A WOMAN has told of her horror after her stalking ex attached a tracker to her car and took a photo of her remotely on a cliff.
David Malone captured the chilling photo of Bethany Cathrae, 42, during a prolonged period of surveillance and stalking.
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While out jogging, Bethany spotted Malone in a car park and ran up the cliffs at Watergate Bay near Newquay in Cornwall to get away from him.
A few days later she was sent a circled photo of herself on the cliff with the caption: ‘that’s you btw.’
Malone, 54, from Newquay, appeared in Cornwall District Court in May 2021 where he pleaded guilty to stalking.
The court heard how Malone stalked Bethany between January and November 2020 by following her, placing trackers on her cars and sending various unwanted messages.
Malone was fined £1,600 and ordered to pay £245 in court costs.
He was also given a five-year restraining order, banning him from having any contact with his victim.
Bethany, a cleaning company owner from Newquay, Cornwall, said: “I was out jogging when I saw David standing in the car park.
“My heart was pounding in my chest, I turned up the music on my headphones and ran towards the cliff.
“A few days later I got an email from him, with a picture of the cliff with a little figure around it in red and the text ‘this is you btw’ typed on it.
“He must have seen me going up the cliff and then took a picture from the beach.
“With each passing day, I became more and more paranoid.
“I couldn’t sleep and woke up in the night with tremors.
“I was terrified all the time. It felt like his eyes were always on me.”
Bethany dated Malone for a year after they met in a pub she worked at in Newquay.
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At first he seemed “fake and charming,” but Bethany soon felt like he was “controlling.”
Bethany tried to leave the relationship several times, but after giving up her own home of five years to move in with him, she felt ‘isolated’ and struggled to break away from him.
At one point she even stayed in a holiday cottage, but was welcomed with flowers from Malone, to show that she could never really avoid him.
She was unhappy for a “long time” until she was finally able to leave him in January 2020.
HOW DO YOU REPORT A STALKER?
According to GOV.UK you should contact the police if you are being stalked. You have the right to feel safe in your home and workplace.
Malone wouldn’t take no for an answer and continued to try to control Bethany by stalking her.
He knew where she went when she went running by attaching a tracker to her car.
Bethany, who is now married to a new partner, explains: “In November 2020 I found out how he knew where I was all the time.
“I had taken my car to the garage for a wheel alignment. The mechanics told me that they had found a tracker on my car.
“I felt like I was going to throw up. I knew it was David.
Even now, my new husband has to announce when he’s coming home so I know it’s him.
Bethany Cathrae
“We googled it and the tracker was from Amazon, it came with a subscription.
”It let him know when I turned the engine on, and it let him know when I turned it off.
“He clearly had two, because I had that BMW and I used to drive his Audi – he followed me in both.”
Bethany called the police and gave them evidence of his stalking.
He was charged with stalking and pleaded guilty at Cornwall District Court in May 2021.
Bethany believes Malone could have received a harsher sentence, but hopes her experience can help other people seek help from potential stalkers.
“It doesn’t really feel like justice for the way he tortured me,” she said.
“Even now my new husband has to announce when he’s coming home so I know it’s him.
“Things are better now, but it took a while before I could trust anyone again.
“I felt so violated having David watching my every move.
“I would advise anyone who is in a similar situation to me to look into the law.
“Know your rights and realize that this is a serious crime.
“You have to take it seriously and you’re not just talking nonsense.
“I feel lucky that I got out of it at that point. This kind of behavior often leads to violence.
“There is help available, and there is life afterward.”
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