Man installed cameras underneath female colleague's desk

A man who installed cameras under a colleague’s desk has been spared jail.

Ian Anderson, 61, stuck two cameras under the desk of his 50-year-old female colleague with sticky tape.

He was caught after one of them fell onto the floor as the woman, who had worked with Anderson for a number of years at a company in Stirling, got up to go home.

Stirling Sheriff Court was told that Anderson and his victim worked in the same office, with their desks backing onto each other, separated by a partition.

Ann Orr, prosecuting, said Anderson was working at home the day the cameras were discovered, and his colleague was in the office.

Mrs Orr said: “As she was finishing up about 5pm, she heard something dropping below her desk.

“When she looked there, she observed two cameras, one black and one white, which had been stuck to the underside of her desk in each corner, facing towards where she sat.

“She followed the wires from the cameras back through the desk partition which led to the accused’s desk.

“The black camera was plugged into a mains wall socket and the white one into an extension lead.”

Anderson’s colleague pulled the cameras down and saw they had been attached using “a particular distinctive sticky tape”, a pack of which she then found in Anderson’s desk drawer, together with an instruction manual for the cameras.

Mrs Orr, the depute fiscal, said: “She took possession of all of this and then left, in possession of the cameras.”

She then messaged the accused on WhatsApp with a photo of the cameras saying: “How are you? I found these under my desk.”

Anderson messaged back quickly: “I’m good. Yes, looks like mini cameras.”

She messaged: “Weird. Plugged in underneath between the desks. One fell down, that’s how I noticed this… strange.”

Anderson made no further reply until the following day, when he messaged: “Are you ok?”

Police were called in, and Anderson was apprehended at work. His laptop and mobile were seized.

Mrs Orr said no image files were found, but it was apparent that Anderson’s phone had been modified by being subjected to a factory reset the day after the woman discovered the cameras and messaged him.

Anderson was interviewed under caution and replied: “No comment.”

Anderson, of Ballumbie, Dundee, pleaded guilty to installing equipment to commit voyeurism, contrary to the 2009 Sex Offences (Scotland) Act.

Solicitor Mike Short, defending, said Anderson, a married man, had quit his job with the firm after the discovery.

He said Anderson had suffered an injury to his knee ten years ago, which had caused a “blockage”.

He said: “Over time this injury, this blockage, affected his personal life with his wife. The good thing that’s come from this, is that he is now addressing the problem that he has.

“I asked him to seek advice and get immediate help for the dysfunction that he was going through and he did that.”

Mr Short said: “There was no recording.

“This is an unusual offence.

“They worked together for many, many years. They were friends.

“His life has been turned upside down.”

Sheriff Claire McLachlan sentenced Anderson to 167 hours of unpaid work, and imposed a non-harassment order banning him from approaching contacting his victim for two years. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for two years.

She said the unpaid work was a direct alternative to custody.

She said: “This offence is at best distasteful, and a disturbing one which, I’m sure, caused distress to your colleague.”

Anderson refused to comment to a reporter as he left the court.