'Voyeur' rigged camera in bedroom

Darren Ralph admitted three counts of voyeurism

An electrician who rigged a secret camera in a married couple's bedroom has been jailed for three months.

Darren Ralph, 39, fitted the camera while installing a burglar alarm in the couple's £300,000 home in Hirwaun, south Wales, in 2002.

The pictures were beamed to Ralph's home - also in Hirwaun - for two years until the wife discovered the "spycam" hidden in a wardrobe.

Ralph admitted three counts of voyeurism at Merthyr Crown Court.

The court heard that the couple, in their 30s, asked the qualified electrician to install the alarm in their large detached home while they were on holiday.

But Ralph also trained a camera on the bed and ran the wires up to a transmitter in the loft, which broadcast the pictures to a receiver at his home.

Two years later the wife noticed a neatly-drilled hole in a fitted wardrobe when she was putting away a duvet, the court heard.

Denied knowledge

Prosecutor Jeremy Jenkins said: "She went to get some cotton wool to plug the hole when she noticed something moving within it.

"She called her husband who went to investigate and found a series of leads. On closer inspection he found the leads were connected to a camera lens.

"The lens was very small and attached to a transmitter which ultimately linked to Ralph, who had been recording the couple having sex."

The court was told the couple confronted Ralph, but when he denied any knowledge of the camera they went to the police.

Detectives inspected the camera and found that pictures were being beamed to a receiver in Ralph's garage.

It was a calculated act of voyeurism with a significant element of sophistication Judge John Curran

The court heard that when Ralph was arrested he said: "Yes - I did it. It was me. I'm a pervert. I've lost everything. I'm sorry."

Police recovered video tapes from his home, including scenes of the couple having sex and shots of the wife undressing.

In a police interview, Ralph said: "The camera was on all the time. I would view it twice a week. Sometimes three times a week.

"I just started watching it as a matter of interest and just couldn't stop."

Judge John Curran told the electrician he had committed a "gross breach of trust".

He added: "It was a calculated act of voyeurism with a significant element of sophistication."