Jailed: Ludlow man grabbed steering wheel of wife's car in row and crashed it
A Ludlow man has been jailed after a birthday night out ended when he got into a row with his wife which saw him grabbing the steering wheel of her car and crashing it.
Stephan Roberts, 29, of Sandpits Avenue, and his wife Stephanie were in the centre of Gloucester when the incident happened in the early hours of June 11.
They had been to a birthday party in the city and started to row as Mrs Roberts began driving her husband home in their Renault Clio, said prosecutor Janine Wood.
She told Gloucester Crown Court that Mrs Roberts was driving slowly, looking for directions. Her husband got annoyed and threw a bag, which broke. His wife told him to get out of the car and cool down but he then raised his leg and kicked the windscreen before beginning to punch the dashboard.
"She moved off in a low gear and said 'I'm sick of this'. He said something similar in reply and added 'I don't want to be with you any more'."
Mrs Wood said Roberts leaned over and yanked the steering wheel towards him causing a collision. Mrs Roberts had to go to hospital to have shattered glass removed from her arm after the crash.
Roberts had clearly been drinking and he had a 2003 conviction for battery of his wife, added Mrs Wood.
Roberts pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention and damaging property, namely the windscreen of Mrs Roberts' car.
He had been charged with more serious offences of making a threat to kill Mrs Roberts and assaulting her causing actual bodily harm but the victim has since made a retraction statement, the court heard.
Judge Michael Cullum said that in his view the couple should both be investigated for perverting the course of justice in view of the change in their story about what happened that night.
Lawrence Jones, defending, said the couple had been together since the age of 16 and have three children, the youngest just 11 months old. Roberts has his own gardening business and being in custody on remand since his arrest last month had already been a significant punishment to him, he said.
On the night of the incident, Roberts' judgement had been "significantly impaired by drinking", the solicitor added.
Judge Cullum sentenced Roberts to four weeks imprisonment and endorsed six penalty points on his licence. He also fined him £50.
