Jealous stalker fitted a tracking device to ex’s car
A JEALOUS dad-of-two fitted a tracker on his ex-girlfriend’s car – and found out she was seeing another woman.
Building site boss David Jones, 37, from Rochdale, suspected his former partner may have found new love after they broke up, so hid the device in the boot of her car to track her movements.
Later, when his ex said she was going on a shopping trip in Bury, Jones noticed she made a detour to a house and decided to follow.
He later found her holding hands and laughing with her sister’s exgirlfriend in a cafe at the Trafford Centre, Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard.
The woman was still in contact with him because she worked for the same company.
But he also kept inexplicably turning up in the same place as her, and told her ‘I’ll find you wherever you are.’
Jones’ ex found out about the ‘Rewire Security’ tracker in her car after her sent her a picture of a route he had followed on the device.
The gadget was bought on eBay and was triggered once the car started. Jones also told his ex he had been spying on her using a phone app.
He was found guilty of stalking and a separate charge of assault on his partner following a confrontation at her home.
The court heard the couple’s romance crumbled last year and Jones’ ex later started dating her sister’s former partner.
She told the hearing: “We hadn’t been happy and David moved out.
“He would constantly text asking questions and asking where I was and he started appearing in places I was.
“I was in a new relationship in mid-November and I was in a Starbucks and he would turn up.
“He made a point of saying ‘I’ll find you wherever you are’ and he would slander me on social media.
“I know all about trackers and I questioned him and asked how he knew. He made me believe that he put a tracker on my phone using the IMO number.
“I was really scared, and I thought every second of my life was being followed and watched by him even though we weren’t together. “He sent a picture of the tracker showing my route and location with a start and end time and I knew it related to my ignition from the car so I searched the vehicle and found the tracker. “He said the tracker did its job and he found out.” The court heard the image showed the woman’s location, route, times and address. Texts showed that Jones admitted tracking her and he said he would go to the police and admit it – suggesting he was jealous of the new relationship. Prosecutor Ann Deakin told the court that the relationship deteriorated ‘up to seven months before the incidents.’ She added: “They tried to rekindle but it was unsuccessful and he believed she was having an affair. Due to this he placed a tracker on her car. He struggled to cope with the relationship being over. During October the defendant would David Jones’ ex Jones said he put a tracker in the car for about four days contact the victim on regular occasions, and would turn up to places where she was and he saw the complainant with a third party, confirming the affair to him.
“On November 17, she searched her vehicle and found a small black tracking device in the boot. The defendant has made reference to him tracking her in text messages. This caused her considerable stress as he continued to follow and watch her.”
Jones said he put the tracker in her car for around four days, adding: “I didn’t want to follow her but it told me she was lying about where she was going.
“She said she was going to Bury and I asked her to stop and get some T-shirts from Primark for me. I checked the tracker and saw she went via [her new partner’s] house and went to the Trafford Centre.
“I drove there to see what I had to see and left. I never approached her but I saw her and [her new partner] holding hands and laughing.
“I didn’t tell her straight away that I knew but I got upset and couldn’t hold it in any longer.”
Jones will be sentenced later this month.