A FATHER of three involved himself in a ‘nasty street fight’ on Christmas Day after struggling to deal with the death of his mother, a court heard.

Lewis Hazeldon, 31, pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 3 of the Public Order Act 1986 after originally being charged with affray.

He was sentenced at Preston Crown Court on April 26.

Prosecutor Salek Ahmed said Hazeldon, of Island Road in Barrow, was under the influence of alcohol when he became involved in an ‘incident’ with others on the street.

He said the defendant was seen on CCTV throwing punches towards another man – none of which connected, the court heard.

However, Hazeldon was only sentenced for causing the man fear of violence by using threatening, abusive, insulting words and behaviour towards him.

The court heard the defendant had been spending his first Christmas after losing his mother to cancer with his children at a friend’s house.

Hazeldon, who has 15 previous convictions for 27 offences, provided no comment responses to the incident in police interview.

In mitigation, his barrister Charlotte Phillips told the court her client had stayed out of trouble for some time.

She said: “He has been doing very well, but it seems alcohol is the factor of his offending.

“There is a history between the defendant and the complainant in this case. It was none of his business to get involved in what was going on.

“It is a nonsensical offence for all parties involved and was a poor judgement on his behalf.

“He knows he should not have acted in the way that he did. He has a desire to address and improve his alcohol awareness.

“He has three children and his partner is a stabilising factor in his life.

“It was his first Christmas after losing his mother to cancer and he struggled to cope on the day."

His Honour Judge Richard Gioserano sentenced Hazeldon to a two-year community order.

Before imposing the sentence he said: “I am not here to give you a lecture on your alcohol consumption. You are old enough now to address that issue yourself.

“I suspect you know what you did is not acceptable behaviour. If you are upset from losing your mother, you do not honour her memory by drinking and getting involved in a nasty street fight.

“You already work full time but cannot seem to quite stay out of trouble for some reason. It seems to me it is probably the drink and best if you do not drink at all.”

As part of the order, Hazeldon was required to complete the Thinking Skills Program, 10 rehabilitation requirement days and 80 hours of unpaid work.