A man who turned up at his ex-partner’s home and smashed her Ring doorbell has been warned to not be ‘so stupid’ again after landing himself in court.

Lee Roberts reacted angrily when he was unable to get in contact with his former wife and caused £90 worth of damage to her property.

The 51-year-old admitted he had been stupid when he ripped the security camera off the wall and threw it on the ground.

Liz McGowan, prosecuting, said the couple had been married for 30 years before separating three years ago and had a reasonably civil relationship until November last year.

She said: “They separated after the relationship terminated due to domestic violence. She said she fled the house and they have been living separately ever since.

“They had been civil until a few days before the incident when there had been some angry phone calls.”

The victim told police that she had watched the Ring doorbell footage of her ex-partner pulling the camera off the wall before throwing it to the ground.

In a victim impact statement, she said the incident had left her "frightened" and "found his behaving appalling".

Roberts, of Parkside, Darlington, pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage following the offence committed on November 4 last year.

The defendant, who represented himself, said he was upset that his son had moved in with his ex-partner when he should have been living with him.

He added: “He should still be living with me but I know what I did was stupid.”

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District Judge Helen Cousins, sitting at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates' Court, sentenced Roberts to a 12-month conditional discharge.

She said: “If you resort to this sort of stupid behaviour again you will come back and you will be dealt with in a different way.

“I don’t think you will be so stupid again.”

Roberts was ordered to pay £90 in compensation and £85 towards court costs.