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A jealous boyfriend has been found guilty of a drunken attack on a man who he accused of 'trying to shag his missus'.

Sean McIntyre was warned he may face a jail sentence after he was convicted of hitting victim Lee Sweet over the head with a heavy metal sharpening steel.

He attacked him after finding him at the home of his girlfriend in the village of Kentisbeare, near Willand, in the early hours of the morning.

The two men had only met a few hours earlier at the nearby Wyndham Arms pub, where McIntyre had drunk 15 pints of cider in a nine hour session which only ended at closing time.

He invited Mr Sweet back to his partner Kelly's house for more drink but then realised they were getting on far better than he expected and became jealous.

McIntyre took Mr Sweet to his own house in the village to get him out of Kelly's house but then had an argument with her on the phone, during which Mr Sweet left and went back to her house.

McIntyre followed, armed with the sharpening steel, burst into the house, and carried out the attack, which left Mr Sweet with a gash on his forehead which needed hospital treatment and has left a scar.

He claimed Mr Sweet had run at him with clenched fists and he had punched him once in self defence, sending him sprawling against a coffee table where he bashed his head.

He was found guilty after a jury at Exeter Crown Court heard that Mr Sweet's blood was found on the steel and that McIntyre had told the arresting officer 'He deserved it. He will probably need a few stitches. He tried to sh*g my missus'.

McIntyre, aged 50, of Parsons Close, Kentisbeare, denied but was convicted of causing actual bodily harm.

Recorder Mr John Williams adjourned sentence until Friday but told him that a prison sentence was likely because the offence was aggravated by the use of a weapon.

McIntyre told the jury he was sure Mr Sweet intended to seduce his girlfriend and described him in police interviews as 'a snake'.

He said the blood got onto the steel as he was cleaning up his clothes in the kitchen of his home after the fracas.