October 2012
Pervert who spied on his neighbours, taking photos and filming them also caught with indecent images of children
John Andrew Chambers, 47, also added a disgusting sexual commentary to the tapes and filmed women passing his former home.
Carlisle Crown Court heard how Chambers formerly of Victoria Road, Botcherby, would stand naked at his window and film and photograph innocent women who walked by.
Prosecutor Robert Dudley said: “One woman saw Chambers taking photos as she left Botcherby Community Centre with her son and two other mothers. She reported the matter to a police community support officer.
“Another woman saw him everyday on her commute to work. He would be standing naked in the front dining room window of his house. On August 2 last year she saw him naked taking photos of her and reported it to police who searched his home.”
They found cameras, recording equipment, memory sticks, binoculars and pornographic magazines. He told police he may have taken some pictures while he was naked and that he usually took pictures of women aged 18 to 50.
Mr Dudley said: “Police found a large number of photos of women walking past his house. They also found a memory stick showing women walking around their homes – some in a state of undress.
“One neighbour was forced to keep her blinds down and another neighbour shouted at him and he hid behind a curtain. One neighbour referred to him as the creepy man.”
Chambers, who now lives on Warwick Square in Carlisle city centre, admitted five counts of voyeurism and eight charges of possessing indecent photos of children. He appeared at crown court yesterday for sentence.
Police found 15 level one images of children, two level two images and three images at level three on his computer.
Greg Hoare, defending said: “Chambers can accept that his course of conduct was wholly inappropriate. He is utterly ashamed and disgusted that he behaved in that way.”
Judge Peter Hughes QC told Chambers: “You have what I can only describe as a disgusting, unhealthy and perverted sexual interest.
“I had to view the images which were found on your computer equipment. It wasn’t so much the child porn that shocked me, it was the images of those innocent women and neighbours that you captured with your snooping and the quite revolting sexual commentary that accompanied those images.”
He imposed a three-year community order with a supervision requirement and ordered Chambers to attend the sexual offenders treatment programme.
Chambers must also sign the sex offenders register and be subject to a sexual offences prevention order for five years. He is barred from working with vulnerable adults and children and must pay £1,000 court costs.
