Stalker installed listening devices in ex-wife's home

A man who stalked his ex-wife placed secret listening devices in plug sockets next to her bed and in her kitchen.

Nottingham Crown Court heard on Tuesday that Paul Richardson, 49, of London Road, Balderton, listened in on some of her private conversations for more than two years.

The court was also told he went to Skegness where she was on holiday and appeared at the window of her caravan after tracing her through a shared online account.

Richardson was given a four-month jail term, suspended for two years.

He had admitted at an earlier hearing a charge of stalking without causing fear, alarm or distress.

Richardson was also given an indefinite restraining order barring him from contacting his ex-wife.

Prosecutor Mr David Allan said Richardson used two phone numbers to connect to the listening devices.

When he dialled the numbers he could hear conversations in the rooms where the devices were placed.

Mr Allan said that towards the end of their relationship Richardson had been asked to fit extra electrical sockets in her home.

“Unbeknown to her, he fitted the sockets with listening devices in the form of a small microphone and SIM card,” he said.

Richardson installed two devices in the bedroom and one in the kitchen.

"She became affected by the fact that he seemed to know a lot about her personal life."

Mr Allan said Richardson, who continued to be a regular guest at the house, monitored his ex-wife through the devices for more than two years until his arrest.

Mr Allan said: “He had some access to the house but there was no reconciliation between him and the complainant.

“She became affected by the fact that he seemed to know a lot about her personal life.

“She thought she was beginning to go insane and sought counselling for her mental health.”

Mr Allan described occasions when Richardson asked his ex-wife about things he had heard her say in private.

The listening devices were found when the woman asked a friend to do some electrical work in her house.

Mr Allan said the friend discovered online that they could have been used for surveillance.

Mr Nicholas Walsh, defending, said Richardson acknowledged that what he had done was unacceptable.

He said Richardson had installed the devices because of concerns about his ex-wife’s lifestyle, not because he wanted to retain any sort of control.

At an earlier hearing, Mr Walsh said Richardson had moved on since the events came to light.

Passing sentence, Judge Steven Coupland said the offence Richardson had admitted had made his ex-wife’s life a misery.

“She thought she was going insane and had to get counselling for depression, but the reality was she wasn’t going insane and you had installed listening devices in her home,” the judge said.

“It was a gross invasion of privacy over a prolonged period of time with severe psychological consequences.”