A man guilty of yelling homophobic abuse at a police officer has left court hundreds of pounds better off.

Daniel Dent, 34, was brought before Swindon Magistrates Court after repeatedly calling an officer, PC Sean Williams, a "f****t" during an incident on February 2, this year. 

The prolific offender had been detained on suspicion of shoplifting when he began his verbal assault on the officer. 

In court, Dent shouted “Just lock me up, I don’t care man” from the dock as prosecutor Pauline Lambert outlined the case.

District Judge Joanna Dickens said: “There’s no place for this in our society, it’s aggressive and it’s disgusting.

“It’s not language anybody should be using, particularly against officers.”

But despite pleading guilty to a Section 5 Public Order Act offence and being ordered to pay the victim £200, Dent ended up quids in thanks to an unusual move from the judge.

In response to the order, Dent - who is unemployed and claiming benefits - said: “I’m not going to pay that, that’s a lot of money.”

But Judge Dickens replied that she intends to wipe all of his existing fines totalling £400.

She told him: “You’re up in the situation.”