A MAN who threatened to shoot and blow up the owners and staff of a pub in Ellesmere via his phone and the Trip Advisor website will have to pay compensation to his victims.

Stephen Wells, 65, of Dudleston, near Ellesmere, pleaded guilty at Telford Magistrates' Court to two charges of conveying a threatening message through malicious communication, via phone and the internet.

The court heard that on January 1, this year, Wells began to make a series of phone calls to The Vault, in Scotland Street, after he had been denied access for a drink on New Year's Eve.

He admitted that he had called the pub and its landlord Paul Brown around 40 minutes after he had been refused access to the pub as it was closed and he appeared to have drunk too much.

Mr Brown told the court, via the prosecution, that Wells had left the pub in a cordial manner and the landlord thought no more of the incident.

However, he told the court that in the phone calls, Wells told him he was ex-military and was going to shoot him and shoot him and his staff 'between the eyes'.

Concerned for his family and staff, Mr Brown said he phone police who were able to track Wells down because of details left with the pub during the calls, and warned him about his conduct.

But the calls continued the next day and Wells also left nasty messages on Trip Advisor, stating again that he was ex-military and could blow them up.

The court heard that Wells was also serving a community order for offences committed after the January 1 calls while probation told Magistrates that the defendant had issues with alcohol and depression.

But they also said that he had been engaging well with staff over the community order, and he vowed to continue to do so.

He was ordered to pay £250 between Mr Brown and two others, and a £20 victim surcharge, and was given a two-year restraining order.