A court has heard how a mother and her two young children became 'terrified' after being hurled verbal abuse by a man they had never seen before in Haverfordwest town centre.

The woman and her two young children, aged nine and seven, were sitting on a bench in Castle Square on the evening of September 6 when Hal Davies of Clarence House, Victoria Road, Pembroke Dock walked past them.

"He looked at them and told them to '**** off' Crown Prosecutor Linda Baker told Haverfordwest magistrates this week.

"But the mother had never seen the man before in her life."

She told her children to ignore the defendant however he continued to hurl abuse at them and started to walk towards them.

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"He was shouting and swearing at the children, and at this point they became terrified," said Mrs Baker.

Police were summoned to attend the scene and Davies was subsequently arrested and charged with using threatening and abusive behaviour. 

This week he pleaded guilty to the charge.  He was legally represented in court by Mr Tom Lloyd who said his client was 'genuinely sorry and embarrassed' for the offence.

"He'd come to Haverfordwest to do some shopping and then went into a pub for some alcohol," he said.

"He can't remember anything about the incident. His mother thinks he may have alcohol issues however my client doesn't agree with this, although he does binge-drink on occasions."

After listening to the evidence magistrates imposed a 12-month community order on Davies together with 10 days of rehabilitation.

He was also fined £120 and ordered to pay a £114 surcharge and £85 costs.