WHEN controversial car dealer Richard Burbage end up in a row with his wife in a fast food restaurant he didn't appreciate it when another customer tried to intervene to calm things down.
Instead the angry 41-year-old tried to attack the man - only to discover his intended victim was a martial arts expert.
As a result Burbage, currently at the centre of a major police and trading standards investigation following complaints about second hand cars, ended up being arrested and appearing in court charged with assault.
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The drama happened after Burbage and his wife Lorraine, pictrued below with police, had been to a football match on a Sunday afternoon.
Southampton Magistrates Court was told that in return for going to the game Mrs Burbage had expected her husband to take her for a meal afterwards.
But a blazing argument erupted when she found out the meal Burbage had planned was at Kentucky Fried Chicken in Hedge End.
Prosecutor Dan O'Neill told magistrates that customers at the eatery began to become disturbed by the row.
He added that as a result customer Julian Raffle tried to calm the couple down and then intervened.
According to Mr O'Neil, there was then a struggle between Mr Raffle and Burbage, during which second hand car dealer twice tried to punch him.
But he did not realise is intended victim was an expert in the martial art of jiu-jitsu and when Burbage tried two upper cuts Mr Raffle used his self defence experience to dodge the blows.
Father-of-three Burbage, of Thyme Avenue, Whiteley, pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault.
A separate allegation of assaulting his wife by beating on November 30 was dismissed after the prosecution offered no evidence.
Mark Rigby, defending Burbage, said: “He and his wife both describe the relationship as feisty, fiery and passionate.
“What he did was wrong because he swings for him and he bites off more than he can chew because Mr Raffle is trained in jiu-jitsu.
“With hindsight they are very embarrassed by what sparked this. She was thinking she would be rewarded with a meal and wasn't pleased to find out that that meal would be at KFC.
“I think the salient lesson has been learned by the defendant and his wife.”
During the sentencing hearing Burbage told the court his yearly income from being a self-employed car salesman is between £12,000 and £15,000 a year.
Following the assault magistrates fined Burbage £200 fine and ordered him to pay costs of £100 and a victim surcharge of £20.
Richard Burbage is currently at the centre of a police and trading standards investigation following a flurry of complaints over second-hand vehicles.
As previously reported by the Daily Echo, a number of angry customers raised concerns alleging that they had been sold vehicles that were not roadworthy and Burbage, along with another car dealer Stan Rudgley, 31, was detained by police earlier this month.
That inquiry comes a year after the Daily Echo reported that upset members of the public had bought vehicles linked to Burbage and Mr Rudgley with many demanding their money claiming their vehicles were defective.
A third man, believed to be 20-year-old Ryan Overton, has also been arrested in connection with the probe.
He worked for the pair at Woolston Car Supermarket before it shut down in January 2014.
The three men were released after being questioned on suspicion of offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, the Fraud Act 2006 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Their arrests follow a lengthy investigation into a series of second-hand car dealerships linked to Mr Rudgley and Mr Burbage.
It follows numerous complaints made by customers alleging that they had been sold cars that were not roadworthy, or had not been given refunds.
In January last year the Daily Echo reported on the plight of angry customers who bought vehicles from companies linked to Mr Rudgley and Mr Burbage.
Mr Burbage allegedly owes millions of dollars after the demise of his firm, We Buy Any Car, in Australia. That company copied the name of the successful British online car seller but the two are not connected.
Trading standards bosses from Southampton City Council confirmed that they were investigating last January.
By the end of February they had received 60 complaints from customers of the car dealers.
They concerned purchases from Hampshire Vehicle Sales and Woolston Car Supermarket.
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