A DRUNK who smashed up his girlfriend’s home in a rage was sarcastically described as “a real charmer” by the judge who’d just jailed him.
Dafydd Merkel, 36, punched a door off its hinges and broke a window and mirror at the woman’s house in Caerphilly.
The defendant went out to watch Wales’ Six Nations rugby match with England and was asked by the woman to stay at his mother’s home that night.
MORE NEWS: Man caught with drone and drugs worth £10,000 outside prison gate
She told Merkel she didn’t want him coming back to her house drunk.
His then partner said she wanted to put her children to bed early to get them back into a routine ready for school after the half-term break.
Andrew Kendall, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court: “At around 10.30pm he was at the door and when she asked him if he was drunk, he said he wasn’t.
“However when she opened the door and the defendant walked in she could see he couldn’t walk straight and he was stumbling about.”
When Merkel refused to leave the victim called 999.
“The defendant told her, ‘I don’t give a f*** if you call the police.’
“She could then hear banging and shouting and she saw that he was, in her words, going nuts.”
Merkel caused the door to come off its hinges by punching a hole in it and threw a vacuum cleaner.
In a separate incident, committed a month later in March, he threatened to damage the cars of the woman and her mother following a confrontation in Caerphilly.
In April Merkel smashed the windscreen of his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle and confessed to the crime when he messaged her: “I put the windscreen through on your car.”
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she no longer feels safe in her own home.
“The offences were committed to intimidate his victim,” Mr Kendall said.
The defendant was also in court for driving off without paying for £30.03 worth of petrol from Morrisons in Caerphilly when he was banned from driving and using a false number plater.
Merkel admitted two counts of criminal damage, threatening criminal damage, driving while disqualified, driving with no insurance, making off without paying for fuel and using false number plates.
The defendant, of Coed y Brain, Llanbradach, Caerphilly, has 33 convictions for 151 offences.
Judge David Wynn Morgan told off Merkel for interrupting proceedings and asked his barrister Kevin Seal: “I really don’t feel sorry for him – why did he do these things?
He replied: “Drink.”
Mr Seal added that his client was “childish and immature”.
Merkel was jailed for 16 months and was made the subject of an indefinite restraining order not to contact his victim.
After the defendant was taken down to the cells, Judge Wynn Morgan told his lawyer: “Obviously a real charmer Mr Seal.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article