The maximum penalty for his repeated offending was three years in prison.
However, Judge Quentin Hix handed down three months of community detention - meaning Knowles is confined to his home during the curfew hours.
Police are now "currently considering its options in relation to any possible appeals".
The Herald has been granted permission to publish the full details of the offending -which began in October 2019 shortly after his estranged wife was granted a temporary protection order against him.
In January 2020 Knowles' ex - who has permanent name suppression - was visiting a friend and he was spotted "loitering around" the address about 15m from the entrance "watching" the property.
He was charged with breaching the protection order - but that did not stop him.
In February 2020 a final protection order was issued.
In June Knowles went to an address he owns with his ex - next to the house where she lived at the time with their children.
Court documents reveal he stood at a fence that divides the two properties and for almost two hours, "stared at the victim's address" while she was home.
Her security cameras captured him that night - and on a number of other occasions, leaving her feeling scared and intimidated in her own home.
In August 2020 Knowles was seen a number of times parked in a car near where the victim was.
One time she was on a class trip with one of her children, another time he was parked near the former family home.
Both times he was in a car the victim did not recognise.
In August he also placed a GPS tracking device on his ex-wife's car.
The tracker enabled him to send a text code and receive the GPS location of her car whenever he wanted.
Across 27 days he sent 73 text messages to obtain information about where her car was.
On August 31 police, alerted by the woman, searched the car and discovered the tracker and removed it.
But the next day Knowles "crawled down the driveway" of her property at 12.15am and placed a second tracker on the car.
The Herald understands Knowles' actions were caught on security camera.
Police found the second tracking device hours later - in the same spot as the first.
At sentencing Knowles' ex wife described living with two years of "unrelenting" intimidation and threats and feared Knowles, who felt "completely entitled" to do whatever he wanted regardless of any court order.
"I feel he will never leave me alone … he thinks of me as his possession and that he should have complete control over me," she said.
"I feel anxious, stressed, paranoid ... His behaviour has been frightening … stalking and following us absolutely everywhere … I am fearful of what comes next… I fear for my safety."
Prosecutor Kerri Bell said in court that Knowles "creeping" offending was "quite disturbing".
"It demonstrates a high level of psychological abuse, a high level of control … The lack of violence and contact here shouldn't minimise the offending," she told the court.
"This is a very clear case of very severe psychological abuse."
Defence lawyer Simon Shamy disagreed, saying the fact that there was "no violence, no threat of violence, no communication" meant the offending was "lower-level offending".
Judge Hix agreed the combination of repeated offending were "serious psychological abuse".
But he was convinced by a pre-sentence report from a psychologist that Knowles had changed his approach and was improving his attitude towards his family.
He felt the most appropriate sentence for Knowles was three months 'community detention with a curfew from 10pm to 5am.
DO YOU NEED HELP?
If you're in danger now:
• Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours of friends to ring for you.
• Run outside and head for where there are other people.
• Scream for help so that your neighbours can hear you.
• Take the children with you.
• Don't stop to get anything else.
• If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay
Where to go for help or more information:
• Shine, free national helpline 9am- 11pm every day - 0508 744 633 www.2shine.org.nz
• Women's Refuge: Free national crisis line operates 24/7 - 0800 refuge or 0800 733 843 www.womensrefuge.org.nz
• Shakti: Providing specialist cultural services for African, Asian and middle eastern women and their children. Crisis line 24/7 0800 742 584
• It's Not Ok: Information line 0800 456 450 www.areyouok.org.nz
