Hero policeman facing jail for attacking his wife with an Amazon Kindle during tantrum over spilled glass of wine

A RETIRED police chief was facing public disgrace and jail today after he used his Amazon Kindle to give his wife a black eye during a drunken tempter tantrum.

Shaun Sumner, 62, hurled the tablet device into the face of his spouse Linda and shouted: ''Look what you've done'' after he became enraged at spilling white wine over it.

Mrs Sumner was hit in the eye by the tablet and suffered cuts and bruising in the incident. She subsequently fled the couple's matrimonial home in Whalley, Lancs, following another incident saying his behaviour was ''intimidating.'''

A court heard Sumner a former Chief Inspector with Lancashire Police had won three commendations including two bravery awards during a 30 year career. But he had left his wife in fear of her life after he left the force when he was injured during a training exercise.

She said he would ransack her bedroom and fire a ball bearing gun at her bedroom door during bouts of violence.

At Bolton magistrates court Sumner denied common assault but was convicted after a trial.

The court heard the couple had been married for 35 years but they shared separate bedrooms for about five years because of differences in sleeping and work patterns.

Mrs Sumner, 66, a part time registrar said: "He would come in ransacking my bedroom, and dragging me out of bet at night. He also had a BB gun that he would shoot at my door, they can do some damage can't they. It's intimidating. I would never get a decent nights sleep and I was frightened to death of him.

"I would never know what he was going to do next, Shaun was unpredictable."

The 2am incident occurred in December 2014 after Sumner damaged his Kindle whilst drinking white wine or gin. Mrs Sumner said: "It had liquid damage on it, there was nothing wrong with it to see - but he asked us to get a replacement for him.

"I couldn't lock my door, and even if I did he would come barging in. He would kick the door until it gave way, he tooled the handle off the door.

"He also has these little swords and daggers that he would use to unpick the door. He smacked me in the face with it.

"He was saying look what you've done to it, and just threw it at my face. He said to me 'I'll tell them you were drunk'. He was trying to appropriate blame to me and I hadn't done anything wrong.''

Mrs Sumner suffered bruising around her eye, and a small cut where the Kindle hit her, and the bruising lasted for two weeks over the Christmas period.

The couple's daughter Nina Sumner, 30, told the hearing: ''I came to the house a few days after my mum had an obvious black eye. I turned to my dad and I said 'what have you done you're a monster'. I left the room and I was upset, I did try to call the police but there was no one was manning the station.

"I was really upset, I was absolutely distraught by what had happened. I went back to the house because I was worried about leaving mum alone in the house with my dad."

"He agreed he was ashamed of what he did to my mum, and that he would seek help for his alcohol dependency and suspected mental health issues. I didn't call the police because we didn't want to get him in trouble and I felt like it was something my mother needed to do."

The court heard Sumner started attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings but stopped going over the Christmas. His wife and daughter fled the house on New Years Day after he got drunk again and began complaining about washing up.

Nina added: "I was upstairs getting ready when I heard him creating against my mother about something like not doing the washing up. I was worried about there being a repeat of the incident earlier in December, so I went downstairs to see if she was okay.

"He started shouting things at me then as well, saying that 'I was mental, it was no wonder that I can't get a boyfriend'. We were both terrified of him, and we left."

The court heard Sumner was forced to retire 15 years ago after an incident during a firearm training exercise which left him with only 42% hearing.

Despite having a previous conviction for drink driving he denied being an alcoholic and said: "There were people at the AA meetings that were infinitely worse than me, I just didn't find it very useful at all. I had a drink over Christmas yes - but I think most people do.''

Referring to his wife he added: "She asked me about the supposed affairs almost monthly. She did that frequently and I have never had anything to hide. I apologise profusely for the injury I accidentally caused albeit accidentally.''

His case was adjourned for reports.