Bride finds out her husband is already married (and has been for 13 years)

A newly-wed bride discovered her husband was married – and had been for 13 years.

Wendy Lee, 57, became suspicious that her husband David Jones was already married to someone else following their own ceremony on September 16 last year.

To find out the truth, Wendy hired a private detective to snoop into his past.

                     

 Jones admitted he should have divorced his first wife before getting married again.


The bigamist was handed a suspended sentence by magistrates in Southend, Essex.


A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: ‘Jones married his first wife in 2002 and their relationship broke down.


‘In 2013, he began a relationship with another woman whom he married in September 2015 and this other woman believed he was divorced.


This new wife became suspicious and found out that he was still married after she hired someone to make enquiries.


 The relationship with the first wife deteriorated but it’s not clear if he was carrying out a relationship with both women at the same time.


‘He has accepted that he just didn’t go through the correct process and that he was going to marry the new wife without divorcing the old one.’


The court heard how Ms Lee, who owns a wine business, hired a detective just months after marrying Jones, 48, to look into his past.


Essex Police launched their own investigation before he was arrested on suspicion of bigamy.


During police interview, Jones, from Southend, Essex, admitted that he was already married when he married Ms Lee.

Magistrates handed him a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months and also ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay an £80 victim surcharge and pay £85 to the CPS.


According to the latest Home Office statistics, there were 31 reports of bigamy from 2011/2012 and 44 reports in 2010/2011.


Under UK law, a second marriage when one partner is already married is considered void.