Telford alcoholic smashed husband's car
An alcoholic woman from Telford smashed the windows of her husband's car with a spade after suffering a relapse, a court was told.
Rhoda Harper, of Hurleybrook Way, Leegomery, was seen shouting and holding a drink in her hand outside their home, magistrates at Telford heard.
Harper, 45, admitted one charge of causing criminal damage.
Mrs Kate Price, prosecuting, said Harper and her husband had been together for 11 years, and married for five.
However the defendant's problem with alcohol had put a strain on the marriage, she said.
The defendant was "an alcoholic, and her excessive drinking causes her to be aggressive and violent", said Mrs Price.
Harper had been receiving treatment and had been invited back to live in the family home at the time of the incident on December 4. Her husband had returned home that afternoon to find that she had been drinking.
She then said it would be better if she went to stay with a friend, said Mrs Price. But Harper had returned later that night holding a drink in her hand and was shouting outside the kitchen window, she added.
When Harper heard that the police were being called she picked up a garden spade and used it to shatter all but one of the windows of the car outside the house.
For Harper, Mr Steven Meredith said "things have moved on since the incident".
He said the fact that there had been no claim for compensation and no restraining order showed how the incident was being seen by the victim. The defendant was given an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £85 costs.
Mr Meredith said that Harper had been seeking help for her alcohol problems and that a conditional discharge would mean that if she were to carry out any more offences "she won't be getting away with it".
Magistrates said they were encouraged to see Harper liaising with the mental health team and that this had given them the confidence to impose a conditional discharge.
