A FATHER of six smashed a window in his daughter s condemned home after a drunken argument. John Smith, 41, of Archery Crescent, Ely, had gone to stay at his daughter Zoe s flat in Littleport after splitting with his wife, but he got so drunk he accident

A FATHER of six smashed a window in his daughter's condemned home after a drunken argument.

John Smith, 41, of Archery Crescent, Ely, had gone to stay at his daughter Zoe's flat in Littleport after splitting with his wife, but he got so drunk he accidentally smashed her window in.

"He was banging on the door to try to get his daughter to let him in, but he didn't realise how hard he hit it," the court was told. Zoe Smith had gone round to a friend's flat in Wisbech Road and he had seen her minutes earlier to go and pick up his tobacco, but he was so drunk he thought she had deliberately locked him out, prosecutor Andrea Sassoli told the court.

Smith told police at interview: "I have to stop drinking or I won't have any family left - it all boils down to the alcohol."

Smith is already subject to a community order to help him deal with his alcohol misuse, but he has been unable to start unpaid work due to mental health problems.

Magistrates gave Smith a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £130 compensation to Hereward Housing for the broken window. He will also have to pay £95 court costs which will come out of his benefit.