Voyeur electrician who hid cameras in women’s homes jailed (2024)

Published

2 September 2024

A voyeur electrician who hid cameras in people’s homes and secretly filmed women in their bedrooms and bathrooms over a 10-year period has been jailed for two years and eight months.

James Denholm, 34, admitted a string of offences which were carried out in Aberdeen.

He recorded some women having sex and others using the toilet, showering or changing.

The offences only came to light after one woman found a device hidden under her bed. Police were called in, and the full scale of his crimes then emerged.

One shocked victim - who was secretly filmed having sex - told BBC Scotland News that what Denholm had done to her and others was "disgusting".

At Aberdeen Sheriff Court, Denholm admitted 15 offences involving 17 people at various addresses, many of which were under the Sexual Offences Scotland Act, between 2013 and 2023.

Two of the charges were said to have been committed in the course of his work as an electrician, while others related to people for whom he had previously carried out work.

He also took photos and videos from outside his victims’ homes, and filmed himself having sex with women without their knowledge.

The offending against one of the victims spanned a period of five years. This included taking a sex doll and lingerie into her home, dressing it in items of her clothing, and taking photos of it.

He also took or permitted to be taken or made indecent images or pseudo photos of children between 2007 and 2012.

Denholm was jailed for two years and eight months, then placed under supervision for a further two years and six months. His name was also added to the sex offenders register.

Sheriff Graham Buchanan said custody was the only appropriate disposal.

He said Denholm had committed serious offences over a lengthy period, and that it was clear many of the victims had suffered psychological harm.

Fiscal depute Kirsty Martin, prosecuting, told the court a woman found a recording device under her bed last year.

A search warrant was granted and it was then that all the material began to be found by police.

Denholm sat in the dock with his head in his hands as the crimes were detailed.

Defence counsel David Moggach said Denholm had received an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.

He said Denholm was now starting to appreciate that it had been a serious breach of trust, and had assured him that the material had not been shared with anyone else.

“He does find it difficult to articulate his reasoning,” he added.

One victim, who is now 28, only found out last year what had been happening when she got a call from police to tell her that explicit shots were found.

She was targeted about six years ago, and said the realisation someone had been filming her and her then partner was "horrible” and "gross".

The woman told BBC Scotland News: “All the police told me at the time was that there was indecent images and footage of me and my partner, taken without our knowledge.

"And then further down the line, we got a bit more information that it was of a sexual nature. It was mortifying."

She said she had suffered panic attacks since learning she had been targeted.

“I am anxious anyway and this made it worse. It has made me very angry that he has done this to people,” she said.

"I have even been checking rooms in my new place – I keep checking in nooks and crannies, looking for cameras.

“I still feel I have not processed it. I am never letting anyone in to do work in my house, unless I know them, or I will do it myself.”

Another victim said she eventually felt she had to move out of her flat after discovering she had been filmed getting changed.

The woman, 24, was contacted by police and discovered she had been filmed in her first floor bedroom from outside.

“It was quite a shock. I obviously had no idea of any of this," she told BBC Scotland News.

“It felt a total violation of my privacy. I think it's disgusting, I think it's appalling. Who thinks it's OK to invade other people's privacy on that scale? It's sick."

The woman said she was now much more wary of people around her.

"I struggled a lot with my sleeping, I have had to go through counselling, and it has had an impact on my studies.

“I ended up moving out of my flat as I did not feel safe. I did not want to stay there on my own."

She said she did not want the same to happen to anyone else, and said her message to Denholm was: "Why would you do it to me? Why do you think that was OK?"

Alison McKenzie, procurator fiscal for Grampian, Highlands and Islands, said Denholm had exploited a position of trust to gain access to his victims during an "alarming pattern of behaviour".

She said: “He filmed several individuals during private moments in places where they should have felt safe.

“His depraved behaviour has had lasting consequences on a number of those targeted during this sickening campaign.

“I hope this conviction serves as a warning to others that we take crimes of this nature extremely seriously."

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