Stalker turned up at ex’s campus dressed in Army uniform and armed with pistol

A STALKER armed himself with a pistol, got dressed in military uniform, and hunted for his victim at the university where she was studying.

Conner Jones, from Cwmfelinfach, told staff at Aberystwyth University that he was with the Royal Military Police, and was searching for a soldier who was absent without leave from his regiment.

In fact he was trying to find the woman he had spent the last 18 months stalking.

A judge described the behaviour of 19-year-old Jones as “bizarre and truly disturbing”.

Swansea Crown Court heard Jones became controlling and aggressive towards his partner while they were going out, and after she ended the relationship he began to bombard her with messages on social media, and took to hanging around the bus stops she used, driving up and down the road outside her parents’ house, and following her around town.

In 2017 Jones’ victim went to Aberystwyth University, but that did not stop the unwanted attention from her ex – when she returned home for the Christmas holidays he again began repeatedly driving past her parents’ house, and on one occasion his victim found a tyre had been deflated on her car after she left it in a car park while out socialising with friends.

Ian Wright, prosecuting, said on March 18 this year Jones drove to Aberystwyth and presented himself to campus staff as an Army police officer.

He was dressed in camouflage uniform with a hi-viz jacket reading “Royal Military Police”, and wore a red beret with an RMP badge on it. The court heard he had what looked to security staff – one of whom was exmilitary himself – to be an automatic pistol in a holster on his hip, as well as a retractable baton, handcuffs, and a Ministry of Defence identity card.

The court heard Jones told university staff he was looking for a soldier called Dylan Strauss who had gone Awol from his regiment, and that he had reason to believe the missing private was currently on campus and was staying with a woman in one of the halls of residence. He then gave the name of his ex-girlfriend’s accommodation block.

Mr Wright said a warden at the campus refused to allow Jones access to the halls of residence he wanted, and at the same time Jones’ ex arrived in the car park at the university and saw the defendant’s car – with his current girlfriend sat inside.

The court heard the student told university staff about her ex, and she was advised to call police but by that time Jones had already left the university.

The prosecutor said Jones was arrested the following day at home and when police searched the boot of his car they found a military uniform and Royal Military Police badgedberet, a Heckler and Koch air pistol, ammunition, and nine gas cylinders.

Jones, of Ty Gwyn Farm Lane, Cwmfelinfach, Caerphilly, had previously pleaded guilty to stalking with intent to cause distress, possessing a firearm in a public place, and possessing an offensive weapon when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

The court heard the Heckler and Koch .177 pistol had been missing its magazine – but when a police firearms officer fitted one, the gun proved to be in working order.

When police subsequently checked Jones’ mobile phone they found he had made extensive online searches about guns, the Royal Military Police, and halls of residences at Aberystwyth University.

The court heard Jones had briefly been in the Army but had been medically discharged.

Harry Baker, representing Jones, said like many men who came before the courts his client was unable to process emotions properly.

He characterised the defendant’s behaviour on the day in question as “showing off”, and said he had lost his life-long dream of serving with the Royal Engineers after a serious ankle injury meant he had been discharged.

He added: “There is no psychological disorder here – he is just a young man behaving in a very immature way without realising the serious nature of what he was doing, and the harm he was causing.”

Judge Geraint Walters called Jones’ stalking “sustained, persistent and relentless”.

He told Jones he had planned his trip to Aberystwyth University as if it were a “military operation”, and called the events that transpired on campus “bizarre and truly disturbing”.

The judge said he thought there had been something more sinister in the defendant’s behaviour rather than just the showing off his barrister had characterised it as.

For the offence of stalking Jones was sentenced to 30 months in a young offender institution, 16 months for possessing a firearm, and 12 moths for possessing an offensive weapon. All of the sentences were ordered to run concurrently making a total of 30 months’ detention.

Jones was also made the subject of a life-long restraining order which bans him from contacting his former girlfriend either directly or indirectly.