An "obsessive" seaman set up a WhatsApp chat titled ‘Operation Spycam’ with his mother so they could stalk a woman together.

Christopher Baker – who has now been jailed – used tracking and exercise apps as well as social media to monitor his victim's movements, smashed glass late at night outside her home, and even Googled 'how to hire a hitman' and 'how to hurt someone' as he waged his seven-week campaign.

Canterbury Crown Court heard the 40-year-old was living with his mother Paula Baker in Dover at the time and, when she joined him in his illegal endeavours, the pair set up a WhatsApp chat they called ‘Operation Spycam’.

In one message exchange referring to a location they believed to be connected to the woman, Christopher Baker described it as being "quite difficult to snoop" before adding "we will have to look when dark."

He also revealed his intentions to fit a vehicle tracking device to her car, the court was told.

Paula Baker would follow and film the victim, report her movements back to her son, and send him photographs. The 62-year-old even boasted to police that she was "too clever" to be detected.

Their actions left the woman feeling "emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed" and afraid even when putting her bins out at night, the court heard.

Mother and son later admitted stalking involving serious alarm and distress between August 31 and October 18 last year but were said to have continued to blame the woman in reports prepared for their sentencing hearing last Wednesday (November 8).

Prosecutor Ian Foinette said Christopher Baker, of The Street, Canterbury, had intended to "maximise fear and distress with his obsessive behaviour".

He began by following the woman when she met with friends and used Facebook and apps such as Strava – used for recording physical exercise – to track her whereabouts.

She also suspected her emails had been hacked and on two consecutive nights she heard the sound of glass breaking in her garden.

On another occasion the victim was in a car park when she noticed a Citroen, with Paula Baker at the wheel, slowing down and "looking right at her" before driving off.

The pair were arrested and in Christopher Baker's car police found a voice recorder, a GPS tracker, and other devices.

“Because of what she was subjected to, she carries an alarm in her pocket and describes herself as being emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed….”

His phone and hard drive were seized, leading to the discovery of the WhatsApp chat plus numerous videos of the victim, social media screenshots and various, "almost daily", internet searches, said Mr Foinette.

These not only included references to hiring a hitman but also audio bugging equipment, spy, body-worn and hidden cameras, and terms such as "how to hack WhatsApp", "how to open a door chain or bar latch from the outside", and "if a bottle is thrown against a window with sufficient force, which shatters first?"

"There was regular monitoring of her movements via social media and exercise apps, and photographing her at various locations," added the prosecutor.

Referring to the psychological impact of the Bakers' actions, he continued: "Because of what she was subjected to, she carries an alarm in her pocket and describes herself as being emotionally exhausted and overwhelmed."

Although the pair gave "no comment" interviews, the court was told that when police went to Paula Baker's home in Wellington Gardens, she remarked: "I know she has been out because I've been looking out for her to see what she is up to.

"She is not at home because I have been there....I'm too clever (to be caught). She doesn't know I've been following her."

Paula Baker, who works as a chef, also claimed she was "used to doing undercover work" and made references to filming the victim with a camcorder.

Donna Longcroft, defending Christopher Baker, urged the court to take an "exceptional" approach and impose a community-based sentence for what was "desperate and out-of-character" behaviour.

She said he had now lost his previous good character and risked losing his job at sea, for which he had recently applied to sit a Chief Officer's exam.

George Jackson, defending Paula Baker, told the court she became "embroiled in this messy situation out of a sense of misguided loyalty" when she should have behaved like a "responsible mother".

On jailing Christopher Baker for three years and handing Paula Baker a 12-month prison term suspended for a year with 200 hours of unpaid work, Judge Alison Russell said there could be no doubt both were "equally complicit in this deliberate and prolonged stalking campaign".

She added however that Christopher Baker's actions were "particularly low and reprehensible" and immediate custody was unavoidable.

Telling him he was "the author of his own misfortune", Judge Russell said: "It is important not to forget the voice of the victim and the personal statement sets out clearly and carefully the effect your conduct has had.

"It had considerable impact on her mental health, reaching a point where she no longer felt safe in her home or walking the streets alone....It has affected all parts of her life.

"This was a particularly unpleasant campaign, deliberately designed to cause fear and distress...The degree of planning was not only high and sophisticated but particularly culpable given that it involved searches on how to hire a hitman and how to hurt people."

The judge added that the stalking would have continued were it not for police involvement, and told Paula Baker as she stood in the dock shaking her head: "Your comments to police were not admissions of guilt but boasts, matters of which you were proud."

But she said she could spare her immediate jail on the grounds of her age, poor health and a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

Paula Baker hugged and kissed her son as he was led to the court cells.