MAN THREATENED WITH KNIFE, DEMANDED STEAK, AND HEADBUTTED NEIGHBOUR IN BARRY
A man threatened to “chop up” another man during a row and then went round to his ex-partner’s house - who he was banned from contacting - with a knife and demanded she cook him a steak before he headbutted one of her neighbours, a court heard.Alan Meredith, 40, was seen walking with a woman in Barry on the evening of July 18.
She had blood on her face and was asking for someone to call the police.
When a man offered to do just that Meredith said “no-one is gong to call the police”.
He than ran towards the man and kicked him in the back and said “I’m going to chop you up”.
The man was able to run away and found safety in a block of flats until Meredith left the scene.
However, a few hours later - at around 12.50am on July 19 - Meredith’s former partner was sleeping in her flat in Merthyr Street in Barry when she was awoken by a voice and the sound of her flat buzzer being called.
Answering the call, she recognised the voice of her former partner of 14 years, who had been made the subject of a restraining order in May 2023 which prohibited him from making any contact with her.
She told him to go away from her flat but he kept shouting “cook my steak”.
According to prosecution barrister Alexander Greenwood, Meredith, who was “highly inebriated” at the time, was seen holding a large bottle of alcohol and a kitchen knife in his hand.
A neighbour who lived in another flat tried to intervene and asked Meredith to leave the area due to the time of night and the fact that people were trying to sleep.
Meredith became aggressive upon hearing this request and ended up headbutting the neighbour in his doorway.
Meredith, of Dunlin Court, Barry, was arrested later that morning and pleaded guilty to charges of assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, breaching a restraining order, and possession of a bladed article before he appeared at Newport Crown Court on Friday.
In mitigation, defence counsel Hilary Roberts said: “The defendant’s relationship with his former partner is a good one.
The knife was in a bag with cheese and was not there for hostile intent.
His visit was so that he could see his former partner in the stupid hope that she would cook a steak for him.
It was intended to be a friendly visit.” However, Mr Roberts conceded that his client should not have visited his ex-partner’s property and that there was no mitigation for the headbutt on the neighbour.
The court was told that Meredith had 28 previous convictions including wounding, assault, and possession of a knuckle duster.
Addressing the defendant in court, Recorder Paul Lewis KC told him that he had a “long record of previous convictions” and sentenced him to 17 months in prison.
