A MAN who lost his temper when he discovered his wife was having an affair was jailed yesterday.

Paul Carter drove to the hospital where his wife, Lorna, 39, worked, assaulted her and headbutted a male nurse who went to her aid.

Carter, 31, spent the night in police cells, but the next day he spotted her with a man in a Nissan Micra outside their home in Trimdon Station, County Durham.

Carter rammed the car twice, leaving his white Transit embedded in its side.

Hospital porter Lyndon Scott, 41, who had borrowed a car to give Mrs Carter a lift, suffered whiplash injuries and the Micra was written-off, said Ian West, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court.

Carter, a supervisor for a windows firm, thought his nine-year marriage was fine until he picked up his wife's mobile by mistake and saw a text message to her, which asked: "Is he going to be out for most of the day - can we meet up ?"

When he checked her computer, he found sexually explicit e-mails to the man saying he was a much better lover, and one to friends boasting of another affair.

Carter, of Dunelm Road, Trimdon Station, was jailed for 12 months and disqualified from driving for three years after he pleaded guilty to damaging property being reckless whether lives were endangered on March 8, and causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving.