Woman finds hidden camera in Bondi hostel bathroom

A man is facing court today after a woman discovered a hidden camera concealed in a deodorant stick in a hostel bathroom.

A woman discovered a hidden camera in the bathroom of her Bondi Beach hostel.

A man will appear in court today after a hostel roommate found his hidden camera inside a deodorant stick in a bathroom in Bondi Beach overnight.

Police will allege the man had a number of hard drives filled with secret footage of women.

A 27-year-old French tourist checked into the accommodation on Sunday and was sharing the room with a man, 36, from Hong Kong, who she didn’t know. Their shared room had an en suite bathroom.

At about 10pm yesterday, after showering, she noticed a toiletry bag on the sink in the bathroom had a deodorant stick, and inside appeared to be a hidden camera.

The woman took photos of the device and contacted officers from Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command.

Police arrested the man, also a tourist on holiday from his native Hong Kong.

When they arrested the man they seized remnants of a smashed camera from the man, police allege.

When they searched the man’s property he also had “numerous hard drives and storage devices which police will allege contained further videos of women in private acts,” according to a statement released by police today.

The Village Bondi Beach - formerly Lamrock Lodge. SOURCE: The Village Bondi Beach

“She was crying a lot … We just tried to calm her down,” Javier Arabalo, who works at the Village Hostel, told 9 News.

“(The man) was sleeping, so as soon as she told me, we called the police and they came like 10 minutes after and they tried to find the camera — they couldn’t.

“She saw I was wearing staff (clothes) and she said, ‘mate, I need help’,” he said.

“She had a mobile phone, she recorded the toilet and in the deodorant was a hole and she was like, ‘what is this? This is not normal’.”

He was charged with installing a device, adapt a building to observe or film other, and possessing surveillance devices intended for unlawful use.

He was refused bail and will appear in Waverly Local Court today.

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