A SELF-EMPLOYED builder who kicked two police officers and threatened to rape their families did so because he was suffering from grief, a court was told.

John James Hooper, of Grosvenor Drive, Tisbury, admitted assaulting PC Mark Jenkins and PC Andrew Lee at his home on September 25 at Salisbury magistrates' court on Friday.

The 25-year-old, who was being restrained by friends and family when police arrived, was struggling to come to terms with the death of two of his friends, one of whom had committed suicide, the court heard.

Duty solicitor Paul Jones said: “It was a tragic set of events,”

“Earlier that day he had been to his best friend's funeral – he had hanged himself.

"Mr Hooper admitted he had drunk far too much and came back home.

“He suffers from depression and anxiety and he came home to see his partner, who is pregnant, and she said it was a bad idea and he took that to mean something was wrong and she was cheating.

"He couldn’t be reasoned with because of the grief and the alcohol, which didn’t mix well.”

Hooper, who told police he did not remember much the next day, also apologised for his actions.

Martin Clarke, chairman of the bench, said: “Grief affects people in many different ways and alcohol does have an effect on that. It must have been a very traumatic experience for your family but we are not going to dwell on that but we are going to deal with you by way of a community penalty.”

Hooper was sentenced to a 12-month community order including 20 rehabilitation days and 60 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £85 in costs, a victim surcharge of £85 and compensation of £200.