A Newton Abbot pensioner attacked his estranged wife with a machete after she moved out of their home to live with their next door neighbour.

Alan Breeze wrongly suspected that his wife of 40 years was having an affair with the neighbour and his anger led him to turn up at the back door armed with the weapon.

His wife, Sandra, suffered cuts to her hands as she tried to disarm him and was terrified when he told her he was going to kill her.

The couple had drifted apart after spending most of their adult lives together and she had moved out of their house in Newton Abbot to a spare room in a neighbour’s house.

Breeze, aged 75, punched Mr Floyd and threw the machete at him during the incident but did not cause any serious injury.

He was spared an immediate jail sentence after a judge at Exeter Crown Court heard he has responsibility for looking after the couple’s 35-year-old son, who has mental health issues.

He also has health issues of his own which led him to call an ambulance for a suspected heart attack when he got home from the confrontation at his neighbour’s house.

Breeze, of Broadlands Avenue, Newton Abbot, admitted affray, causing actual bodily harm to his wife, battery to his neighbour, and damaging a garden chair.

He was jailed for 14 months, suspended for two years, with 30 days of rehabilitation activities by Recorder Mr Neil Millard.

He told him: ‘There was no romantic relation between them but you suspected there was and went around with a knife and said words to the effect you were going to kill them both.

‘You pointed the blade of the knife at her and there was a struggle as she tried to take it. I accept you did not intend to stab her but it was a consequence of what you were doing.

‘Mr Floyd arrived and you threatened him with the knife and threw it towards him. Your wife was terrified. When you were arrested, you accepted you were boiling with rage.

‘You also said you felt like a t*** over what had happened. It was more than that, it was incredibly stupid, irresponsible and dangerous behaviour for which there was no justification.’

Mr Peter Coombe, prosecuting, said the incident happened on the afternoon of June 22, last year, about two months after his wife had moved out to live at a neighbour’s house.

He was angry because she had not replied to texts about money issues and he turned up at the back door carrying the large knife.

Mr Paul Dentith, defending, said Breeze acted out of character and regretted what he had done almost immediately. He is in poor health, having suffered two mini-strokes and has caring responsibilities.

Mr Breeze’s son has since contacted us us to make it clear that he also provides care to his father.