Shrewsbury knifeman still yet to be sentenced for New Year's Day 2018 attack
A man who attacked two others in a drunken New Year's Day rage will find out in January how long he will spend in prison.
Michael Thomas Heath, now 58, drank so much on January 1 last year that he has no recollection of fetching two knives and a hammer before assaulting two men in Hereford Road, Shrewsbury.
He had targeted the men after an earlier altercation with them, a court heard.
This summer Heath pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm, unlawful wounding and two charges of having offensive weapons.
He was due to be sent to prison on Friday, but his case was adjourned to January 10 2020, meaning he will be sentenced just over two years after he committed the offences.
He was released on bail but has been warned he will go straight to prison when he is sentenced in the new year.
Dangerousness
Judge Anthony Lowe, sitting at Shrewsbury Crown Court, made the adjournment so it can be decided whether Heath fits the legal criteria to be considered a dangerous person, which would affect the terms of his sentence.
Heath's representative in court Paul Smith told the judge: "It's the relationship with drinking that is the concern."
Heath describes himself as being "out of control" on the day in question and the court heard that he still drinks but has changed his drinking habits.
The judge told him: "As part of my duty to the public I have to decide whether you pose a risk to the public on your release.
"If I think there's significant risk then I have to impose a sentence that is different.
"In simple terms, if you get drunk I don't know what you're going to do. That's putting it in a nutshell."
If Heath is determined to be a dangerous offender, a sentencing judge can impose harsher rules on when he is eligible for release from prison.
Heath, of Drawwell Street in Shrewsbury, remains on bail.
