John Wood 46

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A voyeur who hacked into home security cameras to spy on unsuspecting homeowners also used a hidden camera to film families in Butlins, Swindon Crown Court heard.

Sentencing John Wood, 42, to two years imprisonment suspended for two years, Judge Peter Crabtree labelled the mans crimes a systematic campaign of voyeurism over a period of six years.

Prosecutor Russell Pyne told the court Wood had been snared by the south west regional organised crime squads cyber unit during a joint investigation with the FBI into super-hacker Colton Grubbs, whose software LuminosityLink allowed users to secretly activate cameras and microphones to secretly record people in their own homes.

Detectives discovered that dad-of-one Wood had bought the software in July 2015, although there was no evidence he had used it.

But when officers analysed Woods computers they found a huge cache of secret video recordings hed made between 2011 and 2016.

He had also hacked into peoples private webcams and other camera-enabled devices to secretly watching them in their own homes. A programme, Blue Iris, more commonly used to organise CCTV feeds, had been used so he could monitor different illicitly-accessed cameras. There were 1,400 video files saved in a file named Blue Iris Videos, the majority of which showed people having sex at home. Videos linked to 45 different IP addresses had been uncovered.

One of his victims, a London man whose home security camera was accessed by Wood, said in an impact statement: It made me feel vulnerable and violated that the sanctity of our home has been accessed.

Wood also had almost 300 videos that he had shot himself. He used a camera to film women from windows in his home, devices hidden in his house and at a holiday cottage and took a hidden camera to Butlins, Bognor Regis, in November 2012, to film women in changing rooms.

One of his victims, who had been filmed using the toilet in Woods own home, said in a victim statement that she was absolutely shocked and disgusted that hed deliberately made recordings of me behind closed doors.

Another woman said: The truth is its frustrating to think there are people out there that do things like this.

The 77 videos shot over five days at Butlins showed over 167 victims - including children, although no indecent material was found on Wood's computer. None of the victims had been identified by police.

Wood, formerly of Station Road, Minety, pleaded guilty at the magistrates court to six counts of voyeurism and two charges under the Computer Misuse Act.

John Wood leaves Swindon Crown Court on Tuesday

Nicholas Wragg, defending, said his client had been diagnosed with various mental disorders including autism, hoarding disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. He was receiving therapy. He was married with a daughter with learning difficulties, had the support of his family and was the main breadwinner in the house.

Wood, who was of previous good character, had fully admitted his offending when he was interviewed by the police in 2018. He had stayed out of trouble in the three years since he was arrested.

Mr Wragg told the court: The defendants understanding of the harm he has done to others has not been done on an emotional level, because he lacks that capacity. It has been on a purely intellectual level that he had come to learn of that impact on others. That is so difficult for people who have that ability to understand and appreciate it.

The quantity and nature of the offending is serious but the defendant has recognised that and used his time well. It is of course a work in progress, but he has shown commitment and after all this time there is a reasonable prospect of rehabilitation.

He said some of the people whose cameras Wood hacked had been selling sex shows to voyeurs although the lawyer admitted his client had hacked into the video streams and was watching without the performers permission.

Judge Crabtree acknowledged Wood had mental health difficulties, but challenged claims he had not been sexually motivated. He noted the man had targeted attractive women, saying the fact he had concealed cameras and denied wrongdoing when confronted by one of his victims pointed to him knowing that what he was doing was wrong.

Under the terms of his suspended sentence order, Wood must complete the Horizon sex offender rehabilitation programme, 30 rehabilitation activity days and 100 hours or unpaid work.

He must abide by a 10 year sexual harm prevention order and sign onto the sex offenders register for 10 years.

The judge warned Wood about breaching the terms of his suspended sentence, telling him he would be jailed. "My starting point will be to say I got it wrong and Mr Wood doesn't want to be rehabilitated."