A British Airways official has avoided prison after being caught filming naked men without their consent.
David Sloane, 44, spent more than two years lurking in cubicles capturing hundreds of images of men washing themselves or going to the toilet.
He was eventually caught with nearly 300 photos and videos he had taken of men in toilets and showers at a gym, shopping centre and service station.
Sloane shared some of these with other people on the Telegram messaging app.
It was quite the contrast with his social media presence, where Sloane posted pictures of himself flying business class to Shanghai and sightseeing in New York, Hong Kong and various Walt Disney and Star Wars themed attractions.
The voyeur’s peeping was put to an end after a gymgoer spotted what he believed to be someone in trouble in a neighbouring shower at the Village Hotel in Hyde, Greater Manchester.
Kay Driver, prosecuting, said: ‘He noticed two limbs on the floor inside another shower cubicle and thought someone might have fallen over.
‘He bent down slightly to examine further but then noticed someone bent down and holding a phone.
‘The victim was very alarmed and in a state of shock as he felt he was being recorded and waited by his locker for the person recording the footage to emerge from the shower.
‘Around 20 minutes later the defendant emerged and placed the phone in his locker.
‘The victim and staff attempted to apprehend the defendant but this was not possible and CCTV footage was passed on the police.’
When officers tracked Sloane to his home 156 miles away in South Shields, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, they found evidence of further offending on his phone.
He had struck the hotel at least 20 times before, on top of illicitly filming strangers in the toilets of Keele Service station, Staffordshire, and at Metrocentre Shopping Centre in Gateshead.
In total, Sloane had 277 photos and videos from those locations.
A further 1,078 were taken at unknown locations, some of which are believed to have been sent to Sloane by people in chatrooms on the dark web.
None of the other victims have been identified, but Sloane’s voyeurism has shaken the man who caught him in December 2021.
In a statement to police, the man, who cannot be named, said: ‘The man did not have permission to film me showering and I am disgusted that he thought he could do this.
‘My anxiety has gone through the roof. I don’t know of the male is local and I keep seeing males with bald heads and thinking it’s him. This has affected me since and I think it will do so for a long time to come.’
When questioned after his arrest in March 2022, Sloane admitted to having an interest in ‘voyeuristic spy videos’, which he filmed for sexual gratification.
He offered to write his victim an apology letter, according to his lawyer William Donnelly, who described Sloane as a ‘changed man’.
Donnelly told the court: ‘He has expressed shock at the numbers of videos and photos recovered. He accepts he sent a few and received many others.
‘Most of the videos were downloaded. He has been pulled up short and freely accepts that what he did was wrong and was overborn by his obsession but since he was arrested he has simply stopped what he was doing.
‘He is a single man and has a responsible position with a leading airline and is apart from these infractions, a hard working man of impeccable character. He has learned his lesson and takes with him the shame of appearing in a public forum.’
Sloane, who had no previous convictions. faced up to 18 months in prison under sentencing guidelines after he admitted five charges of voyeurism between November 2019 and February 2022.
But he has avoided time behind bars after appearing at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester.
Judge Joanne Woodward sentenced Sloan to a ten month prison sentence suspended for two years, along with 250 hours of unpaid work.
He must also sign the sex offenders register, and he is subject to a five-year sexual harm prevention order, which means if will be jailed if caught accessing the dark web.
The judge said: ‘You admitted you had done this for you own sexual gratification whilst failing to recognise the harmful and humiliating form of abuse that this entailed.
‘It was a gross beach of other people’s privacy with the potential to cause serious long term psychological harm to your victims who would be understandably concerned about the distribution of those images to others and appearing in the media.
‘You are in employment but it appears that after today that employment may not remain open to you.’
Sloane faces disciplinary action from British Airways.
He will now face disciplinary action from the airline where it is thought he works in the customer relations department.
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