A husband who branded his wife a “slapper” after he discovered she had been having an affair with her boss has been convicted of harassment.

Paul Lang, 40, sent a series of texts to family, friends and one of his wife Lorna’s work colleagues, saying her lover was “old enough to be her granddad”.

He admitted being “upset and angry” by the discovery, telling his wife that she “had no shame” and “made him feel sick”.

In a message his wife’s colleague, sent in August last year, Lang branded her a “slapper”.

Lang argued the texts were part of an understandable emotional reaction to the revelation that his wife had been with another man and his marriage was over.

Bromley magistrates convicted Lang, from Plumstead, in August but he appealed at the High Court, saying his actions had not amounted to harassment.

“He did not always use polite or neutral language, and even insulted her, referring to her as a slapper”, said his barrister Leigh Webber.

He argued while some of the texts were “objectionable”, it was not a “barrage” of messages and Lang had “not crossed the line” into criminal behaviour.

“This behaviour is so firmly within the normal private sphere that, regardless of the discomfiting effect it may have had, it does not warrant the intervention of the court to impose criminal conviction and punishment,” Mr Webber added.

In papers provided to the High Court, magistrates said: "Lorna Lang had formed a new relationship and the appellant [Mr Lang] did not react well to this."

The court heard the couple had been together for 22 years and married for 13 years before they split in October 2015.

Lang discovered his wife had been seeing her boss ten months later, confirming the end of their marriage.

Mrs Lang, giving evidence, said the “nasty” messages from her husband had left her feeling “scared” and “frightened”.

When he was originally convicted, magistrates ruled: “Mr Lang had made a deliberate attempt to undermine Lorna Lang in her relationship with family, friends and workmates.

“He wanted to cause her embarrassment, alarm and distress and indeed had done so. We found that his behaviour was both oppressive and unreasonable.”

Upholding the harassment conviction, Lord Justice Treacy said the magistrates were entitled to find him guilty of “a course of conduct which amounted to harassment”.

Lang denied the charge but was convicted after a short trial. He was sentenced to an 18-month community order.