County bigamist 'left my life in ruins'

THE AMERICAN wife of a Shropshire bigamist today said he had left her and their son's lives in tatters - even taking the teenager's life savings from his bedroom before jetting back to the UK.

Margaret Peters said her son was so traumatised by James Fletcher leaving that he needed constant reassurance that she was not also going to leave.

Fletcher, 51, was yesterday sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for a year, after he admitted marrying Mrs Peters while still married to British wife Sarah Whalley.

The love cheat, of Moreton Crescent, Shrewsbury, who has since gone on to marry another woman legally and will become a father again in August, was also given a 12-month supervision order at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

But Miss Peters said she believed Fletcher should have been jailed after leaving her and their adopted son Joseph, then aged eight, in 2008 with a mountain of debt.

She said: "Not only did I lose my life insurance, but also my retirement, and an annuity we had for our son that would have been worth 35,000 dollars (£23,434) when Joe turned 18.

"There was also 500 dollars (£334) gone from my son's bedroom after he left. It was Joe's life savings. I had 100 dollars (£66.96) to put toward the next month's rent and he took that as well."

She added: "He needs constant reassurance that I am not going to leave him as well."

The court heard Fletcher married Ms Whalley in 1984 but walked out on her in 1996 to go to the States. The same year he married Ms Peters in Geneva, New York, without divorcing Ms Whalley.

Mrs Joanne Griffiths, for Fletcher, said he had failed to face up to his responsibilities but had not gone out to deceive the women.

By Russell Roberts