A trucker who brandished a hammer after he caught his wife in a compromising position in the cab of a friend’s lorry has been spared jail after a judge said there had been “extreme provocation”.

Gabor Simon confronted his wife Bettina and her lover Istuan Gozan and then grabbed the claw hammer from the glove compartment of his car.

Mrs Simon had sneaked off for the “sexual liaison” at Imperial Business Park in Gravesend on October 14 after telling her husband she was going shopping at Asda.

But 39-year-old Simon was suspicious and followed her - only to discover her "in a state of undress" in the cab with Mr Gozan.

Prosecutor Dominic Benthall said Mrs Simon made a statement with candour, telling how she went to visit her boyfriend at the estate and spent some time with him in his lorry.

About 20 minutes later her husband knocked on the cab door and then began shouting at them.

Mr Gozan got out with Mrs Simon and she saw that her husband had brought their four-year-old daughter with him.

Simon was aggressive and in Mr Gozan’s face, shouting and arguing.

Mr Benthall said Simon went to his car and let the girl out of the passenger door before continuing to confront Mr Gozan.

A witness described Mr Gozan, who like Simon hails from Hungary, as looking “fairly unfussed”.

Simon told him: “You have stolen my wife, but you won’t take my children.”

"He felt extremely let down by his wife and the man he gave a job. His whole life has completely ended for him" - Eve George, defending

He returned to the car and fetched the hammer. He waved it about but made no attempt to hit the victim with it.

The police were called and Simon put the hammer back in the car.

He told officers he confronted Mr Gozan because his wife had been cheating on him.

“I didn’t hit anyone,” he added. “I don’t know why it is a problem to have a hammer out in the street. I was just talking. I took the hammer for self-defence. He is a big guy.”

Eve George, defending, said the couple had been together for 22 years and married for 15 years.

They had two children, aged four and nine. Mrs Simon had started divorce proceedings in Hungary.

Simon had found Mr Gozan work as a long distance lorry driver. He believed the affair started while the friend was staying at the family home for a couple of weeks.

“He suspected she was having an affair,” said Miss George. “She said nothing was going on. He didn’t believe her, so when she said she was going to Asda he followed her.

“He couldn’t find her car in the car park, so he went to the business park. He knew Mr Gozan was on a delivery and saw a Hungarian registered lorry parked up.

“He knocked on the door and saw them in a state of undress and lost his temper. He was absolutely devastated.”

Miss George said it was an error of judgement for Simon to take his daughter with him.

“It is a very sad case,” she added. “He felt extremely let down by his wife and the man he gave a job. His whole life has completely ended for him.”

Suspending 12 weeks imprisonment for 18 months, Judge Charles Macdonald QC said Simon’s wife had been having “a sexual liaison” in the lorry cab.

The background to the offence, he said, was “not surprisingly” sexual jealousy.

“The aggravating features are brandishing a makeshift weapon in circumstances where it might have been used,” the judge told Simon, who admitted a public order offence.

“Particular mitigation is the extreme provocation given the length of your marriage, the fact you had two children together and the other man had been given work by you and was received as a guest in your home.”

Simon was ordered to pay £535 court costs.