Wrexham woman sentenced for stalking estranged husband

Janet Morris, of Overton Road in Penley, appeared at Wrexham Magistrates Court on Wednesday for sentence.

The 65-year-old had previously admitted that between November 2021 and May this year, she pursued a course of conduct which amounted to the stalking of her estranged husband John Morris.

Rhian Jackson, prosecuting, said that after Mr Morris filed for divorce, they continued to share a house and a car.

But at the beginning of November, Mr Morris asked for the vehicle to be returned to him.

After getting it back, she began to make comments which caused him to believe "he was going mad" - regarding his whereabouts and driving routes.

One such occasion had happened while she was away in Scotland but was able to tell him on her return that he'd been to a pub in Oswestry and confronted him about who he'd been with and the time he returned home.

Initially he thought she was tracking him through his phone, or a service provided by the manufacturer of the car - even that her friends might have been passing information to her about his movements.

But she had been able to relay conversations he'd had in the vehicle to him, prompting concerns she'd put some kind of device in it.

Eventually it was found under his passenger seat.

The black magnetic object was confirmed to be a GPS tracker and it also had a microphone to allow for monitoring of conversations.

In a victim statement, Mr Morris said the behaviour was "oppressive" and had driven him "to the point of madness."

Stephen Edwards, defending, told the court his client had a son and daughter from a previous marriage, her first husband having died in his 50s.

He continued: "She's a lady of 65 who has never had any problems with the police.

"She was a senior college lecturer and held onto that work until 2006."

Mr Edwards said after meeting the complainant and deciding to get married, they took on a National Trust farm in his name and she took on the running of a bed and breakfast.

"In 2019 her son was knocked over and killed by a drug driver," he said.

"And because of the pandemic, the [criminal] proceedings didn't finalise until July of last year.

"Within two to three weeks of that, she receives a divorce petition from John Morris.

"Because the tenancy is in [his] sole name, he says she has to leave.

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"She has sampled a lot of tragedy and was surprised when she got the divorce petition - it knocked her off track.

"She became so paranoid, she wasn't thinking."

It was at that point that she decided to "keep tabs" on her husband to find out where he was going, who he was seeing and to discover why the marriage had broken down, he said.

She'd used the device on her own vehicle previously for security purposes, the court heard.

"My client suffered many sleepless nights thinking she'd be homeless," Mr Edwards continued.

"She's had to take a cleaning job to supplement the teacher's pension she gets.

"She's been living off the charity of a friend but one good thing is that her son-in-law is supporting her in the purchase of a small cottage."

Mr Edwards said his client hadn't sought bereavement counselling or support for her mental health at the time of her son's tragic death - but she had now begun to do that.

"She is a lady who comes from an impeccable background," he added.

"She made a stupid mistake."

Jacqueline Jones, Chair of the Magistrates, said the defendant had accepted her wrongdoing and taken steps to address underlying issues she has.

She received an 18 month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £85 costs, as well as a £22 victim surcharge.

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