JEALOUS Simon Sherman rammed his car into the front of his ex-wife's house after catching her with another man, a court heard.

Sherman, of Mallard Close, Devizes, admitted causing £15,000 worth of criminal damage and actual bodily harm when he appeared before Swindon Crown Court on Monday.

But after he told the court he selected the wrong gear as he went to drive away from the house, the judge decided not to jail him.

George Threlfall, prosecuting, told the court Sherman had been separated from his wife Debbie for some time when he went to her home in Woolpack Meadows, Trowbridge.

She was at home on Saturday March 6 and her three young children were in bed when her former husband arrived.

"It was shortly after 10pm when he went there. He wished to return some DVDs and to talk to his wife," Mr Threlfall said.

She told him that it was not a good time as she had company so he left in his in his Vauxhall Cavalier, returning a few minutes later and bursting into the house.

Sherman went into the living room where her friend Mark Rose, who she had known since before marrying, was sitting on the sofa.

He tried to attack Mr Rose but he got the better of him.

Mrs Sherman was injured when she stepped in between to try and separate the men.

Mr Threlfall said Sherman then left the building and got into his car but screeched the wheels as he smashed into the front of the house under the lounge widow.

There was also damage to the house next door in the terrace.

Judge Charles Wade passed a two year probation order with the provision that Sherman must go on a domestic violence programme, do 80 hours' community service and pay £150 costs.

He warned Sherman the courts treat domestic violence very seriously and if he were to re-offend he could still face jail.