A spurned Morden woman who stalked a married man and his wife after he rejected her advances has been issued with a restraining order.

Jennifer Tulloch, 48, of Lower Morden Lane, SM4 was handed a 12-month community order with a rehabilitation requirement of 20 days and 80 hours of unpaid work. She was also given a five-year restraining order.

Tulloch pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking between June and October 2018 at a hearing at the same court on 14 October 2019.

The court heard that between June and October 2018 Tulloch carried out a “campaign” of stalking and harassment against a husband and wife known to her. She had been served a harassment warning by the police in 2016 following a complaint by the couple, but her offending persisted.

UPDATE May 6, 2021: This story has been updated to remove certain details previously published by Metropolitan Police. It came after a complaint to the police watchdog from the defendant, and a subsequent investigation. It is understood the police have apologised to Ms Tulloch for the additional details and inaccuracies now retracted

In June 2018 following further complaints by the victims, officers from the Metropolitan Police Service met with Tulloch in an attempt to resolve the situation. It was agreed she would cease all contact with the couple. This did not happen, and the court heard that Tulloch continued to “actively follow” the victims and on examination of her phone, officers found messages referencing seeing the pair.

The victims, having realised they were seeing Tulloch in the same locations as them more frequently, installed dash cams in their vehicles. These cameras captured Tulloch near their home address on at least six occasions throughout June, August and September 2018.

The male victim also kept a log of the number of times he saw Tulloch pass the couple’s home address. This log, which was later passed to police, recorded 13 occasions where Tulloch had driven past the house or in and around locations that the couple would be – for example, walking to and from places of work.

To ensure these weren’t just chance encounters, the court heard officers reviewed hours of CCTV from the same area. They looked at one day in particular – 5 September 2018 – because on that day two police officers, including the officer investigating this case, had been in the local area and noticed Tulloch’s vehicle driving past on a number of occasions.

The CCTV revealed Tulloch was driving around Morden town centre in circles – she made 14 separate loops between 6.30pm and 8pm that day and each occasion would have been bound to take her past the address of the victims.

The court was also told Tulloch sent the male victim thousands of unwanted text messages using numbers other than her own, as the victim had blocked her from contacting him. In total there were approximately 1,300 text messages – the victim refused to reply to them all.

On 11 October 2018, Jennifer Tulloch was arrested and taken to a south-London police station. A mental health assessment was carried out and Tulloch was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. She was bailed to return for interview and taken to hospital for further assessment.

The defendant was interviewed five times between October and December 2018. She admitted the facts of the offence but stated that she had no intention to stalk either of the victims. Tulloch said the victim’s home was on her way to the shops and driving down the road was part of her daily routine. She claimed her contact with the victims was entirely accidental and said her 14 loops of Morden town centre on 5 September 2018 were to “kill time”.

Tulloch accepted that she did not cease contact in June 2018 after agreeing to, and accepts sending numerous unwanted messages to the male victim.

Detective Constable David Tate, from the Met’s Stalking Threat Assessment Centre, added: “Whilst a significant percentage of stalking is committed by men against women, this case really highlights that anyone can become a victim of stalking. The Met would encourage anyone who feels they may be the victim of stalking to tell us about it – we take all reports of stalking seriously.”

Anyone who believes they are the current victim of stalking should contact the police by calling 101 or reporting it online. It can also be reported to charities such as the Suzy Lamplugh Trust (https://www.suzylamplugh.org/forms/national-stalking-helpline-enquiry-form) or by calling 0808 802 0300.