A Newnham man who listened to a two-minute conversation at the Launceston Police Station via a tracking device was fined $1500 after being found guilty in the Launceston Magistrates Court.
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Magistrate Simon Brown found George Maxwell Tregaskis-Jago, 28, of Newham guilty of a count of using a listening device to listen to a private conversation to which he was not a party on August 24, 2020.
At the hearing in January the court heard that Tregaskis-Jago installed listening devices on two cars and a boat in a bid to reduce insurance premiums.
He said that if a car was stolen he could hear a ping from its location.
One of the tracking devices was installed on the car his partner drove, but he had forgotten to tell her.
When his ex-partner took the device to the police station, Tregaskis-Jago was able to activate the device via a text message and listen to a conversation.
Activation was possible via a sim card after the device was removed from the car. The tracker could allow listening, but not recording, he said.
In a recorded video interview with police, which was played to the court, Tregaskis-Jago said he had listened to two minutes of "general people talking". He denied that he had heard his ex-partner talking.
However, when he gave evidence in court Tregaskis-Jago denied that he had listened to any conversation at the police station.
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Asked by police prosecutor Matt Hills why he told police that he had listened to a conversation, Tregaskis-Jago said that he was suffering a panic attack, was stressed and anxious at the time of the interview.
Mr Hills suggested he had listened to try and get any details of any upcoming legal matters.
In the hearing Tregaskis-Jago denied that he had heard a conversation via the tracker.
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