Estranged husband is accused of bigamy after ex finds THIS snap of him on Facebook 'posing with his new bride'

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An suspected bigamist is now on trial after his estranged wife found photos of him with the woman he has since married on Facebook. 

Iain Theyers, 45, married Peruvian national Marian Belahonia in December 2006 and they had a son together the following year.

He totally disappeared and stopped contacting her and their son when they split, so she wrote to his parents but got no reply.

This is the photo of suspected bigamist Iain Theyers and Louise Martin that his estranged wife found before reporting him to police 

She also hired a private investigator but was forced to do her own detective work when the professional failed.

Miss Belahonia found an image of him and Louise Martin on Facebook, and later found out that they had married in 2011.

She reported self-employed IT specialist Theyers to police and he is now on trial at Hull Crown Court, where he denies one count of bigamy.

The full charged is 'that during the life of your wife you went through a form of marriage with Louise Martin contrary to section 57 of the Offences Against the person Act 1861 at Bridlington, Yorkshire, on 30th December 2011.'

Crown barrister Gordon Stables told the jury: 'The prosecution case is defendant Iain Theyers committed the offence of bigamy by going through a form of marriage with Louise Martin on the 30th of December 2011 and he did so at a time, when he was and still is married and his wife was, and still is alive - she being Marian Belahonia.'

'Ms Marian Belahonia was a citizen of Peru she applied for a travel visa to the UK and came to UK in 2004. She moved to Nottingham where she carried out voluntary work. It was while there she met Iain Theyers. In due course they began a relationship.'

He said both parties had previous marriages but they were not relevant as before their marriage they were both divorced.

He said the relationship blossomed with Marian Belahonia moving in with Iain Theyers, from Balloch, Inverness, in Nottingham in December 2005.

'They lived together for about a year before the defendant asked Marian Belahonia to marry him,' said Mr Stables. ' By this time Marian Belahonia's visa had expired. She returned to Peru. The couple made plans to marry in Peru. He travelled to Peru in December 2006. Ms Marian Belahonia will give evidence about wedding plans and a ceremony in marriage. She will tell you she returned to Peru in 2006 and she applied for permission to get married to the defendant Iain Theyers in her home district.

'In order for the ceremony to go ahead the couple had to present previous divorce papers, passport and birth certificate. All documents were provided on 9th Dec 2006 and the couple married in the family home, in the presence of their family, friends and two officials.

'The couple signed a marriage document. It gives the name of the groom Theyers Iain. It gives his age and 34 and says he was divorced.'

Theters tied the knot with Louise Martin while still allegedly married to wife of five years Marian Belahonia (pictured), a court heard

Mr Stables said: 'The defendant knew he had entered in to valid marriage by his subsequent actions demonstrated on 18th December 2006 when he and Marian Belahonia applied to the Home Office for a UK spouse visa- she was now his wife. This required a marriage certificate and a letter of support from Iain Theyers and a letter from the defendant's father.

'They returned to UK in 2007. They continued living in Nottingham and on June 19th 2007 she gave birth to their child Kyle. Unfortunately after a few years, the marriage deteriorated. Iain Theyers moved out in December 2010 almost 4 years after their marriage.

'Initially Iain Theyers and Marian Belahonia remained in contact allowing him access to his son. However in 2011 suddenly, just like that, all contact ceased. Marian Belahonia heard nothing from Iain Theyers at all. No communication. No contact with his son.

'In December 2011 Iain Theyers was attending at Bridlington Town Hall where Louise Martin and he where attesting to a notice of marriage. Mr Stables said he lied to the registrar when asked if he had ever been married after his first marriage with Kelly Jones ended on June 6 2006.

Mr Gordon said: 'He lied. He had been through a form of marriage in Peru in December 2006. There was also a warning sign in the town hall which stated that a person who provides false information to a registrar is liable to a prosecution for perjury. He may have lied because he did not want Ms Martin to know about his previous marriage.'

Mr Stables said the marriage went ahead on December 30 2011 in Bridlington Town Hall and he was asked the same questions about his previous marriage.

Iain Theyers, 45, is accused of being a bigamist who secretly married another woman behind his wife's back

Mr Stables said: ' The prosecution case is, this was the second time he deliberately lied. You will hear that if he had disclosed the marriage, then the registrars would not have gone through with the marriage process.

'Meanwhile, Marian Belahonia, who had not contact with Mr Theyers, was completely unaware of his marriage. She had decided the time had come for her to move on with her life. She approached a solicitor and asked to go ahead with divorce proceedings. In mid 2011 she drew up divorce papers. She had no address from him. But she knew his parents' address. There was no response.

'The prosecution say it was inconceivable he did not know she wanted a divorce. It was him hoping the problem would go away and she would not find him.

'She used a private investigator to locate him. But that failed. She used her own detective work on social media found the defendant's profile on Facebook. She discovered from what she saw on Facebook to be his new partner. She sent a message to the woman saying she needed him to sign divorce papers and contact his son. She received no message.

'Then she realised Ms Martin had blocked her. You will hear, from what she saw on Facebook she suspected Iain Theyers had remarried.

'She applied to the general registrar's office in December 2014 and she received a copy of marriage between Ms Martin and Mr Theyers. She took it to her solicitor but they told her to go to the police, which she did on December 23 2014. In police interview Theyers denied he was ever properly married.

Mr Stables told the jury: 'You may ask why does this matter. There is offence bigamy passed by Parliament so it is against the law. It does matter Marian Belahonia needs to move on. She needs to obtain divorce. In the UK people are treated differently if they are married or not married. It may affect wills, taxation and inheritance. It can have lots of consequences involved, not least children.

Judge Jeremy Richardson, QC, told the six women and six men of the jury they were the real decision makers who decide if Mr Theyers is guilty or not guilty of bigamy. He said: 'This is in many respects an unusual case. There are not many case of bigamy tried before a crown court. You might have expected to hear a case involving an assault or even murder. This is an unusual case. It may well attract media attention, I know not. However good or fair the newspaper reporting of the case is, you must disregard it. It will not be a long case. I anticipate it will last a week.'

The trial continues.

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