The teenager tried to record his fiancee's mother in the bath

A TEENAGER from Co Down who tried to secretly film his fiancee's mother taking a bath has walked free from court.

Thomas Jason Patrick Edgar (19), from Park Head in Portaferry, was handed a two-year probation order and must sign the sex offenders' register for five years after being convicted of attempted voyeurism last month.

Imposing the orders at Newtownards Magistrate's Court, District Judge Mark Hamill told him "that's how we will protect other victims like this lady in the bath".

The woman, who waived her right to complete anonymity, later said she was "happy enough" with the sentence but revealed that Edgar and her daughter got engaged the day after his conviction.

She said she uncovered the attempted voyeurism on November 21 last year.

She spotted Edgar's mobile phone hidden in a slipper when she went to the toilet and when she picked the glowing device up, she found it was set to record.

The prosecuting lawyer said she left and sought advice from friends. When she returned she told Edgar and her daughter she was going to take a bath.

The court heard that as the woman filled her bath, Edgar asked if he could use the toilet.

The woman later returned to the bathroom and noticed Edgar's iPad was propped against the wall.

She confronted him but he claimed he was "trying to play a joke".

The court heard how the video he had recorded showed him setting up the camera and then leaving the bathroom with it "in situ".

Following his arrest, Edgar told police he had been trying to record his girlfriend as a "practical joke".

However Judge Hamill said the trial had been "a ludicrous contest from start to finish" and described Edgar's claims as a "fairy story".

Defence barrister Chris Holmes, who confirmed that Edgar and his victim's daughter were "still together", said Edgar had "always accepted that his behaviour was foolish, stupid and wrong".

Speaking outside the court, his victim said while she was "happy enough" with the sentence, Edgar's actions "have broke a whole family apart".

She said he and her daughter got engaged the day after he was convicted of attempted voyeurism.

The woman said she had treated Edgar "like a son... but he's thrown all that back in my face".