Neighbourhood issues led to a frustrated Monkton man assaulting his wife, a court has heard.

Richard Michael Mottram, of Tenby Court, pleaded guilty to assault by beating when he appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates on Wednesday, July 3.

Sian Vaughan, prosecuting, said Mottram’s neighbour called the police to report a disturbance on May 25.

Officers noticed that Mrs Mottram had a mark on her face when they arrived at the scene, but she did not support a prosecution.

CCTV at the property showed the woman pushing a pram down the path before Mottram, 37, hit her.

Miss Vaughan said: “The defendant raised his hand and struck her to her face, causing her head to fly violently back. Mr Mottram then walked back into the property.”

The court heard that he had a previous conviction for assault, involving a different victim, in 2015.

Mark Layton, defending, said Mottram had not been arguing with his wife, but she had spoken to him about his behaviour following issues between him and a neighbour.

“Out of frustration, he raised his hand and slapped her across the face. It’s something that he very much regrets.”

Mr Layton added that Mottram hoped to reconcile with his wife after the court case concluded.

“It was an incident in the heat of the moment, and he regrets that. He apologises to the court and will, in due course, apologise to his wife.”

Magistrates imposed a two-year conditional discharge and ordered Mottram to pay £85 costs and a £20 surcharge.

The chairman of the bench said: “It takes a brave man to curb his temper, it takes a coward to raise his hand to a woman.”