Robert Holden was the pillar of the community in his home town in West Yorkshire, a businessman, a local councillor and an all-round “good egg”.
But his wholesome facade crumbled when it emerged he had spent years secretly filming people, mostly women, during their most intimate moments.
A new Channel 5 programme, Peeping Tom: The Landlord & His Secret Cameras, reveals the full story this Thursday 10 April at 10pm.
During the hour-and-a-half-long documentary, testimony from Holden’s victims will be heard along with dramatic reconstructions of the events when he was exposed.
His final victim Heidi Marney, 27, has waived her right to anonymity to tell her story.
Heidi Marney waived her right to anonymity to tell her story in the Channel 5 documentary (Photo: Channel 5)Robert Holden, 51, ran a computer repair firm, represented the Ryburn ward on Calderdale Council and was a parish councillor in the village of Ripponden, near Halifax.
A popular local figure, Holden had helped to get flood defences for Hebden Bridge and regularly took in lodgers at his rural, sprawling farmhouse – Row Farm – offering rooms on the cheap.
Many of those who came to stay with him were vulnerable women who had had a relationship break down or lost their home.
Holden appeared to be the local good Samaritan.
However, what no one knew was that for about 15 years he had also been secretly filming those staying at his property for his own perverted pleasure, capturing them bathing, undressing and even having sex.
He had hidden cameras in a bathroom and bedroom of his home, recording footage 24 hours a day, keeping some of these recordings on his devices, neatly labelled in files.
Robert Holden was secretly filming people in his home (Photo: West Yorkshire Police/PA)How was Robert Holden caught?
Holden’s voyeurism was finally exposed when he began tracking his final lodger Ms Marney. She had become concerned about his behaviour towards her at home, where he had made inappropriate comments and physical advances.
Then while on a date with someone, she received a jealous text message from Holden which made her realise he was able to track her location from her laptop.
With her suspicions raised, she began looking to see if he had surveillance equipment at home and discovered a hidden camera in an alarm sensor in the bathroom.
She alerted the police and a full investigation of the farmhouse found a second camera in a bedroom. The equipment was not new, suggesting it had been placed there long before Ms Marney had arrived.
In fact, police eventually found he had filmed 29 victims, 27 women, one man and one child, between 2006 and 2020. The footage included the victims taking showers, using the toilet, dressing and undressing.
After Holden’s arrest, he posted on social media that he was suffering with his mental health and had attempted to take his own life.
Holden was arrested, released on bail and was due to make his first appearance at Bradford magistrates’ court on 27 April, 2022.
But he failed to attend court. Instead, he had skipped bail and bought a one-way ticket from London Gatwick to the island state of Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa. He remained there for 17 months, while authorities sought his extradition.
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Read MoreThen in September 2023, he was extradited back to the UK and eventually pleaded guilty to 31 charges of voyeurism and seven of computer misuse over a period at Bradford Crown Court in September 2024.
He was jailed for six years and two months, ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and handed a sexual harm prevention order for life, which includes not contacting any of the victims.
Sentencing Holden, Judge Sophie McKone said: “You are depraved and selfish. You hid behind a veil of respectability, having your own business and being a local government councillor.”
DI Jarrod McSharry, of Calderdale District Police, said: “It is hard to think of a worse or more devious abuse of trust than that committed by Robert Holden against his victims.
“Holden used his skills in IT to set up elaborate spying equipment which he used to commit multiple voyeurism offences against large numbers of persons who had no idea they were being filmed.
“Victims were horrified to discover how Holden had abused their basic right to privacy and dignity by setting up cameras in a bathroom and bedroom for his own perverted gratification.
“I want to thank those victims for their bravery in supporting what became a significant and long running investigation to unravel Holden’s extensive offending.”
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