A PRESTATYN man has been jailed after a court heard how he pulled a large hunting knife out of his rucksack and threatened a bus driver at Rhyl.

Defendant Brian Robertson, aged 48, carried the knife for protection and also for camping and bush craft when he was homeless, Mold Crown Court was told.

Robertson, of Marion Road, Prestatyn, previously pleaded guilty at Llandudno magistrates’ court to affray at Rhyl bus station last month and having an offensive weapon with which he threatened Phillip Neild-Siddall.

The court heard the driver saw Robertson arguing with a colleague and intervened.

But Mr Neild-Siddall was pushed and threatened with the knife.

CCTV footage of the incident was shown in which the defendant was also punched and coffee was thrown over him.

Judge Niclas Parry said that those actions were protective.

He told Robertson that it was a serious offence to threaten a public servant in a public place while the defendant was under the influence of alcohol.

He had taken the knife out of his rucksack, removed the sheath and used it to threaten.

It was worrying that he carried the knife because he feared attack, said Judge Parry.

He warned: “The use of knives in North Wales has reached epidemic proportions. The public are very concerned.

“Serious consequences have occurred over the last two to three years because knives have been used, often un-intended.

“But when someone out of control through drink in temper produces a knife then they must understand that custodial sentences will follow.”

He warned that the maximum sentence for such an offence was one of four years.

Jailing him for eight months, the judge said that he took into account the fact that he was effectively a man of good character with his own vulnerabilities.

Prosecuting barrister Gemma Gordon told how the incident happened on the evening of August 28 when the defendant approached another driver and demanded to know the name of a bus driver he said had closed a door in his face.

He was told to go to the officer if he wished to complain but he became aggressive and the complainant went to assist his colleague.

There was an altercation when the defendant was punched in the face but the defendant said: “You should not have done that.”

He then produced the knife with a six inch blade from his ruck sack, took it out of its sheath and moved towards Mr Neild-Siddall.

He was threatening - and coffee was thrown over him.

Eventually he put the knife away and Mr Neild-Siddall kicked out at him to get him away.

The victim later told how he feared for his safety and did not know what the defendant was capable of.

Interviewed, the defendant said that he was an alcoholic, had drunk four pints, and claimed that he had come under attack.

The court heard how he had been alcohol dependent for seven years.

He had the knife for bush craft and also for protection because he had been threatened and was sleeping rough at the time.

It was a misguided belief that carrying the knife would alleviate his problems.

He now understood the significant level of fear that the victim would have felt but he had also been subjected to physical violence.