Bugging device used to listen in on ex-wife

A MAN listened in on his former wife using bugging devices in the marital home, a court has heard.

Anthony Scott also planted a listening device in her car so he could keep tabs on her.

A judge described Scott’s behaviour as obsessive, compulsive and “very odd”.

Swansea Crown Court heard that Scott and his wife separated in early 2017, and the defendant moved out of the family home in Port Talbot.

Carina Hughes said over the following months his ex-partner began to be concerned about messages from Scott which contained references to matters he could only know about if he was party to private conversations.

The prosecutor said on one occasion in the summer of last year he made reference to a country walk and meal she was planning – something she had only discussed with a male friend.

Scott then began sending her messages telling her things like “bugs are wonderful things – especially microscopic ones”.

The court heard the 45-year-old would also frequently turn up at his former home trying to find out who was in the house with his ex.

His victim also received security alerts that somebody was trying to access her social media accounts.

Matters came to a head in November 2017 when the partner uncovered a listening device hidden in her car, and went to the police.

Miss Hughes said: “He had effectively been spying on her through the devices.

“He was not just purely listening in without her consent, he was trying to make her worried.”

It later emerged that Scott had been using listening devices previously installed in the house to keep tabs on builders renovating the property to listen to his estranged wife’s private conversations.

Scott, of Eaton Crescent, Uplands, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to harassment when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

Nicola Powell, for Scott, said her client was “thoroughly ashamed of his behaviour”. Judge Geraint Walters described Scott’s behaviour as compulsive, obsessive and “very odd”.

He said rather than a short custodial sentence it would be better if Scott were to work with probation to see if he could come to understand why his behaviour had been wrong.

Scott was sentenced to an 18-month community order with a rehabilitation course, and was made the subject of a five-year restraining order.

Passing sentence, the judge warned Scott: “If you come back here having shown no interest in the order and not having put your back into it, we will meet again and you do not need to be legally qualified to realise what will happen.”