A WOMAN whose former boyfriend tried to blow up her car was ‘living in fear of him trying to finish her off’ until he was jailed on Thursday (January 26).

Former Ministry of Defence employee Malcolm Stewart, 44, attached four home-made explosive devices underneath, and in the wheel arches of Pamela Manning’s car after a financial dispute on February 19, last year.

When Ms Manning, 54, returned to her Home Farm Road, Houghton, cottage after meeting friends in St Ives, she found two coke bottles lying in the road, which she later found out had detonators attached.

Ms Manning, who has since moved house, told The Hunts Post: “When I was driving, the car felt a bit strange and bumpy. It was extremely frightening when I found out what they were.

“I was told they could have gone off at high speeds, so it could have hurt anyone, if it went off while I was driving, or in the town, it could have killed a lot more people.

“When I knew what they were, I knew Malcolm had done it. At the end of the relationship he had become quite violent an angry and he had been harassing me for years.”

The couple broke up in 2009 after 10 years together, when Stewart, who used to work at RAF Wyton, attacked her, and Ms Manning believed that Stewart could “start a new life” when he got a job with the MoD in Bristol.

“It could be that he learnt how to make bombs at his work for the MoD, he could look at all the secure files, and he was also in the Territorial Army for 10 years so could have learnt it there as well,” she said.

“It’s such a relief to know that he won’t be in my life anymore, I just felt after the attack, if he would come back to finish me off. I can start my life again now.”

After the attack, the grandmother was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which affects soldiers who have served active duty, which has destroyed Ms Manning’s relationships with friends and partners.

She added: “I haven’t been able to let anyone into my life because I don’t trust anyone. I’ve tried to make new friends but feel it’s not worth it. I just want to be happy again and I wish I could trust people, it may take some time but I will get there.”

Stewart. of Adelante Close, Bristol, was convicted of attempted arson with intent to cause damage and possessing an offensive weapon following a trial at Peterborough Crown Court. He was jailed for five years and two months. He was also given a 15-year restraining order from Ms Manning and from entering Cambridgeshire.