A DRUNKEN dad who threw a saw at his wife during a hedge cutting session has been jailed for 16 weeks.

Ricky Noonan had started drinking at 7am - and threw the garden tool when his wife insisted on joining him and his friends in the garden.

He told police that his wife had been “on at him” all day as he cut the hedge, and he got angry when she said something. The saw had hit his wife’s shoulder, but he could remember little about the incident.

Noonan admitting assaulting his wife during the afternoon of Saturday June 5, when at home with his brother and friends.

Andrea Fawcett, prosecuting, said: “They were sitting in the garden, but Noonan told his wife that she was not allowed to join them.

“She insisted, and he picked up the saw and threw it and it hit her shoulder. The defendant’s brother intervened.”

Noonan’s wife left the house, but returned a couple of hours later and began to prepare a meal for her husband and his guests.

As she sat on a sofa eating a sandwich, Noonan began to shout and accuse her of being greedy.

A fireplace also fell over during the incident and the police were called.

Noonan, 43, of Collingwood Avenue, March, told police he remembered throwing the saw, but had no recollection of it hitting his wife. He could not remember being abusive or the fireplace falling over.

Mitigating, Roger Glazebrook said Noonan had cut down on his drinking. He had consulted with Drinksense, and wanted to prove he could get off drink completely.

“He has a 14-year-old marriage and can see it slipping away,” said Mr Glazebrook. “He has got to get off drink.”