A MAN drunkenly drove his car into a wall after an argument with his wife, a court heard.

Scott Raper, of Fairfield Street, Darlington, fell out with his wife following a night out during which he drank six pints of lager.

The couple had travelled home in a taxi but he took to his own car to follow his wife when she stormed out of their home in the early hours of Sunday January 5.

Emma Richardson, mitigating at Darlington Magistrates Court, said: “He had been out with friends and his wife in Darlington town centre and had travelled to and from there in a taxi.

“When they got home an argument took place and she left the house. He believed she wasn’t coming back so took the stupid and foolish decision to drive and try and find her.”

Raper, 31, was found with a head injury close to his vehicle, which he had crashed into a wall on Barmpton Lane in Darlington.

He was arrested after failing a roadside breath test and pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle with an alcohol level above the limit.

District Judge Kristina Harrison disqualified Raper from driving for 12 months, fined him £400 and ordered him to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £40.