A STALKER who planted a car tracking device inside his ex-girlfriend’s car has been sentenced.

David Jones, 37, was found guilty at Manchester Magistrates’ Court of stalking and a separate charge of assault by beating.

The court heard that Jones, a construction site manager, suspected his ex-girlfriend had a new partner following the breakdown of their relationship and hid a tracker inside her vehicle so he could trace her movements.

His victim found out about the device after Jones sent her a picture showing her location and the route she had taken that day with a start and end time.

A month later, Jones, of Foxglove Road, Rochdale, confronted the victim at her home in Greater Manchester and attacked her by grabbing her throat and pinning her against a door.

He was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work and handed a five-year restraining order.

Matthew Treece from the CPS said: “David Jones hid a tracking device in the boot of his victim’s car and followed her on at least two occasions while sending her unwanted text messages.

“Jones also let the victim believe that he had put a tracker on her mobile phone so knew of her whereabouts every minute of every day.

“The CPS takes the prosecution of stalking extremely seriously as we know the devastating impact it can have on people’s lives. We would like to thank the victim in this case for helping to bring Jones to justice.”