A WEDDING reception punch up landed a Salisbury man in court.

Swindon Magistrates’ Court heard Christopher Maguire lie down on railway tracks after leaving the reception. It was only the quick-thinking of a train driver that prevented Maguire from being run over where he lay.

Father-of-three Maguire was said to have sunk six pints of lager at a friend’s wedding reception at the Tisbury Sports and Social Club on Saturday.

Prosecuting, Keith Ballinger told magistrates the 28-year-old had had a disagreement with his wife about his behaviour and the amount of booze he was drinking.

He followed her to the family car. His wife was in the drivers’ seat and her car door was open when Maguire hit the window – causing the glass to shatter and leaving the woman with cuts to her face.

Other members of the wedding party tried to restrain Maguire. He tussled with one man on the floor, giving him a black eye.

He stalked off to Tisbury railway station, where he lay on the tracks. Defending, Emma Thacker said a train driver had spotted the dad-of-three and managed to stop the train before the engine ploughed into man.

Appearing before Swindon Magistrates’ Court still dressed in his wedding suit and a blood-flecked shirt, Maguire, of Greyfriars Close, pleaded guilty to two assaults and trespass on the railway.

Ms Thacker, for Maguire, said the incident was entirely out of character for her client. She pointed to a statement from his wife, in which she described her husband as a gentle giant.

Maguire had never intended to assault his wife, describing the lashing out at the window as reckless: “Unfortunately, after that things seem to have spiralled out of control.”

She added: “What started off as a lovely day going to a friend’s wedding ended with Mr Maguire drinking too much alcohol and acting in a way that was completely out of character for him.”

Walking from the wedding reception to the station, “all he could see was the blood dripping down the face of his wife”, said Ms Thacker. Her client was mortified over his court appearance on Monday morning, she added.

Magistrates fined him £252 for the assaults and ordered he pay £100 compensation to his male victim. Maguire must also pay a £32 victim surcharge.