A "STALKER drove like a psycho” behind his police officer girlfriend who he would follow after secretly placing a GPS tracking device in her car.

Jealous Gareth Thomas, from Caerphilly, would mentally “torture” the woman as their relationship hit the rocks when she met a male colleague at work.

Ieuan Bennett, prosecuting, said the couple had shared a home together before their romance turned sour last year and he began controlling her.

Cardiff Crown Court heard the victim started an affair after getting lifts home with a fellow serving Gwent Police officer. 

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Mr Bennett said: “The defendant became jealous and suspicious and that started spilling over into bad behaviour on his behalf.

“She was not allowed to go out alone. He would put pressure on her to spend more time with him and would quiz her about the use of her mobile phone.

“The victim decided to end the relationship. He would then pester her with telephone calls.

“The defendant would swear and abuse her with bad language. This was something which caused her distress.

“He began to follow her in his own motor vehicle. He would tailgate her, driving about a metre away from her bumper.

“She said, ‘He was driving like a psycho behind me.’

“It is what is known as stalking. He was following her and was using a GPS tracking device which he had put in her car.

“He accused her of having an affair with a serving police officer. He began ‘gathering evidence’ against them and told her that her behaviour would mean they would lose their jobs.

“She said he was making her sick and that she was being tortured by him.

“She had to take time off work because of the stress he caused her.”

In a victim personal statement read to the court, she said: “I am a serving Gwent Police officer and I feel embarrassment and anxiety. I fear people will judge me as a weak person.

“I feel deeply humiliated and traumatised.”

She told how she loved and cared for her former partner but their relationship was over.

Thomas, 33, formerly of Bargoed, Caerphilly, but now of Mill Lane, Whitwell, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, admitted controlling or coercive behaviour.

Lowri Wynn Morgan, mitigating, asked the court to take into account her client’s guilty plea and previous good character.

She added: “He accepts his behaviour after the infidelity was wholly unacceptable.”

Judge Jeremy Jenkins told the defendant: “Your reaction was completely over the top. You terrorised that lady.

“You fitted a tracker to her car and took photographs of where she had been.”

Thomas was jailed for nine months, suspended for 18 months.

The defendant must carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, complete a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement, pay £1,200 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge.

He was made the subject of a five-year restraining order.