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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

My partner bugged our home...how weird is this?

90 replies

spiritedaway · 05/10/2010 11:02

Hello. This is my 1st timeBlush so apolgies in advance. I have recently split with my partner of 4 years. He had, during our relationship, hacked my ex's email, hacked my facebook then most recently, while employed on a government contract, abused his extremely well paid position to access text messages from old phones of mine going back 4 years. He also read replies and some of my family's texts, which had piqued his interest.

He then began a cycle of interrogation, accusations followed by episodes of being completely loved and up and wanting his feelings reciprocated. He become increasingly paranoid. He stopped working and "accompanied" me wherever I went. He also demanded to know what and with whom i discussed my personal life...ie. brothers, cousin and objected to this. He knew from reading my texts that i had discussed him being abusive towards me in the past. He had also discovered through reading old texts of mine that at the very beginning of our relationship I had, on several occasions been back with an ex...till I got my head out of my arse and moved on to commit with my new partner and then start a family. At the start of our relationship my new partner had made all the running, full on flowers, gifts turning up unanounced everywhere i went and he wanted instant commitment. In hindsight this is what had me running for cover at the start!

Ok, so i can see he could be hurt by this but as far as I was concerned time had moved on. We'd changed cities, settled down...had a child together, co parented my other 2 and were expecting again. Good income, nice house...future's bright. I honestly explained the circumstances of how confused i'd felt at the beginning. He, however, seemed unconcerned with my feelings, explanations or emotions and instead began obsessing about who knew, who had known...exactly what sexual intimacies had occured when and where and i mean specifics that i could not recall. He could of course having recently read the 4year old texts. When i couldn't recall a specific detail or made a chronological error whilst being questioned i would be branded a liar.

This questioning then extended to even furthur back into the past...20 years back. I'm 40. No answers were ever sufficient. I was a proven liar. He was trying to give me a break but really how could he...everything i said was a lie!He wanted me to come up with 1 big confession...something from my past that he didn't know. This would help repair his trust. This is what he said...he forced these discussions day and night. If i refused he'd say i had something to hide. If i walked away he'd come with me.

OP posts:
spiritedaway · 05/10/2010 11:02

There is more...was it too long. Am i supposed to continue it here?

OP posts:
Lauriefairycake · 05/10/2010 11:04

Leave. That is all the answer you need.

he is paranoid, controlling and abusive. Continue to seek help on here. Really sorry for what you have been through Sad

Prolesworth · 05/10/2010 11:04

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Lavitabellissima · 05/10/2010 11:05

Just wanted to send you my best wishes, you did well to get out of this relationship.

How are you now?

SolidGoldBrass · 05/10/2010 11:08

Consult women's aid, a solicitor and the local DV unit, you need a legal structure in place fast to prohibit this man from having any contact with you at all (including harassing your friends for information about you) - Contact between him and DC must be supervised only.
He is extremely dangerous and TBH should probably be locked up anyway.
There is no point in negotiating with people like this, use the law to barricade yourself against them and do it hard and fast. He may have some sort of paranoia-related mental illness or he may just be a complete shit but whatever: don't engage with him at all.

maktaitai · 05/10/2010 11:09

My husband has behaved a little bit like this (in terms of the interrogation) for a couple of very short periods - when he comes off his extremely strong antipsychotic medication.

He is living in a world of terror and doing the very best he can to manage it. You will not be able to reassure or help him, as you are not the cause of his psychosis. You don't have to be drawn into this nightmare.

How much time does he spend with the children? Are you concerned for them? I think you need to contact some people to inform them about what's going on - I'd suggest his GP and the police, tbh.

samjones84 · 05/10/2010 11:10

You're best of out, someone that committed to controlling you won't stop and can only get worse. Hope you'e ok.

thisishowifeel · 05/10/2010 11:10

If he is still bugging you or tailing you in any way, call the police.

Well done for getting out!

Prolesworth · 05/10/2010 11:16

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Gretl · 05/10/2010 11:19

To answer the title: it is VERY VERY weird, no hint of normality in it at all.

booyhoo · 05/10/2010 11:20

agree with evertything SGB said. he is dangerous and this isn't over foryou. you need to protect your self and your kids. i am not saying this to scare or as empty words of comfort. this is serious advice, put practical, physical barriers in his way to keep him out of your life.

spiritedaway · 05/10/2010 11:44

Gosh...Thank you all so much for your reponses. I feel really emotional reading your kind words.

To get up to date...his paranoia kept feeding itself.He made life intolerable for me, himself and our little ones..hardly any conflict though as i managed my emotions, for the most,very stringently. I asked him to get help..we went for councilling..he seemed unable to take stock and move on.

Then it escalated again and he was bullying and violent to the extent of trapping me in a small room...making me say please excuse me, instead of will you get the fuck out of my way...which was my 1st line once he made it clear he wouldn't let me out. He is 6'3'' and powerfully built so when i tried to squish past he trapped nme in the door so i was covered in bruises, including bump. All ok there though. He didn't see this as abuse as these bruises were caused by my actions not his.

