A DRUNKEN man who was convicted of licking a 12-year-old girl's eyeball has appeared in court again after being caught carrying knives in a street.

In December last year Gary Naylor was sentenced to a 16-week suspended prison sentence for assaulting the child, although a jury at Bolton Crown Court accepted his actions were not sexually motived.

But on February 11, Bolton magistrates were told, he got drunk again and got into a row with his partner at her Breightmet home.

Joanne Cronshaw, prosecuting, said: "They had been in a relationship for six months and it has been, what can only be described as, a volatile relationship."

She added that the pair argued over money and his drinking and he became abusive and aggressive when she asked him to leave.

"He grabbed her by the throat and pushed her back into the patio doors," said Miss Cronshaw.

Naylor, aged 23, of St Helens Road, Bolton, then ran up the stairs and began smashing up the bedroom, picking up a dressing table and throwing at a window, which cracked.

Naylor then grabbed two knives from the kitchen and left the house.

People outside described how he was carrying a knife in each hand as he walked along Bury Road.

"He raises his arms up as if to shrug," said Miss Cronshaw.

"He is described as being nasty, confused and irritable."

Naylor made his way to the Black Horse pub, where a stranger took pity on him, sat him down and bought him a drink.

But when he left she noticed her mobile phone, which had been on a table, was missing.

Naylor pleaded guilty to theft of the phone and the kitchen knives, assaulting his partner and possessing knives in public.

Gary Naylor, who licked girl's eyeball in Tonge Moor street, found not guilty of sexual assault​

Kate Harney, defending, stressed that Naylor had been very drunk but had not been threatening anyone with the knives.

"He was simply walking with them by his side almost as if he was oblivious to the people around him," she said.

She added that he has complied with court orders but struggles with alcohol.

"He is not someone who drinks every day but when he does drink he ends up in trouble," she said.

Magistrates remanded Naylor in custody until March 15 when he will appear at Bolton Crown Court for sentencing.