A ‘sex obsessed’ Royal Navy sailor hid secret cameras in his bathroom to spy on two women after fantasising about having a threesome with one of them and his wife, a court martial heard.
Able Seaman Anthony Hooper, 33, invited the sisters to stay with him before installing spy cameras around his home which he watched live from his mobile phone.
AB Hooper was only caught out when one victim spotted one of the cameras and alerted her sister.
The two women then recorded a video message on their phone for the sailor’s wife to tell her what he had been up to.
As he sentenced the engineering technician to an 18 month service community order, Judge Advocate General Darren Reed told AB Hooper his actions were a ‘gross breach of trust and an invasion of privacy’.
Anthony Hooper spied on women by hiding cameras in a bathroom, a court martial heard
The court heard AB Hooper had contacted one of his victims on Facebook before inviting her to stay with him as he wanted her to be part of a ‘sexual relationship with him and his wife’ at his home in Gosport, near Portsmouth, Hampshire.
AB Hooper and his wife have since divorced and he has now left the Navy, the court was told.
Prosecuting, Lieutenant Commander Jamie Brotherton told Bulford Military Court, Wilts: ‘AB Hooper offered to let her stay with him in his house.
‘AB Hooper, on Facebook messenger, offered to bring her into a sexual relationship with him and his wife.’
When the woman visited with her sister – both Polish nationals, AB Hooper repeatedly moved cameras around the house to try to film them, the court heard.
AB Hooper pleaded guilty to voyeurism and installing equipment for the purpose
Lt Cdr Brotherton continued: ‘He installed a hidden camera in the bathroom and recorded.
‘He put one of the hidden cameras in a vent above the shower, sink and toilet area.
‘One of the women went to the toilet and he filmed her as she exposed her genitals and bottom.
‘Later on, one of the women noticed the hidden camera, and told her sister about it in Polish.
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‘AB Hooper removed the camera before re-installing it later, as well as one above the curtain pole in his bedroom.
‘He was able to see what the camera was recording on his phone.
‘After they had left, [his victims] recorded a video message for his wife, telling her they he had been secretly filming.
‘AB Hooper reported himself to service police for voyeurism. His home was searched and a small black camera was found.’
In a victim impact statement read to the court, one of AB Hooper’s victims said: ‘This incident has been terrible for my mental health.
‘I felt like a movie, things like this don’t happen in real life.
‘Everywhere I go in public now I do a search [for hidden cameras].
‘It was such a crazy situation.’
The court heard the sailor, who was based at HMS Nelson, Portsmouth, had since been medically discharged from the Navy due to an injury and was now in ‘full time engineering employment’.
The sailor was given an 18-month service community order at Bulford Military Court
As he sentenced AB Hooper, Judge Reed said he had demonstrated a ‘significant degree of planning’.
He continued: ‘You told the probation officer you were obsessed with sex at the time.
‘Two friends came to stay with you.
‘You installed hidden cameras and recorded them going to the toilet.
‘This was a gross breach of trust and an invasion of privacy.’
Having pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism, and another of installing equipment for that purpose, AB Hooper, formerly of HMS Nelson, Portsmouth, was handed an 18 month service community order and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
A destruction order was made for his cameras.
