A bus driver who beat up his wife and reduced her to a nervous wreck must pay her £1,000 compensation, a judge has ordered.

Nigel David Turton, 49, lost his temper when his wife Maria, also a bus driver, told him their future together was over because she had found love elsewhere, Jeremy Lindsay told York Crown Court.

He punched her many times in the face in the stairwell of the Clifton block of flats where they lived. Her screams alerted her adult daughter who came out to see what was happening.

Andrew Semple said the couple both drove buses for the same company, but following the attack, the husband resigned and now drives for a rival company. The attack marked the end of the marriage.

In a victim impact statement, Mrs Turton said since the attack she had suffered from increased panic attacks and nightmares and struggled to sleep.

“I am a nervous wreck,” she said. Mr Lindsay said her injuries included numerous minor injuries on her face, arm and shoulders, two swollen eyes, a nose bleed, a headache and a stomach pain.

Turton, now of Galtres Mews, Easingwold, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm. He was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years on condition he does 200 hours’ unpaid work and goes on a 28-session domestic violence rehabilitation course.

He must also pay Mrs Turton £1,000 compensation and was made subject to a restraining order banning all contact with her for three years.

The Recorder of York, Judge Paul Batty QC, told him: “You embarked upon an extremely vicious, cowardly attack upon her.”

Mr Semple said Turton had known about his wife’s new partner for some months and had hoped for a reconciliation.

But that had not happened and when at the end of an evening out drinking together, she had told him she was leaving him, he had lost his temper and behaved out of character. He had stopped before the daughter arrived and immediately regretted his actions.

Mr Lindsay said the couple had been together four years and married for two and a half.