Warnbro woman fined for secretly tracking ex-partner, filming him in bedroom

A Warnbro woman who secretly tracked her ex-partner and filmed him in the bedroom faced Rockingham court last Friday for sentencing.

The 49-year-old pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a tracking device and 10 charges of using an optical surveillance device to record a private activity to which she was not a party.

The court was told the woman placed three Apple AirTags in different items belonging to her then-partner, one of which was his work bag. When arrested by police, her mobile phone was interrogated and showed proof of the tracking devices in the Find My app.

Police found two motion-action surveillance cameras hidden in their shared main bedroom — one on the bedside table and one concealed under the bed — recording the partner without his knowledge or consent.

Upon review of the footage, police told the court the woman had captured several of her now ex-partner’s private phone calls and conversations, caught him changing clothes and, at times, naked.

The woman’s lawyer said she suffered “quite significantly” from PTSD and domestic violence at the hands of her ex-partner in the past.

“(Her ex-partner), around the time of the event, had been behaving erratically and she was concerned for her safety and the safety of her children,” he said.

The lawyer said she had asked her ex-partner to move out of the house and he had refused, so she had stored the AirTag to be notified when he was coming home so she could be ready in case of his “aggressive mood”.

The lawyer said the cameras were placed to monitor his moods for her safety, and to use as possible evidence if another incident of domestic violence were to occur.

“She installed them in the bedroom because that is where most arguments were occurring and where the abuse was taking place,” he said.

Police prosecution said despite the woman’s explanations, the facts of the case were “quite disturbing”, particularly the victim being in various states of undress.

“The fact that those were not deleted and have now been seen by police officers, I’m sure, would horrify anybody in the victim’s position,” she said.

“None of the threats of violence were ever reported to police. The accused hasn’t reported any violence or any threats of violence to the police.

“Prosecution views taking the law into one’s own hands, and breaking the law, by installing devices like this, is probably more extreme than potentially just reaching out to the police for help.

“This is a great mistrust and breach of privacy for the victim. There needs to be a general deterrence that it is not acceptable for anybody to record people.”

Magistrate Philip Urquhart said while he was satisfied that the circumstances of domestic violence at the time of the offending had driven the woman to take this step, the offences were still serious.

“I’m particularly concerned that you recorded your partner naked,” he said.

“This recording would have caused him considerable embarrassment, and it was somewhat inevitable to capture something like this with the cameras where they were placed.

“People are entitled to their privacy, particularly in the bedroom.”

Mr Urquhart fined the woman $2000, ordered her to pay costs of $308.80 and granted her a spent conviction.