A former police constable who filmed his estranged wife having sex with a colleague in a Screwfix car park has avoided jail.
Gavin Harper, 45, was described as “obsessed” in court and was convicted of stalking his estranged wife, who was also a police officer.
He caught Stephanie Glynn, 40, having sex with her colleague Andrew McLullich, 42, in the car park of a Screwfix, in Birkenhead, Merseyside, after he placed a tracker on her vehicle.
Harper, from Liscard, Wirral, crept up to the vehicle and started filming at the window with his mobile phone.
Prosecutors said this was the culmination of a campaign of “obsessive, intrusive and unwanted behaviour” against Ms Glynn that lasted from December 2020 to February 2021.
The father of two was found guilty by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court last month of aggravated stalking, including secretly bugging Ms Glynn’s car, listening in on her conversations, and tracking her whereabouts.
On Monday, Judge David Potter sentenced Harper to two years in jail, suspended for two years.
The judge said that Harper would have faced immediate imprisonment but for the significant impact this would have had on his elderly parents and youngest son.
The court heard Harper cared for his elderly parents, who would “not be able to cope” without him, and his son would have been forced to give up his university studies if he was jailed.
Harper and Ms Glynn were in a six-year relationship before they married in 2018, having met working at Merseyside Police.
However, Ms Glynn left their family home in December 2020 after she became close with Mr McLullich – an acting inspector and formerly her supervising sergeant.
Speaking in court, Harper claimed he wanted “undeniable proof” of the affair. His intention, he said, was to pass the video to police as evidence of two serving officers having an inappropriate relationship during the COVID lockdown restrictions.
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Judge Potter told Harper: “I am sure you became obsessed to the point of criminality in stalking Stephanie Glynn to provide evidence of her affair to weaponise that against her for having that affair, and you also became determined to destroy the career of Andrew McLullich.
“In that obsession the feelings, embarrassment and pain felt by Stephanie Glynn were collateral damage.
“You were more concerned about your own feelings and a raging sense of injustice.”
The judge said the events in Screwfix car park “do no credit to any of the people involved”.
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The court previously heard that Harper and Mr McLullich punched one another in the car park after he began filming them.
Suzanne Payne, defending, said Harper’s behaviour against Ms Glynn was “out of character and borne out of the circumstances at that time”.
She added that Ms Glynn had received a written warning over her conduct in the car park.
Ms Glynn, now divorced, was said to have been left “sickeningly anxious” as a result of Harper’s stalking, and told the jury she now “constantly looked over her shoulders”.
The judge issued Harper with a seven-year restraining order from contacting or approaching Ms Glynn and Mr McLullich.
Harper must also perform 200 hours of unpaid work and complete 20 days of rehabilitation.
The Crown offered no evidence over an allegation that Harper unlawfully wounded Mr McLullich in the Screwfix car park after jurors could not reach a verdict on that charge.
