The victim reported her suspicions that she’d been followed to a park in Mansfield and believed the man was tracking her somehow as he turned up at numerous locations where she was – during March this year.
After the man was arrested in the park on 27 March, police seized his phone and were given his PIN.
An application on the phone further raised suspicion and they established there was a device being tracked from the phone.
Police found the model and serial number for the tracker which was tracking to Mansfield town centre. They then called the victim who confirmed she was in the town centre.
A spokesperson said:
‘When the woman returned to the police station, we reviewed the live location of the device which we could see had also made its way to the station.
‘This led us to believe there was some form of tracking device hidden in her son’s pushchair.
‘We searched the pram, with the victim’s consent, and used the offender’s phone to activate a sound option on the tracker.
‘We heard a faint ringing coming from the pram as we continued our search and eventually found and seized the small tracking device which was linked to the offender’s phone.
‘The offender, who also persistently called the victim and made unwanted contact, went on to be charged and was sentenced in court earlier this month after pleading guilty to stalking without fear, alarm, or distress between 19 February and 28 March.
‘He was given a 12-month community order with 12 rehabilitation days, 180 hours of unpaid work, and a two-year restraining order. He was ordered to pay £199 costs.
‘In accordance with the wishes of the victim in this case, we have not released any further details of the offender who was sentenced at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 8 May. Details are available through the court.’
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