THE manager of a Valleys furniture company hid a camera in order to film women employees going to toilet, a court heard. Lee Simon Price was yesterday yesterday found guilty of voyeurism and warned he could face jail because of his "perverted wish to gain sexual gratification".

Price, 36, of Lancaster Street, Blaina, was production manager at a north Gwent company, where he worked for 16 years.

Abergavenny Magistrates' Court heard Price hid a camera pen in the ladies' toilets on around five occasions between February 1 and April 12.

Prosecutor Ian Kolvin said machinists, upholsterers, customers and suppliers used the toilet.

A female employee found the camera on April 12, rested on a pipe behind the toilet.

She thought it was a pen, but after a light flashed when she pressed it, she took it to a computer shop to find out what it was. A shop worker found a USB stick inside and downloaded 14 minutes of footage, which included an employee at the company using the toilet, with her private parts visible.

Mr Kolvin said: "Her reaction was shock and horror and she wondered how long it was going on for."

The factory worker told police, who approached the woman in the footage. Mr Kolvin said she was "devastated."

Notices were put in the factory about the camera and Price called the owner on April 14 admitting it was his. At first, Price said it was to try and catch a cleaner who he suspected of hiding there to avoid her duties, but he changed his story, saying he was trying to spy on wife and record her texting or phoning a man he suspected she was having an affair with. He said: "We have been having problems for a number of years because of my jealousy. I had to find out to put my mind at ease."

Price has since resigned and District Judge Richard Williams told him his evidence was "a pack of lies". He added: "Because of your perverted wish to gain sexual gratification, you invaded their privacy."

Price will be sentenced at Caerphilly Magistrates Court on October 18 and was warned all options, including prison, remain open.