Student hid mobile phones in bathroom of shared house with cameras facing shower and toilet

The offence occurred at an address in Maynooth, Co Kildare, on dates between June 1, 2021, and August 31, 2021.

Sergeant Aoife Lacey gave evidence gardaí became aware of the offence when Shaw arrived at Maynooth Garda Station with several of his housemates. She said the accused had placed a mobile phone in the bathroom of the house unknown to his other housemates.

The court heard three of the student’s five housemates — two men and one woman — had at different times discovered a mobile phone belonging to Shaw hidden in different locations in the bathroom, including in the shower and facing the toilet.

Sgt Lacey confirmed no evidence of any recordings had been found on the phone as he had admitted applying “a factory reset” to the device.

The court heard the female housemate felt terrified about the invasion of her privacy after finding a phone pointing towards the shower in the bathroom. Shaw begged her not to go to gardaí.

When arrested in November 2021, Shaw told gardaí he considered his housemates his best friends at college.

Victim impact statements

In a victim impact statement, the female housemate said she was always told to be careful about who she trusted and what happened had impacted terribly on her ability to feel safe.

Another housemate said he had developed a heightened sense of paranoia, while his ability to trust others had been “profoundly shaken”. 

The third housemate said he was unable to continue his studies for an entire year because of the breach of trust caused by Shaw’s “insidious behaviour”. 

The student said he regarded Shaw’s apology as “hollow and insincere” as he had to be coerced into going to the gardaí.

The court heard the accused, who now works for a call centre, had no previous convictions.

Judge Baxter described the accused’s offence as “a gross breach of privacy and trust”, whose effect was “long-lasting” and which had occurred in “the most private of places”. 

Sentencing Shaw to two years in prison, she suspended the sentence in full subject to a number of conditions.