Jail for man who secretly filmed members of the public at venue

Tom Milton, of Clive Road in Eston, set up and switched on the camera that he had hidden in the changing room of the premises.

The 32-year-old, who worked as a school technician at the venue, then went back to the changing room with a view to remove the device only to find it had already been taken from its hiding place.

Prior to handing himself into police an investigation had begun by detectives from Cleveland Police that included up to 35 devices being recovered, seized and forensically examined.

This led to him being charged with voyeurism and creating pseudo image offences and he was remanded in custody until the day of his trial.

On Monday 3 November Milton appeared at Durham Crown Court and following an eight-day trial, a jury found him guilty of five counts of voyeurism. Milton had pleaded guilty to three counts of creating pseudo images at an earlier hearing.

Milton appeared at Teesside Crown Court on Monday 15 December to be sentenced to three years. He was also put on the Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

During the trial the court heard how on Saturday 5 July, the camera had been sighted inside an air conditioning unit and removed by a child who then handed it to an adult.

Later that night the woman attended to a police station to report and hand in the camera that had been located.

Three days later, on Tuesday 8 July, Milton disclosed to another woman, who had re-visited the venue, that he was the one who had put the camera in the changing room. He then also said the same comment to another member of staff which led him to attend Middlesbrough police station a short time later.

Upon his arrival, he was arrested and questioned by detectives while in custody. He disclosed he had placed the camera in the changing room and in the bedroom of a property without members of the public or the occupant knowing.

Meanwhile, officers had already begun seizing devices and conducting a search of Milton’s home.

What followed was detectives spending time reviewing hours of footage that uncovered Milton had been filming for a period of six years. As well as the footage, he had also made numerous pseudo images.

The case was put to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) who authorised he be charged and remanded.

Detective Constable Jonathon Collins said: “From the beginning, Milton has consistently made outrageous claims for why he chose to place cameras in the changing room and in the bedroom of a property to secretly film members of the public, refusing to acknowledge and accept any wrongdoing.

“He has violated the privacy of many people, including young children, spying on them for what I believe is for his own gratification.

“The investigation involved reviewing countless amounts of footage and then in doing so we came across images that Milton had created from the content he had filmed.

“I am pleased a jury could see through his lies and convict him of these offences where he has been rightly sentenced, securing justice for all the victims.”