A MAN who tied the knot while still married to his previous wife has walked free from court.

Simon Keeton and Catherine Noble got married on February 14 but he had failed to disclose to the register office that he had not yet obtained a divorce from his wife Tina Pierce.

Chester Crown Court heard how Keeton, aged 47, had married Ms Pierce in October 2008, a month after divorcing his first wife.

“Tina Pierce paid for the wedding, the reception and the honeymoon and rapidly came to realise that the relationship was one where she was being viewed as providing him with a roof over his head and paying all the costs,” said Karl Scholz, prosecuting.

“The marriage didn’t last long and in January 2010 he moved out.”

The court heard how Keeto, of Muirfield Close, Fearnhead, went to a register office with Ms Noble in April 2014 to give notice of their impending marriage where he mentioned his first marriage and divorce, but not his second.

Keeton had tried to obtain a clean break divorce from Ms Pierce on the basis of a five-year separation but she would not agree as she wanted reimbursing for the money she had spent on him.

In January 2015, she agreed to a divorce but shortly afterwards noticed pictures of Keeton and Ms Noble’s wedding on Facebook in February.

She called the solicitor to find out if the divorce had gone through but was told that the papers had not even been submitted and called the police.

Mr Scholz continued: “Catherine Noble was interviewed by police in February 2015.

“Within that statement she said she was aware of his marriage to Tina Pierce but she believed that because the relationship had ended more than five years before, it meant that the marriage was null a void.

“Quite where she got that impression from is unclear.

“She, however, states that as far as she is concerned the fact that he is still married or was at the time of the statement did not affect her relationship with Simon Keeton and that she will go ahead with a second ceremony when Keeton is divorced.”

The court was also told that Keeton had appeared in court six times before for 15 offences including deception.

John Banasko, defending, told the court that a demur had been filed for Keeton’s divorce and it would go before a family court later this year.

He said: “He knows he should never have gone through with this. There is no harm in giving notice but you must be in a position to be divorced before getting married.

“Catherine has told me she is only worried whether she will still fit into her wedding dress.”

Recorder Stephen Bedford said that in his 20 years of being a judge this was the first bigamy case he had heard.

“It seems to me you have behaved in a very careless way when you arranged to marry Miss Noble and you behaved in a way which I think is connected with some of your other antecedence.

“You are sadly no stranger to deception. You are no stranger to not being truthful when it suits you not to be as has happened in this case.”

Keeton pleaded guilty to one count of bigamy and was given a four month jail term suspended for one year.

He was also ordered to pay a £500 fine, £340 costs and a statutory surcharge of £80.