A 23-year-old who denies threatening a man with a knife in Old Town failed to appear in court for a more recent allegation of criminal damage.

Luca Chrystal is accused of threatening another man with a knife in Godwin Court, near Wood Street in Old Town, on September 29, 2022.

He pleaded not guilty at Swindon Crown Court on July 2.

Chrystal was later accused of hundreds of pounds of criminal damage but missed his court appearance for a holiday.

He allegedly damaged a police cage to the value of £200 by spitting, smashing the glass at a Co-op and items belonging to another man.

As well as the three counts of criminal damage he faces  is one count of possession of cannabis - all from June 7, 2024. He failed to appear at Swindon Magistrates' Court for a hearing on July 10 because he was on holiday.

His representative, Tim Morgan, explained Chrystal was charged on June 23 but he had a holiday planned and paid for at the planned time of his court hearing.

The prosecutor, Adam Cooper, concurred that “he had done everything he could” to move his court date.

He will appear at Swindon Magistrates' Court on July 29 on the criminal damage charges, and at Swindon Crown Court on January 6, 2025 on the offensive weapon charges.