A father demanded his family follow a bizarre five-metre rule to stop confrontations as he and his wife went through a divorce, a court heard today.
Peter Copland, 66, arranged allocated time slots for when his wife and two children could use the large kitchen in their home in Paignton, Devon, as he and his wife divorced.
Copland, now of Coalville, Leicestershire, allegedly set time parameters for which rooms his estranged wife Maria could go into and demanded that she kept specific distances from him, the court heard.
The tense family situation led to Copland assaulting Maria on two occasions within three days last August, Exeter magistrates were told.
The bizarre set-up was revealed when Copland denied two assault charges and a third count of controlling or coercive behaviour in court on Wednesday.
Peter Copland , 66, arranged allocated time slots when his wife and two children could use the large kitchen in their home in Paignton, Devon, as he and his wife divorced
The court heard Copland introduced a two-metre rule but changed it to five metres to stop him, his estranged wife and children from having confrontations.
Magistrates heard the father would ask his two children - an 18-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman - to knock on the kitchen door to come in.
Copland claimed his family had between four and six hours to use the large kitchen and he had the rest, insisting their were 'plenty' or other rooms in the house.
He continued: 'I only had one room. The master bedroom with a dressing room and en-suite. That was my area. There were plenty of other bedrooms and bathrooms and showers in the house.'
He added that there was another smaller kitchen in the house where the family could have made tea and snacks, the court heard.
Copland admitted to police after he was arrested that he had also sent various emails to his wife asking her to keep her distance from him.
He told police that 'if everybody keeps to the rules everything would be fine'.
When asked by police if this was normal, he replied: 'It's not a normal environment.'
Copland also complained that his family was 'making him leave the house he owns, planning to get him out'.
The bizarre set-up was revealed when Copland denied two assault charges and a third count of controlling or coercive behaviour in an Exeter court on Wednesday
Copland denied assaulting his wife at their barn conversion home and said things had become tense as they began divorce proceedings two years ago - a year after a family holiday to Italy where he said he was given no thanks for the trip.
He said he may have brushed past his wife in the kitchen but denied any assaults on her, saying his wife and children tried to provoke him.
But his children told the court he pushed her with both hands and a row ended when the son threw a glass of Fanta over his head which left his father with a 'sinister smile' on his face.
Copland said after the end of their 33-year-marriage, his relationship with Maria had broken down so he sent her the kitchen slots after he went on a trip to South Africa, and she agreed to them.
The father said he did not tell his wife he was going to South Africa saying: 'She is not my keeper.'
Copland said he worked away in tough conditions in Saudi Arabia but when he came home he did not get a welcome or a hug.
He added that his wife wanted the big house with a £5,000 a month mortgage and he said his family wanted for nothing.
Copland also told the court his son was 'extremely abusive' and once spat in his face.
The trial is ongoing.
