Jail for “Peeping Tom” hotelier

Paul Williams, 60, watched three couple from holes which he had drilled in the doors of the rooms at his bed-and-breakfast in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

He was discovered when one of his victims, a 16-year-old student, spotted a poster placed over one of the holes begin to move.

Her boyfriend investigated and found a hole which provided a view directly on to the bed.

He then heard movement in the corridor outside and discovered Williams who was wearing just a dressing gown.

Williams, of Devonshire Drive, Scarborough, pleaded guilty to charges of voyeurism and was sentenced at the town’s magistrates’ court.

Magistrate Mrs Kate Warnock-Smith said the offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence could be justified.

She said the aggravating factors were his breach of trust as a hotelier and the young age of some of the victims. She said the victims had been left distressed by their ordeal.

An earlier court hearing was told the three couples were all friends and when the others were told, they found similar hidden spy-holes in their rooms.

As the guests had been drinking and could not drive so they stayed at the guest house but moved to one room. The next morning they obtained a refund and called the police. Audio recording equipment was then discovered at the Sandsea guest house.