Families socialising on a beach after going to church were terrorised by a drunken knifeman shouting racist abuse, a court has heard.
Alexander Walker began by offering some of the children at the gathering alcohol before producing a knife and threatening to “slice” them. He then chased some of the family members, including a man who was carrying a baby.
Sending the 27-year-old to prison, a judge told him his behaviour on the evening in question had been “quite simply disgusting”.
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Swansea Crown Court heard the incident took place on the beach near Swansea’s Blackpill Lido on Easter Sunday this year.
Dean Pulling, prosecuting, said two families met on the beach after attending a church service in order to socialise. Later in the evening they lit a fire, and some of the children in the group began toasting marshmallows.
At around 8.30pm Walker approached two youngsters who were sat on the wall by the nearby Texaco garage and offered them alcohol. When the children declined the offer, the defendant began swearing at them and abusing them.
The court heard the youngsters’ father saw what was happening and called to them in their native tongue – at that point, Walker turned his attention to the families and called them “P****s” and shouted about them talking in a “P*** language”. Mr Pulling said the families tried to ignore Walker but then he produced a knife and told them: “I’ll give you 30 seconds before I slice your throat.” With that the defendant began to chase one of the group, a man in his 60s who had a baby in his arms, before brandishing the blade at other members of the group and chasing them.
The court heard the incident only ended when the victims told Walker they had called the police. The defendant walked away towards the city centre but officers were soon on the scene and found him on the nearby foot-golf course opposite the Ashleigh Road playing fields. In his pocket he had a lock-knife.
Mr Pulling said that in Walker’s subsequent interview he said he had drunk large amounts of whisky while walking from his home to the seafront, and had then bought more alcohol from the garage. He said he had no recollection of what happened on the beach, but told officers he could be an “idiot” when drunk.
The court heard impact statements from members of the families in which they described how upset and offended they had been, and how frightened the children were. One said her family used to enjoy going to the beach in Swansea but no longer felt safe doing so.
Alexander Jonathan Walker, of McRitchie Place, Gendros, Swansea, pleaded guilty to affray and possession of a bladed article when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 20 previous offences on his record, including offences of violence.
Dan Griffiths, for Walker, said the defendant had been heavily intoxicated on the day in question, and cannot remember anything that happened. He said his client was “disgusted at himself”, adding that alcohol was the root cause of the problems in his life.
Judge Paul Thomas QC told Walker his behaviour towards two families who were just enjoying a quiet evening together on the beach had been “quite simply disgusting”.
The judge said the appropriate sentence without the racial element of the offending would have been two years in prison but he would increase that by one-quarter to reflect the racial aggravation. However, the defendant was entitled to a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas which brought the final sentence back down to two years. Walker will spend up to half the two-year period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
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