A man pushed over his niece causing her to break her wrist during a row after she allegedly caught him in a “compromising position” with a woman at a family party, a court has heard.

Marie Catchpole, 43, had a heated argument with her uncle Kevin Lewis outside the Suffolk Punch pub in Norwich Road, Ipswich, after seeing him in an embrace with a woman in the smoking area, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

When she confronted Lewis, who has been married for 25 years, he had “got in her face” and told her he had not done anything wrong and to get her facts straight, said Marc Brown, prosecuting.

He had then pushed her with both hands in the chest causing her to fall backwards with her left arm outstretched. She immediately noticed her left wrist was disfigured and she later had her broken wrist reset under a general anaesthetic, the court heard.

Lewis, 53, of Westbourne Road, Ipswich, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on June 29 and was given a four-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to do 80 hours unpaid work in the community and to pay £1,000 to Ms Catchpole.

Sentencing him, Recorder Ann McAllister said Lewis had pushed over his niece after she saw him in a compromising position with a woman.

“You lost your cool and in a moment of anger pushed her over causing some considerable injury to her,” said the judge.

Paul Donegan, for Lewis, said his client felt his niece had misinterpreted what she had seen in the smoking area and he was offended by her allegations.

“He was pointing out she had got it wrong and she came towards him,” said Mr Donegan. “He accepts he didn’t need to push her but did with unfortunate consequences.”

He said Lewis was married with a son.