A MAN'S ill-feeling towards a detective landed him in court, after a brief abusive remark to the off-duty officer in a pub.

Brian Watters, 40, who had previously assaulted Detective Constable Graham Chapman at a pub in Coundon, County Durham, spotted the officer during a night out in Darlington, Durham Crown Court was told.

John Gillette, prosecuting, said video footage shot in Humphries, in Blackwellgate, showed Watters approaching Det Con Chapman in an arc from across the crowded bar.

On reaching the officer, who was with friends, Watters had made the abusive remark, said Mr Gillette.

Carl Gumsley, mitigating for Watters, said: "There has been a long-running dispute between him and Detective Constable Chapman.

"But it's not because he's a police officer, but because he's an individual who he can't get along with."

He said Watters, who had suffered health problems, had been in no further trouble for the past 21 months.

Mr Gumsley said: "This matter can now be left, and a line drawn under it.

"He did a silly thing that day and now regrets it."

Watters, of Woodhouse Farm, Woodhouses, near Bishop Auckland, who admitted causing a fear or provocation of violence, was given a 12-month conditional discharge.

Recorder Julian Norris ruled that Watters should not have to pay costs.