Locations
Meadowbank Drive, Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66
Description
An man who secretly filmed people using the toilet has been jailed for 32 months.
Matthew Thomas, 39, from Meadowbank Drive in Ellesmere Port was sentenced on Friday after appearing in Chester Crown Court.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to voyeurism, recording images of children, three counts of taking indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images and two counts of possession of extreme pornography.
Thomas was caught after a woman using a toilet at an unnamed business noticed a bright light coming from a jacket hung up in her cubicle in September 2020.
After taking a closer look, she realised there was a hole in the pocket of the jacket with a camera lens sitting up against the hole and contacted people.
Thomas was arrested on suspicion of voyeurism and an investigation launched by Cheshire Police.
Police seized three mobile phones, an iPad, laptop and other computer equipment after Thomas' arrest and discovered over 100 videos "of a sexual nature" dating as far back as 2008, including videos depicting voyeurism and up skirting.
Officers also found 28 indecent images of children and two further videos depicting extreme pornography.
Thomas was sentenced last week to 32 months in prison, where he was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely and received a 10 year sexual harm prevention order.
After his sentencing, Ellesmere Port local policing unit DC Lois Elvey paid tribute to the "extraordinary courage and strength of his victims."
DC Elvey said: What Thomas did was inexcusable he secretly recorded his victims in order to fulfil his own sexual gratification.
It was only by chance that his crimes were uncovered when one of his victims discovered a camera hidden in the pocket of a jacket.
When we examined his electronic devices we discovered 67 separate videos of people using the toilet, which involved 17 separate victims, and some were under the age of 18 when the footage was filmed.
We also found examples of upskirting which Thomas had filmed while on a day out.
Thankfully, the strength of the evidence against him was so strong that he was left with no option but to plead guilty to all of the charges against him and he is now facing the consequences of his actions.
I hope that the sentence handed to Thomas today will provide reassurance to his victims, who have shown an extraordinary amount of courage and strength throughout the course of the investigation, and allow them to move forward with their lives.