A FORMER security boss planted a secret listening device in his ex-partner’s bedroom and a tracking device in her car after he became jealous of an apparent affair, a court has heard.

Andrew Fraser, of Harwood Road, East Hagbourne, Oxfordshire, admitted one count of stalking.

Guildford Crown Court heard at his sentencing on Friday that the 54-year old had planted a listening device in a kitchen and bedroom as well as inside a car, in which he also placed a tracking device.

Martin Hooper, prosecuting, said that Fraser, a former executive of security company AlphaSec, had installed the covert surveillance after becoming suspicious his parter was having an affair.

He said: “There was an argument and [his victim] ended the relationship and he has been pestering her since.

“He asked her about a shopping trip she went on and who she had been with. He had been watching her and looking at CCTV footage of her house.

“Later she went to a Christmas black-tie event for her work which was invite only. Mr Fraser turned up in black-tie and they argued. He challenged her about the man she had arrived with, who was a colleague.

“She contacted the police and as she left the event [Fraser] was waiting in a car in the car park outside.”

When police searched the woman’s property they found the two devices in her home and the two in her car.

A statement from the victim was read to the court in which she said she felt ‘violated and upset’ that the devices were in her home and car.

She said: “I felt worried for me and my children. I was frightened of him.”

In mitigation, Alexander Williams said that Fraser had been a man of good character and that the stalking had been his first offence.

He went on to provide statements from previous romantic partners that said he had ‘a good and generous heart.’

Fraser was said to be extremely embarrassed by what had happened and did not object to a restraining order as he had no intention of trying to reconcile things. He also accepted that his behaviour was unreasonable.

Mr Williams said: “What happened in this relationship is not indicative of his behaviour. He also acknowledges that the relationship has no future at all.”

Sentencing, Judge Robert Fraser said that Fraser had caused ‘significant distress’ and left his victim feeling vulnerable.

Fraser was given a 24-month community order and must complete a ‘building better relationships’ programme.

He was also made subject to a restraining order and must pay £902 in compensation, £1,500 in court costs and an £85 victim surcharge.