A serving New South Wales police officer has pleaded guilty to stalking a woman and unlawfully accessing a restricted police database to obtain information about her partner.
Joshua Alan James Wootton, 32, appeared at Downing Centre Local Court last Thursday where he admitted one count of stalk and intimidate intending to cause fear of physical or mental harm, and one count of accessing restricted data.
The court heard that Wootton, who has been a police officer since December 2019 and was attached to the eastern suburbs police area command, followed the woman over an 11-day period in February 2022. He used a GoGet hire car to conceal himself near her home, workplace and other locations.
The stalking began after Wootton turned up unannounced at the woman's home on Valentine's Day last year and left roses on her driveway. The following day she told him his conduct was inappropriate, saying: 'I don't know what your game plan is but you need to stop your behaviour.'
Wootton then followed her seven times between 17 and 28 February. On 25 February, he accessed the Cops database, which is only to be used for lawful purposes, and conducted searches for the name of a man he had seen with the woman and the residential address they had visited together, making up false reasons and entries.
On the final occasion, he visited a business where the woman used to work and spoke to a colleague, who then messaged the woman. The colleague wrote: 'Josh is here, he wants to have a chat with me, is there anything I should say or not say?' The woman replied: 'Say whatever you want. Why the fuck is he there? He's a freak.'
Wootton was arrested at his parents' home in Oran Park on 7 June last year, where he had been living since January. The case will return to court for sentencing at a later date.
