Man secretly recorded intimate video

Dale Kelly, of Bradley Park, pleaded guilty to one charge of voyeurism on June 6, last year.

He was convicted of improper use of public electronic communications by sending a message which was grossly offensive or indecent.

During a contest earlier this week at Derry Magistrate’s Court he was acquitted of a further charge of disclosing a sexual photo or film with intent.

All the prosecution evidence in the case was agreed and the injured party joined the proceedings remotely.

Giving evidence on his own behalf, 23-year-old Kelly admitted he filmed himself having sex with the woman without her consent.

He claimed that he did not intend to share the video to Snapchat, but to save it. However, he said he hit the wrong button and shared it by accident.

He told the court that he had around 20 friends on Snapchat who could see his ‘stories’ and only realised he had shared the video when he received a call from his friend 15 minutes later.

The defendant said that he immediately removed the video and deleted it.

The court heard the woman’s face was not visible in the video, however a tattoo led to her being identified by ‘family and friends’.

Kelly apologised to the woman during the hearing, stating ‘I’m sorry for what happened.’

Convicting Kelly, District Judge Barney McElholm said the danger of social media is that even if something is only up for 15 minutes it ‘spreads like wildfire’.

Sentencing was adjourned until November 26.