A man has been jailed after going on a late night rum-fuelled "rampage" with an ornamental samurai sword in a tiny South Hams village.

Ian Romans, 50, of Welle House Gardens, Kingsbridge, was sentenced to a total of six months in prison by judge Mrs Justice May at Plymouth Crown Court on Friday.

Romans received two four-month jail terms for affray and possession of an offensive weapon, to be served concurrently, plus an additional two months each for two counts of assault, again to be served at the same time. He was also disqualified from driving for one year and three months.

The two assault charges relate to the nights of August 10 and 18, when he assaulted his 45-year-old wife Josephine at their home in Bens Close, Galmpton in the presence of one of their two sons. Romans clocked up the other charges later on August 18 and in the early hours of August 19, during what the judge described as a "rampage", after consuming two-thirds of a bottle of rum.

Romans had admitted the charges, along with one of resisting arrest by a police officer, at an earlier hearing at Plymouth Crown Court. He was found guilty of drink driving in the early hours of August 19 by Plymouth magistrates on September 29. He had denied the charge, but chose not to give evidence in his defence.

The court heard from prosecuting counsel Edward Bailey and defence barrister Ali Rafati before the judge passed sentence.

Romans’ wife of 27 years described the marriage as turbulent, Mr Bailey said, and the younger of their two sons shared the view that the defendant could be antagonistic and aggressive.

On the night of August 10, this son had witnessed his parents arguing. He had seen Romans grab his wife by the neck, causing her face to go red, and had intervened, although the incident was not reported to police at the time.

Then, on August 18, Mr Bailey said Romans and his wife had been drinking from a bottle of rum during the evening.

The younger son had put his mother to bed, but afterwards had heard his father come up the stairs shouting abusive language. The son had entered the bedroom and found Romans with one hand around his wife’s neck. He had tried to intervene and had seen Romans hit her three times on the leg with the back of his hand.

The son had successfully got his mother into the spare room, and she had been left with reddening to the neck and bruises on her leg. The court was told how Romans had continued shouting about how he wanted to fight his neighbours, before grabbing a samurai sword with a 12ins blade and going outside, where he proceeded to hit a neighbour’s garden fence with such force it created sparks. His son, meanwhile, was pleading with him to come back inside.

A witness saw Romans get into his car and drive away, before returning shortly afterwards. PC Richard Loxton had attended the scene and seen Romans’ wife’s injuries, that she was crying and visibly distressed, and that the son was shaking, Mr Bailey said.

Romans was arrested at 1.15am on August 19, resisting the police despite an incapacitant spray being used against him. He was taken to Torquay police station where he was breathalysed and found to have 58micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg.

A previous conviction for assault occasioning actual bodily harm had not been against his wife, the barrister said, responding to a question from the judge.

Mr Rafati, defending Romans, said while the backdrop to the incidents was a couple who argued frequently, the defendant had never accepted descriptions of a turbulent and violent relationship. He had the support of his older son, who was in court throughout Romans’ various appearances, and who could back up Romans’ description of the nature of the household.

Clearly however, Mr Rafati said, Romans’ behaviour on both dates in question had been "appalling". The defendant honestly believed he had had a breakdown during the night of August 18, the barrister said, and the upshot had been the destruction of a marriage that had lasted more than a quarter of a century. As a result, Romans had been forced to leave the marital home and return to live in his mother’s flat.

Mr Rafati also said the weapon in question was not really a samurai sword, but was part of an ornamental set people hung on walls.

Romans was "utterly ashamed" of his conduct, which had caused a fracture in the family, the barrister said. He had not seen his younger son since, and the barrister supposed it would take a long time to repair the relationship.

Mr Rafati stressed Romans was determined not to find himself back in court again.

But the judge showed little sympathy with the defendant. The backdrop to the case was that there had clearly been incidents of violence in the marriage, she said, but on the night of August 18 things had gone much further and he had gone on a "rampage" with what she desribed as an "ornamental samurai-type knife".

Several offences had been committed, and the assaults were aggravated by the fact they were against his wife in her home and even her bedroom, where she was entitled to feel safe.

Mrs Justice May observed that, in a psychiatric report, Romans had spoken of the effect on him of having witnessed violence in his early life. She asked him to consider the legacy he was passing on to his own son.

The judge said appropriate punishment could only be achieved with an immediate custodial sentence. She added that upon his release he would be on licence and under supervision for a further 12 months.

She also imposed a restraining order banning Romans from contacting his wife and younger son for 10 years, except through solicitors, save once when he could visit the house to collect his belongings.