AN OPTICIAN who secretly filmed women under desks and in the toilets at his town centre practice has been jailed for 28 months.

Shamed Martin Clough, who owned Cloughs Opticians in Newport Street, pleaded guilty to six counts of voyeurism at Bolton Crown Court.

The court heard Clough hid secret cameras in toilets and under desks at the practice. And when police searched his home in Horrocks Fold Avenue, Sharples, they found 24,396 images and 27 moving images on a computer.

Clough, aged 55, was found out after one of his victims spotted the camera hidden inside an air freshener in one of the toilets in the opticians. Staff at the practice then handed the evidence over to the police.

Prosecuting, Brian Berlyne said that some of the women had been filmed in the toilet and another victim was filmed as she underwent an eye examination.

He said: “It is not known how many victims there are because the majority of them could not be identified because there were no facial images. A camera was found under a desk and it was pointing at an angle which would have been between the legs of female customers who were wearing skirts.”

Mr Berlyne explained the impact that the offences had had on his victims. He said: “One of the victims has been nervous using public toilets and changing rooms. She was most upset by the breach of trust.

“Another victim said she had been left angry and feeling like a fool. A third victim said she is still affected two years after and has to see a psychologist.

“She already had body image issues and those have become worse, she now has to take anti-depressants and when she goes to the toilet she is very suspicious and looking for cameras.”

The offences took place between December, 2013 and November, 2014.

Clough owned the popular Bolton business with his brothers Christopher and Stewart who trained in optometry and took over Cloughs Opticians, the business founded in 1951 by their father, Norman Clough, when he retired in the mid-1990s.

Mr Clough Snr died in a Lytham St Annes nursing home last year, aged 89.

Last month a fitness to practise committee of opticians’ governing body, the General Optical Committee, made an interim order banning Clough from working as an optician for 18 months.

Colin Buckle, defending the unmarried man, said: “He pleaded guilty and that was a plea of courage because he knew this day would come around and he would be publicly humiliated.

“He is sexually immature and has never had a long term relationship, he is inexperienced in a physical sex view.

“He sought some type of replacement and it is one of the worst types of replacements one could think of.”

Clough shook and wiped away tears as he was sentenced.

His Honour, Judge Timothy Clayson, said: “This was an intrusion in to the privacy of women who trusted you.

“It is so serious that custody is the only option. The women have been left feeling violated, nervous and psychologically damaged. You are an intelligent man who would have known that it would have had a significant impact on these women.

“There are a huge number of victims and it is a very extreme breach of trust.”

A sexual harm prevention order was also issued.