A FORMER senior fire officer who threw a kitchen knife at his ex-wife has been found guilty of assault.

Paul Reay carried out the attack in their marital home in County Durham after a night out drinking and watching fireworks in Seaham.

Peterlee Magistrates’ Court was told he went into a spare room where Maureen Reay was in bed and asked why she had withdrawn £2,000 from their joint account.

Mrs Reay said: “The door banged. There was the usual tirade of bad language.

“He grabbed hold of me by the hair and neck.

“I said: ‘Get off me you drunken pig.’”

The court heard Reay went to the kitchen and came back with a baking tray full of crockery and cutlery and threw it in to the room, before leaving again only to return with a five inch knife.

She said: “He was standing over me with his arm behind his back. He was in a drunken stupor.

“He came over to me and produced the knife. He said: ‘Do you think I am going to knife you?’

“He threw it at me and it went down the back of the bed.”

Mrs Reay called the police who arrived to find Reay was ‘intoxicated and belligerent.’

Reay, who worked for County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service for 33 years, retired as Assistant Chief Fire Officer in June 2011.

He is now director of Primo Fire Risk Management.

The court was told the couple had been married for 14 years, but were legally separated and both lived in separate rooms at the house in Seaham.

Mrs Reay said she had become used to verbal abuse from her former husband over the years.

She said: “It was normal behaviour. It was what I had come to expect.”

Reay, of Drewsick Court, Murton, was charged with common assault by beating on November 4 and convicted after a trial on Monday afternoon.

He had denied the offence and told the court he did not grab Mrs Reay, did not threaten her with a knife and did not throw one at her.

Reay said he was not drunk but accepted he threw a tray of dishes into the room.

He said: “Perhaps it was not the smartest thing I have ever done in my life. But at no stage did I mean her any harm.

“It was a fairly heated exchange. It was not very nice at all but it was two-sided.”

Magistrates found Reay guilty as charged after a short deliberation.

Colin Beadle, chairman of the bench, said: “We are sure that the offence took place. You were clearly the aggressor that evening, returning to the bedroom three times. We believe her when she says you had a knife, which you threw at her.”

The case was adjourned until Wednesday when he will be sentenced in Peterlee following the preparation of pre-sentence reports. He has been granted conditional bail.

After the hearing Mrs Reay said: “It has been absolute hell but I am delighted about the outcome. The judges have seen through what really did happen.”