A voyeur who secretly filmed a woman getting dressed has been spared jail after a judge heard he had since suffered brain damage in a serious road accident.

Jack Eldred planted a mobile phone camera in a bedroom at the woman’s home during a visit last year.

Prosecutor Vivian Walters said the film showed the woman naked, drying herself and using talc on her body after showering at her flat in the Tunbridge Wells area.

Eldred took screen shots of the most intimate parts of the recordings and stored them on his phone.

Miss Walters said the 22-year-old could be seen setting up the hidden camera on one of the clips. He was wearing a hoodie as he smiled directly at the camera and gave a thumbs up sign.

Eldred later sent the victim some of the shots on Facebook and threatened to forward them to her boyfriend.

One of the clips was 23 minutes long. The woman said she had no idea she was being filmed.

Eldred, of Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, denied two charges of voyeurism but was convicted in October by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court.

During the trial he was allowed to sit outside the dock with an “intermediary” to explain the proceedings to him. He went into the dock for the sentencing hearing on Tuesday.

He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months with a 15-day rehabilitation requirement.

Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said the evidence against Eldred was “absolutely compelling”.

His claim in police interviews that the videos were either taken by the victim or with her consent, was “frankly absurd”, as it was clearly for his own sexual gratification, said the judge.

Eldred said since his accident he had no memory of the offending.

“The offences were horrible,” said Judge Griffith-Jones. “They were calculated to cause great distress for your victim once discovered.

“It comes as no surprise to read of her shock... She speaks of her extreme embarrassment to have been secretly watched.”

But Eldred was of previous good character and he continued to suffer from depression and other matters which affected his daily living.

“While I take the view that these offences are so serious a prison sentence must be passed, in light of the mitigation I feel it is appropriate to suspend it,” the judge added.

“You have escaped an immediate prison sentence for the moment. I very much hope you take what has happened on board as a lesson for your future behaviour and you will not be brought back to court for any reason in the next 18 months.”

Eldred’s name will appear on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and he will be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.