Mar 14, 2023

Miklos BolzaAAP A Sydney police officer has admitted to stalking a local woman and searching for details on her partner using the restricted COPS database. Joshua Alan James Wootton followed his victim over a period of 11 days in February 2022, using a GoGet hire car to conceal himself around her home, workplace and elsewhere. Last Thursday, the 32-year-old pleaded guilty in Downing Centre Local Court to one count of stalk/intimidate intending to cause fear of physical or mental harm and one count of assessing restricted data. Wootton has been a member of the NSW Police since December 2019 and was attached to the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command. Since January 2022, he has been living with his parents at Oran Park, where he was arrested on June 7 last year. On Valentine's Day last year, he turned up at the woman's home unannounced and left roses on her driveway. The following day, she told him his conduct was "inappropriate". "I don't know what your game plan is, but you need to stop your behaviour," she said. Wootton then followed his victim seven times from February 17 to 28, despite her request for him to leave her alone. Number plate recognition, GPS data from GoGet, tolling and bank statements all show he was in her vicinity over the 11-day period. On February 25, he accessed COPS, a police database only to be used for lawful and not for personal reasons. Making up false reasons and entries, he conducted searches for the name of a man he had seen his victim with and the residential address they had gone into together. On the final occasion he stalked her, he visited a local business where the woman used to work and spoke to someone who then notified her via SMS. "Josh is (here) he wants to have a chat with me, is there anything I should say or not say?" her colleague asked. "Say whatever you want. Why the f*** is he (there)? He's a freak," she replied. Wootton will face a sentence hearing on June 9.