Furious mother punched husband’s mistress in face on Christmas Eve

Faye Greene (44) was handed a community service order last week after earlier pleading guilty to criminal damage and assault.

Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, was told she punched the woman in the face after smashing her way inside.

When a reporter called to her home, Greene said she had seen red and was sorry for what she had done.

She added: “I found out the day before Christmas Eve that my husband was having an affair with a woman who had been my friend for over 10 years.

“I had met her two days before for Christmas drinks, just the two of us.

“Little did I know (she was having an affair).

“I just saw red. I knew she was a bit promiscuous, but you don’t expect a friend to do that to you.”

Greene was ordered to complete 120 hours of community service and will have to pay out £495 for the patio doors she smashed.

“I just want this all over and done with. I’ve never been in trouble in my life,” she said.

“I’m raising two kids on my own with no help whatsoever, working full time, and now I have to try and find the time for this community service.

“Of course I regret what happened and I’m remorseful. I thought she was a friend. It’s absolutely disgusting.

“She would’ve been round here all the time for parties, get-togethers... she would’ve stayed over as well.

“I was made out to be a lunatic in court, but that’s not exactly how it happened.”

Greene, from Dicksons Hill in Ballymena, was driving in her car when she saw her husband’s vehicle at the property on the afternoon on December 24.

Prosecutors said she smashed the windows of the patio doors with a golf club before she “came into the house and punched the victim to the face”.

But defence solicitor Emma McCann told the court: “The golf club was lying on the path when she approached the property, rather than coming armed with it.

“She was extremely upset for her and her children. She saw her husband’s car there and, in a moment of impulsivity, got out and went to the property — something she utterly regrets.”

Greene, who the court was told receives no child maintenance, said she just wanted to move on.

She added: “My husband and I were together for 13 years and married for 10.

“This was devastating for me — my life has been turned upside down. It’s done now anyway. I just want to move on. The kids have been through enough.”

Antrim Magistrates Court was told a probation officer had assessed Greene as posing a low risk of reoffending and recommended the case be dealt with by way of a community service order.

A judge imposed a two-year restraining order on top of the community service.