A husband put his fingers in his wife's mouth and dragged her along the street in front of their four-year-old son, a court heard yesterday.

George Fairbridge, 30, of Leonard Street, Darlington, pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife Diane, at South Durham Magistrates' Court.

Jacqueline Gibson, prosecuting, said that on October 8, Mrs Fairbridge arrived home from work and the couple began arguing.

She said: "It became heated. It resulted in the defendant jumping off the settee where he was sitting. He put his hand round the victim's neck and pushed her against the wall. As a result, she knocked her head on the wall."

She said Mrs Fairbridge left the house, but her husband grabbed her as she walked down the street.

She said: "He put his arms around her and demanded she come home. He then put his fingers in her mouth and dragged her in that manner back to the house."

Mrs Fairbridge was left with cut lips and a swollen mouth and tongue.

Graham Hunsley, in mitigation, said the couple, who have since separated, had a volatile relationship made worse by financial difficulties.

He said: "On a previous occasion, I think his partner took a knife to him."

He said Fairbridge had put his hand over his wife's mouth to stop her screaming, and regretted the incident.

Magistrates gave Fairbridge a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £34 costs.