A WOMAN was left fearing for her life after her ‘obsessive’ former partner bombarded her with calls and texts and started monitoring her phone.

Anthony Marshall was in a relationship with the complainant for 10 years, but was jailed for assaulting her in 2019. When he was released on licence in May, he assaulted her again, and was recalled to prison.

The court heard that he would be in daily contact with her from prison via email, and “would accuse her of being with another man” if she went a day without replying, prosecutor Alycia Carpanini said.

After serving the remainder of his sentence in prison, Marshall arranged for the complainant to pick him up upon his release on July 25.

He was released earlier in the day than expected, meaning the complainant wasn’t there to pick him up. When she did arrive, he accused her of “having another man on her mind”.

Marshall installed WhatsApp on the complainant’s phone – against her wishes – so he could monitor whether she was online or had seen his messages.

Ms Carpanini told the court how Marshall would “bombard” the complainant with messages when she was out on her own, and called her between 10 and 50 times a day.

When the complainant was working, he would demand to video call her and – while she was serving customers – would accuse her on those video calls of speaking to other men.

He also demanded to be shown the CCTV footage from the shop to check she was not talking to any men, and would also follow her in to the toilet to “make sure she wasn’t meeting anyone in there”.

“He said if he found out she was with another man he would kill her,” Ms Carpanini said.

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On July 30, when she was talking to a female friend, Marshall demanded proof that she wasn’t talking to a man and – even after speaking to the woman – said he was coming to the shop.

The complainant locked up the shop, and went to a friend’s house, and contacted her domestic violence support worker. While an officer was speaking to her, Marshall continued to call her throughout.

“I’m so scared of Anthony,” she said. “I fear he will kill me.

“I never thought he would lay a hand on me.

“Anthony is the type of person who could kill, especially when under the influence of drugs.”

In interview, the defendant admitted staying at the complainant’s address after his release, but denied installing WhatApp on her phone.

He told police that he was “paranoid due to his mental health and drugs” and he “thought he was being watched”.

Marshall, 30, of Maes Cader in Pencader, has 26 previous convictions for 59 offences – including eight offences against three of his previous partners and two against the complainant in this case.

Jon Tarrant, defending, said Marshall “offered his remorse to the court” and accepted it was inevitable he would be sent to prison.

Mr Tarrant said the catalyst for the defendant’s offending was his use of drugs, but he “understands he must tackle those root cause problems”.

Addressing Marshall, Judge Huw Rees said: “You were possessive and controlling to the point of being obsessive.

“You constantly questioned her movements and who she associated with. You were jealous of her.”

He sentenced Marshall to 16 months in prison for engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour in a relationship, and granted the complainant a five-year restraining order.