A MAN arrested for smashing the window of a police van managed to break free from the vehicle and remove his handcuffs, a court heard.

Glyn Moore (24) of Moss Row, Bury, appeared before Bury Magistrates Court last Thursday after being arrested in the early hours of December 17, following a disturbance in Coomassie Street in Radcliffe.

The court heard how, after breaking the van window with a brick, Moore was handcuffed and put in the vehicle.

On his arrest, Moore was reported to have told police that he had smashed the window because he did not like them.

But as police attended to the remaining disturbance, Moore was released from the back of the van by a friend, and later managed to remove the handcuffs with a hacksaw.

Mrs Anna Morris, prosecuting, said: "The defendant was under the influence of alcohol when the incident took place. He was remorseful about the incident, which followed the break-up of a relationship."

Moore was given a 12-month Community Punishment Order and ordered to pay costs and a fine totalling £295.