A YOUNG dad smashed up an innocent person's car after finding out he was not the father of his youngest child, a court heard.

Burnley magistrates were told how Matthew Carmen, who is the victim of a rare illness, caused about £500 damage in a fit of temper after his girlfriend admitted to an affair.

Carmen, 21, of Cog Lane, Burnley, admitted criminal damage.

He was given a 12 months conditional discharge and ordered to pay £500 compensation and £50 costs.

Andrew Robinson, prosecuting, told the court the defendant smashed the windscreen and side window of a Ford Fiesta belonging to a neighbour of his partner's mother.

He had kicked out in anger for no apparent reason.

David Leach, defending, said Carmen and his partner had been together five years and had two children.

The night of the offence, Carmen's girlfriend had told him she had had an affair and the youngest child, a daughter, was not his.

He was distraught and lost his temper. Rather than taking it out on his former partner, he took it out on a vehicle outside his mother-in-law's home.

Mr Leach said the defendant had nothing against the neighbour. Carmen had a record for criminal damage.

Carmen, who was on incapacity benefit, suffered a very rare debilitating illness, which attacked the central nervous system and in particular the spine. He was likely to end up in a wheelchair at some point.

Mr Leach added the defendant's grandfather had the condition and his father was now 50 and had been in a wheelchair since he was 39.