When Monika Fourie offered to make her estranged Royal Marine husband’s mistress a cup of tea it might have been interpreted as a mature attempt to let bygones be bygones.

But it soon became clear that Ms Fourie had no interest in building any sort of rapprochement with Hannah Stokes.

Within minutes Fourie had poured boiling hot water over Miss Stokes, leaving her suffering severe burns to her chest, neck and back.

The alleged attack came after Fourie had unexpectedly walked into the marital home she had until recently shared with her husband Wouter, a Royal Marine Commando, to find him watching a rugby game with Miss Stokes, in October 2015.

Acting in what Plymouth Crown court heard described as an "eerily calm" manner, Ms Fourie asked her husband to introduce them.

She then said she was going to make a cup of tea and walked over to the kitchen area of the open plan room, from where she asked Miss Stokes a series of questions - such as how old she was and whether she had any children.