Bigamist wife who claimed she was bridesmaid exposed by Facebook wedding pictures

The woman was still married and living with her husband when she married her new partner. Photo / 123rf

A bigamist wife who claimed she was a bridesmaid for her friend when she was actually the bride was discovered when her husband saw the wedding pictures on Facebook.

Lisa Everard, 35, was still married and living in the same house as her husband when she walked down the aisle with her new partner.

Her husband Elliott Everard, 38, was shocked when he spotted pictures of her dressed in a white wedding gown online.

The mother-of-four lied to her legal husband claiming she had been a bridesmaid at her friend's wedding - and he had nothing to worry about.

But Mr Everard checked the marriage records at the register office to discover the truth that she had illegally married her secret lover Michael Hughes.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Mrs Everard then confessed to her bigamy - and left their large country home to move into a terraced former council house with Mr Hughes.

Prosecutor Mark Battrick said: "Mr Everard was devastated. He was distraught at what he had seen. "He described feeling numb and said his world had turned upside down."

Peter Donnison, defending, said Mrs Everard had no previous convictions and said her new husband Mr Hughes is sticking by her.

He told the court Mrs Everard said she the relationship with her husband Mr Everard was over "some years prior to her re-marrying".

The court heard her salesman husband had lost a stone in weight after discovering his wife's second wedding in July this year.

The judge said the impact on Mr Everard was not just emotional but financial as he was providing for their two children by himself. Mrs Everard also has two children from a previous marriage.

Judge Philip Harris-Jenkins said: "You should have bore all of that in mind before you acted in the selfish way that you did.

"This was not an act of naivety. This was a deception."

The Everard couple - who wed in Gretna Green four years ago - have two children aged two and three.

The court heard Mrs Everard, who worked as a carer, has suffered postnatal depression after the birth of her youngest child. Mrs Everard, of Chepstow, Gwent, pleaded guilty to one count of bigamy.

But the judge spared her prison by saying it was not in the public interest to impose an immediate custodial sentence.

Instead, Mrs Everard was made the subject of a rehabilitation requirement and she will have to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

After the hearing Mr Everard's father, John, 67, said: "It's such a sensitive issue for Elliott and for us as a family.

"Their children are usually here with us and it's been very hard on my son, but we are helping him through it.

"Lisa's third and latest marriage is now legally void. So she and Elliott will have to divorce if she wants to do it properly."

Outside court, Mrs Everard said: "I have been through enough now. This has been unbelievably stressful and tough on me and my kids.

"I have been punished enough without this going public and everyone knowing my private business. I just want to move forward."