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Landlord installed secret camera to spy on student while she used the toilet

He is due to be sentenced on Friday


A landlord has admitted to using a secret camera to spy on his student tenant while she used the bathroom.

Paul Potter pleaded guilty to three accounts of voyeurism last year after the student discovered the device, which had recorded images of her using the shower and toilet in Potter’s property.

Four nights after spotting a black cylindrical object in the bathroom, the student noticed a blinking red light and discovered the device contained a memory card.

Using her laptop, she looked through the stored images to find they showed her washing and using the toilet.

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Credit: SWNS

Appearing in Plymouth Crown Court., The 52-year-old landlord admitted to installing the camera and recording private images of a women’s genitalia.

The student told the police: “This was a horrible thing to have happened to me.

“I was horrified to find these images. I trusted him and he had keys to my room.”

The prosecution lawyer said the student had moved out, and claimed Potter had not paid back the rent the student had paid him in advance.

The defence lawyer denied this, and said Potter had been depressed after his marriage broke down.

“He behaved stupidly and in an unhealthy way,” he told the court.

The court has been adjourned until Friday until the matter of the advance rent is resolved.

Potter has been released on bail. The Judge told him: “Do not take the fact that I am releasing you on bail as any indication of any sentence you may receive.”

He had told the court earlier in the trial: “That was a pretty horrible offence.”

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• A University of Edinburgh staff member has been convicted after installing cameras in ladies’ toilets

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