A HUSBAND who has been married for six months jabbed a cigarette in his wife's eye and gave her a split lip, magistrates heard on Thursday.

Ronald Stanley Hurfurt, 50, of Lambrook Road, Trowbridge appeared before magistrates in Trowbridge to plead guilty to two counts of common assault.

Rhys Davies, prosecuting, told the court that Hurfurt and his wife had argued at their home on Friday, December 14, before he grabbed her by the throat and picked up an ashtray and slammed it against a table.

Magistrates were then told how Hurfurt's wife decided to stay at a friend's house after the event but, once she had told him, he became angry and pushed her to the floor, where he struck her face and gave her a split lip as well as cuts to the left hand side of her face.

The second attack happened after the couple bumped into each other in a pub in Trowbridge the next day after Hurfurt's wife stayed with a friend.

The couple returned home to discuss their future and, following another argument, the defendant held a cigarette near his wife's face and jabbed her in the eye with the hot ash.

The injured woman then called the police and officers attended the couple's home.

Malcolm Wieck, defending, told magistrates that his client had become frustrated with his marriage and did not have a history of violent behaviour.

Mr Wieck said: "When police officers attended the scene on Saturday December 15 they noticed the couple were both drunk and had glazed eyes.

"The couple have been friends for 11 years and my client's wife said in a statement how he had helped her through some bad times."

Magistrates were also told how Hurfurt's wife had become increasingly inquisitive throughout the marriage and kept asking her husband where he was going and what he was doing.

Magistrates sentenced Hurfurt to a conditional discharge of 18 months and ordered him to pay costs of £55.