A WREXHAM man who brandished a metal bar and attacked a stranger has been sent to prison.

Peter Bassett, 24, of Holt, admitted wounding and possessing a weapon in public.

Nicholas Williams, prosecuting at Mold Crown Court, said the victim, Matthew Bates, had been out for a drink at Brymbo Cricket Club and was walking home with friends at about 6.30pm on August 17, 2019.

The screeching of tyres brought the group to a stop when they saw Bassett in the passenger side of a Peugeot vehicle that came to a halt about three metres away from them.

The court was told that Bassett exited the vehicle with the driver – who has not been traced – and threatened to stab the victim.

Bassett was then said to have reached into the passenger footwell of the car and pulled out what the prosecution described as a 30cm silver-coloured metal bar believed to be a socket wrench.

The court heard that Bassett struck his victim on the left side of his forehead.

During the altercation, one of Bates’ friends was assaulted by the driver of the vehicle and knocked to the floor when trying to help break up the fight.

The pair were taken to A&E where he identified was as having a gash on his head following the blow which needed gluing together – as well as bruising around the eye from the horrific attack.

The prosecution said Bassett had never met his victim before the assault and the victim’s statement says he has “no idea what the whole thing was about”.

Police reports state that officers arrived to arrest Bassett at an address in Wrexham where, during this process, he jumped out of a window and smashed up his mobile phone. He made off on foot but was apprehended by officers a short distance from his address.

He gave no comment in interviews but was later picked out of an identification parade as the attacker.

The court heard that Bassett has several previous convictions for violent crimes.

Dafydd Roberts, defending, told the judge that Bassett’s case clearly went beyond the custody threshold and submitted several documents giving testimony of Bassett’s character.

Mr Roberts said at the time of the offence, Bassett was living a “chaotic” and “unstable” life due to sofa surfing. Since then, he has secured his own permanent accommodation and stopped using Class A drugs and drinking.

The judge, Nicola Jones, told Bassett that he would serve a 15 month sentence - half in custody and half on licence.

She said: “Thankfully, the injury was less serious in the context of the offence - but the fact a weapon was used cannot be ignored. The custody threshold has clearly been crossed.

"The difficulty I have in suspending that is that you have a poor record of responding to supervision and also this is such a serious offence that immediate custody is the only option."

After passing her sentence, Judge Jones told Bassett that she did not want this sentence to "crush" him, and asked that he continue to "turn a corner" as evidenced in the defence reports.

She said: "Please continue to keep up the good work you have made so far. Keep your head down when you are in prison and you can hopefully make a fresh start when you are released."