A CREWE man threw a wet pair of boxer shorts in the face of a police sergeant after he was arrested at his 30th birthday party.

David Edward Yates was so drunk he had no recollection of the incident which led to him being pepper sprayed by arresting officers and taken to the Middlewich Custody Suite.

He claimed the effects of the spray triggered his aggression which saw him fly into a rage when the officer spoke to him through a cell hatch.

"He threw his wet boxer shorts at the sergeant causing pain and reddening to his eye," prosecutor Ben Stanley told South Cheshire Magistrates' Court.

The defendant's misbehaviour started after a surprise birthday party was thrown at his home in Prunus Road by family and friends. Police received a call reporting that a blood-spattered, topless man was going "up and down the road causing a disturbance".

They found Yates in a highly-agitated state and he was led back to his house. But he told the officers to leave and began behaving in a threatening manner.

He punched a hole in the fence in his back garden and then screamed in the face of a female officer before charging at her, at which stage the police decided to "spray" the defendant's eyes.

Yates was arrested for assaulting an officer and taken into custody where his actions were to lead to a further assault charge against him.

He told police he had been drinking whisky and bottles of lager, but couldn't remember how much he had drunk.

His solicitor, Peter Casson, said that as a "general rule" the defendant didn't drink alcohol.

"People were giving him drinks and he doesn't remember anything other than waking up in the police cell the next day," said Mr Casson.

"He wants to apologise to the custody sergeant who was hit by the boxer shorts. His family are quite surprised by his behaviour, one minute he was fine and then when the police arrived he was acting aggressively.

"He was sprayed and he says it made him aggressive which is why he was taking his clothes off in the police station."

Yates, 30, of Prunus Road, Crewe admitted assaulting an emergency worker in Crewe on May 23 this year. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting an emergency worker by beating in Middlewich on the same date.

Magistrates Chairman Ian Williams told Yates: "It sounds like a birthday to forget rather than one to remember. But to your credit your behaviour was well out of sync with your normal activities."

Magistrates took into account the defendant's previous good character when fining him £500.

They also ordered he pay both police officers compensation of £75, a victim surcharge of £50 and court costs of £85.