far.
She said: “You can’t hit someone with a hammer on the head three times.”
The judge described the offence as a category B3 assault, taking into account the use of a weapon and an element of premeditation, although the violence itself was short-lived.
The court heard Parsons has four previous convictions for nine offences, none involving violence, with his most recent conviction dating back to 2018.
Judge Jones also took into account the level of provocation and Parsons’ lack of similar previous convictions.
He was handed a 12-month community order with five rehabilitation activity requirement days.
Parsons was also ordered to pay a £114 victim surcharge within 56 days. No costs or compensation were awarded and there was no application for a restraining order.
The judge warned Parsons that if he breached the order or committed another offence, custody would be the next sentencing option.
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