A BIGAMIST who faked terminal cancer in order to lead a double life has been jailed.

Michael Eels (59) told his wife and three children in Eastbourne that he had to travel to Newcastle regularly for specialist treatment, but in reality he had set up a new life with a second wife, Sally Howard, in Tynedale.

Now Sally, who was completely unaware he was already married for almost six years, has spoken out after Eels, of Hillside, Bellingham, near Hexham, was handed a three-month prison sentence on Valentine's Day.

"The judge said in court that we had both married a conman and she is right," said Sally, who read out a moving victim impact statement at Lewes Crown Court, Sussex.

"That's exactly what he is.

"The three month sentence is not long enough for the hurt he's caused to so many people.

"I was living in a three-bedroom detached house that my brother had bought for me when I met him.

"I trusted him and took a risk to leave that, and my hairdressing business behind, to move to the North-East.

"But he just became more and more controlling."

Mother of three, Sally (58), said she married Eels at a hotel in Sussex in July 2009.

They first settled in a house at Errington Hill Head, just off the Military Road, and then moved to a cottage in Bellingham.

He became possessive and wouldn’t allow her to get a job, even though they were facing financial difficulties.

"We ended up on benefits, and I just felt so shameful, but he just wanted us to be together all the time."

The situation reached breaking point in 2014 when Sally discovered there was another woman and left.

"I moved to Corbridge for a little while and tried to get on with my life, but it wasn't easy," she said.

She tracked down the other woman, Andrea Etheridge Eels, on Facebook and sent her a message asking if she was married.

But the message lay unopened until 2016, when Andrea spotted it and the women arranged to meet.

Then the lies began to unravel.

"He still denied they were married and claimed another man had fathered the children, but it was all lies," said Sally, who has now relocated back to Eastbourne to be near to her grandchildren.

"He was very good with my children and my father, who he still owes £4,000, and they all thought the world of him.

"But they can see through him now. I just want people to know what he's done so he can't hurt anyone else."

Eels was ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation to each victim. A restraining order was also granted by the court instructing Eels to have no contact, directly or indirectly, with the victims until further notice.