Successful businessman’s life ‘crumbled’ after he posted naked pictures of his mistress on Instagram when she ended affair, court hears
A businessman narrowly escaped jail after posting private photos of his mistress during their breakup on a secret Instagram site.
Hugh Fleetwood, 67, who ran a specialist furniture business, had a five-year affair with the woman who followed his wife’s back.
But when his mistress, who cannot be named for legal reasons, ended the relationship, Fleetwood launched a campaign of harassment against her and posted intimate photos on social media, including photos of her and the couple having sex naked together in a massage parlour.
Judges in Liverpool were told Fleetwood’s ‘successful life’ collapsed because of his ‘completely inexcusable’ behaviour.
The court heard his wife of 25 years left him, his two children barely spoke to him and he was forced to sell his luxury home and profitable business in Wirral, Merseyside, to pay for the divorce.
“He had, by all accounts, a very innocent and successful life, something that many people would envy,” said his lawyer, John Gallagher.
‘It collapsed around him. His marriage broke up and a divorce case was filed.
‘His children barely talk to him. He wants to re-establish a relationship with them, but they side with the mother on this issue. ‘They continue to be resentful towards their father.’
Hugh Fleetwood, 67, was photographed leaving Liverpool Magistrates’ Court after being given a suspended prison sentence for harassment and posting private photos of his mistress online
Both Fleetwood’s mistress and his wife of 25 years were in court last week; He had pleaded guilty to sharing photographs of a person in an intimate situation with intent to cause harassment, distress, distress or humiliation, and to sending photographs of genitals with intent to cause alarm, distress or humiliation.
He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 24 months and sentenced to 80 hours of unpaid work.
Prosecutor Diana Przemecka said that the relationship started through a secret Instagram account opened on the internet in 2020.
The victim knew Fleetwood, a well-known freemason, was married but claimed there was an ‘intense emotional bond’ between them and that he had promised to leave his wife for her.
She also said that he told her that they would set up home together and even start learning her native language.
But when the relationship broke down last year, Fleetwood began harassing the mother-of-two.
He contacted his friends and family and added them to his Instagram account.
Later, the activity on the platform intensified and she started sharing intimate photos of them together; These included a photo of the woman performing a sex act on him and another woman lying naked on top of him at a massage parlour.
In her victim impact statement, the woman said she felt comfortable taking the intimate videos and photos because she believed there was ‘genuine love and mutual respect’ between them.
But the chief executive of Scanflex, a leading developer of adjustable living and working housing for the disabled, said Fleetwood had ‘weaponized the images’ to ‘humiliate and embarrass’ him.
“There was a clear imbalance of power that he used as a tool to target me,” he told the court.
He said he was ‘relieved’ by Fleetwood’s guilty plea but claimed the ‘impact’ of his crimes continues to affect me deeply.
He said he lived in ‘constant fear’ and his mental health was ‘seriously damaged’ as a result.
‘My children had to witness the pain this caused our entire family,’ she said.
Defending, Mr Gallagher told the court his client had pleaded guilty and accepted ‘the potential for humiliation and embarrassment it would cause’.
The lawyer also said he wanted to apologize for his ‘horrible’ behaviour.
Mr Gallagher said the relationship began when Fleetwood, of Bromborough, Wirral, ‘felt lonely’ after her twins left home to go to university at the same time.
‘His behavior is appalling,’ the lawyer said. ‘He got into a relationship. His behavior when that relationship broke down was completely inexcusable, and he accepted that. He had time to think about it. He apologizes profusely for this.’
Magistrates also subjected Fleetwood to a restraining order banning him from contacting his victim for three years and ordered him to pay more than £1,000 in court costs and compensation.
