Landlord is convicted for CCTV voyeurism

A landlord who spied on female students has become the first man convicted of voyeurism in Britain.

Italian-born Francesco Vitetta, 31, faces jail for fitting cameras in his Croydon flat and spying on female tenants in their bedrooms and bathroom.

Vitetta concealed a lens inside a washbag in the bathroom and another on a wardrobe in a bedroom. Colour images were transmitted to a television in his bedroom.

The offence, commonly known as voyeurism, became illegal under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Vitetta will be sentenced at Croydon Crown Court today after admitting he installed the system and watched footage for "sexual gratification".

The computer programmer, who worked for an insurance company in Surrey, let rooms to two foreign students and an Englishwoman, all in their early twenties. He also pleaded guilty to breaching copyright laws over 646 DVDs found in his room.