A furious husband caught his unfaithful wife cheating after hearing her with another man through a baby monitor, a court heard. Marek Fecko, 47, heard his wife’s infidelity over the baby monitor that was linked to his phone while he was at work.
Angered by his wife’s actions he sped home to confront his wife and her lover, before threatening the unnamed man with a knife. She had turned the baby monitor around in the marital bedroom but forgot to turn the sound off before Fecko heard what was happening.
Appearing at Carlisle Crown Court, Fecko admitted affray and possessing a knife in a public place with no reasonable excuse. The court heard how the disgruntled husband had known about the affair that had been going on for five months but was waiting to catch his unfaithful wife in the act.
Prosecutor Tim Evans described how the Fecko had returned home and was searching for the man before grabbing a knife and threatening the fleeing lover. Prosecutor Evans said: “The unhappy result of that was that his wife commenced an affair. 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 immediately made his way home, shouting “where is he?” before finding the man locked in his car. Fecko grabbed a large knife and began waving it while shouting “I’ll kill you” at the man who was a work colleague of Fecko’s.
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.
