A BLAENAU Ffestiniog man has pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour towards a guard on a north Wales train.

Barry John Phillip McCullum, 24, of Pengelli Terrace appeared before Dolgellau magistrates and pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour towards guard Bryn Hughes on a late train from Llandudno to Blaenau Ffestiniog on 26 November last year.

Magistrates heard that Mr Hughes had told McCullum that he would get his son to sort him out for the way he had spoken to him.

Mr Hughes then claimed McCullum had threatened his son during the heated argument.

Elizabeth Jones, defending, told the court that both her client and the guard were as bad as each other.

The court heard that McCullum had refused to show his ticket on the grounds that he had already shown it to another guard.

The crown prosecutor said that the defendant swore at Mr Hughes and was calling him a ‘k***’ every time he passed through the aisle on the train.

In a victim statement read out to the court, Mr Hughes said that he was shocked that the defendant had threatened his son and that really upset him. He was then off sick for four weeks with stress after the incident.

However, the defence claimed McCullum only behaved the way he did in retaliation to what the guard had said to him.

McCullum pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour and was placed on a 12-month community order with a recommendation that he spent 30 days attending rehabilitation. He was fined £50 with £620 prosecution costs and £60 victim surcharge.

The court was told that, after an initial not-guilty plea, the defendant changed his plea on the morning of the trial on 7 July after witnesses had been called resulting in £620 costs.

“We are not awarding compensation because of the unprofessional actions of the guard. However, that does not condone your behaviour,” court chairman Alun Pugh told the defendant.