A FATHER of four has been banned from an Ipswich street and ordered to do 40 hours of unpaid work after smashing a car windscreen during an argument fuelled by drink.

A FATHER of four has been banned from an Ipswich street and ordered to do 40 hours of unpaid work after smashing a car windscreen during an argument fuelled by drink.

Lee Shepherd, of Byron Road, Ipswich, pleaded guilty at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court to causing criminal damage on July 29 to a Honda Civic car parked, in Woollards Close, Ipswich.

Prosecuting solicitor Lesla Small said the defendant had banged on the door of an address in the close but had been ignored by the occupants.

She said: “He went away but came back and banged on the door again. The victim's partner opened a window upstairs and spoke to Mr Shepherd. Mr Shepherd said he wanted to fight the complainant.”

Shepherd, 26, returned again with a three foot plank of wood which he used to hit the windscreen of the car parked nearby causing £146.85 of damage to the vehicle.

She added: “By the time police arrived he had left the area but he was arrested on August 29 and interviewed. He admitted he knew the complainant but denied causing damage to the vehicle.”

Defending Dino Barricella said the argument had blown up over abuse shouted at a female friend of the victim.

He said the crime was committed on the spur of the moment.

He added: “It was nothing more than frustration. He had been drinking.”

As well as the unpaid work, Shepherd was ordered to pay £146.85 compensation to his victim.

He was also ordered to pay £34 costs and made the subject of an order excluding him from Woollards Close for one year.