A man who secretly recorded hundreds of intimate videos of a woman before threatening to share them has been jailed for almost five years.
Liam Steele, 43, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court after being convicted by a jury of blackmail and threatening to disclose private sexual photographs and films.
The court heard Steele installed a hidden camera in a bedroom and recorded intimate footage without the victim's knowledge over a period of at least nine months.
Judge Graham Knowles said the device remained in place from at least February 2023 until November that year, when it was discovered.
The court heard police later found 254 videos on a mobile phone seized during a separate investigation.
The recordings included footage of the victim in private and intimate situations. The judge said the victim had been entirely unaware she was being recorded.
Prosecutor Rachel Woods said the offending involved a "quite sophisticated operation" which had been planned over a lengthy period.
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She told the court Steele had secretly gathered material before later using it to threaten the victim.
The blackmail offence arose during an argument on May 6, 2024.
Judge Knowles said Steele showed the victim screenshots taken from the recordings and threatened to "ruin" her life.
The court heard the victim suffered significant psychological harm as a result.
In a statement, she described feelings of anger, shock, humiliation and shame.
She told the court she had sought help from a range of sources, undergone cognitive behavioural therapy and been prescribed antidepressants.
Ms Woods said the victim now lived with the fear that the images could still be shared and did not know whether copies remained in existence.
Sentencing Steele, Judge Knowles described the installation of the hidden camera, the monitoring of the footage and the retention of the recordings as a "gross betrayal".
He told Steele: "Placing that camera, watching it, and keeping the films was a gross betrayal and a disgusting way to behave."
The judge said Steele's actions had been intended to cause maximum distress.
Steele's barrister, James Heyworth, said his client had developed psychosis after the offences and was now medicated and in remission.
He said Steele was engaging with support in prison and working as a healthcare assistant while in custody.
However, Judge Knowles said the psychiatric evidence did not reduce Steele's culpability for the offences.
Addressing Steele, he said: "There are most definitely two sides to you, but I sentence the uglier side who committed these crimes."
The court heard Steele has 25 previous offences on his record, and the judge also found Steele had shown no genuine remorse for the offences.
Steele was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for the offences.
A 15-year restraining order was also made, prohibiting him from contacting the victim.
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