A CREWE man has been cleared of attacking his estranged wife in a row over his son's PlayStation.

He was accused of pushing his wife over and trying to throw the boy's games console through a first-floor window after he found money from his bank account was being siphoned off to pay for PS4 games.

A trial at South Cheshire Magistrates' Court heard how the irate father, who cannot be named because of legal reasons, went around to the former marital home in Crewe and marched upstairs to his son's bedroom after noticing there frequent withdrawals from his bank account linked to the PlayStation.

In the ensuing dispute his wife fell and sustained a graze to her knee. She said her son, who was in bed at the time, was left "frightened and terrified" by his father's actions.

The man claimed his wife was drunk and knew that his son had spent £154 on PS4 games using his account details.

He said he took the console to remove its card and said his wife fell as she tried to prevent him from leaving the boy's bedroom.

Prosecutor Andrew Judge told the court: "He (the man) unplugged his son's PlayStation and then when he was asked to leave he pushed his wife to the floor.

"He told police she had fallen of her own accord."

The boy's mother said she'd told her ex that he had no right to be in her property and added: "The PlayStation was a joint Christmas present from the both of us. He was trying to open the front window to throw it out to his partner (who was waiting outside).

"My son was terrified, but when I asked him he refused to leave."

The court was told the pair had been separated since 2018, although divorce proceedings were still ongoing.

The man said: "I was online and I could see money kept on going out of my account, but when I rang the bank to see if I could get the card cancelled they said because it was on the PlayStation network they couldn't do anything about it.

"So I went around to the house and my son said that his mother had told him "spend it, it's on dad's card".

"I unplugged the PS4, but she wouldn't let me out of the bedroom and kept pushing me. I heard a thud and she was on the floor."

The man denied a charge of assault by beating on September 22 last year and was found not guilty.

Magistrates said there was not enough evidence in front of them about what happened in the boy's bedroom to be sure beyond reasonable doubt that any domestic violence had taken place.

They also declined the prosecution's request for a restraining order be imposed and heard the man's wife had now moved out of the Crewe area.