A sailor who filmed women on the toilet and in the shower on board a Navy ship has been sentenced to six months in a military detention centre and dismissed.
Electronic technician David Timothy Simpson pleaded guilty to 25 charges at a Court Martial hearing in Devonport today.
Military police marched Simpson into the hearing where he appeared before Judge Anne Gaskell and a panel of three Navy officers.
The hearing had been set down for three days but Simpson's case was dealt with today.
The hearing heard Simpson was able to remove a panel at the back of one of the cubicles in the men's toilet. Behind it was a narrow walkway which he walked down before finding a gap in the wall.
According to the agreed summary of facts, Simpson was able to look through the hole and see into the neighbouring women's shower and toilet area.
He made at least 12 videos over two days on his iPhone and later transferred them to his personal laptop.
But Simpson was caught out when three other crew members noticed the panel had been disturbed and found him in the passageway.
"The accused acknowledged that he was looking through the hole," the summary of facts said.
Simpson was challenged by one of the crew who told them "they're only girls".
Simpson responded: "Not all of them are" and promised he would not do it again.
The matter was referred up the chain of command.
Simpson's phone and laptop were seized and 49 videos were discovered.
The judge passed wide-ranging suppressing orders relating to the case, without giving media the opportunity to be heard.
This means APNZ cannot identify the navy ship, its mission, when the offending happened, who was on board, the ages of those on board and the number of women on board.
