TWO men squared up to each other – one with a sword, the other with a hockey stick.
And it was the swordsman who backed down first, a court heard.
The confrontation was recalled when Ifraz Riaz, 28, of Akeds Road, Halifax, appeared in court for spitting at a police officer while serving a suspended sentence.
Bradford Crown Cou
rt heard that Riaz been in court for fighting.
Heather Weir, prosecuting, said that last August Riaz, a father of one, was returning from People's Park, Halifax, when someone struck him in the face with a plastic bottle.
He retaliated by going home and emerging with a sword. But when his aggressor wielded a hockey stick, Riaz backed down and went home.
Riaz, a mechanic, was given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months after admitting affray.
But three weeks later, he yelled abuse at a police officer on patrol in Stirling Street, Halifax.
"He appeared drunk and very aggressive in his movements," said Mrs Weir.
When the officer smelled cannabis on Riaz he arrested him and called for back-up, she added.
"In the car he spat at the police officer. His saliva hit him on the right cheek."
Riaz admitted assaulting the officer and was jailed for three months.
David McGonigal, for Riaz, said: "Were it not for his difficulty with alcohol he would seem to be leading a good life."
Judge Robert Bartfield said "When you were sentenced, the Recorder will have told you if you committed an offence you would serve that sentence and he wasn't joking.
"You spat straight in the officer's face as an act, no doubt, of the contempt you felt for him."
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