One ex-cop got so jealous and possessive of his wife that he checked her phone messages and even emojis, and put a GPS tracker in the trunk of her car.
Ex-community bobby Mark Howell-Walmsley married Sharon McCaig two years after they first started dating, but a court heard that there had been a “series of issues” regarding his controlling behavior.
The 58-year-old asked his then-wife to remove the password from her phone and requested photographic evidence when she was visiting her elderly mother.
Miss McCaig said her ex had become so possessive and controlling that she couldn’t sleep at night.
“It was just terrible. I felt completely trapped, “she previously told a jury at the Mold Crown Court.” I was very worried and was very afraid of him. “
Jurors were told the couple held office in 2015 before tying the knot in May 2017.
Miss McCaig, who ran a small artist shop in Llanberis, Gwynedd, said Howell-Walmsley became increasingly irrational over time.
She said, “He wanted to know everything I did on my cell phone. I had nothing to hide.”
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Finally, Miss McCaig had told her husband that she was going to get a divorce. But in March last year he showed up at a Tesco supermarket in Bangor.
She hid in the cafe and called the police, who Howell-Walmsley found in the parking lot. The defendant said he followed his wife thinking she was having an affair and officers found a GPS tracker in the trunk.
A court heard that he had planted the device in the vehicle about a month earlier while looking for evidence that it was “cheating”.
Howell-Walmsley previously denied controlling or coercive behavior, but later changed his plea for guilty shortly after his trial began earlier this year.
In a judgment pronounced on Thursday June 10, prosecutor Simon Mintz said the defendant’s behavior had a detrimental effect on the health of his ex-wife.
Mr. Mintz added, “The last few years have been the worst of my life.”
Defense attorney Elen Owen told the court that Howell-Walmsley had significant mental health problems. And Ms. Owen added that her client had admitted what he had done was wrong, arguing that the defendant was in “an ongoing, very expensive, bitter divorce proceeding.”
She asked the judge not to forbid her client to wear an electronic badge as part of his sentence. The defendant has now sold expensive climbing shoes and this would cause him difficulties and embarrassment in his work.
“This is a very draconian move,” argued Ms. Owen. “There are many other ways the probation service could keep an eye on his movements when they need to.”
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Judge David Hale sentenced the defendant to 15 months suspended prison sentence.
He said, “As a mature man with the life experiences you have had, the last thing you should do is you guilty of a serious crime like this and face a prison sentence.
“You hurt her. You seriously upset, scared and worried her by your completely unnecessary behavior. That had what it takes for a happy relationship, but you became so suspicious and controlling that it had to fail. “
Howell-Walmsley of Capel Curig, Snowdonia, was said to have been given a suspended sentence for “the more positive side” of his character.
Judge Hale added, “I’m not going to add the label because I’m not sure the reason suggested takes into account the problems it would cause you in your employment.”
An injunction was also issued.
