An ex Met Police officer has been found guilty of stalking his wife of 25 years.

Sohrab Peerbaccus, of Wainscott, attached a tracker to a car used by Sarah Jane Peerbaccus after becoming concerned about her movements.

Medway Magistrates' Court heard yesterday how the couple, formerly of Niven Close, were experiencing marital problems.

Around the beginning of last year, Peerbaccus placed an iPhone in her Mercedes which had a location tracking app.

The former Howard School teacher said: "I became concerned because she had been ill...maybe she was in trouble, or owed money to somebody.

"I never thought she was cheating on me."

On January 31, she was helping a friend with her finances in Cavendish Avenue, Gillingham, when she spotted her 53-year-old husband, who would not have known she was there.

Mrs Peerbaccus, who later confronted him about the matter, told the court he was controlling, adding "if I had an opinion Sohrab didn't agree with, he wouldn't speak to me for days".

Their relationship went downhill and despite living in the same house, they slept in different rooms and did not socialise.

She told how months later, she called her mum from her Mercedes using a hands-free device, telling her how she planned to sell the vehicle.

Although her mother was the only person who knew about this plan, Peerbaccus questioned his wife about getting rid of the car.

She said a mechanic later found a microphone, similar to a clip-on mic, hidden in the lining of the convertible's roof.

The former Greenwich-based sergeant dismissed this claim.

In the April, before he went to Spain for a five-day holiday, Peerbaccus placed a tracker on his wife's new car, a Vauxhall Mokka.

He planned to keep it there for the duration of the holiday but was unable to remove it when he returned.

Mrs Peerbaccus's movements were monitored for around two weeks.

On April 21, she was visiting her grandmother in Norfolk when she noticed a "large hand print on the bottom of the car"

When she returned home, she checked under the vehicle and discovered the tracking device.

She called police and decided never to enter her matrimonial home again.

When questioned by officers, Peerbaccus admitted placing the tracker.

William Chipperfield, defending, said he was worried about his wife's whereabouts and whether she was telling the truth about who she was spending time with.

He felt his wife had only informed police as she wanted a share of his £160,000 police pension.

Mr Chipperfield suggested he was tracking the car rather than his wife.

Police arrested Peerbaccus on suspicion of stalking in May, when questioned by officers he answered no comment.

Prosecutor Nigel Pilkington presented incriminating messages sent from Peerbaccus to a friend before his holiday in Spain.

He wrote: “So looking forward to some good company, sunshine, and some good female company of course.

“I think after 25 years, she was your classic bored housewife.

“She went to the gym and started ******* one of the lowlifes there."

Peerbaccus defended this as "banter".

Finding him guilty of stalking, involving serious alarm/distress, District Judge Paul Goldspring said Mrs Peerbaccus’ evidence was entirely true and her former husband’s was “riddled with contradiction”.

He said he believed Peerbaccus felt his wife was having an affair and couldn’t come to terms with it, as displayed in the text messages.

He added: "Abusive behaviour comes in many many forms, and while I have no doubt he was never violent to Mrs Peerbaccus, I don’t see how monitoring someone’s every movement can be anything but abusive.

"The offence passes the threshold for custodial sentence, so when you next appear in court, Mr Peerbaccus, you should be prepared to go to prison." Sentencing is on November 27.

As part of his bail conditions he must check in at Greenwich police station daily.

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