A LLANDYSUL farmer has been cleared of criminal damage despite admitting he threw a stone at his partner’s car after she found out he had been talking to other women on dating websites.

Gary Griffith James, 40, of Crossroads, Henllan, went on trial last week accused of causing £539 worth of damage to the car of his then-partner, Deborah Jane Cope, 37, from Nantwich, Cheshire.

The court heard how the pair, who had been in a long-distance relationship since they met on a dating website in 2011, had been arguing around the time of the incident in April this year because Ms Cope suspected James was being unfaithful.

Although Ms Cope couldn’t remember the exact date of the incident, she said it was on a Saturday in mid-April, and could have been 18 April.

Giving evidence, Ms Cope said: “On the date it happened, I was at Gary’s and he was working, and I found a notepad with passwords written in it.

“I logged into dating websites with his iPad and saw chats with other women — I felt sick.”

After going to see James’ friend, Kevin Lewis, about what she found, Ms Cope said she went to confront James, who she added was in his tractor spreading muck when she pulled up on the yard in her BMW 1 Series car.

Ms Cope admitted taking the iPad out of its case and leaving it on the passenger seat of her car, before taking the case and throwing it on the floor in front of Mr James, causing him to believe she had damaged his iPad.

Ms Cope added: “He picked up a breeze block and threw it at me, missing me and hitting my car.

“I turned around and ran off to get away from him and he was dragging me out of the car.”

James denied throwing a breeze block at Ms Cope or dragging her out of the car, but admitted he threw a small stone at the rear of her car after he thought she had broken his iPad.

Defending James, Iestyn Davies cross-examined Ms Cope, accusing her of threatening to “ruin” James after he broke up with her in June, after which she went to the police.

“You said ‘I will ruin you’ to Mr James, and after that you went to the police,” said Mr Davies.

Asking about the specific incident, Mr Davies said to Ms Cope: “I suggest to you that you have become increasingly paranoid and insecure, and that you have crossed the boundaries of what is rational and what isn’t.”

Reading out James’ police statement from June, Prosecutor Dennis Davies said: “She had taken the iPad out of the cover and threw it against the wall. I thought it was smashed to bits and as she drove off I did throw a stone at her car. I was mad, she was winding me up, winding me up, winding me up.”

Magistrates dismissed the case against James after a trial.