A woman who was subjected to a stalking ordeal that almost drove her to suicide has spoken for the first time of her horror at learning the culprit was her own husband.

Paul Playle, from Bexhill, East Sussex, impersonated an old boyfriend of his wife of 27 years, Amanda, by setting up fake email and Facebook accounts and bombarding her with messages purporting to be from her ex, Anthony Reynolds.

Playle, 43, spent two years sending sinister messages to his wife - all the while playing the role of a supportive husband, 'comforting' her through her ordeal.

The mother-of-three, who said she became a recluse as a result of her terrifying experience, said of finding out who was behind it: 'I just didn’t believe it, I didn’t want to believe it. I was adamant to the police that they had this wrong.

'He was my rock… I always said to people this stalker knew my thoughts and inner feelings... but actually he was sat right beside me.'

Playle, who also left Amanda in £80,000 worth of debt and facing the repossession of the family home, was sentenced in January to three-and-a-half-years in prison after a jury took less than 30 minutes to convict him of stalking and coercive and controlling behaviour.

Amanda Playle was devastated to learn that the man she thought was her stalker was in fact her husband

The mother-of-three had become a recluse over the two-year campaign at the hands of her jealous husband Paul Playle

The nursery worker, who met Playle when they were just 16, said that it wasn't just her who had been affected, but the couple's three daughters as well.

'I can’t fault him as a dad and the girls adore him. For them it has been really horrendous, they can’t put the two together that this was him and this was dad,' she explained to presenters Holly and Phil.

Amanda, who said Playle writes letters to their children but is not allowed to see them, refuses to admit his guilt.

'It's heart-breaking because the girls want to see their dad but they’re not allowed to. He still denies all knowledge, like it’s not him,' she said.

Amanda also revealed the financial mess her husband left her in after he was declared bankrupt, with the family home in the process of being repossessed.

'We have to leave home and start again,' she added.

'It is very hard to trust people… I always think people have an ulterior motive.'

Paul Playle (pictured) set out to humiliate and degrade his childhood sweetheart and wife of 27 years, Amanda, by assuming the identity of Anthony Reynolds

In a victim impact statement read to the court during her husband's sentencing in January, Mrs Playle said she was affected so badly by the 'unbelievable' ordeal that she had considered suicide.

She said she would never understand why it happened, adding: 'I am terrified to leave the house, go to work or the shop across the road. I panic when my phone goes off.

'I'm embarrassed and I burst into tears for no reason.

'To think it was the one person I believed I could always trust. I no longer trust anyone anymore.'

Prosecutor Gareth Burrows described the lengths Playle went to to humiliate and control his wife while comforting her as a 'worrying and significant feature' of his offending.

In the messages, sent between December 2015 and June 2017, Playle would question her about previous sexual encounters and called her a 'slag'.

There were days when the messages were 'excessive' and he would also contact her mother, father and work colleagues as well as hacking into her own accounts to send similar messages.

He also set up other accounts pretending to be a girlfriend and friend of Mr Reynolds.

In one message, he said: 'Nice handbag, do you want to meet in Starbucks for a coffee?' when she was out shopping and holding a new bag, or made comments about being able to see her jogging.

He even hid her passport to try to stop her going on holiday with friends.

Police caught him after the stalker sent an image of the entrance to Gatwick Airport to Mrs Playle.

Amanda explained on This Morning that her husband had also left her in £80,000 worth of debt that he had kept secret

Officers were able to track his car arriving at the terminal and spotted him on CCTV taking the picture in question.

Some of the emails were found to have been sent through his home router.

Playle repeatedly denied being responsible, claiming he had been 'stitched up'.

Before knowing her husband was behind the messages, Mrs Playle said she would 'panic' if she had not heard from him or their three children.

She said she was faithful to him during their marriage, adding: 'We had hard times but thought we had a stable family.

'My children are devastated. My eldest daughter is a totally different person since the trial.'

She asked her husband to admit what he had done so everyone could move on.

Even after being arrested and released on bail, Playle continued to send threatening messages, which only stopped when he was remanded in custody.

Sentencing him at Lewes Crown Court in January, Judge Christine Henson said the evidence was 'overwhelming', adding: 'You are the author of your own fate. You watched your wife effectively crumble before you because of the fear she was experiencing from this online abuse.

'You pretended to comfort her. That is the most calculating and cruel behaviour.

'You're in complete denial of your crime.'