Jealous teacher who spied on innocent wife and turned her into a recluse
A JEALOUS teacher who spied on his wife using a secret camera and GPS tracking device has forced her to become a recluse, a court heard yesterday.
Gavin Bowditch, 38, feared his wife Helen was having an affair and came up with a ‘devious and concerted’ attempt to find out the truth.
He hid a camera under their TV, fitted a GPS tracker to her car and hacked into her emails and Facebook account to send messages to his alleged love rival.
But a judge yesterday said Miss Bowditch, 33, had given her husband ‘no reason’ to believe she was having an affair. Bowditch was convicted of stalk- ing last month despite denying his behaviour amounted to the crime. He said he preferred to be considered a ‘lunatic’ with anxiety problems.
As he handed Bowditch a suspended prison sentence at Taunton Magistrates’ Court, Judge David Taylor revealed the effect of his crime on Miss Bowditch, a veterinary nurse.
She has withdrawn from social media, moved to a secret address, changed her car, phone and email and insists the gates at her workplace are locked.
Judge Taylor told Bowditch: ‘When I convicted you, I concluded your course of conduct was a targeted, planned, intrusive and deliberate in an attempt to track Helen Bowditch.
‘Your concerted and devious steps caused her various stress, inflicting her day- to- day activities. She moved address, changed her motor vehicle, came off Facebook and changed her phone and email, all because she was concerned about what you might do next. She gave you no reason to believe she was having an affair.’
Bowditch, from Fiddington, Somerset, sobbed as he was found guilty of stalking last month. The court heard he went to ‘extremes’ to uncover the truth about his wife of seven years, and even posed as her in social media messages to his alleged love rival.
He was caught out in March when Miss Bowditch discovered the messages and found the hidden camera, which had been placed under the TV three months earlier.
She called the police, and they found the GPS tracker, which had been active on her car for ten days and accessed three times. Bowditch was brought in for questioning and confessed.
Miss Bowditch has since begun divorce proceedings.
The court heard her husband’s actions had left her feeling constantly tired, led to her making mistakes in her job and caused her anxiety, panic attacks and loss of appetite.
James Mumford, defending, said the offences were born out of paranoia after Bowditch had two health scares last year.
‘Clearly something went wrong last year and that combination of factors, in particular his developing paranoia, led to what he did,’ he told the court.
‘ Had he not been paranoid or depressed and had this relationship not been disintegrating, he would not be before the court. He now accepts the relationship is over.’
Judge Taylor imposed a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, ordered Bowditch to attend 30 days of supervision with the Probation Service addressing issues of jeal- ously and developing close personal relationships, and complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
Bowditch, who has given up teaching and now runs a 20-acre smallholding with 30 beef cattle, was also ordered to pay £775 costs and the £115 victim impact surcharge.
The judge imposed a three-year restraining order banning him from contacting his wife in any way.
‘Lunatic with anxiety problems’