1 day Ago
A man tracked his girlfriend's movements, verbally abused her and stalked her after she left him. Franco Lucci, aged 33, abused his partner, Stephanie Boardman, over a prolonged period of time. The two had a child together, but he continued to abuse his partner, throwing her phone against the wall, calling her a "s**g", accusing her of cheating and putting trackers in her phone and car.
Lucci, of Wigan Road, Westhoughton, was brought before Bolton Crown Court on April 7 to be sentenced for his crimes. Prosecuting, Gavin Howie said: "He and his former partner, Stephanie Boardman, started seeing each other in November 2022 and moved in together in August 2023. "She described the relationship as extremely rocky, with more bad days than good days due to the defendant's behaviour towards her.
" Mr Howie detailed multiple incidents between the pair, including one where Ms Boardman had been having a conversation with "a male" on Facebook, which Lucci brought up in an argument before grabbing her phone and "throwing it at a wall". Afterwards he apologised and said he would "never do it again", before doing it again on other occasions. Ms Boardman had two other children from a previous relationship and was said to be on amicable terms with their father, something which Lucci was "not happy" about.
Regarding another occasion where she was getting ready to go out to a firework display, Mr Howie said of Lucci: "He became annoyed and said 'you're going to f*** someone else, you always slag me off to other people' and described her as a 'toxic b***h'. "He then threw her phone at the chimney breast, causing £135 of damage." On another occasion while Ms Boardman was six months pregnant, Lucci told her that the child was "not his" because she had "cheated on him".
Another time, Ms Boardman was driving with one of her daughters in the car when she dropped an object underneath the seat. Mr Howie said: "Ms Boardman asked her to pick it up and when she reached under the seat, she found an Apple AirTag tracker." She confronted Lucci about it, but he told her it had "fallen out of his bag", though he later admitted that he put it there as he believed she was "cheating on him and wanted to check where she was going".
On another occasion, he sent her a text asking why she was at a particular location, to which she asked "how he knew where she was". It turned out that Lucci had activated a "Google Maps tracker" on Ms Boardman's phone without her knowledge. Regarding a "recording device" which was hidden in the house, Mr Howie added: "A red mobile phone was in the house which Ms Boardman had never seen before.
She believed it was used to record multiple 12-hour recordings. "When she confronted the defendant, he said 'I had to record you to see if you were anything about me and if you were bringing people here to f*** when my son was here'." Ms Boardman ended the relationship in February 2024, leaving the house she and her children had shared with Lucci.
She reported him to the police and he was arrested for coercive and controlling behaviour. He was released pending police enquiries, but began to stalk her in June 2024. Read more: The names and faces of Bolton's most wanted Read more: Masked robber left shopkeepers 'plainly terrified' after knifepoint thefts Read more: Two more football brawlers in court, including one who took his shirt off An order not to contact her directly or indirectly was made by domestic abuse body Multi-Agency Task and Co-ordination.
However, Lucci tried to phone Ms Boardman 71 times, as well as showing up at her address. Lucci has no previous convictions, but a Clare's Law request - also known as a Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme - found that he was known to Avon and Somerset Police, having made "threats to kill" a victim and how he "punched a hole in a wall". One of Lucci's former partners also had a non-molestation order against him.
He pleaded guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour and stalking at an earlier date. Defending, Kevin Liston said: "The situation is he is someone who is still relatively young and has no previous convictions. "A suspended sentence order would mean the probation service can work with someone who has never been worked with before.
He would benefit from the guidance and intervention in an onerous format." Mr Liston said how Lucci has "deep-rooted issues" and referenced the breakdown of his family unit when he was a child, with his father leaving his mother. He put Lucci's treatment of Ms Boardman down to "insecurity" and "an issue with his own immaturity".
Mr Liston also spoke of stabilising factors for the defendant, including having his own house and the support of his mother, who was in court with him. Lucci also has a successful shop on online marketplace Whatnot, selling collectable items such as Star Wars figures. Concluding, Judge Nicholas Clarke KC said: "This is a case which involves insidious and pernicious behaviour by you, where you had used an AirTag and have activated the tracking of her phone on your device and used a secondary audio recording device in her home for up to 12 hours at a time to monitor every aspect of her life.
"You have broken her devices and you have behaved in the most appalling manner towards her." He added: "You should really carry around a red flag to warn any future partners of your misconduct." Judge Clarke sentenced Lucci to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.
He cited how working with the probation service "might improve the chances of women unfortunate to fall into a relationship" with him. Judge Clarke also ordered Lucci to undertake 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and imposed a five month curfew from 8pm to 7am, as well as a £250 fine towards prosecution costs. A restraining order was also granted for 10 years, ordering him to not go within 50 metres of any address Ms Boardman lives at.
.
