A MAN who went on a drunken tyre-slashing spree appeared before a district judge yesterday.

Phillip Holt, 23, of Kingsley Avenue, Lockwood, slashed 18 tyres on vehicles on May Street, Crosland Moor, in the small hours of June 27.

The court heard Holt had been drinking heavily beforehand with a friend.

He had picked up a kitchen knife before walking home.

Defending Marnat Ali said the recent death of Holt’s mother had caused his client to drink to excess.

Mr Ali said: “He was very close to his mother who passed away in November.

“He is not really a malicious person.

“It is alcohol use as a mechanism of coping with bereavement.”

Holt admitted 18 charges of criminal damage and possession of a knife in public.

District Judge Marie Mallon bailed Holt to appear at Huddersfield Magistrates Court on July 30.