An obsessive and controlling husband, a devout Jehovah’s Witness, has been jailed for stalking his estranged wife.

A crown court judge told Mark Perry that he had a warped mind and sought to justify his behaviour on the basis of his religious beliefs.

Mold Crown Court heard how he faked a message from the police complaints body telling his wife to go to Rhyl police station to identify his own body.

Perry, 46, on another occasion turned up at a refuge with a neighbour's child claiming to be a family member trying to trick staff to tell him where his wife was.

The defendant, of Sandringham Avenue, Rhyl, pleaded guilty to stalking at an earlier hearing and was today jailed for 32 weeks and an indefinite restraining order was made not to approach his wife.

Judge Niclas Parry said that the stalking by the defendant had caused significant alarm and distress. He had “bombarded her” with disturbing messages.

The messages which quite clearly caused great distress gave an insight into “a warped mind”, the judge said.

One message purported to be from a police officer making reference to him being dead and she was required to identify the body.

“You were clearly trying to instil in her a feeling of responsibility for that,” said Judge Parry.

It was abundantly clear that there was a background of controlling behaviour and he continued after he had “a shot across the bows” and had been served with a domestic violence protection order.

He had used a child to try and deceive a refuge, where she was being protected, into giving his wife’s whereabouts.

“You seek to justify your actions on the basis of your religious beliefs. That is quite simply warped reasoning,” said Judge Parry.

He had no previous convictions and it was his first period of custody but only immediate custody could be justified, he said.

Perry – who appeared in court via a live television link from Altcourse Prison in Liverpool - put his head in his hands and wept when the sentence was passed.

He admitted that between July and beginning of August he stalked Ysabel (correct) Andrea Perry and caused her serious harm or distress by sending texts and WhatsApp messages and trying to seek her whereabouts.

In one message Perry told his wife: "Sorry for the suffering I've caused you over the years. I'm unravelling it with Jehovah's help."

Prosecuting barrister Frances Wilmott said that he poured coffee over her in July and the police were called – and a DVPO was served on him.

But when she was in a refuge she revealed that she had endured threats and control – and she then received "disturbing" messages and texts.

He said he was going to kill himself, accused her of being silly and suggested that church elders be allowed to deal with the matter.

In July he took a child to a refuge and got the child to ask where his aunt was.

Then in August he sent her messages purporting to come from the IPCC saying he was dead and asking her to identify his body.

She was suspicious and feared that had she turned up at the police station alone as instructed then she may have been kidnapped or assaulted.

Arrested and interviewed, he claimed that the marriage was wonderful and said he loved his wife.

In a victim impact statement, she told how his controlling behaviour was unacceptable.

Her phone had been going all the time which caused her distress.

She was worried about his mental health and now finally felt free of him, which made her happy.

James Coutts, defending, said the offences were not overly sophisticated. In the message which purported to come from the police it soon reverted to being obvious it was from the defendant.

Mr Coutts accepted it was a troubling and worrying case.

At the time he did not accept the relationship was over and set about doing things in his own way.

It may have been that he was overly guided by his religious beliefs and the strict code of conduct by which he lived his life, said Mr Coutts.

While at the time he was doing what he thought was right, he now recognised that he should not have behaved that way.

“He now understands that it was inappropriate, worrying and the wrong thing to do,” said Mr Coutts.

Perry had no previous convictions and was using his period in custody wisely.