Father-of-two broke wife's friend's arm after slamming it in car door

Christopher Capstick, 43, of Kenton Drive, Shrewsbury, assaulted Clifford Mason after seeing him out with his estranged wife just before Christmas last year.

Capstick pleaded guilty to a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm earlier this year.

Judge Gosling decided to suspend the sentence of two years in prison as he said the offence was "not straight forward".

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that Capstick had seen the victim, Clifford Mason, out with his estranged wife on December 19.

Prosecuting Mr Tariq Shakoor said: "At about 11pm Mr Mason and Rachel Bevan returned to her home but Rachel could not get her key into the lock.

"They had a phone call to say the defendant was in the property and had been waiting their arrival.

"The two of them sat in Mr Mason's parked car.

"The defendant then appears and is very upset and he opens the car door to try and speak to his wife.

"In the heat of the moment as he thought Mr Mason was going to hit him, the defendant punched Mr Mason two or three times to the face and head area.

"He also closed the car door twice on Mr Mason and accepts he acted above and beyond self defence."

The court heard that Mr Mason was left with a broken left forearm and bruising to his arm, ankle and a mark above his left eye.

Mitigating Jane Sargenson said Capstick had not deliberately set out to cause the injuries.

"He accepted what he did was very wrong. He has now reduced his drinking and moved in with a new partner.

"He hopes it was a flash in a pan and has turned a corner now."

Sentencing Judge Gosling said: "In a real sense the easiest sentence is prison sentence. But I am quite sure things are not that straight forward.

"This is a very serious case - to break someone's arm by slamming a car door on it is serious. Mr Mason has suffered professionally and emotionally.

"However there has been no repeat of this behaviour since and I have read a raft of references showing a different side to you."

Capstick was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, with 12 months supervision. He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid hour and told to pay £1,500 in compensation. A restraining order was also imposed.