Ex-cop assaulted inspector he caught having sex with wife in Screwfix car park, court says

A former police officer claimed he acted in self-defence when he punched an inspector he caught having sex with his wife, a jury has been told.

Gavin Harper, 45, placed a tracking device on a vehicle driven by his wife, policewoman Stephanie Glynn, because he suspected she was having an affair.

Liverpool Crown Court heard he followed her to a Screwfix car park in Birkenhead, Merseyside, where she was found with colleague Andrew McCluridge, 42, on the evening of February 16, 2021 McLullich) to have sex.

There, Harper is said to have started filming his police colleagues on his mobile phone as he claimed Mr McCluridge began punching him “repeatedly”.

The court heard security officer Harper, from Liskeard, Wirral, punched him “three or four times” in self-defence.

Harper, a former police officer, is currently on trial accused of unlawfully injuring McClulich and stalking Ms Green, 40, between December 2020 and February 2021.

In court on Tuesday, Harper told his lawyer, Suzanne Payne, that he did not drive to the parking lot to confront the inspector.

Asked what his purpose was in going there, Harper said: “To get undeniable evidence that they were having an affair, having sex, by videotaping it and handing it over to the police.” police“.

He said the evidence was obtained because they were two serving military officers who had an affair during the coronavirus pandemic.

Harper said McClurich “swept his legs” and then his wife said “take his phone, take his phone.” He claimed that his wife was naked from the waist down, wearing only socks.

Harper said that during the ensuing struggle, Ms Green “started kicking him”.

“It’s the worst thing that could have happened,” he told the jury.

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The Crown said Ms Green began a sexual relationship with McClurich after she left Harper but he could not come to terms with the breakdown of their marriage.

Instead, prosecutors say, he became obsessed and it was he who began attacking Mr McCluridge in the Screwfix car park, including hitting him twice on the head with a torch.

The court heard how Harper placed a tracker with a microphone in the car and listened in on their conversations after looking at Ms Green’s phone and becoming suspicious of the pair.

At one point, he used Ms Green’s phone to call Mr McCluridge to question him.

The trial continues.