A MAN who attacked his wife then threatened to knock police officers’ heads off with a sledgehammer after drinking 20 pints of cider has avoided jail.

Michael Joyce was given an 18-month community order and placed on a three-month curfew at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting battery and affray .

The 25-year-old attacked his estranged wife, Roseanne Gallagher, during a family gathering at The One Restaurant and Bar in July. Prosecutor Henry James said Ms Gallagher called police in the early hours of July 5, after Joyce punched her three or four times in the face at the Botley Road restaurant.

He said at least six police officers then descended on the Redbridge Hollow travellers’ site in Old Abingdon Road where both Joyce and Ms Gallagher live in separate caravans.

Mr James said officers saw Joyce hitting his white Ford Mondeo with a sledgehammer before shouting at them to “get off” the site. He also threatened officers, telling them he would take their “heads off”.

Joyce was then seen heading into the laundry block after putting the hammer down. He was arrested the next day.

Mr James said Joyce had been handed a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to carry out unpaid work on June 8, after admitting one count of forced compulsory labour between January 2012 and November 2013.

Defence barrister Stuart Matthews said there was a “sense of acceptance” from Joyce, who has three children with Ms Gallagher and married her when he was 18 and she was 16.

Judge Ian Pringle said: “You had 20 pints of cider inside you at the time. It’s a major problem that you need to address.”

Joyce must complete a 35-day rehabilitation course and undergo relationship counselling.

He must not leave his home between 10pm and 7am, and was ordered to pay £900 criminal courts charge and a victim surcharge.