A DRUNK who swore at police and yesterday tried to prove to a judge he was partially blind by offering to remove his eyeball has avoided jail.

Keith Ferguson was one of five street drinkers banned by court order in April from drinking booze from open containers, visiting five areas of the town centre and using foul language or abusive behaviour anywhere in the borough.

And the 54-year-old, of Elmore, Eldene, found himself back at Swindon County Court yesterday over an incident that saw him shout “here are those ****s again” at two police community support officers.

District Judge Sara Whiteley agreed with Swindon Borough Council, which brought the case, that Ferguson’s use of the slur within earshot of families playing afterschool in Queen’s Park amounted to a breach of the injunction.

But she stepped short of jailing Ferguson over swearing, after hearing the dad-of-one was making efforts to tackle his drinking, mental health problems and avoid members of the group that got him into trouble in the first place.

District Judge Whiteley told the court: “My impression of Mr Ferguson is that you mean what you say and you are trying to make changes.” However, she lambasted the man for his swearing, saying the PCSOs were simply trying to do their jobs: “They should not be subject to abuse by you as I have found today.”

Ferguson had initially claimed not to have sworn at the officers, suggesting a statement that one of the other six drinkers he was with near the park lake must have used the foul language. He told the judge he could not have seen the officers approach as he was blind in his right eye, even offering to remove the eye to prove point. But PCSOs Mark Chivers and Oliver Jefferies maintained they saw Ferguson swear and recognised his distinctive voice.

And under cross examination from Swindon Borough Council solicitor Francis Maples, Ferguson admitted to being drunk on the afternoon in question, suffered from memory loss and “might have said something” to the officers.

Finding the breach proved, District Judge ordered the breach be marked on Ferguson's record.

Reacting to the sentence, A/Insp David Tippetts of Wiltshire Police said it showed the force would not tolerate bad language being used towards members of the public and officers.