July 2017 Pervert landlord put spy pen into flat and had child abuse images A PERVERT landlord who put a video recording pen in a female tenant’s room has been spared a jail term. When James Phillips’ computer was examined he was found to have hundreds of indecent pictures of children, including many depicting rape. Hannah Squire, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court the woman noticed the device in her bedroom last summer. After sleeping in late on the morning of on Saturday, July 16, she got up and saw a pen on her shelving unit that was not hers. “It became clear to her it was a camera pen. She sent a picture of it to her boyfriend so he could check and carried out internet searches,” Miss Squire said. “The defendant was in the house at the time. She became very concerned. She met up with her boyfriend. “It seems the defendant was aware that she had found it as he sent her a text shortly after asking her to call him.” But she and her boyfriend went to the police station to report the matter and, when Phillips was arrested, officers seized his laptop. On the computer they found he had not only been searching online for spy pens but also for pictures of child abuse. Miss Squire said that 228 images of child abuse were found on the machine, including 93 in the most serious category. The video pen was also examined and found to have five movies stored on it, including the one from the victim’s bedroom that morning. “In the pre-sentence report he expressed the view that she was a gorgeous girl,” Miss Squire said. Phillips, of Mayfly Road, Oakhurst, pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism and three of making indecent images of children. Judge Mousley QC imposed a 12-and-a-half month jail term suspended for two years with 25 days rehabilitation activity requirement and a sex offender programme. Phillips has to register as a sex offender, abide by a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and has been banned from working with children.