AFTER a night out with his girlfriend in Aberaeron, a local chef turned violent during the early hours of the morning and assaulted two police officers.

The ugly incident occurred in Tabernacle Street where Samuel Joshua Forbes was standing in a darkly lit doorway.

Magistrates were told that when Constable Stephen Greensmyth asked him if he was all right, Forbes responded with a tirade of verbal abuse.

As the abuse continued and the officer took hold of his arm, Forbes became violent and punched the officer to the face.

Constable Nia Griffiths sprayed the man with incapacitating gas and he reacted by throwing punches at her, one of which struck her on the cheekbone, the court heard.

He slipped over a fence but the officers caught him, and despite him kicking out and struggling wildly, he was handcuffed.

As officers waited for a custody vehicle to arrive, friends of Forbes asked why he was being arrested and they also hurled abuse at the officers.

When he appeared in court in Cardigan last week, 20-year-old Forbes, of Glan y Mor, who was represented by Alison Mathias, pleaded guilty on two counts of assault on police.

Ms Mathias said that Forbes, who at the time worked as a sous chef at the Harbourmaster Hotel in Aberaeron, had obtained employment in Mayfair in London.

She said he acted totally out of character.

Asked by presiding magistrate Euros Davies if he had anything to say, Forbes said "I'm very sorry.

"I had too much to drink that night."

He was fined £185 with £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.