By Conor Gogarty

Copyright walesonline

A man made his ex-girlfriend’s life hell through a campaign of controlling behaviour. Dominic Williams, 33, flew a drone over her house, used a tracker to monitor her and ruined clothes he did not want her to wear, Cardiff Magistrates’ Court heard. Williams, from Llanrumney, Cardiff, was in a relationship with the woman for 12 years on and off. 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.” Just before the victim dumped him, Williams got a key cut to her property without her permission, Ms Evans told the court. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here The victim also found an AirTag tracker on the car she drove, which she believed he had put there to monitor her whereabouts, the court heard. Ms Evans added that Williams would send the victim images of naked women he had seen online. The women’s faces could not be seen and Williams would make false accusations that it was his ex in the pictures, the court heard. “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.” After the victim broke up with him Williams refused to accept the relationship was over and sent her messages indicating he had been watching her property. He also drove past while loudly revving his car engine and on one occasion messaged her demanding to know who owned the car parked outside her home. “She believes he was trying to control her and who she had in her house,” said Ms Evans. The victim reported Williams to police after he sent her a video showing he had flown a drone above her home, which she believed he did to scare her off having other people at the address, the court heard. 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.” While Ms Evans was opening her case there was repeated huffing and muttering from one of the two family members in the public gallery to support Williams. The 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…” Williams 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.” But the court heard Williams did have a previous conviction from 2018, which was for a dissimilar offence. He added that he was self-employed but had been “spending more than I’m earning” for the past year because of “the way my head’s been” and had used up his savings. 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. She imposed 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.