A FINAL row over their divorce saw a husband pin his wife against the wall in the hallway of their marital home in Ulverston.

Alan Sweeting appeared at Furness Magistrates’ Court for sentencing on Tuesday, after being found guilty of assault by beating at a trial on August 17.

Mr Peter Kelly, prosecuting, told the court Sweeting and his wife had begun divorce proceedings in October last year.

On the day of the incident, the defendant had been moving some of his belongings out of the family home. Stood in the hallway of the property, he had tried to take some photos which his wife had not wanted him to.

Mr Kelly said: “She says that she took hold of the picture. The defendant then grabbed her by the arm and forced her up against the wall and held her there for a period of time.”

Mr Kelly said the victim’s mother had intervened and finally managed to separate the defendant from her daughter. This led Sweeting to make threatening comments towards his mother-in-law.

Mr Kelly explained that the defendant had disputed this evidence during the trial. Sweeting’s version of events was that his wife and mother-in-law had pushed him a number of times, and that he had pushed his wife back.

But magistrates sitting at his trial had decided this did not explain marks to the victim’s arm.

Sweeting was given a 12-month community order, with a requirement to carry out 90 hours of unpaid work.

The 48-year-old, of Brogden Street, Ulverston, was also ordered to pay £170 court costs, a £60 victim surcharge and £520 criminal court charges as well as £100 compensation.

He was issued with a 12-month restraining order to prevent him from contacting his wife.