Man jailed, fined for assaulting wife and taking video of her bathing

A man who assaulted his wife and used a spy camera to take a video of her bathing was jailed for 18 weeks and fined $3,000 yesterday.

The 57-year-old, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the victim's identity, pleaded guilty to one charge each of breaching a protection order, voluntarily causing hurt, harassment and voyeurism.

Another charge of criminal intimidation was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The accused and victim dissolved their marriage on Jan 11.

Prior to this, in the early hours of Feb 25 last year, the man and his then wife got into an argument.

The accused had tripped the circuit breaker in their home three times that day to prevent the victim from using electricity, as he felt she did not pay for anything despite living in the unit.

Their quarrel turned into a scuffle, during which the accused pulled the victim's shirt until it tore at the side, and squeezed her right breast to hurt her.

The woman called the police at about 12.25am, and was later found to have suffered minor injuries.

A protection order was issued by the courts about a month later on March 19, ordering that the accused be restrained from using family violence against the victim.

On April 11 last year, about a month after the protection order was issued, the accused decided to use a spy camera he had previously bought to record the victim showering. The court was told they had not been intimate for about a year at that point and that he "missed her body".

The man placed the camera in the toilet, sticking it to a wall with double-sided tape. But when the woman took a bath shortly after, the camera dropped and she found it. The police were called and the man was arrested.

The man and woman continued living in the same home after their marriage was dissolved this year, and the accused subsequently harassed the woman.

The man, returning home just past midnight on Feb 27, scolded the victim for living there as a freeloader.

He asked her to help with the bills and repeatedly verbally abused her. He also crumpled a stack of letters and threw them at her face before continuing to use vulgarities on her.

The police were called and arrested him after observing that he reeked of alcohol, appeared drunk and was agitated.

Yesterday, Magistrate Hairul Hakkim Kuthibutheen imposed the fine with a default of two weeks' jail if it was not paid.

He also backdated the sentence to Feb 27, when the man was placed in remand.

For voluntarily causing hurt, the accused could have been jailed for up to three years, fined up to $5,000, or both.

For voyeurism, he could have been jailed for up to two years and additionally fined for the offence.