A construction boss who secretly filmed a woman during a Fifty Shades of Grey-themed encounter has avoided jail. Michael Riley, 38, was convicted of voyeurism at Hamilton Sheriff Court after a trial.
Secret filming during consensual encounter
Riley arranged to meet the 39-year-old woman at a property in Lanarkshire for a night of passion. They imitated scenes from the best-selling book and film, including her being tied to a bed. However, she was horrified when he later sent her footage of the August 2022 encounter.
When she confronted him, he laughed and said: "That's what people our age do." Police were called, and Riley, of Newmilns, Ayrshire, was arrested. He denied wrongdoing and claimed the woman had agreed to be filmed, but the jury found him guilty.
Court sentence and victim's testimony
Sheriff Linda Nicolson ordered Riley to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and placed him under supervision for two years. He was also banned from contacting his victim for 10 years and placed on the sex offenders' register for two years.
Giving evidence via video link, the woman said she had agreed to be restrained but did not know Riley planned to record the liaison. She said: "I was in the middle of being unrestrained and he told me to check my phone. I asked him what it was, although looking at it I knew what it was, and I said to him 'why have you done that?' and he said it was just something for me to keep."
She added: "I asked him to completely delete and asked why he had done it and he just laughed. I was just angry with him and I don't know why you would do that to someone without asking or discussing it." When asked if she had consented, she replied: "I'm under oath and I'm 100 percent sure that video was not taken with consent."
Riley's defense and sheriff's remarks
In evidence, Riley claimed they had agreed to record the encounter and that the woman helped set up cameras. He said: "The idea behind the video is that it would all come together as one, we called it our Fifty Shades night. It was to be like a scene out of a porno that evening."
He added: "Absolutely she consented, she recorded parts of it herself and at one point she was holding the camera during a sex act. We made a Fifty Shades night happen, it was recorded and it was consensual."
Defending, Rosemary Robinson said: "He would be compliant with any order imposed by the court." Sheriff Nicolson told Riley: "The custody threshold has been passed and you could be subject to a custodial sentence for this but I'm satisfied that an alternative can be imposed."
Fifty Shades of Grey is an erotic novel by E.L. James, adapted into a film starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson.