After this incident i made plans to leave. By now he'd bugged the house so he heard some of my plans. Although i repeatedly reassured him that he would not be seperated from his daughter he didn't believe me. He can't see his kids from his previous marriage. I did understand his fear but it escalated quickly until he snatched our 2 year old and fled around the country with her texting to say i wouldn't see her again. The police had concerns for his mental state and did a good job tracking them down and returning her 2 days later. I have stuff in place..non mol, prohibitive steps, residence order. I do not wish to prohibit contact..only to have some peace of mind. Ex says i am abusing our daughter by using the court and he refuses to see her until all orders are dropped.I am, therefore, he says, robbing our child of a father. Is this just more control? Are courts wrong? Or is this just whacko?

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Gretl · 05/10/2010 11:51

spiritedaway, it would NOT be abusive on your part to keep your daughter completely away from him.

'Depriving her of a father'? If mine had a father like this, I would deprive them of him for their own safety.

BudaisintheZONE · 05/10/2010 11:52

He is completely dangerous. And this is probably why he can't see his other children. Don't let him have unsupervised contact with yours.

He is SO wanting to control you.

Counselling will NEVER work with someone like him because he will say all the right things whilst not agreeing in himself that he is wrong in anyway. He sees the world in a very skewed manner and you cannot change that.

spiritedaway · 05/10/2010 11:53

Sorry..that should have said "him" texting, not the 2 year old! Hmm

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Prolesworth · 05/10/2010 11:57

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spiritedaway · 05/10/2010 11:58

I'm still communicating with him...i can see he's trying to emotionally manipulate me..it's not working but i really should give myself a break. I just feel it's cruel to cut someone off from even being able to say hi their child. Wouldn't that make me a terrible mum?
Thanks again for responding all of you x

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AnnieLobeseder · 05/10/2010 12:00

Run, run, run and then after that run some more. Once you are safely as far away as you can reasonably get, make very sure you get yourself and your children legally protected from this very dangerous man coming near you ever again.

Do not feel you should be kind and let me see the children. He has already kidnapped your 2yo, an action which would have caused me to actually commit murder on her return. What's to stop him from kidnapping them again, possibly taking them abroad.

There is undoubtedly a VERY good reason he can't see his children from his previous marriage.

In fact, is there any way you can get him arrested? Do the police know about his illegally accessing your phone records? I'm sure that would be taken very, very seriously, as data protection is a huge issue at the moment.

spiritedaway · 05/10/2010 12:00

Maktaitai....how're you and your husband now?

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BudaisintheZONE · 05/10/2010 12:00

It would make you a terrible mum IF your partner was a normal rational person. But he isn't. Taking a 2 year old off around the country like he did is cruel. You must have been frantic.

He will lie and twist things until you think that night is day. Don't enter into communication.

He can have supervised contact at a contact centre if necessary.

You need to protect your DD from his paranoia.

Prolesworth · 05/10/2010 12:01

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Gretl · 05/10/2010 12:04

I think there are a lot of situations where it is cruel to stop one parent being a parent - but they don't involve extreme behaviour like your partner is showing.

Is he getting any help from mental health services? Has he had any sort of diagnosis in the past? What do you know about his past?

Basically any unsupervised access he has will always bear the shadow of his unpredictability, his complete lack of a grasp of reality, his paranoia - it's bad enough that you've been subjected to it but think of a small child being part of whatever game is going on in his mind (and it sounds completely deranged so far). Also, think of that child being desperate to please her father (as children often are) and completely floundering and having her boundaries, her normality levels totally skewed by his reactions to her: you can protect her from the long-term effects of that by not allowing contact.

FakePlasticTrees · 05/10/2010 12:06

If he chooses not to see his DD, then he is deciding not to have a relationship with her. The courts aren't wrong. To me, it sounds like he's not actually interested in having a father daughter relationsihp, but just using her to control you. If he can't have access the way he wants, he doesn't want any access? That's not the behaviour of someone who actually loves his child, but of someone who sees his child as an object to win.

I assume you've worked out that he doesn't see his children from his previous relationship because of behaviour like this? His ex probably stood up to him and he didn't want the relationship with his DCs on her terms.

I don't think I've ever said this, but your DD is probably best off without him in her life.

Keep the police and courts involved - don't engage with his mental illness.

spiritedaway · 05/10/2010 12:09

Gotta go for now....it's chilling to read back what i wrote. I'm glad i wrote it. Your responses are how i would have responded had i not been "in" it. Perspective is a strange thing. Thanks all for being so welcoming on here...last time i joined a discussion was on money expert. They chased me away beacause i was so inept at using their threads, acronyms etc but thanks all for your views on my DP Grin

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AnnieLobeseder · 05/10/2010 12:14

spirited, welcome to Mumsnet, we never chase anyone away unless they give their children Fruit Shoots to drink! Grin

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