Officers charged with misconduct in public office
LONDON (Reuters) — The crew of a police helicopter filmed people sunbathing in the nude, naturists at a campsite and even a couple having sex, a court in Britain was told on Tuesday, the BBC reported.
South Yorkshire police officers Matthew Lucas, 42, and Lee Walls, 47, and pilots Matthew Loosemore, 45, and Malcolm Reeves, 64, each denied charges of misconduct in public office when they went on trial in Sheffield in the north of England.
Former police officer Adrian Pogmore, 50, had previously admitted to the same charge.
The people recorded included two naturists at a campsite in 2008, a mother and her daughters sunbathing nude in 2007 and a couple having sex in their garden in 2008, the prosecution told the court.
Footage taken by the crew of the couple was said to have shown the woman involved waving up at the helicopter at one point.
The woman filmed with her daughters while sunbathing told the court that the crew's actions were a "complete and utter violation" of her privacy, the BBC said.
The trial was expected to last three weeks.
