Surgeon must pay £664,000 for fling

An American surgeon is counting the cost of an affair with another man's wife after he was ordered by a court to pay $950,000 (£664,000) damages to her husband for seducing her.

The case against Todd Swanson was brought under a seldom-used "alienation of affection" law still in existence in South Dakota and eight other American states.

Based on the premise that a wife belongs to her husband and anyone who seduces her should be liable for damages, it has its roots in common law.

Richard Jones, of Sioux Falls, sued Dr Swanson in the US federal court for alienating the affections of his wife, Donna. The jury deliberated for three and a half hours before awarding Mr Jones $950,000.

Nurse Mrs Jones had been an old flame of the surgeon before she married her husband - but the lovers rekindled their relationship after a chance meeting in a hospital.

All three involved refused to discuss the case, but Russ Janklow, Dr Swanson's lawyer, said his client might appeal, adding: "He's very disappointed and shocked by the amount of the verdict."

Mr Jones's lawyer Robert Christenson said: "We're very gratified that justice was done and very happy with the work the jury did." He acknowledged the sexist overtones of the law, saying: "Women shouldn't be treated like property."

But he justified bringing the case using a legal opinion by former South Dakota Supreme Court chief justice Francis Dunn, who wrote: "I feel certain a case will arise in the future where some party has so flagrantly broken up a stable marriage we would rue the day that an alienation suit was not available to the injured party."

Dr Swanson, an orthopaedic surgeon in Las Vegas, first met Donna in 1977 and they dated for more than a year, but in 1979, she met her future husband, whom she married in 1981. They subsequently had four children.

But fate played a hand when Dr Swanson's father was taken ill and the doctor bumped into his old girlfriend. In 1998 the patient was brought to Sioux Valley Hospital, where Mrs Jones works as a nurse. She recognised the father's name and met Dr Swanson in a waiting room.

The next day, she and the surgeon met for lunch, then went for a walk in the park. "They then embraced and kissed," court documents reveal.

The couple later spent five days together in San Francisco and Dr Swanson gave her a credit card to pay for her expenses.

In November that year, Dr Swanson spent Thanksgiving holiday in Sioux Falls. He and Mrs Jones met at his hotel room. In December, they went to Paris, Houston, and Switzerland, where they visited a Swiss bank. "Swanson told Donna he wanted to secure his assets so his wife didn't take him for half his money when they divorced," court papers disclose.

The Joneses separated in January 1999 and a month later she met Dr Swanson in California for two days, but the surgeon talked of ending the affair. Mrs Jones moved back in with her husband in April 1999 - but met her lover again in July and November.

In Seattle, Dr Swanson told her they should end their relationship, "That he needed to keep his family together, and that she needed to keep her family together," the court heard.

Mrs Jones left her husband in June 2000 and was served divorce papers that August. They subsequently divorced.

However court evidence included greeting cards the couple exchanged, credit card receipts and testimony from a private detective hired to watch Mrs Jones.

The alienation of affection law is also still on the books in Illinois, Hawaii, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina and Utah.