AN UPSKIRT pervert’s wife was was pregnant with his child when his Worcester crimes came to light, a court heard.

Richard Whyley was spared jail at Worcester Crown Court on Monday after he filmed around 250 women, including a girl of 16 in a city shop, using a GoPro camera hidden in a shoe he had adapted for the purpose. The 32-year-old of Lavender Lane, Stourbridge, admitted voyeurism, two charges of recording an image under clothing to observe without consent and operating equipment beneath the clothing of another without consent. Nichols Wragg, defending, said: “He’s otherwise led a law-abiding, pro-social life.”

Mr Wragg told the court he defendant’s wife had been pregnant with their second child when he was apprehended by police. As previously reported, he was identified thanks to the quick actions of a 16-year-old girl who heard the camera click as the defendant followed her onto an escalator at a High Street shop on August 15, 2019. The subcontractor was traced to a University of Worcester building. Police also found videos of a couple having sex in their own home and topless women on an SD card in a vehicle used by the defendant. Mr Wragg said: “It’s clear that the offences are serious and cross the custody threshold.”

Jason Aris, prosecuting, emphasised raised culpability in the case. “There’s a significant degree of planning here,” he said.

He placed the offending within category one of the sentencing guidelines and said that, even for a single offence, the starting point was 26 weeks custody with a range available of 12 weeks to 18 months in prison.

Judge Martin Jackson imposed a three year community order. Whyley must complete 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days to include an accredited sex offender’s programme, was placed on a four month electronically monitored curfew between 9pm and 6am and ordered to pay £750 compensation to the one victim who has been identified. Whyley was also placed on a sexual harm prevention order for five years.