Jealous man put GPS tracker under the new boyfriend’s ute to keep an eye on former partner
A jealous lover who wanted to keep tabs on his former partner put a GPS tracker on her new boyfriend’s ute “in a moment of madness”, a court has heard.
South East
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A jealous lover who wanted to keep tabs on his former partner put a GPS tracker on her new boyfriend’s ute “in a moment of madness”, a court has heard.
But his sneaky plan came unhinged because the device emitted a bright red light that was seen by the new man.
Stuart Ridley pleaded guilty to using an unauthorised surveillance device at Frankston Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
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The Frankston 42-year-old, who had been in a long-term relationship with the woman before they split in March 2017, was distraught at the breakup.
The court heard they continued to share a home until November 2017 when she moved out to a nearby address.
But on the morning of Christmas Day 2017, he snapped, and he went to her new house.
When he saw the boyfriend’s ute outside he stuck the GPS tracker underneath it.
Later that day the ute was driven to a bush camp and in the evening the boyfriend noticed a sporadic flashing red light coming from under his vehicle.
When he and the woman went to investigate they found the device, which had transmitted their location back to Ridley through a SIM card.
The couple went to Frankston police station and gave the tracker and card to police, who linked it to Ridley.
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In court his defence lawyer said installing the device was a “moment of madness” as a result of him not handling the end of the relationship very well.
He said the business development manager suffered anxiety and mental health issues, which he was getting treatment for, and was on a waiting list for a men’s behavioural change program.
He said the woman had since moved to New Zealand, and there were now no issues between the pair.
Magistrate Fiona Stewart said while Ridley’s lack of priors and acceptance of what he had done were strong mitigating factors, it was still a serious violation of trust.
“It’s a nasty incident to put a tracking device on someone else’s car,” Ms Stewart said.
“I accept he was having great difficulties at the time which would go to explaining his behaviour.”
He was fined $1200, with no conviction recorded.
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