A jealous and controlling husband spent years monitoring his wife's movements and communications, a court has heard. Christopher Bevan hacked his partner's online accounts, fitted a tracking device to her car, constantly accused her of being unfaithful, and installed CCTV cameras in the marital home.
On one occasion when he was working away he even insisted she walk around the house doing a video call to prove there was nobody with her. Swansea Crown Court heard Bevan's obsessive and jealous behaviour had a devastating impact on his now ex wife Kath, leaving her "mentally and physically exhausted" and feeling vulnerable and isolated.
Dean Pulling, prosecuting, said Bevan and his partner began a relationship in 2006 and married in 2012, living first in Llangyfelach in Swansea before moving to Hendy near Pontrarddulais. He said according to Kath Bevan the marriage was initially good, but that over time the defendant began to distance himself from family and friends, and after she returned to work following a period of maternity leave he increasingly played less of a role in the family and would stay up late at night and sleep during the day.
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The prosecutor said from early 2019 Bevan became increasingly jealous, and he would constantly phone his wife at work, accuse her of being unfaithful and quiz her about any text messages she received. He said on one occasion when the defendant was working away from home, he made a FaceTime video call to his wife and insisted she walk about the property to prove to him she was alone.
The court heard the defendant's controlling behaviour worsened during 2020 with him banning his partner from going shopping unless he accompanied her, fitting cameras in the marital home to check she wasn't secretly using phones he did not know about, and installing an app on her mobile which allowed him to monitor her internet use. The court heard he installed the app using the rouse that he needed to look at his wife's phone to get rid of malicious software on it which could send personal photos to third parties. Bevan also hacked his wife's online accounts such as Google and iCloud, and was remotely monitoring her WhatsApp chats with friends and family.
Mr Pulling said Mrs Bevan moved out of the family home in August 2020 and went to live with her parents in Cardiff, and the defendant continued to access her online accounts even after she bought new phones and SIM cards. On one occasion Mrs Bevan saw a car similar to the defendant's parked near her parents' house and then began receiving texts about her movements which suggested he had been following her.
Bevan was arrested in November 2020, and officers seized a "significant number" of electronic devices, though the defendant refused to disclose their passwords or PINs. In his subsequent interview the defendant answered "no comment" to all questions asked, and he was released under investigation.
Mr Pulling said in March the following year Mrs Bevan's mechanic brother found a plastic device with a Vodafone logo plugged into the electronic diagnostic port under the dashboard while doing work on her car - the device turned out to be a GPS tracking device. The court heard it was not possible to tell whether the tracker had been fitted to the car before or after the defendant's arrest.
In a victim impact statement which was summarised for the court Bevan's now former wife said she had been left feeling "mentally and physically exhausted" by the defendant's behaviour, and said she had been made to feel isolated, vulnerable, scared, and alone.
Christopher Bevan, aged 44, of Llwyngwern, Hendy, Pontarddulais, had previously pleaded guilty to engaging in coercive and controlling behaviour when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.
Helen Randall, for Bevan, said the defendant accepted his behaviour had been unacceptable and unlawful, and he could not explain or excuse what he had done. She invited the court to follow the recommendations of the pre-sentence report which would allow work to be done with the defendant on improving his relationship skills.
Judge Catherine Richards told Bevan he had engaged in "multiple methods of control" over a four-year period, and his offending was sophisticated and "incredibly intrusive". With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea Bevan was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years, was ordered to do a rehabilitation course, a building better relationships course, and 150 hours of unpaid work. He was also made the subject of a 10-year restraining order.
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