A former army wife has been cleared of stalking her cheating husband after lawyers argued her actions were “entirely reasonable”.
Rebecca Egerton-Jones, an ex-military police officer, said she felt “vindicated” as she walked free from Perth Sheriff Court following a three-day trial that exposed intimate details of the final months of her marriage to Michael “Bomber” Harris at Leuchars Army Base.
The 48-year-old faced allegations she caused her former husband, also a military police officer, fear or alarm with a course of conduct that spanned nearly a year.
Jurors took less than two hours to find her not guilty by majority.
Sheriff William Wood told Ms Egerton-Jones: “You leave this court without a blemish on your character.”
He told the jury that the outcome was “not one that was wholly unexpected.”
Sgt Harris, who gave his evidence behind a screen on Tuesday, returned to court to hear the verdict.
During the trial, the 40-year-old told jurors his then-wife had assaulted him, refused to let him go to a quiz night with friends, regularly berated him at his office and sent an image of a topless woman – found on his laptop – to the woman’s father.
He admitted having two affairs during the 13-year relationship and said he made up a third one to try to get her to dump him.
Ms Egerton-Jones believed her husband had cheated on her five times.
She told jurors she had been worn down by Sgt Harris’ “gaslighting.”
The court heard Sgt Harris made the allegations against his ex-wife within two hours of hearing she had made a series of allegations against him.
Those claims are still under police investigation, Ms Egerton-Jones, from Burnley.
She said after the trial the allegations had been hanging over her for several years and she felt “vindicated” by the outcome.
‘Embarrassed’ lawyer
Solicitor Ian Houston, representing Ms Egerton-Jones, told the jury: “I feel embarrassed to have to stand here and address you in relation to what we’ve heard.
“I believe what we’ve heard is nothing more than a somewhat tragic breakdown of a marriage – caused mainly, or even wholly, by the behaviour of the husband who repeatedly entered into extra-marital affairs.”
He said: “Despite the fact his wife tolerated at least some of those affairs, he ended things by leaving her without warning and without the decency to say to her: It’s finished, I can’t do this anymore.”
Mr Houston said his client was “obviously” worried when she came home and found her husband missing.
“She went on a mission to find out what happened.
“She did become angry with some of her husband’s colleagues – but is that not surprising?”
He added: “I submit that everything she did that might be described as beyond normal, was entirely reasonable in the circumstances.
“I’m not saying she’s a saint but she certainly allowed her husband a great deal of slack for at least two affairs.”
The solicitor highlighted inconsistencies in the Crown’s evidence.
Sgt Harris had told the court he changed his shirt after his wife ripped it during an alleged assault.
He then went out to meet colleague Adam Glover for coffee.
Mr Glover, 32, also a military police officer, told the trial Sgt Harris was wearing the ripped shirt at the café.
“This woman who has impeccable character and an impeccable army career is not guilty of what she has been charged with,” Mr Houston said.
Personal information
Fiscal depute Joanne Ritchie had urged jurors to convict Ms Egerton-Jones.
“I’m sure that some of you may have raised an eyebrow when you saw this was a stalking case that involved a husband and wife during the course of their marriage.
“Is that even possible, you may have asked yourselves.
“The answer is yes: There are stalking cases in Scotland involving domestic partners that have been prosecuted successfully.”
She added: “Consider this: Mr Harris is a military man with a lot of pride.
“This is effectively a very sensitive domestic case where he would have known that a lot of personal information would have to be disclosed in open court.
“Would he really want to go through all of this and disclose to you and the public about his marital problems, if these things weren’t true?
“Would he want to admit he was the victim of this kind of behaviour?”
For the latest court cases across Tayside and Fife, join our Courts Facebook page.
