COPTER COP 'SPIED' ON SEXY COUPLE
Swingers & sunbathers filmed from air, court told
A POLICE helicopter crew filmed a swinger couple romping in their back garden, a court heard.
The pair “put on a show” for pal PC Adrian Pogmore and colleagues, who also spied on naked sunbathers, it is claimed.
Richard Wright QC said: “You never imagine the helicopter being used to film swingers in the throes of passion.”
A POLICE helicopter team has been accused of committing a “gross violation of privacy” by filming people sunbathing in the nude.
They also spied on a nudist camp and two swingers having sex, a court heard.
“Swinging-obsessed” former PC Adrian Pogmore, 51, has admitted four charges of misconduct. Four other crew are on trial for misconduct.
Prosecutors said a powerful camera on South Yorkshire Police’s helicopter was misused for “laddish” purposes.
Richard Wright QC told jurors: “They used the unique viewing position afforded to them, with the powerful video camera with which the helicopter is equipped… to video members of the public engaged in private activities in a gross violation of their privacy.”
One woman was filmed sunbathing nude in the private garden of her luxury home. After learning she was spied on, the victim, who cannot be named, said she “felt sick”, jurors were told.
On another occasion, a naturist couple were recorded sitting outside their caravan in deckchairs.
Mr Wright said: “Although naturists expect to be seen naked by other naturists, they do not expect to be monitored by the crew of the police helicopter.”
Later that day, two swingers – pals of Pogmore who were “happy” to be on camera – were filmed having sex on their patio. Jurors saw a graphic eightminute video showing the woman waving before her partner emerges and they romp in a series of positions.
Mr Wright said: “You may hope that the police helicopter is chasing down criminals and keeping the community safe. You may never imagine that in fact it is being used to film a pair of swingers in the throes of sexual passion for the entertainment of the crew.”
A fourth film shows a couple sunbathing nude in their garden, with the camera focused on the woman’s genitals. The videos came to light when they were found on discs in Pogmore’s office desk drawer in March 2015.
Pogmore was described by the prosecution as a “swinging and sex-obsessed air observer”. Fellow observer Matthew Lucas, 42, denies three counts of misconduct, pilot Malcolm Reeves, 64, denies two, while observer Lee Walls, 48, and pilot Matthew Loosemore, 45, each deny one charge.
All four blame Pogmore for the recordings between 2007 and 2012. But he has insisted the Sheffield-based crew worked together to zoom in on targets.
Mr Wright told the city’s crown court: “This was a deliberate invasion of their privacy for at the least the inappropriate amusement of the crew and at worst for their sexual gratification.”
Jurors heard the helicopter’s camera could focus on a car number plate from two miles away. The trial continues.