Boyfriend used vehicle tracker to stalk his ex

A SUSPICIOUS boyfriend placed a tracking device on his girlfriend’s car to try to catch her cheating on him, a court heard.

James Martin, 47, believed his partner of eight years, Sandra Sneddon, was being unfaithful to him when she started going away on ‘business trips’ and he was unable to get in contact.

In an attempt discover the truth, he bought a car tracker from auction website eBay for £10 and attached it to her car.

He has been left with a criminal record after pleading guilty to stalking Miss Sneddon and her new boyfriend, Declan Culliton, by behaving in a way that caused them fear or alarm.

As well as placing tracking devices on both their vehicles, Martin followed Miss Sneddon between her home and a service station, turned up at the pub during a date between her and Mr Culliton and bombarded her with

‘Now feels like a fool’

calls and text messages, Paisley Sheriff Court heard.

Between April and July this year he also repeatedly turned up at her home in Erskine, Renfrewshire, banged on the door, shouted, swore and demanded entry and climbed a drain pipe.

Defence solicitor Terry Gallanagh described Martin as a poor soul driven to madness by love.

He said: ‘This was to try to get to the bottom of whether the complainer was cheating on him. There was ambiguity as to whether the relationship had ended or not but that didn’t and doesn’t excuse his conduct.’

Mr Gallanagh said Martin now ‘feels like a fool’, ‘absolutely regrets’ his actions, and finally accepts the relationship is over.

Asking Sheriff Tom McCartney to spare him jail, Mr Gallanagh said: ‘He now has a broken heart and a conviction at the age of 47 for a serious offence.

‘Perhaps emotions can get the better of rational thinking.’

The sheriff fined Martin £1,350 and banned him from contacting Miss Sneddon for a year.