Jealous husband torched wife's £15,000 designer clothes collection after accusing her of having an affair... because she was sending 'quite a lot' of text messages

• Suspicious husband convicted of arson after dousing wife's designer wardrobe in petrol and setting it ablaze
• Sat on a bench and watched as £15,000 worth of clothes went up in flames
• Thai-born Sutheera Ashley-Mead insists: 'There was no affair.'

The saying goes that revenge is a dish best served cold.
Millionaire Anthony Mead,  however, opted for the opposite when he suspected his wife was having an affair.
The businessman gathered up her favourite designer dresses and tops worth £15,000 from her wardrobe, dumped them outside and doused them with petrol.

Up in smoke: Sutheera Ashley-Mead had her clothes piled up and set on fire

Then, as their three children looked on, he set the clothes alight before sitting on a bench at their £945,000 home to watch as they burned to ash.
Mead and his Thai-born wife, Sutheera Ashley-Mead, 50, have since separated and are heading for divorce after seven years of marriage.

Suspicious: Anthony Mead sat on a bench and watched his wife's clothes burn

He also ended up in court, where he admitted arson at the house in Peldon, Essex, and was given a 12-month  suspended prison sentence. Yesterday, the nightclub owner was unavailable for comment.
But a friend, who declined to be named, suggested he had no regrets, saying: ‘All in all, he thinks it was worth it.’
Mead’s relationship collapsed when he discovered his wife’s infidelity, magistrates were told.
Paul Torn, defending, said: ‘The family had a day out and during the day, Mrs Ashley-Mead had been on her phone texting quite a lot.
‘It raised suspicion. It appeared  there was another person in the relationship.’
Describing the bonfire on July 18, he added: ‘Mr Mead saw the petrol canister, which had been left by a bench, and it demonstrates how very hurt he was that he did what he did.
‘He had been under a great amount of distress.’
When Mrs Ashley-Mead discovered what had happened, she called police and her husband was arrested.
Yesterday, she denied having an affair when she answered the intercom of the couple’s gated two-acre estate, which is now on the market.
‘People can believe what they want to believe,’ insisted Mrs Ashley-Mead.
‘He saw some texts and he assumed that is what it was but there was no affair.’
She added that the destruction of her clothes was ‘a bit of a blur now’ and confirmed her husband had moved out. He is now living at his club, Robert’s, in Colchester.
‘We did have a lovely life together,’  she said.
‘He drives round in a Ferrari worth £200,000 and we have three children.
‘I am being strong for the children but there is no way we are getting back together. It’s going to be a divorce.’

Sutheera Ashley-Mead's wardrobe went up in smoke outside the couple's Essex home

The nightclub boss exacted revenge after becoming suspicious about his wife's constant texting

An estate agent is handling the sale of the former marital home.
It is a modern five-bedroom property with views of the River Colne, an outdoor swimming pool and water feature with a bridge in the garden.
Despite the separation, magistrates were told that Mrs Ashley-Mead did not want her husband to be punished and she had not sought any compensation from him.
But District Judge John Woollard said it was right the prosecution had gone ahead because the arson happened in front of the couple’s children and had been reported to police.
He ordered Mead to pay £85 costs but did not make a compensation order.
Essex Police spokesman said: ‘We were called by the wife at 6.45am on July 18. The husband was arrested later that day.’