But behind closed doors the popular local councillor was a peeping Tom, a prolific sex offender who over 15 years secretly filmed dozens of women bathing, undressing and even having sex for his own perverted pleasure.
West Yorkshire PoliceRob Holden hid under the cloak of being a popular councillor for years[/caption] West Yorkshire PoliceHolden was caught on camera as he adjusted the hidden device[/caption] True North ProductionsHeidi Marney bravely brought Holden’s illegal spying to an end[/caption]
But he betrayed this trust to use hidden cameras and secretly record the women at his rural farmhouse in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire.
He was eventually undone by his final victim, 27-year-old Heidi Marney.
With his reputation in tatters, brazen Holden then tried to gaslight the whole town into thinking it was he, not Heidi, who was the true victim, and fled the country to Cape Verde in a bid to escape justice.
She tells The Sun: “I just want to make sure women follow their gut feeling and don’t ignore it. Even if you care for that person, trust yourself, trust your intuition.
But the backlash from Holden’s local supporters meant Heidi was left feeling GUILTY for shopping him.
“I thought I’d ruined his life, ruined his reputation, how is he ever going to come back from this? I had so much guilt for how I’d impacted him, and then I slowly realised he doesn’t care about me at all, he wasn’t remorseful.”
Kind-hearted ‘uncle’
He immediately said Heidi could move in with him for free. “I wasn’t blood related to him but I saw him as an uncle,” she explains.
“He was so kind. He went above and beyond for everyone. He knew I was in debt and was struggling at the time. So he said, ‘don’t worry about paying me. You just get on your feet.’ And I was really grateful for it.”
SWNSHe used hidden cameras to film 28 different women who stayed at his home[/caption] InstagramHeidi was devastated to discover she had been spied on[/caption]
“He would post me on his social media so I could see that he wanted people to know that I lived with him,” she says. “And he would always recommend that we go to local pubs and he would walk in with this energy as though I was his partner.”
“It became very obvious to me on his social media, both his posts and the pictures he posted, he was presenting a narrative that Heidi was his partner,” she says.
And other local politicians also had their reservations about the seemingly perfect gent.
“But because he was so good with people, he could manipulate them in a way that they would do the work and he would get the credit, but they would still love him.”
InstagramHeidi turned sleuth to track down fellow victims[/caption] True North ProductionsHeidi says people targetted her for taking the matter to the cops[/caption] AFPHolden was a “wannabe pound shop Hugh Hefner”, says Peter Hunt[/caption]
Possessive behaviour
Heidi had also begun to notice that Rob would get angry if people assumed they were father and daughter rather than a couple, and the incremental red flags were starting to niggle at her.
“He’s so kind, he’s so harmless. But something was really wrong, something was not OK. I sensed that there were eyes watching me.”
But unbeknown to Heidi she wasn’t the first woman who Rob had made feel uncomfortable in his beautiful farmhouse.
He would always recommend that we go to local pubs and he would walk in with this energy as though I was his partner
Heidi MarneyMelanie says: “It was absolutely heartbreaking. I was left with absolutely nothing, nothing at all. So my boss told me about Rob. He had a room available and he wanted to help.
For Heidi more and more alarm bells were starting to ring. He told her stories about previous lodgers walking around naked and one night got drunk and started making suggestive comments to her.
“And then the next song would come on and he would say: ‘Oh my God, make my babies.’
“And then he said, ‘You’ve got great boobs Heidi.’ I was like what? And it really took me aback.
Heidi tentatively started dating again, using an online app. Again Rob wasn’t happy about it and soon Heidi realised he was tracking her when she went on dates.
Devastated Heidi confided in her aunt, a police officer, who said Rob was acting like a possessive boyfriend and advised her niece to check the house for cameras.
Chilling discovery
True North ProductionsHeidi has recounted the horrific moment she realised cameras were watching her[/caption] West Yorkshire PoliceThe depraved landlord hid cameras to watch women for his own sexual gratification[/caption]
She searched her bedroom and wardrobe for cameras – and then remembered there was a burglar alarm sensor in the bathroom, which she had always thought was odd.
“I just absolutely froze. Oh my God – what do I do now? Although I had been building up to believing this could be real, actually being faced with that it was real made me feel physically sick.
“I barricaded myself in my room for about two hours. Am I going to accuse the town councillor who everyone absolutely adores?
“I knew the aftermath of this would be horrendous.”
With local community hero Rob’s arrest, the rumour mill went into overdrive.
She had taken photos of the camera she had found and when she googled it she realised it had gone out of production in 2017 – three years before she moved in to Rob’s home.
“So I started looking for them,” she says. “ I went onto Rob’s Facebook. I typed in his name and hundreds of posts came out from women in particular thanking him for his services with their laptops and phones.”
“She described everything that happened and that I was probably one of his victims,” says Melanie.
And within the local community where Rob had been seen as a superhero, people were beginning to think Heidi had made the accusations up and social media was awash with theories.
“So when he fled the country I was determined to make his face known, I was going to do a Tindler Swindler on him and make his face known to the world. I believed that this sick individual would do this to other people.
“But she said ‘He was a bad man who has just done good things’. That shifted my perspective. A good man would never film me in the bath.”
InstagramLocals turned against Heidi but she was unable to speak out because of the court case[/caption]
Shocking images
But Rob Holden could – and he did. He took to social media to say that he had been suffering from mental health difficulties, he had tried to end his own life and was in hospital seeking treatment,
“When he was arrested everybody was talking about it and he kept lying about me saying I was a liar, a narcissist, I was trying to ruin his life, I was on drugs and a prostitute.
“So the community was hating on me. It really stressed me out. I got really unwell, I had people attacking me from all angles.”
He even called Heidi’s mum claiming she had used his farmhouse to solicit as a webcam girl.
Voyeurism in the UK
By Kevin Adjei-Darko
SPYING on someone for kicks in the UK isn’t just sleazy – it’s illegal.
Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, voyeurism is a criminal offence that covers secretly watching or recording someone doing a private act without their consent, all for sexual thrills.
And it’s not just about old-school peeping through keyholes – the law was beefed up in 2019 with the Voyeurism (Offences) Act, after a wave of “upskirting” cases.
To land a conviction, prosecutors must prove the creep acted for sexual gratification or to humiliate the victim.
Offenders often end up on the Sex Offenders Register too.
There’s growing pressure for even tougher laws.
In January 2025, Labour vowed to make the act of taking any intimate image without consent a specific criminal offence, plugging loopholes in existing rules.
“Two lady officers came to the house and explain everything that had happened like Heidi had told me and could I confirm these pictures were me,” says Melanie.
“You feel a bit sick. I only came to you because you offered help and now you’ve made me a victim when I’d already lost everything I owned.”
The court heard he had filmed 27 women, a man and a child over a period of 14 years, from 2006 until 2020.
Melanie says: “I genuinely thank God for Heidi, because how long would that have carried on for?
Heidi adds: “I want to raise so much awareness about adult grooming. The common denominator between us all was how vulnerable we all were and he had a protocol of what he did.
“My version of grooming is of an under-aged girl who maybe comes from a disadvantaged background.
Peeping Tom: The Landlord and His Secret Cameras airs on Channel 5 on Thursday April 10 at 10pm
SWNSHeidi says she felt she was groomed by Rob Holden[/caption]
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