A man has been told to pay a police officer £100 compensation for punching him in the face.

A court heard how the officer had chased after John Gatehouse after he got out of a car and ran off on July 8 in Longstomps Avenue, Chelmsford.

Chelmsford Crown Court was told Gatehouse had seen his former girlfriend driving the Renault Megane and became jealous and decided to take the vehicle when she left it unlocked with the keys on the dashboard.

When he was seen by police later, Gatehouse ran off.

At the time, he was under the terms of a three-month suspended prison sentence.

Gatehouse, 22, of Seawick Road, St Osyth, admitted taking the car and assaulting the police officer when he appeared in court and was given a six-month suspended jail sentence.

Apart from the jail sentence, Gatehouse was told to pay the policeman £100 compensation and take part in anger management and think first programmes run by the probation service.

Paul Evans, mitigating, said Gatehouse became jealous when he saw his former girlfriend driving the car and decided to take it.

He regretted hitting the police officer, Mr Evans said.