Gorokan: Brett Andrew Tritton, 63, secretly filmed a woman in a bathroom

An unemployed man secretly used his mobile phone to film a woman showering through a small gap in her bathroom window and then failed to turn up for his sentencing, a court has heard.

Brett Tritton, 63, of Gorokan, leaving Wyong Local Court after being convicted of secretly filming a woman in her bathroom without her knowledge. Picture: NewsLocal

A man has been fined and put on a good behaviour bond after secretly filming a woman with his mobile phone through her bathroom window, a court has heard.

Brett Andrew Tritton, 63, of Gorokan, faced Wyong Local Court on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to intentionally recording an intimate image without consent and failing to appear at court.

An agreed set of facts states a woman, aged in her 30s, had just got out of the shower about 6pm on January 24, 2022, when she looked up and saw “a black mobile phone outside pointing towards her” from the slightly open window.

The victim quickly grabbed a towel and put it around her and went out and told another female resident of the house.

“The victim and witness seen the accused walk on the outside of the house where the bathroom window is situated down to the back door,” the facts state.

ITritton used his mobile phone camera to film the victim showering. (File image: AP Photo/Richard Drew)

“The victim was very upset and went back to the bathroom and got herself dressed. The witness confronted the accused over him recording the victim and asked him to delete the video he took of her.”

“The accused wouldn’t delete the video to start with or give the witness his phone After a while the victim came out and advised the accused she was calling police.”

Tritton leaving Wyong Local Court $750 lighter after being fined. Picture: NewsLocal

Tritton then showed them he had deleted the video.

The victim called police who came and took a statement in which she said she felt “violated”.

Three months later police tracked Tritton down to an address at Gorokan where he was arrested.

He was taken to Wyong Police Station where he declined to be interviewed and his phone was seized.

The court heard he initially planned to defend the matter but pleaded guilty in late 2022 and was set down for sentence in January 2023 but never turned up.

To his credit he turned up this time. Picture: NewsLocal

About 10.40am on Saturday, February 22, this year, officers attached to the Hunter Domestic Violence High Risk Offender Team attended Tritton’s home on Wallarah Rd, Gorokan where he was again arrested on a warrant and also charged with failing to attend court.

His Legal Aid solicitor Ian Le Breton told the court Tritton was initially represented by a lawyer in 2022 but was under the impression that his lawyer had dealt with it.

Mr Le Breton said Tritton never had contact with the victim again and when he was arrested last month it “didn’t appear” as if he had ever tried to “flee”.

Magistrate Trevor Khan said Tritton’s explanation for failing to turn up for his sentencing was dubious given he had pleaded guilty at some stage in 2022 and that he had indicated on his sentence assessment report at the time he no longer lived in Gorokan — despite police arresting him at the same address last month.

Mr Khan said that would suggest Tritton “knew more then, than he seems to remember now” of his impending sentence back in January 2023.

“It’s pretty poor form,” Mr Khan said of the offending.

“People are entitled to their privacy and it’s pretty obvious this was done for selfish reasons and it caused distress, unsurprisingly, to the victim in this matter.”

He convicted Tritton of both offences, fined him $750 and put him on a community correction order for 12 months.