A NEWLY-bereaved man smashed a window at a car showroom in 'sheer frustration' -- when an off-duty police officer was inside the premises.

Burnley magistrates were told how Graham Banks, 26, had tried to run off and was so drunk he then fell 10 feet into a river.

Banks, the sole carer for his teenage niece, was conditionally discharged for 12 months and must pay £338 compensation, after admitting damaging two windows and a sign at Simpsons of Colne.

Silvia Dacre, prosecuting, said the officer saw a man throw a can at a window and a second window shattered as Banks' foot came straight through.

The officer ran after the defendant who jumped over a bridge into Colne Water. When he was arrested he said: "Can I have fag now?"

Miss Dacre said when Banks was interviewed, he said he had had a number of pints of lager, went to see a friend and had been upset.

Lyn Slater, defending, said Banks had just been told of a family bereavement. He was upset and the offence was committed out of frustration, nothing more.

If he had been sober, he would not have behaved in the way he did, nor would he have fallen 10 feet into the river.

She added there was no suggestion the defendant tried to avoid or evade arrest. There was no struggling or arguing with the police officer.

Mrs Slater said Banks was full of remorse for what he had done.