A Lisnaskea man has been convicted of voyeurism after videos were discovered on his phone of a woman and her daughters in a bathroom.

James Thomas Ace Warren (32), of Castlebalfour Drive, Lisnaskea appeared at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on Monday for sentencing for the two charges relating back to an incident on February 14, 2017.

The court heard police seized Warren’s phone concerning an unrelated matter which led to the discovery of a large number of similar images.

Owner of camera

Some 20,000 photos and 20 videos were on the phone, however, only two were related to this case.

Warren was the owner of a camera that was intentionally placed in a bathroom to capture the homeowner and her daughters.

When interviewed the defendant admitted owning the camera and images and videos were automatically uploaded to his phone.

He said he had not placed the camera on purpose but had put it in his bag to see who was taking his stuff.

A video on the phone showed Warren adjusting the camera for a better angle.

Due to the passage of time, Warren said he did not remember exactly what was on the phone but denied adjusting it for a better angle and that he was getting something from his work bag.

Defending barrister, Stephen Mooney told the court that while there was a “degree of nonsense” in Warren’s account he did plead guilty at the first available opportunity.

And while he did not accept his guilt during interview, when the dust settled he did accept his guilt.

Mr. Mooney pointed out the length of time the matter has taken to come to court and this has been hanging over Warren’s head, but it was not a delay Warren was culpable for.

Referring to the pre-sentence report, Mr. Mooney said there was real remorse on Warren’s behalf and his mental health had suffered as a result of coming before the court.

He also offered that there may be a more constructive way of dealing with the matter instead of custody and helping Warren deal with this aspect of his life.

According to District Judge Steven Keown, the custody threshold had been met in the matter but he did not feel it would have been of “meaningful benefit” to send Warren to prison.

He felt it would be more appropriate to stop this from happening again and to reduce the risk of reoffending by ordering Warren to complete a two-year probation order.