AN alcoholic known for singing “Wrexham is a lovely old town” has been fined £200 for breaching a criminal behaviour order.

Mark Griffiths flouted the order by making a nuisance of himself in the Crafty Dragon public house in High Street. He was then spotted drinking from an open can of beer in the Eagles Meadow shopping centre.

His breach of the CBO came only three days after it was imposed and District Judge Gwyn Jones told Griffiths: “If you don’t address your drinking issues you will die.”

The manager of the Crafty Dragon said she was radioed by a member of staff who said that “the Wrexham guy” was in the bar.

“She said that he was always singing about Wrexham being a lovely old town. But he was on Pub Watch and she knew that he wasn’t meant to be on licensed premises,” said the prosecutor.

Griffiths was found watching football on the big screen, but he was asked to leave.

He said: “Get the f***in’ rozzers and they will take me home”.

Eventually, Griffiths left the premises, but he was seen drinking from a can in the shopping complex later and arrested. He told police he was an alcoholic and a breath test reading at the station showed a reading of 74, more than twice the drink-drive limit.

Griffiths, 51, of Alexandra Road, Wrexham admitted breaching a criminal behaviour order on September 22 this year and failing to surrender to custody.

Under the order he is prohibited from entering licensed premises in the Wrexham area and being in possession of an open vessel of alcohol in a public place.

Stephen Edwards, defending, told the court that Griffiths was in stable accommodation and had made progress tackling his drink problem with agencies.

“He has a very, very serious alcohol problem and he wishes to apologise for his behaviour around the pub. It was a cold, wet afternoon and he came in to watch the football.”

Griffiths also has to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £32.