A former intelligence professional has been released from Canberra's jail, sparing him the Christmas behind bars he had been condemned to only eight days prior.
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Magistrate Glenn Theakston last week sentenced the man, who is not being named for legal reasons, to four months in jail for two offences of capturing visual data in an invasion of privacy.
The 31-year-old offender had admitted amassing a collection of 842 illicit videos and photos of his female housemate at their north Canberra home.
His offending, which took place over more than six months in 2020, began with the rigging of a small spy camera in a shoe rack within the victim's walk-in wardrobe.
It ended with the man poking his mobile phone through doors to record the woman in private moments after she discovered the hidden device.
In a victim impact statement, the woman told an ACT Magistrates Court sentence hearing her former friend's "predatory behaviour" had left her feeling humiliated and disgusted.
She also spoke of being "emotionally exhausted" by now constantly looking around for places cameras might be concealed.
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"This is not how I'm meant to live my life, but you made this the reality for me," the woman told the offender.
Mr Theakston ultimately ordered the offender to serve half of his sentence in full-time custody, with the rest of it to be suspended from Boxing Day.
But the man was let loose on Friday afternoon, having been granted bail by the ACT Supreme Court pending the outcome of an appeal against the severity of his sentence.
He appeared in that court via audio-visual link from the Alexander Maconochie Centre as his lawyer, Tom Taylor, made the bail application before Justice Michael Elkaim.
Prosecutor Nathan Deakes did not oppose the application, telling the court the man would inevitably serve his two months in custody before the appeal could be heard unless he was released to await the result.
Justice Elkaim granted bail, saying the Crown made this concession "concisely and fairly".
Dates for the appeal hearing are yet to be set, but it will probably go ahead next year.
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