Wayne Bamford jailed for spying on former lover

Wayne Bamford, from Gildersome, used covert devices to listen to his ex-partner inside her home

A spurned lover has been jailed for using covert devices to spy on his ex-partner during a stalking campaign.

Wayne Bamford, 47, installed two devices in his victim's bedroom and used various phones to listen to what was going on inside her home.

Recorder Anthony Hawks described his behaviour as "sinister, sophisticated and planned".

Bamford, from Gildersome, West Yorkshire, was jailed for three-and-a-half years at Bradford Crown Court.

The offending took place between January and April 2017.

'Jealousy and obsession'

Over one two-week period, Bamford connected to the plug-in devices at least 1,600 times, the court was told.

But his surveillance operation was foiled after his ex-partner sought advice from a surveillance spy shop in Leeds when she became suspicious.

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One device was found behind her bedside cabinet while another was found behind a wall-mounted television.

Bamford pleaded guilty to a charge of stalking in January, but both he and his former partner had to give evidence in September to establish the full circumstances of the offending.

Sentencing him earlier, Recorder Hawks described Bamford as "evasive and dishonest".

"People who behave in this way through jealousy or obsession and stalk individuals and cause them serious psychological harm have got to realise that courts will pass significant deterrent sentences," he told him.

He also referred to a doctor's letter which said the single morther had been suffering from extreme anxiety and nightmares over what had happened.

In addition to his sentence, Bamford was made the subject of an indefinite restraining order which bans him from contacting the complainant.