A former Conservative council member has admitted to secretly recording 28 women using hidden cameras while they were in private. The man, named Robert Holden and 51 years old, left the UK after setting up cameras to film women for his pleasure. In court, it was revealed that he recorded one woman over 400 times.
He filmed the women while they were showering, taking baths, getting undressed, using the bathroom, and even having sex. This behavior started in 2004 and lasted for 15 years until 2020, involving 28 women.
He was supposed to go to court in April 2022 for 31 charges of secretly recording people, 32 charges of misusing a computer, and three charges related to inappropriate images.
However, he didn’t show up, so a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. He had fled to Cape Verde, about 3,000 miles away, where he was caught in June.
After being brought back to the UK, he confessed to more than 30 crimes at Bradford Crown Court. The charges related to misusing a computer involve doing things to get into a program without permission.
Holden was a Calderdale Council council member for the Ryburn ward and a parish council member in Ripponden, near Halifax, West Yorks. He lived in a farmhouse near Sowerby Bridge, but he’s been in jail since returning to the UK.
Holden, who also ran his own IT business, will find out his punishment in July. He quit his positions on both Calderdale Council and Ripponden Parish Council in 2021.
