A man ordered to do community service for two criminal offences was then aggressive and abusive to staff monitoring his efforts, a court was told.

Paul Burns’s behaviour at unpaid work sessions was said to have been so poor that supervisors concluded they could no longer work with him.

Burns, 44, had received a suspended 16-month prison sentence, in August last year, for offences of assault – causing actual bodily harm – and criminal damage to property.

He was also told to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and a night-time curfew was imposed.

But when he appeared at Carlisle Crown Court, he accepted breaching that order.

This was by behaving improperly when attending for unpaid work on three occasions - December 2, March 9 and May 10.

Prosecutor Antony Longworth said Burns’s demeanour on the first of those dates had been “aggressive”.

“He slammed a rake down on the floor and was abusive to supervising staff,” said Mr Longworth.

Following a meeting Burns was given a final warning. But the court heard that in early March he was suspended from duty following an incident in Workington. When he attended for unpaid work in May, he was informed about this suspension and again became “aggressive and abusive”.

Mr Longworth stated: “They are now not prepared to accept Mr Burns for unpaid work and are no longer prepared to work with him due to concerns over their health and safety, posed by him himself and his influence on other workers.”

Brendan Burke, defending, said Burns had felt there was a “failure in communication” about the suspension.

He believed the indiscretion on the first breach date had been confined to the past following a handshake with a supervising officer.

Indeed he felt he was making good progress, completing almost 80 hours’ unpaid work along with all of the curfew he had been given.

But having heard both sides of the story, Recorder Michael Duck QC was damning of Burns’s conduct towards those supervising his unpaid work.

“On occasions your behaviour has been appalling. They are not there to be witness to – or victims of – your flashes of temper, Mr Burns,” said the judge.

Burns, of West View Walk, Workington, was told to complete a new curfew, which will run nightly, from 7pm to 7am, for the next four months.

But he was warned by Recorder Duck: “Let me make this absolutely plain: if there is any further breach of this order then there are minimal prospects of you retaining your liberty on a future occasion.”