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A man convicted of bigamy, who also had two pregnant fiancees, has avoided jail after his first wife called for him to be shown mercy.Alexander Roy, 40, from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, admitted marrying Morven Wylie in Dunblane in 2007 while still married to his wife Denise.
She appealed for Sheriff Andrew Cubie not to jail Roy in a letter to Stirling Sheriff Court.
Sheriff Cubie ordered Roy to carry out 240 hours community service.
The court was told that Roy bigamously married charity worker Ms Wylie in a civil ceremony at the Dunblane Hydro hotel in May 2007 even though he was still married.
Defence agent Ricky Hutchison said his client's separation from Denise Roy in 2001 had left Roy depressed and suffering from "adjustment disorder".
However, Mr Hutchison said divorce proceedings were not initiated "because the parties got on so well".
The solicitor said Roy recalled "very little" from the period and had subsequently moved jobs, met Ms Wylie and decided to get re-married within a short space of time.
He added: "He says that the question about being married or not just never came up.
"Once the wedding plans were made, he just decided to go through with it."
The court heard that Roy lied to Dunblane registrar Rosina Hamilton, telling her that his parents Eric and Martha Roy were dead.
He also falsified a marriage schedule by saying that he was single.
Roy pleaded guilty at a hearing in 2009 to two charges of giving false information under the Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965 and one of bigamy.
It also emerged in November 2009 that after living with Ms Wylie as her husband and while still married to Denise, Roy then set up home with two other women.
He proposed to Debbie Watson, 30, from Lanarkshire, and Marie Jackson, 22, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and both women became pregnant.
'Serious matter'
Ms Watson said Roy had told her he had prostate cancer and needed to have children quickly, in order to convince her to abandon her birth control.
On reading a letter from Denise Roy and hearing that Roy was "in good employment" and had achieved no financial gain from his actions, Sheriff Cubie said: "In some respects he is more to be pitied than punished, but it is a serious matter."
He added: "It was entirely baffling that you said your parents were dead, but I am drawn to the conclusions that it was perhaps down to explaining their non-attendance at this bogus wedding.
"Offences such as this undermine the institution of marriage, as well has having who knows what effect on the confidence of Miss Wylie in relation to the rest of her life and her relationship with other men."
He said he had come to the conclusion, however, that it was not necessary to impose a prison sentence because of Roy's mental condition, and supportive letters sent to the court by his wife Denise and the accused's employers.
After the hearing Debbie Watson, who had previously accompanied Roy to the court hand-in-hand, said she was devastated he had not been jailed.
She said: "The maximum sentence he could have got was six years. I thought that would be a bit much, but he needs to be stopped before he ruins anyone else's life."This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.