A man considered a “sex pest” has been banned from having a girlfriend without telling social workers.
Andrew Thomas, 49, was caught recording his 65-year-old neighbour changing in her bedroom with an iPhone stuck to a vase of artificial flowers at her home near Pitlochry, Scotland.
He is said to have befriended the victim and set up a camera phone in artificial flowers in her bedroom, filming her changing over several months.
The 49-year-old’s sick actions were caught when the horrified victim discovered the device while rearranging her artificial flowers. Its memory was found to hold more than 40 hours of intimate recordings of her in varying states of undress and he was later caught sneaking around inside the property by the woman’s daughter and her partner.
Thomas confessed what he had done and admitted having romantic feelings for his victim, Daily Record reported.
Sheriff Alison McKay placed Thomas on the S£x Offenders Register for five years and ordered him to carry out 300 hours unpaid work in the community.
Fiscal depute Rachel Hill told the court the woman lived alone in a small village near Thomas’s home town of Pitlochry.
She added: “On July 29 2023, the complainer was in the process of rearranging artificial flowers in a vase at the foot of her bed. She became aware of an object within the vase, which had a camera lens pointing in the general direction of her bed.
“Upon further investigation, this was found to be a mobile phone attached to the inside of the vase, connected to a power bank also inside the vase.
“It could be seen from the screen a video recording was taking place. It appeared to have been running for a period of 40 hours and 45 minutes.”
When her daughter looked at the photo gallery, she found 34 files.
Ms Hill added: “She could see from the thumbnails that there were intimate images of her mother in various stages of undress and also while naked. She considered the accused to be a friend and they regularly socialised together with shared coffees, alcoholic drinks and dog walks.”
Solicitor Linda Clark, defending, told the court: “It seems Mr Thomas was infatuated with the complainer. He thought a friendship was going to materialise into something different.
“That is no excuse to explain his decision to place a recording device within the complainer’s household. He misinterpreted a situation, but again that’s no excuse.”
The peeping tom recorded the unsuspecting pensioner between January 29 and July 29, 2023.
The sheriff said: “The circumstances of the offence are quite concerning and involve a violation of the complainer’s home and her privacy. I’m not certain whether it’s made better or worse that she was someone you befriended, rather than a stranger.”
She imposed a 12-clause conduct order which includes restricting his phone and internet use, a ban on approaching his victim, and restrictions on any new friendships or relationships.