Alleged injured party also uncovered a microphone “hidden under the drawers of her bed,” a PSNI officer told the court

17:15, 07 Aug 2025Updated 17:32, 07 Aug 2025

Ballymena Magistrates’ Court(Image: Liam McBurney/PA Wire)

A North Antrim man accused of voyeurism hid a video camera and microphone in his ex’s bedroom, a court heard today (Thurs).

Ballymena Magistrates Court also heard that after the woman had spotted the camera and fled her home, the 31-year-old defendant let himself back into her home and removed the camera, replacing it with a headlamp torch.

Appearing in the dock the defendant, who cannot be identified to protect the victim, was charged with three offences, including voyeurism, stalking and assault, alleged to have been committed between 1 May and 5 August this year.

Outlining the police case during a contested application for bail, a detective told the court how the woman rang 999 on Tuesday to report that “she believed she had found a hidden camera in the ceiling light of her bedroom”.

The woman told police that having been in an “on/off relationship” with the defendant, she discovered he had been cheating again so having gone on holiday, she told him he had to be gone when she got back. When the woman landed, the defendant was still at her home and she told him she was not coming back until he was gone.

He did leave but the court heard that he turned up at her door “shaking and crying and asking to talk” and in the end, she allowed him to stay the night on condition that he slept on the sofa.

Although he left, the woman was able to see on her phone that he was sitting in his car at the end of her street so she contacted his sister “and he left shortly afterwards”.

It was on 4 August, the court heard, that the victim was lying on her bed and “heard an electrical noise” and saw “what appeared to be a camera,” hidden in the ceiling light fitting.

After taking pictures of it, she left to go to her parents’ home and while she texted the defendant asking him about what she had uncovered, “he did not reply”.

On checking the defendant’s location, she found that “he was at her house” and when she went back with her dad, they discovered the camera had been replaced “with a headlamp torch stuffed into the hole in the ceiling”.

She also uncovered a microphone “hidden under the drawers of her bed,” the officer told the court. Arrested and interviewed, the 31-year-old “made admissions involving the camera and the microphone in the bedroom…but he denied that he was watching her for sexual gratification.”

Instead, he claimed he was using the covert technology “to see if she was with anyone,” outlining to detectives that she was “giving mixed signals” about whether she wanted to get back with him or not.

The detective told the court police were objecting to bail due to fears of further offending and witness interference, highlighting that despite making admissions during questioning, the defendant “doesn’t fully grasp the gravity of the situation”.

She revealed the defendant told police he “only felt guilty because he was caught”.

Defence solicitor Garrett Greene suggested that given the admissions and the defendant’s clear record, he could be granted bail, albeit with stringent conditions.

“On balance, I will admit him to bail,” District Judge Nigel Broderick told the court, but he warned the defendant, “be under no illusion whatsoever – if you breach any conditions the likelihood is that you will be back in custody and will remain there until the case concludes”.

In addition to his own bail of £500 and a surety, the defendant is barred from contacting the alleged victim, barred from Coleraine, compelled to observe a curfew and be tagged and he is prohibited from alcohol. He will appear again 1 September.

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