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A postman locked his wife in a garden shed and punched her during a row when she said “ding dong, the witch is dead” after his mum passed away, a court has heard.

Andrew Salmon, 42, thought Beverley, 42, was having an affair when he packed her clothes and locked her out of the house to “p*** her off”.

She managed to get in before he bundled her into the shed and bolted the door.

The mum-of-two escaped through a window and went back to the house, where Salmon put his arm on her throat, hit her and twisted her breasts in the February attack.

Salmon, of Truro, Cornwall, told JPs in the city the receptionist did not like his mum and kept saying “ding dong, the witch is dead” after she died in December.

(Image: SWNS)

He added: “I was provoked but am sorry for what I’ve done to my wife and regret everything I did.”

He was given a two-year community order and fined £245 after admitting assault.

His wife, a receptionist, refused to comment afterwards, and they have since split up.

He added: "She never really got on with my mum or any of my relatives and when my mum died she was horrible and offered me no support. She was extremely unsympathetic.

"She would sing 'ding dong the witch is dead' from time to time and didn't even come to her funeral.

"It was a really difficult time for me and my family.

"I shouldn't have done it and I am sorry but the things she was saying about my mum were horrible."