A pilot who hid a camera in a dog bed to secretly record a woman in her bedroom has been jailed for 20 months.

Martyn Bourner furtively returned to the flat numerous times to reposition the camera, replace memory cards and record himself doing sex acts.

In an impact statement read out in court, his victim said his crime had had a devastating impact on her life - she struggled with panic attacks, suffered from nightmares and didn’t feel safe in her own home.

The Court of General Gaol Delivery heard she had trusted him and even confided in him when she discovered the hidden device in December last year.

Another man, who was entirely innocent, was arrested, detained and released on police bail for four months before the true culprit was revealed.

Bourner, 36, has lost his career as a pilot with Loganair.

He had pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary, by entering as a trespasser to install a surveillance device, with the offence committed over an eight month period between May and December 2023.

Deemster Graham Cook said that if the new Sexual Offences and Obscene Publications Act had been in force at the time, the defendant would have been additionally charged with an offence of voyeurism which has a maximum sentence of three years.

Prosecutor Roger Kane told the court that on Saturday, December 9 last year the complainant had discovered a device in a dog bed at her flat. There was a blue light, together with wires and a battery pack tucked underneath the cushion.

She had kept the dog bed on following the death of her pet.

The woman sent photos of the device to friends and family, querying what it was.

Nine or 10 videos were subsequently discovered on the device. At that stage, she had no idea who had installed the camera and captured the video footage.

The matter was reported to the police. There was no sign of forced entry or disturbance in her flat.

She confided in the defendant who told her to trust the police to catch the person responsible.

Police identified 1,277 thumbnail files on the device, almost all of which had been deleted. Some 39 of these showed the complainant in a state of undress. Others showed a man identified as the defendant in the bedroom alone, repositioning the camera and carrying out sex acts.

When police searched Bourner’s home in Orchard Road, Port Erin, they found a variety of electronic devices, memory cards and a bank statement belonging to the complainant.

The court heard that the device found in the dog bed could have been used to livestream.

But in a basis of plea accepted by the prosecution, Bourner denied watching live footage and denied actively saving or sharing the files.

In her victim impact statement, the complainant said she had been left feeling ‘dirty, embarrassed’ and ‘felt like I’m the one who has done something wrong’.

Defence advocate Stephen Wood described his client as a ‘fantasist’ whose ‘bizarre’ and ‘inexplicable’ behaviour was ‘totally out of character’.

Bourner had no previous convictions.

Deemster Cook sentenced him to 20 months’ immediate custody and imposed a sexual risk order and a restraining order prohibiting the defendant from contacting or approaching his victim directly or indirectly.

He told Bourner: ‘You have had a devastating effect on this woman’s life. I can only hope she can find the ability to move on.’

The vulnerable victim had been specifically targeted when she was ‘entitled to get on with her life’, the Deemster said.