A MAN who was given a chance to stay out of prison by a court went out the very next day and smashed a window with his head.
Ashley Butterfield, of Temple Vale in Cefn Mawr, was produced in the dock at Mold Magistrates Court on Thursday.
The 32-year-old admitted one offence of criminal damage, which took place in Ruabon on Wednesday (November 4).
Prosecutor Rhian Jackson told the court that Butterfield was dealt with by Wrexham Magistrates Court the day before the incident for a raft of theft-related offences, for which he received a 26-week custodial term, suspended for 12 months.
Regarding Wednesday's offence, Ms Jackson told the court the owner of a property on High Street in Ruabon received numerous messages and calls on the day in question to inform him some damage had been caused.
The owner, who had been in the process of renovating the property, arrived a short while later to find a front window had been smashed.
A witness told police she had been walking nearby when she saw Butterfield "stumbling all over the road", causing one car to have to swerve.
He then walked onto a path and punched a metal fence and railings with force four or five times.
After that, he "jumped and headbutted the window with a lot of force, causing it to smash."
He did try the next window, the court heard, but that didn't smash, and just left Butterfield trying to wipe blood from his face.
The defendant was described as appearing "angry and under the influence of something."
When officers arrived they were told to look for a man who was "covered in blood" - and they soon found him.
After being taken to hospital for treatment of a cut above his left eyebrow, he refused to be interviewed.
Ms Jackson told the court its starting point would be to activate the suspended sentence order Butterfield had breached, posing the question: "We're say if he can't keep out of trouble for one day, what is the likelihood of him complying for another 364 days?"
Euros Jones, defending, told the court: "He was released on Tuesday, having spent over a month on remand waiting for sentence."
The defendant then went back to his family home and was informed a relative had a medical condition, which he "coped with," Mr Jones said.
But the next day when he went into Wrexham city centre to resolve his benefits situation, he bumped into "person he shouldn't have been associating with" and ended up intoxicated, with the end result being the incident in Ruabon High Street.
"If you do activate the suspended sentence," he said, "it would be a very limited custodial term because he's already served about five weeks."
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"Your decision today is stark."
"My submission is that this is a different type of offence [from what which the suspended sentence was imposed for]."
"He has pleaded guilty to this; it could be dealt with by way of financial penalty."
The Magistrates opted to give the defendant another chance, ordering him to pay £150 compensation only - and not activating the sentence.
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