Man tormented ex by flying drone over home to watch her every move

An obsessed ex-boyfriend made his former girlfriend’s life hell with his controlling behaviour, even using a drone to monitor her.

Dominic Williams, 33, also used a tracker to monitor his former partner, whom he was in a relationship with on and off for around 12 years. Williams also ruined clothes he did not want her to wear, Cardiff Magistrates' Court heard.

Williams refused to acceptthe relationship had ended and sent messages indicating he had been watching her property.

• Ten things you must clean in your home now it's autumn
• Cliffside castle overlooking sea for sale 'with ghost that can be heard at night'

He did not plead guilty until the day of the trial. He was slapped with a prison term of 12 months suspended for two years, 20 days of rehabilitation activity and 80 hours of unpaid work. Williams, who did not plead guilty until the day of a scheduled trial, was ordered to pay £400 in prosecution costs and a £187 victim services surcharge.

Prosecutor Millie Evans said: "It ended properly around a year ago. The relationship was always volatile and they never lived together."

She added: "Throughout the relationship he was very controlling and jealous, often commenting on her body and putting her down.

"He would accuse her almost daily of sleeping with other men. He often made threats of violence, he punched holes in cupboard doors, and he would take her clothes away or damage them if he didn't want her to wear them."

Ms Evans told the court that before the breakup, Williams had a key cut to her property without her permission and the victim even found an AirTag tracker on her car.

Williams would sent the victim images of naked women he had seen online. Their faces could not be seen and he would make false accusations it was his ex, Ms Evans added.

"The pictures were extremely explicit," said Mr Evans. "She would explain that it was not her and that she did not want those pictures on her phone."

On one occasion, he messaged her demanding to know who owned the car parked outside her home. He also drove past the property revving the engine loudly.

"She believes he was trying to control her and who she had in her house," said Ms Evans.

Williams was reported to police after a video showing he had flown a drone over her home was sent to the victim. She believed this was a further attempt to frighten her off having others at her house.

In a victim impact statement she said his behaviour had left her "sick and worried", adding: "No matter how many times I tell Dom to leave me alone he continues to phone me from withheld numbers. He watches the house.

"He calls me a little girl and a rat, and then in the next message he says he loves me. I would often cry to my family or sit alone in my car. I've lost a lot of weight because of the stress it's caused me.

"His unpredictable behaviour would scare me. I felt helpless. He would accuse me of making myself attractive to other men so I stopped using sun beds. I knew he was watching my every move on the AirTag app. He asked for my social media passwords. I felt like a prisoner."

In court, there were repeated moans of derision from two people apparently in support of Williams. One of them, a man, complained the victim's statement was "a crock of s***" and "bull****", prompting the court clerk to warn him to be quiet several times.

Williams, of Bideford Road in Llanrumney, pleaded guilty to controlling or coercive behaviour between April 2023 and June 2025. He sat with an elbow-padded arm leaning against the side of the dock, and stared intently at the prosecutor as she opened the case.

When the time came for mitigation Williams, who represented himself, stood up and said the victim impact statement had made him "emotional".

He said: "I've never been a violent person at all. I've never laid a finger on any girl. The AirTag was on a vehicle I purchased and left in her possession. I weren't following her at all or stalking her.

"I respect the girl massively. She's a wicked mother. But it's come to an end, a toxic relationship, and we go our separate ways. I hold my hands up to..."

He did not finish the sentence.

Asked what impact a potential prison term would have on him, he said: "I have a mortgage to pay to keep a roof over my head, animals I take care of. If I was to go into custody I'd lose my home, my business. Where would my animals go? I've never been in trouble with the law or whatnot."

Williams concluded by saying: "It shouldn't have come to this and I blame myself for that." But when the magistrates retired to consider sentence he started complaining to the clerk: "I've been nothing but good to that girl."

The man who had been angrily swearing in the public gallery did so again, telling the clerk: "She's in a council house and he's got his own mortgage and a business. It's bull****."

The clerk replied: "If you swear again you have to leave." At this, he left the courtroom. Shortly afterwards the prosecutor said she had walked past the man in the waiting room and that he had called her a "stupid c***".

On hearing this Williams shook his head and said: "Please send him out [of the building]. He's a liability."

The magistrates then returned and passed sentence. Presiding Justice Lisa Gerson said it was a "particularly unpleasant" case in which Williams had intended to "maximise fear and distress" over a prolonged period although she took into account he only had one previous conviction.

This is a breaking news story. Follow us on Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, Twitter, Facebook or visit The Mirror homepage.