Gardening expert Steve Brookes jailed for voyeurism

A TV gardening expert who set up a hidden camera in an air freshener to film women using his bathroom has been jailed for a year.



Steve Brookes linked the camera to his phone and watched seven young women in "real time". He also moved the camera around, "maximising" what he could see.

Warwick Crown Court heard the 55-year-old recorded more than 180 videos.

Brookes, who contributed to a BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire show, admitted voyeurism charges last month.

The married grandfather, of Loxley Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, has also worked for Channel 4 and ITV.

Judge Sylvia de Bertodano told him the fact he was in the public eye "clearly makes your fall from grace that much more spectacular".

"You have made a significant contribution, both to the horticultural industry and to the charitable causes you have supported," she said.

But the court heard his victims were left feeling violated and devastated by his "vile and repulsive" behaviour.

His actions came to light when one of the victims discovered the motion-sensitive camera, and Brookes was arrested in September.

"There was really significant planning. You were intervening on a daily basis and moving the position of the camera and maximising what you could see," Ms de Bertodano said.

Privacy was a "a pretty basic human right", she said, adding: "And what you did was a gross invasion of the privacy of seven young women, of whom you were old enough to be their father."

Mitigating, Heidi Kubik said Brookes's career was in "tatters" and he had been identified as someone who could be vulnerable in jail due to his high profile.

He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for seven years.

Sad man!