![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_01HNZ6DQT6M0S7XRHT3EKPV865.jpg\")
Ballymena Magistrates’ Court(Image: Liam McBurney\/PA Wire)<\/p>\nAlleged injured party also uncovered a microphone \u201chidden under the drawers of her bed,\u201d a PSNI officer told the court<\/p>\n
17:15, 07 Aug 2025Updated 17:32, 07 Aug 2025<\/p>\n
Ballymena Magistrates’ Court(Image: Liam McBurney\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n
A North Antrim man accused of voyeurism hid a video camera and microphone in his ex\u2019s bedroom, a court heard today (Thurs).<\/p>\n
Ballymena<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n Appearing in the dock the defendant, who cannot be identified to protect the victim, was charged with three offences<\/a>, including voyeurism, stalking and assault, alleged to have been committed between 1 May and 5 August this year.<\/p>\n 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 \u201cshe believed she had found a hidden camera in the ceiling light of her bedroom\u201d.<\/p>\n The woman told police<\/a> that having been in an \u201con\/off relationship\u201d 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.<\/p>\n He did leave but the court heard that he turned up at her door \u201cshaking and crying and asking to talk\u201d and in the end, she allowed him to stay the night on condition that he slept on the sofa.<\/p>\n 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 \u201cand he left shortly afterwards\u201d.<\/p>\n It was on 4 August, the court heard, that the victim was lying on her bed and \u201cheard an electrical noise\u201d and saw \u201cwhat appeared to be a camera,\u201d hidden in the ceiling light fitting.<\/p>\n After taking pictures of it, she left to go to her parents\u2019 home and while she texted the defendant asking him about what she had uncovered, \u201che did not reply\u201d.<\/p>\n On checking the defendant\u2019s location, she found that \u201che was at her house\u201d and when she went back with her dad, they discovered the camera had been replaced \u201cwith a headlamp torch stuffed into the hole in the ceiling\u201d.<\/p>\n She also uncovered a microphone \u201chidden under the drawers of her bed,\u201d the officer told the court. Arrested and interviewed, the 31-year-old \u201cmade admissions involving the camera and the microphone in the bedroom\u2026but he denied that he was watching her for sexual gratification.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, he claimed he was using the covert technology \u201cto see if she was with anyone,\u201d outlining to detectives that she was \u201cgiving mixed signals\u201d about whether she wanted to get back with him or not.<\/p>\n 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 \u201cdoesn\u2019t fully grasp the gravity of the situation\u201d.<\/p>\n She revealed the defendant told police he \u201conly felt guilty because he was caught\u201d.<\/p>\n Defence solicitor Garrett Greene suggested that given the admissions and the defendant\u2019s clear record, he could be granted bail, albeit with stringent conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cOn balance, I will admit him to bail,\u201d District Judge Nigel Broderick told the court, but he warned the defendant, \u201cbe 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\u201d.<\/p>\n In addition to his own bail of \u00a3500 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.<\/p>\n For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage <\/strong>here<\/strong> <\/a>and <\/strong>sign up to our daily newsletter<\/strong> <\/a>here.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alleged injured party also uncovered a microphone \u201chidden under the drawers of her bed,\u201d a PSNI officer told…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[958,78922,188,1144,1618,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-325776","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-ballymena","9":"tag-co-antrim","10":"tag-crime","11":"tag-northern-ireland","12":"tag-psni","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114988725418268076","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}