A MAN won’t be sentenced further for attacking his ex-wife and a court clerk after a judge said he didn’t want to “add to the misery”.

Simon Ramet, 39, from Hockley, was jailed for 20 months last October for repeatedly punching and kicking Christina Ramet and a clerk at Southend County Court.

He admitted offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault after losing his temper during a hearing over contact with his 12-year-old son.

Ramet’s charge of contempt then had to be dealt with by Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division at London’s High Court.

Yesterday Sir James said he did not want to punish Ramet any further given the upset caused to a mum, dad and son in the case.

He also heard from Ramet’s counsel, Anthony Jerman, who said his client’s life had been ruined by the incident.

Sir James said he had concluded it would be wrong, as a matter of principle, for him to impose any additional sentence on Ramet as “to do so would be to punish him twice for the same conduct”.

However, Sir James added: “None of this, nothing, I repeat, nothing, can begin to excuse what Mr Ramet did on that afternoon in court at Southend.”