A man threatened his partner with violence and stalked her after fitting a tracker device to her car, a court heard.

David Binnie, 61, became obsessed with the Maidstone woman who he had been seeing for a year, and not only used a tracker to see where she was, but also turned up outside her house and followed her to the shops.

After their relationship soured, he also sent her threatening messages and made threatening calls because he thought she was seeing someone else.

Binnie, of Oak Avenue, Woodlands Park, Biddenden, near Ashford, admitted stalking involving fear of violence when he appeared before magistrates in Medway on Wednesday, August 10.

The court heard how his partner, who he is now separated from, became suspicious after Binnie would turn up when she went out but would tell her he had been on a job in the area and it was just a coincidence he was there.

It transpired he had been able to find out where she was because a tracker device had been fitted to her car, which was only discovered after the pair had separated.

Binnie stalked the woman between March 1 and May 18 last year and on at least two occasions threatened her with violence.

Lewis Aldous prosecuting, said: "They had been in a relationship for about a year and her suspicions were mounting because she would go to the shops and he would turn up saying he'd been out on a job."

After one incident between the pair, they separated and he was arrested. Part of his bail conditions were not to contact her.

However, on May 9 last year he called her and sent threatening texts accusing her of cheating with another man.

Mr Aldous added: "The tracking device was found under the passenger seat and the defendant is the registered subscriber to that device."

After being arrested notes were found on Binnie's bedside table which showed coordinates of where the woman had been on various occasions.

On May 17 last year, she also said she'd seen him drive past her home and later found a note on her car from him.

"The tracking device was was found under the passenger seat and the defendant is the registered subscriber to that device..."

Mr Aldous read out an impact statement to magistrates written by the woman who said Binnie was manipulative and abusive and had broken her and ruined her future.

She also said she was scared to heave home and that his threats had scared her.

The court heard Binnie, who is now with another woman who supported him in court, claimed he had originally put the tracker device on the car in case it was stolen but accepted he'd crossed the line using it to track her.

Magistrates told Binnie his offending passed the custody threshold but the bench was thinking of suspending his sentence.

They adjourned the case so a pre-sentence report can be compiled.

Binnie is due to be sentenced on September 5 at Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court.