Ex-PC stalked wife and tracked her meeting lover at Screwfix

Gavin Harper told a jury he "did not want to fight" the man he found having sex with his wife

A man has been convicted of stalking his wife who he caught having sex with a married police inspector in a Screwfix car park.

Gavin Harper, 45, confronted Stephanie Glynn, 40, after she had driven to meet Andrew McLullich of Merseyside Police.

The court heard Harper subjected Ms Glynn to "obsessive, intrusive and unwanted behaviour".

A jury could not reach a verdict on the allegation that Harper unlawfully wounded his wife's new lover.

The Crown Prosecution Service said it would return to court on 2 April when it would announce whether a re-trial would be sought on the alleged unlawful wounding offence.

Harper, from Liscard in Wirral, followed his police officer wife Ms Glynn, 40, using a tracker he had placed on her car as she drove to the car park in Birkenhead to meet her colleague Insp McLullich, 42.

On Monday, the jury at Liverpool Crown Court found Harper guilty by majority decision of the aggravated stalking of Ms Glynn, causing her serious alarm or distress, between December 2020 and February 2021.

The Crown said Harper, himself a former police officer, subjected Ms Glynn to "obsessive, intrusive and unwanted behaviour" including spying on her, secretly bugging her car, listening into her conservations, tracking her whereabouts and taking her phone without her permission.

Gavin Harper has been told he faces a prison sentence

The court heard Harper met Ms Glynn when they both worked at Merseyside Police, and they were in a six-year relationship before they married in 2018.

However Ms Glynn left the family home in December 2020, after she grew close to her "work mentor" Mr McLullich.

The prosecution said Harper could not accept the marriage breakdown and became "obsessed with catching her in the act", which he finally did on 16 February 2021.

'Unhinged'

Ms Glynn, now divorced, was said to be "sickeningly anxious" as a result of Harper's behaviour and told the jury she "constantly looked over her shoulder", had changed her routes to work and had undergone counselling.

The Crown alleged Harper "rained" punches on the then-inspector after he opened the rear passenger door of the vehicle.

The prosecution further alleged that when Mr McLullich tried to stop Harper retrieving a tracker from underneath Ms Glynn's car, Harper responded by striking him, possibly with a torch, to the top of his head.

Harper denied causing cuts to Mr McLullich's head with, or without, a torch.

Giving evidence, Harper said he did not have violence on his mind when he arrived at the car park and just wanted "undeniable proof" of the affair which Ms Glynn had persistently denied.

Harper argued Mr McLullich was the aggressor and it was he who started throwing punches from inside of the vehicle. Harper said he had hit Mr McLullich with "three, four" punches in self-defence.Harper was granted conditional bail ahead of his next court appearance but was told by Judge David Potter he faced an immediate custodial sentence.