Man sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court for secretly filming women

A photographer who has been described as an "absolute creep" who set up hidden cameras in changing rooms to film dozens of aspiring young models who came to him for portfolio shoots over at least four years has been jailed for 20 months.

David Glover, of Edelweiss View, Tallington, Lincolnshire, made secret recordings of the women and catalogued them on his computer, Peterborough Crown Court heard.

One of the women, Francesca Rowden, who waived her right to anonymity, told the court she no longer worked in the modelling industry.

She said it made her "skin crawl" to think that she had trusted the defendant, who also photographed family events, to take photographs of her baby.

A second woman said in a statement read to the court said she felt "utterly violated" at being filmed in what she thought was a private space, and a third said "the guy is an absolute creep".

Another, breaking down in tears, said: "I thought about how this could affect my career now if they (the images) ever got leaked."

The 48-year-old defendant admitted at an earlier hearing to five counts of voyeurism concerning 35 adult female victims who have been identified by police.

Thomas Brown, prosecuting, said a further "70 or so" women were in footage that police found on Glover's electronic devices.

Mr Brown said these women have not been identified and Glover was not being sentenced over images of these further women, but could face further proceedings if any of them come forward.

Mr Brown said Glover "produced portfolios of aspirant models involved in the fashion industry" and also worked as a wedding photographer.

"He was well thought of," he said.

The prosecutor said Glover did not own a photographic studio but would shoot in his own home and would sometimes hire studio space.

He hired studio space in a Cambridgeshire village in 2014 to photograph "a model who wished to further her career".

"There was private space provided by the studio for people to change from their outdoor, everyday clothing into whatever they were wearing for the shoot," said the prosecutor.

"As a private space, it was used for exactly that purpose by people who were to be photographed."

Mr Brown said that the woman's partner attended with her "to hold the bags, so to speak" and he "noticed in the changing room an alarm clock that looked remarkably out of context".

He investigated further and found it was a covert camera, and that the memory card in it had footage of his partner getting changed on it.

The woman confronted Glover about this and he claimed that the studio proprietor had been "accusing him of taking thing from the changing rooms and the camera was a security measure designed to demonstrate that that wasn't the case".

The woman accepted the explanation and apology at the time, and did not make a report to police, but did so later in 2019 after she "worried about what happened" and "how far these images had gone".

She had also heard "rumours of the defendant's behaviour towards clients", Mr Brown said.

"It triggered a police investigation," she said.

"The police visited Mr Glover at home.

"They seized his media devices and they were forensically examined."

Officers identified three more women from footage that they viewed and he was initially charged with voyeurism in respect of four named women and 103 unidentified adult females.

Mr Brown said the case came to court and as a result of press interest more women came forward - resulting in the charges which Glover admitted.

These were the original four counts of voyeurism in respect of individual named women, and a fifth count with a schedule of 31 names.

"There are 70 or so other people who have been similarly captured who remain orbiting and unidentified," said Mr Brown.

He said that Glover "admits by his plea" that he filmed the 35 women for "his own sexual gratification".

Several of the women attended court to read their victim impact statements and the bearded, grey-haired defendant looked at the floor and did not meet their gaze as he listened from the secure dock.

Mr Brown, summarising some of the statements, said they told of "anxiety, stress, distress, feelings of degradation, feelings of stupidity at being caught by such a thing, feeling physically ill, and wary of images escaping into the wider sphere".

Mohammed Latif, mitigating, said Glover was of previous good character.

He said that the "bulk of the victims" were recorded in 2014 to 2016, with one victim recorded in 2013 and one in 2017.

"He feels guilt, shame and disgust at his behaviour," he said.

Judge Matthew Lowe said: "Following the breakdown of his marriage in 2011, this defendant sought to turn what had been a hobby into a business and began working as a professional photographer."

He said the offending took place over at least four years, was "clearly planned offending" and some of the women in the footage appeared "completely naked".

The judge said the camera was "positioned on or near a mirror to make sure he got the view he wanted", adding: "There's evidence he at times removed obstacles."

He sentenced Glover to 20 months in prison.

The defendant was also ordered to sign the sex offenders' register, was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and his electronic devices that were used in the offending were confiscated.