Sunderland swimming pool pervert spied on naked woman in shower at leisure centre

Disgraced driving instructor Derek Donaldson, 49, is believed to have activated its camera function to peer above head height into an adjoining unit at a leisure centre.

The cannabis-user married dad, of Croft Avenue, Millfield, was spotted by his shocked victim as she stood naked after a morning swim.

After covering herself with a towel, she raised the alarm by banging on his cubicle’s door, which alerted pool users and staff to her plight, South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard.

Donaldson denied the allegation but was found guilty after a trial in which the woman was forced to give evidence, which she bravely did facing him in open court.

But in a later interview with the Probation Service, he confessed to deliberately committing the offence as a warped way to deal with a family issue.

Sentencing Donaldson, District Judge Zoe Passfield told him he had shown “no remorse, no victim empathy” – and jailed him for 18 weeks and placed him on the sex offenders register for seven years.

At the hearing, the woman addressed the court to reveal his actions had “hurt beyond measure” and left her with “crippling” daily challenges around trust.

Standing to read a prepared statement, she said: “Since this experience, I look at each man with suspicion.

“I now look for threats, thinking, ‘How can I keep myself safe, are you a predator, are you going to take something from me?'

“The image of his phone creeping over the cubicle won’t leave my mind. Now I’m scared of being alone and dread my partner going out.

“I used to think my body was strong and empowered. Now, when I see my body, I feel shame.

“I replay that day in my head and think, ‘Why was I chosen, what did I do wrong’?”

She added: “The man who committed this crime has stolen my ease, my peace and joy in simple everyday moments.

“My body is always on high alert. I’m constantly checking to see doors and windows are locked.”

Prosecutor Glenda Beck told the court how the incident unfolded after the victim had been for a swim.

She said: “She went to look for a shower cubicle, and there were two side-by-side. She went into the left one and began to take off her swimsuit.

“She was standing in the shower, washing her hair and was facing the door, naked.

“She noticed in her periphery something that resembled a mobile phone over the divide of the shower.

“It was a phone with a flip and the lens was facing her. She tried to grab the phone, but she was unable to. She grabbed a towel.

“She started to bang on the other cubicle, and shouted, ‘Help, someone phone the police’.

“The cubicle then opened, and she was met by Mr Donaldson who was fully naked.

“She said, ‘I saw you taking photos, give me your phone’. He went into his cubicle and locked the door.”

Donaldson, who has no previous convictions, was found guilty of a charge of attempting to observe a person doing a private act. No images were found on his phone.

A report by the Probation Service described him as “manipulative” and a “high risk to members of the public”.

Charlton Carr, defending, said: “There seems to be some confused and bizarre reason why he did it, but in some vein, is saying that he didn’t do it.

“It passes the custody threshold, the question is whether it’s suspended or immediate. I’ve got to say she’s probably one of the bravest ladies I’ve ever seen.”

Donaldson was also ordered to pay the woman £620 compensation.