A man who objected to a CCTV camera keeping watch on his bedroom window from the house opposite appeared before a judge – for stealing the camera and throwing it in a river.
The camera had been installed in the empty house opposite Christian Lord’s home in Welsh Road, Harraby, Carlisle.
He and his girlfriend didn’t like the 24-hour monitoring of their movements, so he broke in and removed it.
The 35-year-old pleaded guilty at Carlisle Crown Court to a charge of burglary and the theft of the £1,500-worth of surveillance equipment.
He was put under 12 months’ probation supervision and ordered to undergo drugs rehabilitation.
Prosecuting counsel Jonathan Dickinson told the court it was unclear who had installed the camera, or why, although it was thought Lord’s landlords – a housing association – were responsible.
“There is no dispute that the CCTV looked out solely upon the property occupied by Mr Lord and his girlfriend,” he said.
In mitigation defence counsel Kim Whittlestone said Lord’s partner, who suffered from mental health problems, was especially troubled by the presence of the camera.
So, she said, Lord decided to get rid of it.
“He was not aware of its purpose, but he was very concerned about where it was pointing. It appeared to be pointing at his front bedroom.”
Ms Whittlestone said it was something of a mystery why the camera had been installed, because there were no reports of Lord causing any trouble or doing anything wrong in the house.
In fact, she said, he and his girlfriend still lived there. Judge Peter Hughes QC said he was puzzled by who installed the camera.
“Under what authority was it done?” he asked. “There are human rights considerations here.”
Judge Hughes told Lord that if the device had been installed by the police as part of a criminal investigation the offence would have been much more serious. “But that is not the situation I have to deal with,” he said. “It is unclear why and on what basis this camera was installed.
“But plainly you and your partner were aware of its presence watching your activities and you took exception to it. While in no way can I condone your actions, this is far removed from a typical case of burglary. It seems you did it just to stop yourself being snooped upon.”
First published at 11:26, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 | Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
Source: http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
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