A PENPARCAU man who said he would “love to go toe-to-toe” with a police officer has said he was frustrated at being stopped by police several times.

Neil Jones told PC Barnsley that he would smash his face in during a row after Jones was stopped while driving in Aberystwyth.

But his solicitor Alan Lewis said Jones, 34, had “felt victimised” by the police.

Prosecutor Helen Tench said Jones, who pleaded guilty to intentional disorderly conduct, was stopped as police believed he was wanted for questioning for an alleged other offence.

But Ms Tench said Jones, of 64 Heol Dinas, was immediately aggressive and turned red in the face and was clenching his fists in anger.

She said he was unhappy at being stopped and said that he had no idea why the police had stopped him.

However, after he was asked to calm down Jones got even angrier and threatened PC Barnsley saying he had “better watch out when you’re on your own” and threatening to attack him.

Following his arrest, Jones said that he had no intention of assaulting the officer and when asked if the officer was likely to have felt threatened or harassed, Jones said he thought he would “be alright”.

Defence solicitor Alan Lewis said Jones had asked him to apologise to the officer in court for his “outburst”, but said that he had just been “letting off steam to vent his frustration”.

Mr Lewis said Jones had been stopped two or three times by the police while driving and had become annoyed by it, especially as he had not been charged with any other offence.

Presiding magistrate Alan Thomas said while magistrates accepted that Jones had been frustrated, he should not have behaved like that toward police officers. He said: “You needn’t have been here today if you kept your cool, although I understand you were frustrated.”

Jones was fined £80 and will pay costs totalling £115.