A tenant who secretly used his mobile phone to film his landlord having sex has been given a nine-month prison sentence.
Scott Jones, 33, of Chelmer Road, Medway, Kent, Jones was convicted of two charges of voyeurism at Peterborough Crown Court on 13 July and was eventually sentenced at Doncaster Crown Court this week.
The offence took place while he was renting accommodation at a house in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
A jury at Peterborough Crown Court was shown the 10-minute footage. The couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had come in from a night out and left the bedroom door ajar.
The landlord became suspicious of Jones after sensing someone at the door the landlord later took Jones’ mobile phone while he slept. He downloaded the footage onto his own computer before deleting it from the phone and contacting the police.
Jones pleaded not guilty to the two charges of voyeurism. He told police officers that the couple had asked him to film them and have sex with them. The couple denied these suggestions.
Before sentencing Jones to his nine month sentence, Judge Jacqueline Davies said the invasion of privacy and considerable amount of embarrassment caused to the couple had to be taken into consideration.
• More legal powers and more money are needed to deal with rogue landlords who are turning areas of Glasgow into rubbish strewn slums.
This was the plea from the city’s housing chiefs to Communities Minister Stewart Maxwell after he witnessed first hand overcrowded and cockroach infested flats during a tour of Govanhill.
The local authorities want the Minister to back new strategies being drawn up to tackle problems in the area. David Webster, the council's director of housing strategy, stated that the current laws are too weak.
Webster also wants the Scottish Government to establish a fund of up to £10m a year to enable councils carry out urgent work. Costs for repairs are to a privately-owned home would be claimed back from the landlord.
Govanhill has a large migrant community which, say local authorities, are being taken advantage of by landlords who are renting neglected properties to them.
Maxwell said he would consider situations such as these as part of a review of new laws.
