A festive prank that wasn’t in the spirit of Christmas has seen two Tenby males charged in court after their practical joke went wrong.

Twenty-seven-year-old Mark Richard Davies, of Tudor Way, and 22-year-old Cheyne Edward Lloyd-Neale, of The Clicketts, both faced charges at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday of jointly sending a Christmas card which conveyed a message that was indecent or grossly offensive for the purpose of causing distress.

Prosecutor Abul Hussain told magistrates that the female victim, who is a single mum with two daughters, returned to her home in Tenby on December 14 of last year and found an envelope in her letterbox which had ‘neighbour’ written on it. “She thought it was strange and opened it,” he told the court.

Written inside the Christmas card was ‘Hi there my boy, hope your Christmas tree sets on fire and burns your family to a crisp’.

“The female was concerned about the message that was contained inside the card and reported the matter to the police,” continued Mr. Hussain.

“She had issues with her ex-partner and the card had made her feel nervous to be on her own with her children,” he added.

Finger print evidence on the card enabled police officers to track down the culprits, and when both Mr. Davies and Mr. Lloyd-Neale were interviewed by officers they admitted sending the card when they were drunk and that it was intended for someone else they knew that lived on that street.

Mr. Davies’s defence solicitor Jonathan Webb told the court that this was a ‘childish prank’ that had gone ‘very, very wrong’.

“Both were drunk and had being trying to prank a male friend who lived in that area.

“They posted the card through a letter box to the said friend, as they thought it would be a funny thing to do, which it was not, and the matter has been magnified by the fact that they have sent it to the wrong person!” said Mr. Webb.

“It was stupid and my client was very remorseful and apologetic in the police interview. It was a malicious communication, but not aimed at this lady,” he added.

Magistrates told Mr. Davies, who was present at the hearing, that he must be ‘very ashamed’ of himself, before fining him £80 for the offence and ordering him to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a £30 victim surcharge.

An arrest warrant was issued for Mr. Lloyd-Neale who failed to attend the hearing on Tuesday, but surrendered himself the following day, where the court heard that he had a previous conviction for a similar offence.

He was fined £100 for the offence and ordered to pay £105 in court costs and charges.