“Fine, that works for me,” said 39-year-old Fabien when the court in the southern town of Draguignon read out his sentence, French daily Var Matin reports.

Fabien whose last name was not reported in the French press was condemned to serve a suspended sentence of six months in jail. He was also told not to live with his mother-in-law anymore. 

On June 3, a festive evening at his home turned violent when Fabien smacked his wife. 

“It’s true I had drunk quite a bit, but they were more drunk than I was. My mother-in-law and my wife were fighting over the last can of beer,” Fabien told the court, Var Matin reports. 

Fabien hit his mother-in-law before dragging her out of the house by the hair.

Giving evidence, Fabien said he resented her presence in his home. His mother-in-law had moved to take care of the couple’s 9-month-old son while he and his wife were at work.

But when Fabien asked his mother-in-law to leave the house, she refused. 

“I told my mother-in-law that she should go home, and take care of her own mother. But she said no and insisted she was happy here. Two months later I snapped,” he said. 

Fabien has suffered stress attacks since his childhood. The court ruled he should resume medication to control his outbursts and ordered him not to approach his mother-in-law.