A dad who brought in a Covid-style five metre rule within his home to stop confrontations with his wife and children, has been slapped with a fine of over £1,000.
Peter Copland produced allocated time slots for when his family could use the large kitchen at the property they share in Devon.
Prosecutor Warjinder Bains said they had a slot for breakfast before 8.30am, a one hour lunch slot and two hour dinner slot - and the rest of the time they were not allowed in.
Copland introduced the bizarre measures as he and his wife Maria divorced after 33 years of marriage, the court heard.
After a trial Exeter magistrates had found the retired engineer, 66, guilty of controlling and coercive behaviour and one charge of assaulting his then wife.
The chair of the bench said: "We realise this was a very difficult period for all involved."
The court heard the dad sent emails to his wife about the five metre rule and transgressing it as well as about the kitchen schedule.
His wife said she accepted this to avoid further confrontation.
But the JPs concluded his attitude and demeanour were not a practical and pragmatic approach to the break up and was "inflexible and became intimidating and domineering".
The prosecution claimed Copland had assaulted his wife twice one weekend in August last year - he was cleared of one of those assault charges.
On Monday, the court fined him with costs a total of £1,120 and ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. No restraining order was asked for.
In one incident he pushed his ex backwards after a row in the kitchen after his 18-year-old son went in for a drink - during Copland's slot to use the kitchen.
He said he brushed past his wife who was blocking his exit but then said he did push past her.
The argument led to the son throwing Fanta over his father while giving him a "sinister smile".
Exeter Magistrates Court was told two days later his daughter also came into the kitchen during his slot to grab some keys from a drawer and that led to another confrontation with his wife.
The children were meant to knock on the door first and his daughter said her father introduced a two metre rule before extending it to five metres.
Copland told the magistrates that his family "antagonised and provoked" him and he only had one room in the large barn conversion in Paignton, Devon, which was an en suite master bedroom.
He said he worked away in Saudi Arabia to pay for the £5,000 a month mortgage and his family did not welcome him home, give him a hug or respect him.
Copland said the house had a smaller kitchen where the family could have made snacks and coffee but they "invaded my space".
After one bust up he went to their lounge - referred to as their 'safe space' - and paraded around and taunted them in a childish tit-for-tat move.
Copland - who has no previous convictions - denied that but said he did go into the room "in the heat of the moment" and the row led to the soft drink being thrown over his head.
He said of the emails to his wife about the rules:"I put everything down logically.
"Maria could have responded but never did.
"I have been a loving father for many years. They have not wanted for anything. Respect is a big thing in life."
The prosecution said he used 'harsh words" against his family and acted in a childish way.
He admitted he had pushed past his wife and she lost her balance and fell backwards.
His wife told the court:"I just wanted him to leave us alone."
She was accused of "persistently breaching the kitchen rules to antagonise him" and replied: "He would say that wouldn't he."
And she denied trying to get him out of the house before it was sold.
He claimed they had free reign of the house apart from the dark master bedroom which was solely his room.
Copland, now of Coalville, Leics, was cleared of one charge of assault.
The court heard their home in Paignton, Devon, had been sold and their divorce finalised.
