A husband caught his wife cheating on him after hearing her through a baby monitor he had connected to his phone, a court heard.
Marek Fecko threatened his wife's unnamed lover with a knife after hearing them together on the device and rushing home from work.
The 47-year-old claimed to have suspected his wife of infidelity for a while when he heard her on the monitor in their marital bedroom, which she had turned around but forgotten to switch off the sound.
Appearing at Carlisle Crown Court, Fecko admitted affray and possession of a knife in a public place without good reason over the confrontation on Halloween of this year.
The court heard the disgruntled husband had raced home to catch his wife after waiting "five months" for proof of her infidelity.
Prosecutor Tim Evans said Fecko had returned home and was searching for the man before grabbing a knife and threatening the fleeing lover.
Mr Evans said: “That affair was with a former work colleague of Mr Fecko.
“At the time of the offences, October 31, the affair had been going on for five and a half months.
“Mr Fecko and his wife had stayed together, even though he became aware of the affair from messages on his wife’s phone.”
He added: “In the marital bedroom there was a baby monitor.
“It was connected by way of sound and vision to Mr Fecko’s phone. Within a short time of him leaving the house, his wife and (victim) were in the marital bedroom. She’d turned the baby monitor towards the wall.
“But she didn’t turn off the sound. Therefore the goings on in the marital bedroom were broadcast to Mr Fecko’s phone.”
The court heard how Fecko burst in through the door and discovered his love rival locked in his car after shouting “where is he?”.
After finding him, Fecko grabbed a large knife and began waving it while shouting “I’ll kill you” .
Judith McCullough, mitigating, said Fecko had left his native Slovakia 12 years ago after the break-up of his first marriage.
She said: “He decided to seek new opportunities and hoped for a better life.
“While this was not acceptable, it was a very human reaction to a significant degree of provocation.
“He will never be before the court again.”
Judge Nicholas Barker told Fecko: “Quite what response [his wife and her lover] anticipated they would receive from you is open to question.
“But of course you would be upset and angry at this act of infidelity; after all, you had been married for 11 years and had a family together. [The victim] had been a work colleague of yours.”
Judge Barker imposed an 18-month community order, with 120 hours of unpaid work. A restraining order will bar any contact with the victim for a year.
The defendant and the victim no longer work together.
