May 2016 Police officer jailed for secretly filming females   A PERVERT police officer who filmed up female’s skirts while on duty is behind bars today – after he was caught STALKING a teenage girl through a busy shopping centre. PC Aidan Thompson followed the girl for 40 minutes while taking videos on a secret camera hidden in a plastic bag. Following his arrest on October 6 last year, officers discovered covert recordings of FOUR other victims saved on memory sticks at the home he shared with his wife, a court heard. Thompson, 35, took one video after he was sent to a female’s flat to investigate reports of a sexual assault – before filming up her flatmate’s miniskirt. Investigators also recovered footage of two other females undressing in changing rooms and another victim was filmed from behind while wearing tight trousers. His seedy activities came to light when an eagle-eyed security guard in TK Maxx at Manchester’s Arndale Centre spotted him following a teenager on October 6 last year. He was carrying bag with a hole cut in the corner, stopping from time to time to swing it at the legs of his young victim. At one point he stopped to check his camera was working before following the woman out of the store. Francis McEntee, prosecuting at Preston Crown Court, said: “He keeps a following distance, stalking his prey around the store, stopping from time to time swinging the bag in an upwards motion.” When Thompson, who was working for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) at the time, was arrested on suspicion of voyeurism, he replied: “Listen, I wouldn’t do anything so stupid. I’m a cop.” But when police searched his house in Hyde, Gtr Manchester, they found footage of a bizarre locker room scene in which Thompson was seen dropping items into the crotch of a woman’s lycra leotard.. They also found he’d been satisfying his sleazy urges while on duty – filming up one woman’s skirt after she called cops to report an alleged sexual assault. Thompson was sent to her flat to secure the crime scene while the victim left with other officers to give a statement. But while he waited, he filmed up her flatmate’s miniskirt, before giving her a lift into town for a night out. None of his victims were aware they’d been filmed. After the offences came to light, one said: “If you can’t trust a police officer, who can you trust?” Jailing him today, Judge Mark Brown QC said: “You have not only let yourself down, you have let the force down. “In my judgement your actions amounted to an enormous abuse not only on trust but your authority as a police officer. “Hardly surprising that this sort of conduct should undermine so significantly the confidence that people have in police officers.” Thompson was jailed for 14 months after pleading guilty to misconduct in a public office and outraging public decency. He is currently suspended from duty and will be dismissed from GMP. His wife, family and colleagues were said to be “staggered” at the behaviour of the otherwise “dedicated” policeman. Bernadette Baxter, defending, said Thompson suffered psychiatric difficulties, would lose his job “imminently” and suffered “shame and ignominy” as a result of his behaviour.