Holiday camp voyeur jailed for secretly recording women and children at Butlin's

A holiday camp voyeur who covertly recorded girls and women getting changed at a Butlins resort has been unmasked as outwardly respectable carer whose life revolved around the church and Salvation Army. But behind the facade of respectability Mark Simpson carried a dark and disturbing that was exposed when a woman getting changed after swimming with her daughters noticed a mobile phone hidden in a coat hood peeping under their cubicle.

That led to his arrest and it was discovered the event was not a one off. In fact the married pervert had covertly taken 30 videos of women and children at Butlins over a five year period. He had also made recordings of adults using a toilet on Tyneside and had downloaded child abuse images online. Now the 51-year-old, of Wallsend, has been jailed for three years at Newcastle Crown Court after admitting a series of offences.

The court heard a woman was staying at Butlins, in Skegness, and was in a unisex changing room after swimming with her daughters when she noticed part of a coat move through under the partition from the cubicle to her left.

Gurjot Kaur, prosecuting, said: "She describes it as being poked around, moving around backwards and forwards, before disappearing.

"She later noticed there was a mobile phone in the hood, positioned so the camera was facing upwards. She notified staff, who called the police."

A security guard identified the person in the cubicle next to the victim as Simpson, who had stuffed the phone down his trouser leg.

The woman said in a victim impact statement: "As a result of this violation I've suffered significant anxiety, particularly in public changing rooms and bathrooms and I find myself excessively vigilant.

"This has disrupted my daily life and the trauma has significantly affected myself. I find it nearly impossible to relax in social situations.

"I feel degraded, embarrassed and confused about why someone would choose to invade my privacy in such a manner."

The court heard police found Simpson had made a total of 30 recordings at Butlins and four from a toilet on Tyneside.

Miss Kaur added: "When interviewed he admitted recording under cubicles and recorded people getting changed for his own sexual pleasure. He said this incident was not the first time.

"He would place a phone in a shoe and put it under the cubicle. He admitted he masturbated to the recordings he took and that they were kept in a hidden folder so they weren't easily found because his wife had access to his phone.

"He insisted he got no sexual gratification from children."

Simpson pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism, one related to his offending at Butlins and one at the toilet on Tyneside. In relation to Butlins, nine of them were distributed, with three of them adults and six children. In relation to the other voyeurism charge, the four videos were all of adults using the toilet.

He also admitted making indecent images in relation to those same images taken during the voyeurism at Butlins, and distributing a category B video. He further admitted charges of making indecent images of categories A,B and C downloaded online, plus a charge of possessing prohibited images of children.

As well as the prison sentence, he was given a sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order. Recorder Alistair MacDonald KC told him: "People should be able to get changed without their privacy being invaded in this utterly outrageous and flagrant way."

Matthew Purves, defending, said: "It appears difficult to reconcile this sort of offending, which has gone on for some time, and what would otherwise be a gentleman of good character. He had a stable family life with a partner for ten years and good employment in the care industry for most of his adult life.

"He has lost his relationship and he is no longer attending any church related or Salvation Army functions."

Mr Purves added: "He has accepted it was for his own gratification and that causes a significant degree of embarrassment to him." He added that it was not suggested Simpson did not get sexual pleasure from looking at the imagery of children and Mr Purves said Simpson has taken positive action to address his offending on a programme.