A Perthshire hotelier hurled himself in front of his estranged wife’s car amid a stormy separation.
Daniel Jones was pushed to breaking point after spotting wife Christina who had recently left him cuddling a man in the bar of the Kirkmichael Hotel, near Blairgowrie, in the days before his outburst.
At Perth Sheriff Court on Tuesday he was told to “keep the head” by Sheriff William Wood, who deferred sentence for him to be of good behaviour.
The court heard the couple have been married for 22 years and co-own the hotel. They have recently split up and Mrs Jones has begun seeing another man.
She had returned to the hotel, where the couple also lived, with her daughter to collect her car when Mr Jones became enraged and launched into a tirade.
Depute fiscal Bill Kermode said: “The accused was in the living quarters on their arrival. The complainer picked up a printer before leaving and the accused began shouting and swearing.
“As the daughter was walking downstairs she met the complainer, who was returning to collect a briefcase.
“The complainer then ran down the stairs and started the car, followed by her daughter.
“As the complainer started the engine, the accused came out shouting at her ‘you are not taking the car’.”
“The accused then threw himself at the complainer’s car in an attempt to make out she had run him over.
“At that point the complainer told her daughter to call the police but the daughter was too scared as the accused was only metres away.”
Jones then attempted to get into the car before punching the bonnet and standing in front of it to stop Mrs Jones from leaving.
He then demanded his daughter’s car keys and drove off in her vehicle. He later returned and hurled the keys at his wife’s car.
Solicitor Mike Tavendale, defending, said the outburst had been prompted by “what I can only describe as extremely provocative behaviour by his wife, which seems to be engendered to promote a response”.
He added Jones regretted his actions and the hotel is now being sold.
Jones admitted that on November 28 at the Kirkmichael Hotel he behaved in a threatening and abusive manner by shouting swearing, placing himself in front of a car to prevent it from leaving and throwing keys at the car in an aggressive manner.
Sheriff Wood told the 59-year-old: “This has been an instructive and salutatory experience for you.
“I am not going to impose bail because you have to discuss matters with your wife but you need to keep the head.”
He deferred sentence on Jones, of Main Street, Kirkmichael, for him to be of good behaviour.