LITTLEPORT man Clive Bean was scared his children were going to be taken away from him – so he assaulted his wife and two friends while drunk. Bean, 43, of Upton Place, admitted pushing his wife Julie and poking her neighbours Tony and Richard Newman d

LITTLEPORT man Clive Bean was scared his children were going to be taken away from him - so he assaulted his wife and two friends while drunk.

Bean, 43, of Upton Place, admitted pushing his wife Julie and "poking" her neighbours Tony and Richard Newman during a row outside the Newman family home in Parson's Lane, Littleport.

Bean headed for the Newmans' house, during the incident on August 10, banged on the door and started swearing: "I want my XXXXXing son," said prosecutor Yetunde Fawehinmi. He had just returned from an evening at the pub.

Mrs Bean told police she was anxious about leaving her six-year-old son home alone with his drunk father - she had to work that night - so she took him to her neighbours' to stay the night.

Her eldest child, a girl who is now 14, was not at home that evening. "I know for certain that if my daughter had been there she would have got in between us as usual and this time, she could have been hit," she said in a written statement to the court, adding that Bean knew she was trying to leave him and had been suspicious of any time the children spent with their mother.

Bean, of Upton Place admitted his marriage had been rocky for some time and told the court he had no problem with the Newman family - and shook their hands after the incident. He has no previous convictions and a 23-year history of full time employment.

Bean pleaded guilty to a charge of assault and sentencing was adjourned until October 9 to give the probation service time to prepare a report. Bean was given conditional bail not to approach his wife, or his children, except through a solicitor. He is also banned from going near any member of the Newman family or their home.