Blow for jilted man convicted after branding wife a slapper
A HUSBAND has failed to overturn a conviction after calling his wife a “slapper” over an affair with her boss.
Paul Lang sent a series of embarrassing texts to wife Lorna’s family, friends and work colleagues.
One text to family said her lover was “old enough to be her granddad” and another to her work colleague described her as a “slapper”.
Bromley magistrates in South-east London convicted Lang, 40, of Plumstead, of harassment in August and he was handed an 18-month community service sentence.
They accepted that Mrs Lang had been “frightened” by the texts.
But Lang appealed at the High Court, saying his actions had not amounted to harassment. His lawyer, Leigh Webber, told the appeal some of the texts were “objectionable” but Lang had “not crossed the line” into criminal behaviour.
The couple had split by October 2015 and Lang fired off the texts over three days in August 2016 after learning of his wife’s previous office relationship.
After a 22-year relationship and 13 years of marriage, Lang was understandably “upset and angry at the discovery” said Mr Webber.
Ruling on his appeal, Lord Justice Treacy said magistrates had applied the law correctly and their findings were “not unreasonable”.
The appeal, he said, “must fail”.