CCTV operator's 'creepy' campaign of control

A POLICE CCTV operator used the force's network of cameras to monitor his partner's movements as part of a campaign of controlling and coercive behaviour, a court has heard.

- JASON EVANS

Russell Hassler also unlawfully accessed police logs and databases to acquire sensitive material to manipulate the woman and "show off" his power and importance.

Bethan Evans, prosecuting, told the court that 43-year-old Hassler was working as a CCTV operator at Dyfed-Powys Police's Carmarthen headquarters when the offending happened.

She said Hassler's partner at the time described him as a "Jekyll and Hyde-type character" whose mood could change quickly, and how she felt like she was always "walking on eggshells around him".

The court heard the defendant used his position with the police to track his partner's movements on CCTV cameras in West Wales, and would let her know what he was doing by taking still pictures of her from the live footage and then sending them to her. One such photo he sent of the woman walking down a street in Newcastle Emlyn was accompanied by the caption "stalked".