A police officer hacked a married man's social media accounts and posted slurs about his wife in a four-month stalking campaign.

Ashley Boyd has been jailed for 11 months after becoming "fixated" by her former friend's husband.

The 27-year-old developed an obsession with Kevin O'Connor, who is married to her former work colleague, and even cancelled the family's hospital appointments.

When caught, the mother of one said she had been in an intimate relationship with the married man but later admitted that was untrue.

Boyd hacked Mr O'Connor's social media accounts and sent messages to his friends pretending to be him talking about his "unhappy marriage".

She also changed his relationship status on Facebook to single and posted an offensive comment about his wife on his Twitter account.

Efforts made by Mr O'Connor to delete the Facebook account were unsuccessful because Boyd had changed the password and linked her email address to the account.

The stalker also convinced a friend to give a false statement to police taking the blame for the Twitter post in an attempt to divert the blame.

Police investigated the IP address used to access the Facebook account, which led them to Boyd's mobile number.

A search warrant was granted and Boyd's phones were examined and an incriminating text message discovered.

Boyd, from Moodiesburn, North Lanarkshire, pleaded, guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to "engaging in a course of conduct which cased Rhona and Kevin O'Connor fear and alarm" by stalking, between June and September last year.

She also admitted a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Sheriff Paul Crozier jailed Boyd for 11 months and granted a five-year non-harassment order to protect the O'Connors.

Procurator fiscal depute Andrew Beadsworth said: "Boyd appears to have become fixated upon Kevin O'Connor."

The ordeal started when Mrs O'Connor became friends with Boyd when they worked in a Boots store together, although the friendship had deteriorated by the end of 2013.

Boyd resigned from Boots in March 2015 and joined Police Scotland later that year.

In September last year, Mr O'Connor took his wife to Glasgow Royal Infirmary hospital for an appointment only to be told by staff that the appointment had been cancelled by the patient.

Investigations revealed Boyd phoned the hospital twice on that day.