Pub boss perv who installed secret cameras in men’s toilet to watch blokes use urinals is jailed

A PUB boss who installed secret CCTV cameras in the men’s toilet has been jailed.

Ronald Hall, 50, also snapped his customers using the urinals under the pretence of tackling drug use at Plough & Harrow pub in Welling, South-East London.

GoogleA pub landlord has been jailed after spying on punters at The Plough and Harrow on Bellegrove Road in London[/caption]

SWNS/NewsquestRon Hall pleaded guilty at Bromley Magistrates’ Court to thirty-two counts of voyeurism[/caption]

Hall, who was jailed for nine months on Thursday, persuaded brewery bosses to allow him to install the camera by the toilet door.

The former landlord insisted that contractors set up the equipment inside the loos and then disabled the privacy function, giving him a full view of the urinals.

He pleaded guilty at Bromley Magistrates’ Court to thirty-two counts of voyeurism between February 20 and December 6, 2024.

He swiftly lost his home and his job following the arrest on December 17 and fled to Kent where he landed a job as a bus driver.

“Your attitude demonstrates a woeful lack of respect for privacy,” District Judge Sarah Turnock told Hall.

“There must be a sentencing uplift to reflect the sheer volume and scale of your actions.

“There is no realistic prospect of rehabilitation. When given the opportunity to express remorse you have refused to do so and minimised your actions and behaviour and suggested that people would not have even minded.”

Prosecutor Colette Hanna told the court the National Crime Agency alerted police to an online dropbox containing potentially illegal images and recordings that were traced to Hall.

Cops seized Hall’s mobile device which had stored recordings of 16 males using the toilets.

Hall was able to use his phone to remotely zoom in to the urinals and record footage of his customers using them.

When questioned by the officers he claimed: “It’s not voyeurism because it is not distributed.”

Ms Hanna added that Hall admitted to making a “silly mistake” and denied the recordings were “for sexual gratification”.

The disgraced landlord added that some punters were aware of the surveillance equipment and would quip “Have you been watching my k***?” to Hall.

Cops unearthed a total of 105 separate video clips, with Hall claiming his customers “would not be bothered” by the recordings.

“He made light of it and thought there was nothing wrong with what he was doing and they would have consented anyway because they knew they were being filmed,” said Ms Hanna.

“There is planning and persistence and apparently a lack of remorse.”

District Judge Turnock announced: “He deliberately disconnected the privacy settings of the contractors. This seemed to have been planned throughout.

“The offences are very serious and I am satisfied there are factors that raise culpability.

“There was a significant degree of planning by you, that is overwhelmingly clear to me,” she told Hall.

“Added to that the images were shared on your dropbox and accessed at your convenience as you abused your position as the landlord of a public house to record customers.

“You directed the installation and then tampered with the CCTV camera to remove the privacy settings order to view mens’ genitalia.”

Hall’s lawyer Christina Barath told the court: “He has shown a lot more remorse for his actions than is in the PSR. He does not think probation wrote down everything he said.

“He no longer works at the pub and is a bus driver and would not have done this if he had not been drinking. This has had a massive impact on his life.

“CCTV was only in the toilet due to drug use and he accessed the CCTV when he was drunk through his phone and zoomed in using his phone.

“He appreciates the severity of his actions and accepts the seriousness of this and that he could receive a custodial sentence.”

The lawyer said Hall attempted suicide before his first court appearance and its currently on an increased prescription for depression.

“Custody would impact his physical and mental health,” added Ms Barath.

“He would lose his home and has complex needs and is vulnerable.”

District Judge Turnock also ordered Hall to sign the sex offenders register for ten years; made him subject to a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and he must pay £85 costs and £187 victim surcharge.

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