ABSTRACT
X and Y were married seven years ago, when they were both 50, but, unknown to Y, X’s hobby was the keeping of reptiles, including a snake. Y was terrified of the snake and threatened to leave if X did not get rid of the snake. X was very fond of his snake, and felt Y was being unreasonable in forcing him to choose between her and his snake. X refused to get rid of the snake, offering instead to confine it to the spare room, but six months later Y stormed out of the matrimonial home. X did not hear from Y for several months, and only heard of her whereabouts when he was contacted by a mental hospital where Y was a patient. X visited Y frequently in hospital, but Y was suffering from insane delusions about snakes. After six months in hospital, Y was discharged to be cared for in the community but refused to return home to X whilst he had the snake.
