Woman filmed in shower left paranoid

David Huw Gwilliam. Photo / John Borren

A young woman secretly filmed in the shower by a former Iraq war mercenary says she has been left paranoid and needing counselling.

David Huw Gwilliam - who received a United States medal after being injured in a bomb blast in Iraq - this week admitted filming the Tauranga woman after earlier pleading guilty to drug, drink-driving and assault charges.

The woman, who discovered the recording while using Gwilliam's laptop to access her Facebook page, told the Herald she was oblivious to the filming and was now paranoid around cameras and laptops.

A further eight recordings of the woman were found on the 43-year-old's computer.

"There was hours and hours of footage and I had no idea. It was just unbelievable ... I was so shocked that someone would do that," she said.

"I've been pretty stressed about it, just trying to get it dealt with ... and to have him plead guilty, that was a relief so I didn't have to [appear in court]."

She was satisfied with the sentence of 220 hours' community work given to Gwilliam in Tauranga District Court which covered making an intimate visual recording, possession of cannabis, possession of a cannabis utensil, possession of a stimulant drug, driving while suspended (third or subsequent offence) and assault. The offences were committed between December 21, 2010, and November 6, 2011.

Judge Louis Bidois ordered Gwilliam to pay the woman $500 for emotional harm.

While the process had been stressful, the woman said, she did not regret alerting the police. "I would have never done it any differently ... what's a creep doing making secret videos?"

In court, Gwilliam said he set up the video camera function on his laptop to record the woman because he suspected her of drug-related criminal activities.