Ken Goudie pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism following the incident at Larne Leisure Centre
A pervert at a Co Antrim leisure centre was restrained multiple times by a man he was “recording” in the changing rooms as he attempted to destroy his phone and escape.
Ken Goudie of Carrickburn Road, Carrickfergus, pled guilty to one count of voyeurism at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, January 28, following the incident at Larne Leisure Centre in May 2024.
Goudie admitted to watching a man in the changing rooms for his own “sexual gratification” with his victim believing that he had used a mobile phone to record him.
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Speaking to Belfast Live following the conviction, his victim said that he had been showering at the changing room when he noticed Goudie staring at him which “creeped him out”, with this continuing when he moved into the changing area beside the lockers. He said that he became very concerned about what Goudie was doing when he noticed his phone was positioned in his gym bag in such a way that the camera was pointing directly at him.
The victim, who is a martial arts coach, said that when he confronted Goudie about this, he started to act in a strange way and refused to open his phone and show his victim whether or not there was videos or pictures of him on the phone.
He says that he restrained Goudie when he started to try and destroy his phone and eventually managed to get it off him when he then ran to the front desk of the leisure centre and asked them to call the police.
Shortly after this, Goudie attempted to leave the leisure centre via a fire escape, however his victim chased after him and restrained him outside until the police arrived.
The man said that following the incident he suffered with increased anxiety and still fears there could be images of him online somewhere.
He said that even though police seized Goudie’s phone, he refused to provide officers with a pin and they were not able to examine the phone to see if there were any images of the victim on it, something the man did not believe “was good enough”.
He said: “This incident has had a huge impact on me over the past couple of years and I am still struggling with anxiety from it as I don’t know what sort of images or videos were taken of me, or if they have been put online somewhere.
“This man dragged this case right up until the final day when he changed his plea, which put me through even more stress.
“I am still disappointed that more was not done to properly examine his phone and extract what was on it after he refused to give up the PIN for it. The original plan was to have the phone destroyed, so it would never be known what was on the device, and I had to ask the courts not to do this and it is still in the possession of the police.”
Goudie was sentenced to 100 hours community service, a probation order for a year and a half and will have to sign onto the sex offenders register for five years and a sexual offences prevention order for ten years.
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