Jilted Sheffield husband used tracker to follow his wife after she started new relationship

Sheffield Crown Court heard on November 16 how Steven Travers, aged 34, of Tunwell Greave, near Ecclesfield, Sheffield, began behaving badly towards his wife after their relationship deteriorated and she met someone while training to join the police.

Prosecuting barrister Mehran Nassiri said: “She described the relationship as turbulent from the start with frequent arguments and shouting and occasional pushing and shoving.”

Mr Nassiri said Travers sent texts to his wife’s family revealing her ‘affair’ and he began behaving in a controlling and coercive way towards her.

Travers tracked his wife’s movements to Ecclesfield Park and having questioned her about her relationship he also followed her to Kimberworth Park, according to Mr Nassiri.

Mr Nassiri said Travers also hid her police baton, broke her charging cable and moved items around the house ‘playing mind games’ with her. He used a tracking device to determine her whereabouts and to follow her.

Travers followed his wife and her new partner in Ecclesfield Park and during another time his vehicle was spotted following them. There was another instance when the defendant phoned his wife and told her he knew she had been with her new partner.

Travers, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to using controlling and coercive behaviour.

Defence barrister Gary Cook said: “It’s clear Mr Travers acted wholly out of character because he has no previous convictions or cautions and he was a man of good character.”

He added that the discovery of his wife’s ‘affair’ and the breakdown of the family unit was unexpected and devastating to him and a pre-sentence report revealed he was a man in ‘emotional turmoil’.

Mr Cook added: “On occasion, over a limited and difficult period where his trust was deeply affected, he over-reacted to try and recover what he very much valued and hoped to restore.”

The judge – Recorder Richard Thyne KC – told Travers: “She described some turbulence in that relationship from the beginning with frequent arguments. The relationship began to deteriorate and in 2019 she decided to join the police and while training for the police she met someone and by 2020 she was in an intimate relationship.”

He added that Travers discovered and revealed that relationship to family and then began committing acts in a controlling and coercive way which had an accumulative effect.

Recorder Thyne said: “She was very upset and scared at times to be alone at home on her own because she did not know what you would do next. She just wanted it all to stop because she was upset by it.”

He added: “You were in emotional turmoil because of the breakdown of your relationship but the effect upon your wife cannot be under-estimated.”

Recorder Thyne sentenced Travers to six months of custody suspended for 12 months with 120 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation requirement. Travers was also made the subject of an indefinite restraining order.