A spycam bungler who set up a secret filming operation in an unsuspecting woman’s bedroom managed only to record his own face.
The clear footage helped convict Robert Ferguson, who was placed on the sex offenders register for three years yesterday.
But Sheriff William Wood refused to confiscate Ferguson’s mobile phone after being told the only person he had recorded successfully on it was himself.
Sheriff Wood told Ferguson: “This was an act of extreme stupidity.”
He ordered Ferguson to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work in the community and made him subject to a conduct requirement.
Ferguson, 53, gained access to the 20-year-old woman’s room while she was in a bath and hid his new Samsung Galaxy 8 phone behind a pile of clothes.
He set it up to record the woman when she was getting changed after her bath but the only person who featured on the video was Ferguson.
Sheriff Wood said: “She was shocked at your behaviour and she seems to have felt a significant and severe sense of violation that you acted in this particular way.
“You gave no thought to the possibility of that sort of impact or you were reckless to the consequences.
Perth Sheriff Court was told that the phone became so hot while it was recording that it eventually stopped before the woman returned to her bedroom.
She was only in the room for a short time on February 11 when she noticed the phone and realised what Ferguson – who was known to her – had been trying to do.
Depute fiscal Bill Kermode said the woman “felt stick and really upset”.
Ferguson initially denied responsibility but eventually admitted he had set up the covert filming operation.
He claimed he had done it as a joke.
Mr Kermode added: “He admitted entering the bedroom and hiding the phone behind some clothing while it was set to record.
“He stopped short of stating it was for sexual gratification and said that it was a joke.”
Ferguson of Clunie Way, Stanley, admitted trying to record footage of a woman’s genitals, buttocks or underwear with the intention of viewing it later on.
