Ebbw Vale dad kicked police window until it smashed

Daniel Woods, 26, from Penlas in Ebbw Vale, attended Newport Crown Court this morning, March 20, to receive his sentence.

Gwent Police attended High Street in Blackwood for an unrelated matter on Saturday, January 27.

Officers found Woods intoxicated, slurring and unsteady on his feet.

Police found Woods intoxicated on High Street (Image: Google)

They asked him to leave the area several times and he refused, Pamela Kaiga, prosecuting, told the court.

Woods told them to “f*ck off”, headbutted the window of the police vehicle - and then repeatedly kicked it until it smashed.

Officers restrained him on the floor, where he continued to kick and spit.

'Red flag'

In interviews, Woods admitted to the drunken and disorderly behaviour and criminal damage but said he did not know how officers had found a bag of cocaine in his pocket.

In August, he was given a 12-month sentence suspended for two years which Peter Wormald, defending, asked Recorder Joanna Evans not to activate.

Mr Wormald suggested police had a kind of “red flag” attached to Woods’ partner’s address which may relate to “historic issues” with previous residents before he moved in.

Recorder Evans said she was still concerned about how Woods’ intoxicated behaviour would manifest at home.

She took note of the defendant’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis, the significant recent reduction in his alcohol use, and the impact a prison sentence would have on his two-and-a-half year old son.

Mr Wormald added Woods, who is currently unemployed, said he would abstain from alcohol entirely if the court so ordered.

'Unjust'

Recorder Evans said there was a “presumption” the suspended sentence would be activated but doing so would be “unjust at this stage”.

Instead, Woods must complete 19 sessions of a thinking skills programme.

The recorder imposed no separate penalty for the drunk and disorderly offence, and a compensation order of £237 for criminal damage.

Woods was fined £100 for the possession of cocaine, and the costs were halved from £400 to £200 because of his financial situation, to be “amalgamated” with existing penalties.

The court also imposed a collection order and victim surcharge.