A judge told a spurned husband he sympathised with him over the "devious betrayal" by his wife who ran off with a man she met on the Internet.news

Judge Stanley Spence told the 40-year-old he was sparing him jail for attacking his wife's lover with a crowbar.

Reading Crown Court heard that Stewart Everett, of Cherry Tree Road in Chinnor, was left with a £1,000 phone bill that his wife Cheryl ran up chatting to her 56-year-old lover online.

Everett was given a suspended prison sentence, despite attacking Kenneth Howard in his own home.

Catherine Milsom, prosecuting, said Everett was returning his two children to their mother after a visit.

As he pulled up outside the home she shared with her new lover in Layburn Crescent, Brands Hill, Colnbrook, Berkshire, he asked her about their divorce.

Miss Milsom said: "He told her he would deal with it himself and took a 2ft crowbar from the boot of his car.

"He rushed through the open door of the house and up the stairs, raised the crowbar and hit Mr Howard on the right side of his face just below the eye."

She said Mr Howard fell but managed to deflect another blow from the crowbar. Everett then punched him several times in the head. Everett admitted one count of unlawful wounding on Kenneth Howard on November 4 last year.

Simon Wild, defending, said the attack was not premeditated and was provoked when Everett saw Mr Howard making an obscene gesture from a window.

The judge said 12 months' imprisonment was the inevitable outcome, but decided to suspend the sentence for two years. Everett was also ordered to pay £308 compensation and £50 costs.