Ron Hall was running the Plough and Harrow on Bellegrove Road when between February and December last year he used a spy camera to capture 106 voyeuristic videos of 16 unknown men.
The videos found on the 50-year-old’s phone showed that he had zoomed in and out on men’s private areas for his sexual gratification.
But when questioned by police he made light of the offences calling it a “silly mistake” but that the victims wouldn’t have minded him watching.
On Thursday, October 9, Hall was jailed for nine months after he pleaded guilty to 32 offences of voyeurism.
Prosecutor Colette Hanna said the National Crime Agency (NCA) became aware in April 2024 that Hall was uploading voyeuristic images to a dropbox online.
He was arrested at the pub on December 17 last year and his phone was seized – on it police found images from a camera which had been placed in the men’s toilet.
“The camera was positioned in the corner of the toilet and in some images it is placed over the urinal.
“The controller of the camera, Mr Hall, was zooming in and out on the private parts of men as they used the urinal,” Ms Hanna said.
Ron Hall used his phone to watch men using the toilet at the Plough and Harrow pub(Image: Google Streetview)
Hall instigated the installation of the camera due to a perceived drug problem.
The contractor who installed it said the urinal area was greyed out with privacy settings but that Hall removed the privacy settings.
When interviewed by the police Hall made light of the offences, Ms Hanna said.
At first he said “it’s not voyeurism as nothing has been distributed”.
He said he made a “silly mistake” but denied any sexual gratification.
He later admitted to watching adult gay porn on the internet and said that alongside alcohol abuse contributed to this offence.
When police asked Hall if he thinks the victims would have consented to him seeing their penises he said “yes because they are straight men who get their penises out anyway”.
He said all the men knew they were being recorded and made jokes like “have you been watching my knob” – not knowing the answer was yes.
Christina Barath, defending, said Hall had lost the role at the pub and is now a bus driver.
Ms Barath said: “He is incredibly remorseful for his actions and he said this is simply something he wouldn’t have done if he hadn’t been drinking.”
She said when Hall was drunk he would watch the footage on his phone and zoom in on people’s penises.
Disctict Judge Sarah Turnock said Hall had “abused his position” of trust as the pub landlord.
“This was a deliberate and planned operation where you directed the installation of CCTV and tampered with the settings to remove the privacy settings and used that to watch men using the urinal,” Judge Turnock said.
She said Hall showed a “woeful lack of respect for others privacy”.
Judge Turnock said: “There is no prospect of rehabilitation in your case as you’ve been getting repeated opportunities to demonstrate remorse and express insight into your behaviour and at all junctions you’ve refused to do so.
“You’ve minimised your behaviour and sought to minimise your behaviour saying others wouldn’t have minded.”
When Judge Turnock sentenced Hall to immediate prison time he exclaimed “Who’s going to look after my parrot and my dog? My car is in the car park outside”.
