A FORMER British Army soldier has been jailed for voyeurism after secretly filming underage girls and then making indecent photographs of his victims.

Adam Kenneday targeted and spied on four children aged between 12 and 16, before later developing obscene images of them, Cardiff Crown Court heard yesterday.

The 48-year-old, formerly of Malpas Road, Newport, pleaded guilty to five counts of voyeurism and two charges of making indecent photographs of children.

All the offences were committed in the Caerphilly county borough area between 2014 and 2016.

The images were of category B, pictures branded as being the second most serious examples of child sexual abuse, and category C.

Prosecutor Jason Howells told the court that, after he was arrested by police at the Ibis hotel in Malpas Road, Newport, Kenneday claimed to detectives that he had not derived any sexual gratification from the images seized in the raid.

Harry Baker, mitigating, said the defendant was man of previous good character who had no previous convictions.

He added: “The defendant has served his country in the British Army and he is not work-shy.

“He suffers from psychological problems and he will have to work his way through them.”

Mr Baker said, according to a pre-sentence report prepared by the Probation Service, Kenneday was categorised as being at a low risk of reoffending.

He urged Judge Richard Williams to impose a suspended jail sentence.

But the judge said Kenneday’s offending was so serious that only an immediate custodial term could be justified.

Judge Williams jailed Kenneday for 16 months for each of the five voyeurism charges.

He was also jailed for 16 months for making category B indecent photographs of children and 12 months for making category C indecent pictures of children.

All the sentences will run concurrently, making a total sentence of 16 months in prison.

The defendant was told he will be made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and must register as a sex offender for the same length of time.

Judge Williams also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the electronic equipment Kenneday had used in his crimes.