A man was punched in the face by a neighbour who he thought was gatecrashing his housewarming party.

Martyn Hamer, 47, denied assaulting Andrew Smart but he was convicted following a trial.

Welshpool Magistrates' Court was told that Hamer's attack was "unprovoked" when he returned to the party in Pine Court, Newtown to collect his beers.

The 47-year-old, who was serving a 12-month community order at the time of the attack, was told he must continue the order for another year.

Prosecutor James Ashton told the court that Mr Smart and his partner had moved into Pine Court weeks before the party which was held on May 4.

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Hamer attended the party with his partner and ate food and consumed alcohol before leaving. But he returned to the Maesyrhandir property after his partner had left their alcohol at the party.

"The defendant then appeared, shouting and swearing and punched Mr Smart in the face and grabbed and ripped his t-shirt," Mr Ashton said.

"The defendant alleged it was self-defence, but the unprovoked attack was duly convicted".

The court was told that Hamer has previous convictions including two assaults on emergency workers in May, being drunk and disorderly in February and battery in April 2023.

Mr Ashton added: "There was no injury to Mr Smart, thankfully, but he did describe being shocked.

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"The defendant was under the influence of alcohol and the offence was in operation of a community order."

In mitigation, Robert Hanratty, who was acting on behalf of Hamer, said the incident involved "more injury to feeling than anything else".

"One aspect is that the defendant and his partner were invited by Mr Smart's partner. Mr Smart didn’t know that. He thought that they were gatecrashers.

"There was some disagreement when the defendant returned to collect his beers. Mr Smart then approached him, but no injuries were reported."

Probation officer Julian Davies told the court that Hamer had been engaging well during his rehabilitation sessions with substance misuse service Kaleidoscope.

"Mr Hamer has engaged in reflective therapy on the impact of alcohol on himself, in terms of physical and mental health and the impact on offending," Mr Davies added.

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Magistrates decided to impose another 12-month community order which includes five rehabilitation requirement days to address victim awareness, and a nine-month alcohol treatment requirement.

Hamer, of Swallow Drive, Newtown, must pay a £120 fine instead of unpaid work which he is unable to do because of his health issues. He was also ordered to pay £650 in court costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

Rebecca Klug, chair, said: "Because there was no injury, the victim is your neighbour and compensation may aggravate the situation, we are not awarding compensation.

"We don’t want to see you here again."

Before leaving the dock, Hamer replied: "I don’t want to be back here either”.