Puddick tweeted, blogged and posted videos online after being enraged by his wife Leena's 10-year affair with a City director
Ian Puddick, pictured with his wife Leena, said: 'It is absolutely a victory for the small man.' Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
A man has been cleared of harassing his wife's millionaire lover on the internet in "a victory for free speech and the small man".
Plumber Ian Puddick tweeted, blogged and posted videos online after being enraged by his wife Leena's 10-year affair with Timothy Haynes, a City director.
As district judge Elizabeth Roscoe dismissed two charges of internet harassment following a three-day trial at Westminster magistrates' court, he said: "I am just absolutely relieved."
Puddick, 41, now reconciled with his wife, kissed her as he said: "It is absolutely a victory for free speech and the small man. I'm a plumber and drive a Transit."
He set up several websites and confronted Haynes after finding out about the affair through reading a text message on his wife's phone, and discovering photographs of Haynes performing sex acts.
Haynes, 52, from Billingshurst, West Sussex, admitted he had been deceitful, but said Puddick should have taken up his anger with him alone.
Puddick's wife met Haynes after joining an insurance firm in 1997, with the extramarital affair beginning following a Christmas party in 2002. The court heard Haynes was sending her 30 to 40 text messages a day, some with graphic sexual detail, and they often ate out together on his expenses.
Puddick, of Enfield, north London, claimed he decided to expose the relationship after finding out Haynes was using company expenses to fund the affair, taking his wife to "wonderful places around the country".
He described his shock when his home was later raided by anti-terror police at 6am, with officers removing phones, computers and even his satnavs.
The judge ruled Puddick's actions did not form a "course of conduct" and dismissed the charges.
Plumber Ian Puddick tweeted, blogged and posted videos online after being enraged by his wife Leena's 10-year affair with Timothy Haynes, a City director.
As district judge Elizabeth Roscoe dismissed two charges of internet harassment following a three-day trial at Westminster magistrates' court, he said: "I am just absolutely relieved."
Puddick, 41, now reconciled with his wife, kissed her as he said: "It is absolutely a victory for free speech and the small man. I'm a plumber and drive a Transit."
He set up several websites and confronted Haynes after finding out about the affair through reading a text message on his wife's phone, and discovering photographs of Haynes performing sex acts.
Haynes, 52, from Billingshurst, West Sussex, admitted he had been deceitful, but said Puddick should have taken up his anger with him alone.
Puddick's wife met Haynes after joining an insurance firm in 1997, with the extramarital affair beginning following a Christmas party in 2002. The court heard Haynes was sending her 30 to 40 text messages a day, some with graphic sexual detail, and they often ate out together on his expenses.
Puddick, of Enfield, north London, claimed he decided to expose the relationship after finding out Haynes was using company expenses to fund the affair, taking his wife to "wonderful places around the country".
He described his shock when his home was later raided by anti-terror police at 6am, with officers removing phones, computers and even his satnavs.
The judge ruled Puddick's actions did not form a "course of conduct" and dismissed the charges.
