A retired Royal Yachtsman who placed two tracking devices on his ex-girlfriend’s car was caught red handed when he followed her to a police station.
Mandy Pollyn, 55, suspected Rodney Coffin, 72, from Bournemouth, Dorset, had been stalking her and went to report him to police.
The possessive pensioner unwittingly followed her to the station and was arrested outside the building by officers.
Mandy Pollyn, 55, suspected Rodney Coffin, 72, from Bournemouth, Dorset, had been stalking her and went to report him to police. He then unwittingly followed her into a police station, where he was arrested by officers
Coffin, a Royal Navy petty officer who served on HMY Britannia under the Queen, was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to stalking.
A court heard how he had been unable to accept his two year relationship with blonde Ms Pollyn had come to an end in 2016.
He created a bogus profile on a dating website just to instigate contact with her. Although he was later convicted of stalking and issued with a restraining order, it was lifted when the couple temporarily got back together in 2017.
But when they split up a second time for good Coffin ‘inundated’ Ms Pollyn with emails and text messages declaring his love for her.
Coffin then attached the two tracking devices to the wheel arches of her vehicle.
Although Ms Pollyn found the first tracker after a few days the second went undetected allowing Coffin to accurately pinpoint her whereabouts.
Jane Rowley, prosecuting, told Bournemouth Crown Court that Coffin received 440 text updates from the device informing him of the victim’s movements between August 1-9 this year.
Coffin, a Royal Navy petty officer who served on HMY Britannia under the Queen, was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to stalking
During that time Ms Pollyn said she saw him on a number of occasions and even went to stay in a hotel as she did not feel safe in her home.
When she woke up in the hotel she saw that Coffin was outside and she drove to Poole police station where Coffin was arrested.
Ms Rowley said: ‘The victim was in a relationship with the defendant for two years but left him as he was possessive and controlling.
‘He has a previous conviction for stalking the same victim which makes this a higher culpability case.
‘There was also a high element of planning to his behaviour.’
Ms Rowley said that after putting the trackers on Ms Pollyn’s car
In a victim impact statement, Ms Pollyn said: ‘It has been terrible. Everybody believed him and not me. I am truth itself – you could not meet anyone more truthful than me.
‘I am very strong and very determined that justice will be on my side and he will be served with what he deserves for ruining my life.
‘I want him totally away from me forever.’
During his police interview the former Royal Navy electrical engineer admitted to fitting the covert trackers.
He pleaded guilty to stalking involving alarm and distress at an earlier hearing at Poole Magistrates’ Court.
The Queen in front of the Britannia in 1983. Coffin served as part of the crew on the now decommissioned ship
Robert Grey, defending, said his client accepted there had been planning involved in the case but asked that he be spared prison.
He said that he had been in custody for two weeks, which he had described as ‘hell’.
However Judge Alastair Malcolm QC said that Coffin had caused Ms Pollyn distress and jailed him.
He told him: ‘It is very difficult for anyone to comprehend the distress you have caused by the manor of your behaviour.
‘Anyone who has heard Ms Pollyn speak will be able to see how much distress you have caused her.
‘This is not the first time you have been involved in this kind of activity and that is a serious aggravating factor in this case.’
Coffin was jailed for two years and handed a restraining order preventing him from having any direct or indirect contact with his former partner.