A North Sea oil worker attacked
his wife and wrecked their home after he returned from a rig to find she had
spent all his money having affairs with other men.
The 43-year-old man realised his
six-year marriage was over when his wife posted a Valentine’s Day picture of
herself on Facebook posing in skimpy underwear and the caption ‘Thank you for
buying it’.
The senior fitter - who cannot be
identified for legal reasons - had never seen the garments before and knew the
message was intended for another lover, Exeter Crown Court in Devon heard.
He was such a devoted family man
that he refused to join workmates when they went for nights out in Aberdeen
because he wanted to save all his money to spend on his four children.
He left all his £75,000-a-year
tax-free salary in the hands of his 33-year-old wife but discovered she had
spent it all and run up £30,000 debts in his name.
She even used his personal details
to get payday loans with Wonga and spent some of the money going on weekends to
London and Paris with other men, the court heard.
The man left his wife with serious bruising on the face and body after he confronted her over texts on her phone after returning to his home from a month-long tour of duty in the North Sea.
She fled through a window and hid
while he wrecked the house, smashing furniture and doors. He admitted causing
actual bodily harm but was found not guilty of raping her during the same
incident.
The man was jailed for three
months, suspended for two years, by Judge Phillip Wassall, who told him that
the verdict of the jury suggested they did not believe he started the violence.
The rigger told the court his wife’s allegation of rape had wrecked his life. He spent two weeks in custody after his arrest, his house has been repossessed to pay off the debts, and he has no idea where his ex-wife and four children are living because he has not seen them since.
His wife claimed he started having
sex with her at the end of an emotional three-hour conversation in which she
told him their marriage was over.
She said she told him to stop him
but he carried on until she managed to push him off her. She said he had seized
her phone and kicked and punched her after she grabbed his testicles to make
him release it.
She said she was kicked and
punched on the living room floor and fled through a window before seeking
sanctuary at a neighbour’s house.
The man said his wife had a string
of affairs with other men and ran up debts in his name without his knowledge.
He said: ‘I saw a message on
Facebook on Valentine’s Day of her in underwear which said "thank you for
buying it for me". I knew I had not bought it.
‘When you are thousands of miles
away from anywhere and get a message like that, it plays on your mind. I
learned she was going up and down to London and over to France.
‘There was only one wage coming in
and that was mine. I left all the family finances to her and thought they were
good because I had a great job.
‘Then I started getting text
messages from Wonga and I found out I had debts of £30,000 and the mortgage was
not paid and my house has been repossessed. The mortgage had been increased to
£140,000 without my knowing.’
He said during the final encounter
his wife had agreed to sex but after 30 seconds had said ‘no, this is wrong’
and he stopped immediately.
A friend of his wife told the jury
she met her the next day and she said it had ‘been more like an emotional rape’
than anything else.
Fellow workers from his rig and
the support company in Aberdeen provided references saying he was a reliable
and mild mannered supervisor who was so devoted to his family he never joined
them in runs ashore.
SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk
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