A stalking partner used terrifying controlling behaviour as he monitored her phone and movements, and planted a tracking device on her car. The woman gave a statement, heard before Nottingham Crown Court, in which she said she had "lost all trust in the defendant a long time ago".
Shaun Fryer assaulted her four times, used controlling and coercive behaviour, including keeping her bank card and threatening suicide, stalked her, and drove without a licence or insurance. The admitted incidents happened after their six-year relationship turned sour as he installed the tracker on her car - tracking her movements via an app on his phone.
She was aware Fryer was monitoring where she was going as he messaged her knowing where she was, the court was told on Tuesday (January 31). To add to her terror he had CCTV installed outside their home, which only he could access, and received notifications whenever she left the house in Mapperley.
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By July 2022, Fryer sent her a photo of a sledgehammer and a crowbar in the boot of his car and said he had them if he needed them, but she took this as a threat towards a friend of hers. Fryer had previously cut his wrists and held a knife to his neck, and said he would put the knife through his neck if she did not work on the relationship.
After she tried to end things, he went to Trent Bridge and threatened to throw himself in the river. And, during their relationship, he took her credit card from her and would not allow her to have it back.
"He took it upon himself to use the card without her permission, and she requested it back, and he refused to give it to her," said barrister Lucky Thandi, prosecuting. Assaults followed where he put his hands around her throat and strangled her during an argument, or he pushed her and a friend at the address.
The final straw came when he pushed her back, but she held her hand over his neck in self-defence. Fryer pushed her again, causing her to fall onto the bed where he hit her ribs and hips, and sat on her chest, preventing her from breathing.
After she got him off her, police arrived, but he told her, "I'm going to kill you". After he was charged and bailed, he took photos of her as she sat inside her home with a friend, leading to his arrest for stalking and driving without insurance or a licence.
Aged 46 and from Waterdown Close, Clifton, Fryer pleaded guilty to the offences, and his sentence was 14 months in prison, with a five-year restraining order to stay away from the woman. Judge Steven Coupland said Fryer was in court because, "you are or were, for a long period of time, a manipulative, controlling, self-centred person".
Mitigating, David Watts said: "He accepts the relationship is well and truly over."
* To report domestic abuse to Nottinghamshire Police, please call the 101 non-emergency number or, in an emergency, always call 999.
* Here are links to organisations that can help those subjected to domestic abuse: Nottinghamshire Women's Aid; Juno Women's Aid; Equation
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