A DRUNKEN Ilminster man who kicked a man's cat and shouted racist death threats at a young black child in a park in the town has appeared in court.

Ashley William Oliver then turned to a man who was trying to act good samaritan, and pushed and kicked him.

When he appeared in the dock before Somerset Magistrates they were told he had drunk so much he had no recollection of what happened when he was arrested by the police.

Oliver, 28, of Letham Court, Ilminster, pleaded guilty that on June 20 at Ilminster he assaulted Mark Harwood by beating him.

He also admitted using threatening or abusive words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour likely to cause somebody harassment, alarm or distress, and the offence was racially aggravated.

Prosecutor Suzie Butler said that on the day in question Oliver was at the recreation ground in Ilminster and had consumed a large amount of alcohol.

“The complainant, Mr Harwood, saw him and stopped to check he was OK but during their conversation the defendant kicked Mr Harwood’s cat and then walked off,” she said.

“He walked in the opposite direction and the complainant saw Oliver approach a group of children who were playing in the skate park area."

The court then heard that Oliver went over to a black child and said 'I'm going to kill you' and used racial slurs.

The defendant then pushed and kicked Mr Harwood but he did not sustain any injuries.

Miss Butler said the child who was shouted at was never traced as he ran away from the scene adding that Oliver had used a shod foot as a weapon during the assault.

When the defendant was later arrested and interviewed by the police he made no comment to all questions asked of him.

Defending solicitor Ray Peters said that at the time of the two offences Oliver was “extremely intoxicated”, so much so that he had absolutely no memory whatsoever of the incident.

“I can offer very little mitigation because he has no memory of what went on.

"However he does have a history of care under the mental health team and has been to the Somerset and Dorset Alcohol Service (SDAS) because there were concerns over his drinking,” he said.

“Since this incident he had not consumed any alcohol at all and this has been a big wake-up call for him.

“He is also awaiting a GP appointment with a possible diagnosis of bipolar and Asperger Syndrome.”

He said that on the day Oliver had argued with his girlfriend of three and a half years and she packed her bags and threatened to leave him.

“He chose to seek some sort of solace in alcohol and in a very short period of time he consumed a vast amount of alcohol,” he said.

“The victim of the assault was very concerned about him and tried to calm him down at first.

“However he reacted in a totally inappropriate way and wants to apologise for his behaviour.”

The magistrates adjourned the case until August 16 for a pre sentence report to be prepared by the Probation Service.

Until his next appearance before the court at Yeovil he was given unconditional bail.