Blackburn man donned balaclava to spy on his estranged wife (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Blackburn man donned balaclava to spy on his estranged wife

8:12am Saturday 25th August 2012 in News

A 32-YEAR-OLD man donned a balaclava and crept through back gardens so he could spy on his estranged wife.

And what he saw going on in the house caused Craig Anthony Banks to see red and burst in through the kitchen door.

He attacked the other man, punching him repeatedly, and only stopped when his wife called the police.

And Blackburn magistrates were told the reason for his anger was that two days earlier he had been the one having sex with his wife on Nook Lane.

Banks, 32, of Full View, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to assaulting Lee Wright and Ann Marie Banks. He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Bill Maude, prosecuting, said Banks had been jealous about his wife using internet sites to set up dates despite the fact they had separated and she had set up home in Nook Cottage.

On the day of the incident she was in the kitchen of her home with Mr Wright at about 1am.

“She was in the process of kissing Mr Wright when there was a bang and the door burst open and Banks came in wearing a balaclava,” said Mr Maude.

“He threw Mr Wright to the floor and started punching him. She hit him to try and make him stop and during the mêlée she suffered an injury to her foot.”

Andrew Church-Taylor, defending, said his client was as much sinned against as sinner.

“In February, she told him while she still loved him she was not in love with him,” said Mr Church-Taylor. “He didn’t understand that but accepted when she insisted they separate.”

He said Banks was told by his wife there was nothing going on with anyone else even though he found inappropriate text messages from men and discovered she was using a dating site called plentyoffish.com.

“They still had a sexual relationship,” said Mr Church-Taylor. “After the police interviewed my client they went back to Mrs Banks and she admitted she and her husband had still been having sex and the last time had been the previous Monday.”

He said Banks was suspicious and what he saw through the kitchen window confirmed his suspicions.

“When the intimacy progressed he couldn’t stand it any longer and went through the back door,” said Mr Church-Taylor.