A drunken man has been jailed after he went into the street to threaten binmen who woke him as he slept off a vodka binge.
Ex soldier Brian McDowell armed himself with a glass and binmen thought he was also carrying a knife as he rushed up to them in a rage.
McDowell had a hangover after downing a bottle of vodka and was furious when he was woken by the sound of them tipping recycled bottles into their truck.
He shouted out the window at them to be quiet and lost his temper when one yelled back that he should get a job.
He left the flat where he was staying in Exmouth and chased the binmen down the street before confronting one of them and hurling a glass which went over his head and smashed into a wall behind him.
McDowell, aged 42, of Goldsmith Street, Exeter, was cleared of having a knife but found guilty of common assault on the binman. He also admitted criminal damage to three wall tiles which were broken by the glass.
He was jailed for six months by Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, who said he had a record of drunken trouble making and branded him as 'not a nice man'.
He told him:"This was very unpleasant behaviour. Your previous convictions show you have a very nasty state of mind when you have been drinking.
"This incident happened at 8.15 am when you had sore head and were upset by the binmen making a noise outside. It was a dangerous incident in which you took a glass out with you.
"You confronted one of the binmen while holding the glass, which you had to intimidate at least and threaten at worst.
"These men were going about their work. The jury were not sure you had a knife but you had a glass in your hand. Fortunately the binman remained calm but in temper you threw the glass. It missed him but damaged the tiles."
He told the jury McDowell is not a very nice man and read details of his most recent previous conviction in which he threatened a couple in the street and told them he would cut them, even though he actually had no weapon.
During the short trial the prosecution said McDowell rushed out of a house where he was staying in Manchester Road, Exmouth, armed with a glass and a knife after being disturbed by the noise at about 8.15 am.
Recycling worker Simon Green said he saw a knife wrapped in a sheaf of newspaper which McDowell took from a back pocket and waved in his face while threatening to stab or slash him.
Exmouth Indoor Market owner Mr Jerry Miller said he witnessed the confrontation as he arrived at for work and saw the shape of a knife handle beneath the newspaper.
He also heard Mr Green shouting that the other man had a knife and saw McDowell throw the glass over the binman's head as he walked away from the confrontation.
McDowell comes from Belfast and is a former soldier with the 5th Royal Enniskillen Dragoon Guards, who told the court is sensitive to the sound of breaking glass because of his experiences serving in Northern Ireland.
He said he was in the process of breaking up with girlfriend Nicola King but had spent the night at her flat in Manchester Road so he could continue moving belongings back to his own home in Exeter the next morning.
He said he had drunk a litre of vodka and a few beers the night before and gone to bed in the early hours before being woken by the noise of the binmen.
He said:"I was in the army and smashing glass gets my attention in a big way. It was not the first time I had encountered these men, They can be quite mischievous. I took exception to the noise.
"I went to the window and I was a wee bit rude and asked them why they didn't get a proper job and they said the same back to me.
"I was not in visual contact with the target so I don't know which one said that but they all started laughing and the smashing got louder.
"I was putting on a pair of jeans and took a piece of folded up newspaper to light a cigarette from the cooker. I had an empty vodka tumbler in one hand.
"I never lit the cigarette because it fell out of my mouth when I was shouting at them. I had lost my temper. I was pretty aggressive, but only verbally aggressive.
"As soon as I came out they were shouting 'knife,knife,knife' but all I had was a piece of paper. I went up to one of them told him not to talk to me like that.
"I certainly did not have a knife inside the paper. I have never been a knife person. I did throw the glass but I was not aiming at him and nobody was hurt."
