An estranged wife has been jailed for sinking her husband's £75,000 yacht on Valentine's Day.
Mandy Fleming, who was estranged from her husband Adam, had boarded the yacht for a "menage-a-trois" with her then lover David Brown and his wife Nemone in February, 2004. But when she saw the yacht kitted out with a new television and bills for work carried out on the yacht, she "lost it" as her husband had told her he did not have any money.
Prosecutor Mark Gadsden described how Fleming rang her husband in a rage and told him off for spending money on the vessel.
The 47-year-old then drilled three holes in the hull of the yacht, the Old Bailey heard on Thursday, and switched on the cooker's gas taps in the yacht - effectively turning the vessel into an explosive bomb.
"She returned to the shore and equipped herself with a drill which she took on to the boat and drilled three holes. Between them, they were sufficient to cause the boat to sink", Gadsden said.
The yacht, called 'Double Dragon', was moored in Brighton Marina. The court was told how the marina's berthing manager, who was on duty at the time, was put in danger when he attempted to right the sinking luxury cruiser. The official went aboard the boat to pump out water.
Four other people staying on nearby vessels were also endangered.
Fleming, from Sheerness in Kent, pleaded guilty to endangering life by causing criminal damage and was jailed for 18 months.
The court heard that an explosion would have been triggered on the boat if someone had simply turned on a light.
Judge Richard Hone, presiding over the case, told her: "You were a manipulative, angry and troubled individual."
Fleming wept as she was told she would have to serve half the sentence, minus the two-and-a-half months she had initially spent in custody.