A man who hit out in anger when his girlfriend turned down his marriage proposal smashed a shop window with his fist, a court heard.

Paul Austin, 28, pleaded guilty to criminal damage when he appeared at Selby Magistrates’ Court where he was fined £190 and ordered to pay compensation to the shop owner.

The court heard police officers were alerted by CCTV operators after they saw a man punch the window of Farm Foods, in Micklegate, on August 3 last year.

Police arrived and found Austin, of Ebor Court, Selby, bleeding from his right hand and with blood on his shirt, in Market Place.

Jane Chadwick, prosecuting, said Austin told police: “I shouldn’t have done it”, and that he had “been stupid”.

He also said: “I punched a window, I broke it. It was all my fault, I’m an idiot.”

Mrs Chadwick said Austin later told police his girlfriend had thrown away an engagement ring he had given her, and he had been drinking prior to the incident.

Keith Haggerty, mitigating, said: “Clearly, this girl meant a lot to him, and when she did what she did, he had been drinking alcohol, and it was in frustration and anger that he struck out.

“He certainly didn’t intend to hurt anyone, and would have hit any inanimate object, but he did not believe at all it would break.”

Mr Heggarty said Austin was “embarrassed” by what he had done, and “wishes it had never happened”.

As well as fining Austin, magistrate Ruth Stanley ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £25, and prosecution costs of £85. He was also instructed to pay compensation of £200 to Farm Foods.

Mrs Stanley told Austin: “We note you have quite an expenditure on drinking and smoking. Money to the court comes first.”