Yvonne,an unsuspecting wife discovered her cheating husband had secretly married another woman

An unsuspecting wife discovered her cheating husband had secretly married another woman 4,000 miles away - after she saw him kissing his new bride on Facebook.

Nurse Yvonne Gibney, 55, spotted photographs of oilman Maurice Gibney, 49, cuddling teacher Suzanne Prudhoe during a £45,000 ceremony in Oman after investigating gossip about his love life.

And the devastated mother-of-two discovered the love cheat had been "married" to Miss Prudhoe for 11 months and had even been walked down by the aisle by her mother-in-law.

Yvonne's step-daughter was also at the wedding, held at the British Embassy, as a bridesmaid.

Her globe-trotting husband, who earns a tax-free salary of £85,000 a year, had even cheated on her at Christmas when she went out to Oman see him.

He falsely claimed he had to go away "on business" - only to fly back to the UK to be with Miss Prudhoe.

The father-of-three, who works as a senior contractor for Oman Oil, pleaded guilty to bigamy at Wirral Magistrates' Court in Merseyside.

He was handed a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

Yvonne, who had lived with Maurice in Hoylake, Merseyside, gave an emotional statement about her bigamous husband's betrayal.

She said: "I allowed myself to be manipulated and controlled by him.

"At the time of the bigamous wedding we had been married 17 years. I believed in our marriage and shared values, trust, love and respect for each other, a sense of morality.

"I loved him unconditionally and believed that love was reciprocated.

"I simply don't have the words to effectively convey the pain and hurt and sense of betrayal."

Yvonne met father-of-three Gibney almost two decades ago in Nigeria, but years later their marriage deteriorated, so much so that the Oman Oil senior contractor spun a web of deceit to his own family, pretending he had already divorced but insisting it had to be hushed up for the sake of their children.

He also had falsely claimed Mrs Gibney was "crazy" and urged his family not to have any contact with her.

The couple had agreed to divorce but last February – a week before details were to be agreed – she spotted comments about her husband on Facebook and traced them to Miss Prudhoe's profile.

It was then she discovered he had illegally married Miss Prudhoe in March 2013.

Photographs of the event showed a grinning Gibney in an open-necked shirt, cream jacket and slacks kissing blonde Miss Prudhoe who was sporting a white wedding dress.

The wedding invitations simply said: “The groom Maurice” and “The bride Suzanne” March 2013. Other photos showed them exchanging vows under a white gazebo on a sandy beach.

Mrs Gibney added: “I clicked on Suzanne Prudhoe’s profile and saw as her Facebook profile her wedding day, kissing my husband in their wedding finery.

“I had no knowledge of Suzanne Prudhoe’s existence or relationship with my husband. It appeared she announced her engagement to my husband on Facebook in May 2012 To initiate into that bigamous marriage, my whole marriage became worthless.

“If he had wanted a divorce we could have started proceedings years ago. All the pain inflicted was completely unnecessary. I feel the intensity could only be seen as deliberate intent to harm his family.”

Yvonne told the court Gibney had been violently abusive towards her, once attempting to run her over, which was witnessed by her son.

District Judge Michael Abelson told Gibney: "You initiated into a bigamous marriage, you knew precisely what you were doing at the time you did it, there was no hiding it."

Gibney was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £80 victim surcharge.

photo:buzzsouthafrica.com