A garda who recorded conversations, installed a tracker on his wife’s phone and ordered her to stay at home has pleaded guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour. Westmeath-based David Reynolds (45), currently suspended without pay, treated Ashley Masterson like “chattel”, a judge said. Adjourned sentencing until October, Judge Keenan Johnson said on Thursday that Reynolds had a serious anger management problem and he said the level of manipulation and control was an aggravating factor.He said Reynolds “has a very old-fashioned attitude that is left long in the past in Ireland today”.“In history, a man’s wife was his chattel, was his property. It seems a remnant of that is attributable to your client,” Johnson said.Reynolds admitted controlling and coercive behaviour from January 2019 until July 18th, 2022, which would have had a serious effect on Masterson.Masterson sat silently in the public gallery and asked for her victim impact statement to be read into the record at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court. She waived her right to anonymity, which meant Reynolds could be named.“As a result of my marriage, I have been left with constant fatigue, stress and anxiety. The ongoing argument, control and bullying have left me emotionally scarred and with massive trust issues against people,” she said in the statement.She said the ordeal had left her financially destroyed while living in an apartment.“All I can hope for is for things to improve, but I live with that feeling of dread that this is as good as life gets for us. I hope I manage to move on and make the best of things, but the tiredness of the last decade makes me feel like giving up most days.,” she also said in the statement.The court heard the seizure of Reynolds’s phone had revealed 13 hours of recorded conversations.Reynolds accused Masterson of lying or infidelity and did not want her to see a friend he disapproved of and he stopped her from leaving the house, the court heard.In the recordings, the couple could be heard shouting at each other, with sounds of the arguments becoming physical on both sides.Some recordings continued after the arguments, during which Reynolds could be heard sobbing. He told gardaí he earned the money and his wife spent it. The court heard they both had to deal with mental health issues.Reynolds joined An Garda Síochána in 2003. From the following year, he worked out of Dublin Castle in traffic policing before being transferred to the Westmeath division in 2019.A Garda sergeant agreed that Reynolds, with an address near Mullingar, was the sole income earner in the household, and the recordings reflected calm periods and periods of escalation, as well as household issues, particularly as they moved toward separation. The sergeant agreed that the escalations de-escalated quite quickly.Reynolds’ barrister said there appeared to be financial pressures. He had a long commute, and both individuals were dealing with mental health issues, the court heard.Counsel for Reynolds said her client was involved in his children’s lives and he was devastated by the situation. She said his guilty plea was of significant value. Reynolds did not address the court.The court heard he faced dismissal from the force. He has been suspended since January, obtained construction work and has become isolated.