Abusive Kirkintilloch husband who hid spy cam in Sky TV box avoids jail

A man who brutally attacked his wife and hid a tiny camera inside their Sky TV box walked free from court yesterday (June 13).

Peter Clarke, 41, repeatedly lashed out at Stacy Clarke, 39, at their family home in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire. Clarke hurled abuse at his wife of nine years and claimed that she was having an affair.

Manipulative Clarke took Stacy's phone and paid £400 for a lie detector test and assaulted her when she refused to take part. During another attack, Clarke kicked hospital nurse Stacy on the head "like it was a football" while she suffered from Covid.

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When Stacy returned to the family home after their split, she found a pinhole camera hidden in the standby light of her Sky TV box.

Clarke was found guilty by a jury at Glasgow Sheriff Court of engaging in a course of behaviour which was abusive of his partner or ex-partner.

The medical field engineer was also convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice and a breach of bail. The charges span between January 2021 and August 2022.

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Sheriff John McCormick told Clarke: "Your background report is one of the more unusual or extreme reports I've seen.

"It recommends a sentence of over four years which is on the basis that such a lengthy sentence allows the authorities to work with you for reasons outlined in the report.

"The author of the report was probably unaware that you have spent 229 days on remand prior to your remand in April.

"That curtails the sentence I was going to impose and the author comments that the other sentence that can be imposed is a robust community payback order so they can work with you.

"The threshold for a custodial sentence has been passed but not to impose four years over and above the time on remand served.

"With considerable hesitation, I will impose a community payback order."

Clarke, of Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, was ordered to do 300 hours of unpaid work and put under supervision for three years. He was also tagged for 12 months keeping him indoors between 7pm and 7am.

A 15-year non-harassment order was also granted which prohibits Clarke contacting Stacy. The trial heard that their 18-year relationship began to strain in January 2021.

Clarke was initially was verbally abusive towards Stacy and called her names such as "fatty" and "b**ch" on a daily basis. Stacy told jurors that Clarke tried to distance her from her family as they had had "too much influence" over her.

The witness claimed that she frequently visited the GP and was on anti-depressants at the time due to the ordeal. Stacy stated that the first time Clarke was violent towards her was following a row over a holiday in front of a child in August 2021.

Stacy told jurors that her husband "just flipped."

She said: "He started punching me on the ribs and threw me on the bed. He was punching my ribs saying 'this is abuse, Stacy'.

"I had suggested before that he was abusing me. I remember when he was punching me I was telling him that I loved him."

Stacy also recalled another incident when she was assaulted while suffering from covid, again in front of a child.

She stated that Clarke blamed her for his ill father getting the virus and got angry.

Stacy said: "He pulled the door open and hit my left hand. I remember that I was sore all over - I cried out a bit.

"He grabbed me by the shoulders and hair and started punching me again - he was screaming at me. He got up and kicked me full force on the head like my head was a football."

Stacy added that she was "in shock" and could "feel the room spinning."

The witness stated that she slept in her car that night at her mum's house as she did not was to infect them. Stacy claimed that on another occasion, Clarke attacked her and took her mobile phone.

She said: "He grabbed me by the hair and threw me face down on the bed - I thought he was going to kill me."

Clarke believed Stacy had cheated on her and repeatedly berated her for her passcode which she later passed on to him.

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Stacy stated that Clarke went on to read her messages going back to 2020 including deleted texts as there was "nowhere for me to hide."

She said: "He claimed I was having an affair with my friend Stephen - he would do things like stop me leaving the house and hid my car keys."

Stacy claimed that Clarke paid £400 to a company for her to do a lie detector test around Christmas 2021.

Prosecutor Lauren Donnelly asked the witness how she felt and she replied: "Just horrified. I didn't know you could book lie detector tests."

Stacy claimed that she refused to do the test a day before it was due to take place which caused Clarke to react angrily. Clarke ordered his wife to pay him back the £400 that he had paid which she did.

Stacy stated that Clarke stuck two fingers in her eye and that she was told to "shut the f*** up."

Stacy ended the relationship and left the family home on December 27 2021 and got a flat through a woman's refuge. She stated that there were three occasions Clarke turned up to her locations without her prior knowledge.

This included at a McDonald's she did not usually attend, a soft play and her new women's refuge flat. Stacy stated that she and her brother searched her car and found a small "tile" in the back.

She said: "A tracker - a GPS keyring basically."

Miss Donnelly: "How did you feel?"

Stacy: "Horrified - it just confirmed to me the lengths Peter would go to.

"It was just really scary knowing that after I left him he could still watch me...it wasn't a coincidence - he was following me."

Stacy moved back into her home in August 2022 and noted that a video doorbell had been installed.

She hired a security firm to check over the property for devices but it was her mother who discovered a hidden camera.

Stacy said: "It was placed in my Sky television box. It was a pinhole camera looking through the standby light.

"I felt just horrible, just disgusted, frightened that I am being watched, just leave me alone."

The jury deleted allegations that Clarke installed a device on Stacy's vehicle to monitor her movements.

They also removed that surveillance equipment was installed to "monitor her."

Clarke told jurors in his evidence that Stacy leaving for the women's refuge was "nothing to do with me."

He claimed that he installed the surveillance equipment due to "break ins" by his wife and her brother.

Clarke stated that the Sky box camera was put in place as video games had "went missing." It was revealed that Clarke has one previous conviction for a road traffic offence from 2008.

Duncan McPhie, defending, told the sentencing that his client maintains his innocence and that the custodial threshold had been passed.