A SECRETARY told today how the married man she had a 12-year affair with became an obsessive stalker when she dumped him for refusing to divorce his wife.

"I loved him," said Mary White, 36, of Cowley, Oxford, "but when I finished our relationship, he tried too hard to win me back and started following me everywhere. I was constantly looking over my shoulder."

Miss White finally called the police when her lover Gerry Hinnigan began trailing her to a restaurant, a disco, the cinema and her aerobics sessions at the gym.

"That was the last straw," she added, "so I called the police because I wanted to make him stop. My father even contacted his wife to let her know what was happening but he still kept pursuing me."

Hinnigan, 54, of Connolly Drive, Carterton, who works as a book-keeper, pleaded guilty before Oxford magistrates to an offence under the Protection from Harassment Act, 1997.

Miss White, of Burton Place, revealed how the father-of-two led a double life, telling his wife he was on business while they were holidaying at his Spanish apartment in the Costa Brava or spending a week in a Torquay hotel.

She said: "Gerry was a charming ladies' man and I absolutely adored him, but as time went on I wanted our relationship to become more permanent.

"He promised me that he would divorce his wife Janet but all the time he was stringing me along. "I know I was foolish to get involved with a married man and I certainly wouldn't do it again but I still can't believe it has come to this. One day I would like to get married and have children of my own but it will take a while before I can start dating again."

Miss White said during the three-month period when she was stalked by Hinnigan, he bombarded her with phone calls and faxes at home and work and left Post-It notes on her car saying "I love you".

She also claimed that her locks were tampered with and the words "slag" and "slut" were daubed on her garage wall but she never caught the culprit. Police helped her fit closed circuit security cameras outside her house after she reported Hinnigan's obsessive behaviour.

She said: "It just got too much. I went for a meal at Pizza Express with some friends and they saw Gerry crouching in a doorway watching us. Then he came in and asked the waiter to give me a flower.

On another occasion, he followed me into the disco, sat down opposite and started staring at me. I would describe that as the actions of a stalker. When we were together, he was always kind to me, giving me gifts and taking me on holiday but now I am glad it is over."

She said she first met Hinnigan when they worked together at the Oxford Bus Company.

"I hoped Gerry would choose me," she added, "but eventually I realised what a convincing liar he was. He behaved like a cad and I am glad this new anti-stalking law has been passed to protect women in my situation."

Hinnigan was fined £150 and £75 court costs, ordered not to contact Miss White for 12 months and told to pay her £250 compensation. The charge related to a period between October 3 and December 19 last year.

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