Police helicopter crew 'filmed naked sunbathers and swingers having sex'

'You may hope the police helicopter is chasing down criminals — you may never imagine it is being used to film a pair in the throes of sexual passion,' says prosecutor

'You may hope that the police helicopter is chasing down criminals and keeping the community safe,' prosecutor says (Alamy)

A police helicopter crew used the aircraft to film a pair of swingers having sex in their garden, a jury has heard.

Prosecutors said two police officers and two pilots who worked for South Yorkshire Police purposefully circled the property as a couple "brazenly put on a show" involving numerous sex acts.

The men, who are facing misconduct in public office charges at Sheffield Crown Court, are also accused of filming naked sunbathers and naturists on a campsite.

Matthew Lucas, 42, Lee Walls, 47, Matthew Loosemore, 45, and Malcolm Reeves, 64, all deny the charges.

Richard Wright QC, prosecuting, told a jury: “They used the unique viewing position afforded to them, together with the powerful video camera with which the helicopter is equipped, to video members of the public engaged in private activities in a gross violation of their privacy.

“On three separate occasions they filmed a total of five people sunbathing naked in private and, on another occasion, they filmed a couple having sexual intercourse in their own garden.”

As Mr Wright opened the case for the prosecution, the jury was shown graphic footage, shot from the helicopter, of a couple having sex on the patio of their suburban house.


 Matthew Lucas, one of the crew of a police helicopter who allegedly used the aircraft to film people sunbathing naked, naturists on a campsite and even a couple having sex in their garden 
 (PA)

The eight minute long film features a naked woman – who waves at the aircraft at one point – and a man wearing only a Manchester United football shirt. The pair are engaging in a range of sex acts.

Playing the footage, Mr Wright said: “As you will see in a moment, the couple who were filmed on this occasion were very much aware that they were being observed, indeed they seem to relish it.”

The prosecutor explained how the couple featured were friends of Adrian Pogmore, 50, a police officer and an air observer on the helicopter, who has pleaded guilty to offences of misconduct in a public office.

Mr Wright told the jury: “The reason that this couple are so happy to be recorded engaging in sexual intercourse is that they are friends of Mr Pogmore and shared his sexual interest in the swinging scene.

“It was clearly, therefore, no coincidence that the helicopter orbits around their garden while they brazenly put on a show.”

The prosecutor said: “You may hope that the police helicopter is chasing down criminals and keeping the community safe.

“You may never imagine that in fact it is being used to film a pair of swingers in the throes of sexual passion for the entertainment of the crew.”

Continuing his opening of the case, Mr Wright said: “How then does the prosecution say that we can prove that these recordings are not simply the product of one swinging and sex-obsessed air observer, Adrian Pogmore, but were made with the connivance of the other members of the crew?”

Pogmore, of Guilthwaite Crescent, Whiston, Rotherham, has admitted four charges of misconduct in a public office.

Mr Wright said the other four men deny the charges and, “in short”, blame Pogmore for what happened.

Mr Reeves, of Farfield Avenue, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, denies two counts.

Mr Walls, of Southlands Way, Aston, Sheffield, denies one count.

Mr Loosemore, of Briar Close, Auckley, Doncaster, denies one count.

Mr Lucas, of Coppice Rise, Chapeltown, Sheffield, denies three counts.

Press Association