A FORMER paratrooper called police to tell them he had a knife in his house on the same night he attacked his estranged wife.

Neil Northcott, 45, called police to ask them whether he would get in trouble for using a knife on someone who entered his home.

Shortly after the call, Northcott, of Devon Road, Colchester, got into an argument with his wife, who he was still living with despite them having split up the year before.

Northcott, who was in the parachute regiment for 25 years, pushed his wife onto the bed and then restrained her by putting his hands on her shoulders and throat.

Police arrived as a result of the call about the knife and were then told about the attack.

He admitted assault when he appeared at Colchester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

Northcott told the probation service he had consumed alcohol at the time of the incident on December 16 last year and was suffering from anxiety.

He now works as a security manager for a bank in Canary Wharf, London, and is likely to temporarily lose his license as a result of the court proceedings.

District Judge John Woollard said: "This is a serious matter, one of domestic violence.

"You may have issues but resorting to violence is not the way of resolving them."

Northcott was made the subject of a 12 month community order which will include 80 hours of unpaid work, and 25 days of rehabilitation activity with the probation service.

He will also pay the victim £50 compensation, an £85 surcharge and £85 costs.