A DRUNK man broke into a golf club and attempted to cycle away with 23 bottles of champagne before being chased by the owner in a golf buggy.

John Moore, 42, of Saughall Road, was spotted 'swerving all over the gravel path' of Mollington Golf Club as he dragged a trolley full of stolen booze behind him, just after 7am on Saturday, January 21.

Oliver King, prosecuting at Chester Crown court on Monday, described how club proprietor Gary Chubb, who lives in a flat on the club's grounds, had gone to investigate after Moore activated the alarm by smashing through the ground floor window of the main clubhouse with a large screwdriver.

As he approached Mr Chubb heard the sound of bottles clinking before seeing Moore beating an unsteady retreat on the back of his bike, holding on to the handlebars with one hand and pulling the trolley he had found behind him with the other.

Jumping into a nearby golf buggy Mr Chubb pursued him across the grounds, shouting at him to stop. Moore eventually lost his balance and fell off his bike in front of the buggy.

As Mr Chubb approached Moore managed to get to his feet and began to brandish the screwdriver at Mr Chubb, threatening to 'spike him'. He then discarded the trolley, as well as other bottles hidden in his coat, and jumped back on to his bike.

Again, Mr Chubb gave chase in the buggy. This time the pursuit ended with the two colliding after Mr Chubb clipped Moore's back wheel, causing him to fall 'awkwardly' and the buggy to drive over him.

Mr Moore, who suffered a compound fracture to his lower left leg and still uses crutches, cried out to Mr Chubb that he would sue him and send him to prison 'like Tony Martin', making reference to the April 2000 prosecution of householder Tony Martin, who shot dead a teenage intruder in his home.

Police arrived to find Moore lying on his front in a lot of pain, drinking from one of the cans of lager he had brought from home that morning. He received medical treatment at the scene before being arrested.

Defending, John Hedgecoe said that Moore had been 'more drunk than usual' after drinking right through the night before the break-in and had left his house with the intention of walking his dogs, nothing more.

Moore - described by Mr Hedgecoe as an alcoholic and former heroin addict - had stumbled upon the screwdriver whilst out walking his dogs earlier that morning and said something just 'clicked'.

Moore, who appeared in court on crutches, described his actions as a 'relapse' after years of non-offending and denied threatening Mr Chubb with the screwdriver.

Sentencing Moore to 15 months for burglary and failure to surrender, Judge Merfyn Hughes QC said the case was 'so serious only a custodial sentence would be appropriate.'