Domestic violence CPS lawyer guilty of misusing work computer system to look up ex-wife's new partner after marriage break-up that 'made Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor look like they got on well'

A CPS lawyer has been found guilty of using his work computer system to look up his ex-wife's new partner after a break-up that 'made Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor look like they got on well'.

Scott Ainge, 48, was today cleared of stalking his deputy district judge wife following an affair, but was convicted of three computer misuse offences after using the CPS system to see if her new partner, Andrew Thompson, had any convictions.

A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard Kate Ainge had revealed she had been having an affair in September 2016.

Prosecutors alleged that from then to January 2018, there were 43 incidents which amounted to Ainge tracking her movements, 23 incidents of him tracking her car, 54 threats by him to reveal highly personal information, 11 unwanted visits to her home, five episodes of him monitoring her Facebook page and one incident where he accessed her iPad. 

Scott Ainge, 48, was cleared of stalking his deputy district judge ex-wife, but was convicted of using the CPS' computer system to look-up whether her new partner had any convictions 

Mrs Ainge claimed that after she moved out of their home in Leyland, Lancashire, and back in with her parents he would visit and call her a 'prostitute' and 'dirty little s***'.

He also told people she had bipolar disorder, despite a psychiatrist telling her she did not, the court heard.

Allan Compton, prosecuting, told the jury Ainge was 'blinded by the desire' to get back at his ex-wife.

He said: 'Scott Ainge was actively cultivating fear because that was how he exerted pressure, that was how he got what he wanted.'

But Ian Whitehurst, defending, said the jury had seen evidence of the breakdown of a marriage.

He said: 'They make Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor look like they get on well.'

Ainge accepted carrying out all the acts he was accused of as part of the stalking charge, but Mr Whitehurst said they were done for reasons including emotional upset, to gather evidence of her infidelity for the divorce and to protect their daughter.

In the defence closing speech, Mr Whitehurst told jurors Ms Ainge had multiple relationships, went on holidays and nights out and was promoted to the role of deputy district judge during the period of the alleged stalking.

The court heard the couple married in 2006 but by 2016, Ms Ainge said their marriage had deteriorated and they had no shared interests.

A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard the Ainge's relationship 'made Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor look like they get on well'

During evidence, she told the court: 'Scott believed he was put on earth as a Christian to be punished so we could go on to live a better life. I didn't share that.'

The jury cleared him of a fourth offence under the Computer Misuse Act and earlier in the trial had been directed to return a not guilty verdict for a fifth count of the same nature. 

Ainge, of Camellia Drive, Leyland, will be sentenced on January 19.

'Liz and Dick': The turbulent relationship dubbed the 'marriage of the century'

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton met on the set of Cleopatra in 1962 and quickly started an affair while Taylor was married to her fourth husband. 

In 1964, nine days after her divorce to Eddie Fisher was finalised, Taylor and Burton were married in what was described as the 'marriage of the century'. 

Burton's private diaries revealed that by 1969 the couple's marriage was fuelled by explosive rows, excessive drinking and passionate sex.

In one entry, Burton wrote: 'For the last month, with very few exceptions, Elizabeth has gone to bed not merely sozzled or tipsy but stoned.'

The couple remained together until 1974. They divorced and were remarried in 1975, but split less than a year later.