A jealous ex-husband secretly hid a GPS tracker on his estranged wife's car so he could keep tabs on her after she dumped him, a court has heard.
Creepy Lee Barker, 50, fitted the tracking device to his wife’s car and stalked her for over a year after she started a relationship with another man.
Leeds Crown Court heard on Monday how Barker stalked his former partner as he was unable to cope with the breakdown of their 20-year marriage.
He also posted her number online with a message encouraging people to call her 'for a good time.'
After CCTV footage revealed that Barker was near the victim’s car when her tyres were slashed, police began to investigate and found a tracking device in the vehicle.
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The woman told Barker in January 2018 that she was in a new relationship and asked him to stay away from her.
Two months later Barker set up a fake Facebook account in her boyfriend's name with a sniper image "as if he was a target".
In November 2018 the woman's neighbours told her that they had seen Barker watching her home.
And a month later he was seen watching the home of her new boyfriend.
A victim statement was read to the court on the behalf of the woman.
She described how the offending had caused her to suffer stress and anxiety.
She said: "I feel like I'm being watched. I do not know if he will be around the corner or will follow me."
Mohammed Khan, prosecuting, said Barker's former partner became suspicious in November 2017 when she noticed a tyre on her car was flat and the wheel was smashed on a weekly basis.
Mr Khan told the court the woman did not know the device had been fitted to the vehicle and did not consent to it being there.
Barker also posted the woman's mobile phone number online with a message inviting people to call "for a good time”, the court heard.
Joanna Shepherd, mitigating, said Barker pleaded guilty to the offence at an early stage and had been out of trouble for more than a year since his arrest.
She said the offending happened at a time when he was struggling to cope with the death of his mother.
Judge Simon Batiste, sentencing, said: "What is clear is that you were wholly unable to allow yourself to break away from the relationship.
"You were in fact spying on them on a regular basis and you even went as far as putting a tracking device on her car."
Barker, of Leeds, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to stalking and was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
He was also ordered to do 70 hours of unpaid work and attend a "building better relationships programme."
