A violent thug carried out a cowardly revenge attack on a former close friend out of sexual jealousy.

David Capper, 35, was furious his estranged wife had begun a relationship with Nathan Carey, and plotted to teach him a lesson.

Capper and brother-in-law Deny Geater, 38, both of East Street, Canterbury, burst into their victim’s home in Ruskins View, Herne Bay, at 3am, armed with a machete and a bat.

Both denied being at the house, but a jury at Canterbury Crown Court convicted them after hearing that Capper dropped his bank card during the ferocious attack.

Now Capper and Geater have both received 13-year jail terms for the savage beating, which left the victim covered in blood – and Geater was given an extra six months for breaching suspended sentences.

Friends and family members in the public gallery began shouting and stormed out as the two were led away.

One woman leaned over the balcony and screamed: “He would have got less if he had murdered him. He should have killed him!”

Both men had denied charges of aggravated burglary and wounding Mr Carey with intent during the incident.

But since their convictions last November both now accept they took part in the attack, which left their victim seriously injured.

Judge James O’Mahoney told them: “This was a case of the green-eyed monster, jealousy… sexual jealousy over the fact that Nathan Carey had taken up with David Capper’s wife.

This was a case of the green-eyed monster, jealousy… sexual jealousy - Judge James O'Mahoney

“You went there armed with a machete and a bat and all too often in these courts we hear that people are going around with machetes and Samurai swords. These are lethal weapons.

“This was a cowardly and violent attack with weapons in [the victim’s] home. And if there is a belief that jealousy of that kind can be dealt with by meting out punishment in the form of revenge, then courts will send out a very clear message.”

Prosecutor Crispian Cartwright said that Mr Carey told how he was attacked by Capper while Geater – armed with a machete – ran upstairs to where the victim’s brother, Dean, was.

Nathan revealed that as he was being attacked, Capper – who is known by the nickname ‘Boysie’ – shouted he was going to teach him a lesson for sleeping with his wife.

The jury heard that Capper’s marriage with wife Joanne had “got into difficulties” in February and the two had parted.

“Joanne then got in touch with Nathan by Facebook, and the two met for a drink and then afterwards began dating.

“Joanne told her husband she was seeing Nathan and Capper did not react all that well to that news and one may feel a degree of sympathy with that,” the prosecutor told the jury.

Capper then called Nathan and made threats and appealed to him as a friend to “back off”.

Mr Cartwright said that during the attack, Geater returned from upstairs to the lounge still holding the machete saying “move out of the way, Boysie” before punching Nathan in the face with his fist.

He added: “Nathan then curled up in a foetal position and received a rain of blows from a hard object. The attack then ended as suddenly as it had begun.

“The two men ran out and Nathan then called Capper’s ex-wife because he feared they might go to her house.”

The prosecutor said that Dean Carey had been woken up by his brother’s screams and the family dog barking.

Despite being naked, he opened his bedroom door to see a man armed with the machete tell him: “Shut the door. We don’t want to hurt you!”

Mr Cartwright claimed that the man then swung the machete, and Dean retreated inside his bedroom, put on some clothes and called the police.

He discovered his brother “covered in blood” and worried that the family dog was missing and that the Capper and Geater might have taken it, the jury heard.

“Nathan’s injuries included bruising of his hand, shoulders, back and chest, lumps to the back of his head and swelling to his face and ear. He also had a cut over his left eye,” Mr Cartwright added.

“Altogether it was a pretty nasty beating from a man who was formerly his best friend.”