ACTING ‘utterly out of character,’ a Rugby man who had received the ‘devastating news’ that his partner of 16 years had been having an affair went looking for the other man and assaulted him.
Connor Elliott also smashed a pool cue at a pub where he went looking for his rival, a judge has heard.
Elliott, 36, of Crackthorne Drive, Rugby, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to using threatening words and behaviour, affray, causing damage, assault and having an offensive weapon.
Accepting that his actions had been out of character, Judge Peter Cooke imposed an 18-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work.
Prosecutor Paul Mytton said all the offences took place on June 24 last year, beginning with an incident during a barbeque at the home of Elliott’s rival.
There was an argument between Elliott and the other man, and they went out into the street where a neighbour saw Elliott acting aggressively, shouting and pushing his victim.
Later that evening Elliott turned up at the Green Man pub in Daventry Road, Dunchurch, where he said he was looking for the other man.
As he demanded to know where his rival was, he picked up a pool cue and hit it against the ceiling and the doorframe, breaking the cue.
He was aggressive towards other customers, who included at least one off-duty police officer, and pointed the cue towards one of them in a threatening manner.
He then left and went to his partner’s nearby business where another off-duty police officer saw him shouting.
Elliott, who was armed with a metal bar, then confronted his victim and assaulted him.
And after he was arrested in Southam Road, he was found to have a knuckleduster on him, having got rid of the metal bar which was found a day or so later with his DNA on it.
When he was then interviewed, Elliott made no comment about what had happened, added Mr Mytton.
But Judge Cooke observed: “He had just found his partner of 16 years had been involved in an affair.”
The judge indicated he was not going to jail Elliott, whose barrister Lucy Tapper said: “He is an utterly decent man who is palpably ashamed of what happened.”
Sentencing Elliott, Judge Cooke told him: “This sort of behaviour should not be repeated.
“Even when you have a complete shock like this, you do not go out with weapons, sounding off in pubs looking for people and smashing pool cues against doors.
“But I accept this is utterly out of character for you, described as a one-off impromptu occurrence because of the utterly devastating news you had received.
“Even in extremis, this type of behaviour cannot be tolerated. This was an extreme emotional reaction to devastating news. What matters is that you can put this behind you.”
