A MALTON builder has been jailed for 21 months and ordered to stay away indefinitely from the married woman with whom he had a five-year-long secret affair.

Christopher Brown, 45, punched Yvonne Watkins five times when she was at his home with another woman and injured her.

York Crown Court heard the two had gone to Brown’s house after a night of drinking in November 2012.

Mrs Watkins was sleeping on a sofa downstairs when he arrived home and started to hit her and drag her out of his home.

She was so terrified she hid in the bushes outside the house.

The couple had had a secret affair for five years.

Brown, of Middlecave Drive, Malton, denied causing actual bodily harm to Mrs Watkins, but was convicted by a jury last month. He was jailed for 21 months and made subject to a restraining order banning him from having any contact with her. The order will last indefinitely.

The jury heard Mrs Watkins’ friend had been sleeping upstairs in the spare bedroom, but came downstairs and left the house.

While she was standing outside the house, Brown warned her if the police were called, he would tell Mr Watkins about the relationship between himself and Mrs Watkins.

In his evidence, Brown said: “If they were going to cause me trouble, I was going to end their playtime.”