A POLICE officer who used spy cameras to secretly film naked women may have used his background in counter-terrorism to obtain the devices, a court has heard.

Detective Inspector Neil Corbel posed as an airline pilot to book models for photoshoots in Brighton before planting cameras in hotel rooms, flats and Airbnb’s.

The cameras were hidden in items including tissue boxes, phone chargers, air fresheners, glasses, keys and headphones.

The senior Metropolitan Police officer, who previously worked as a counter-terrorism officer, was caught after a model became suspicious of a digital clock.

An internet search of the brand name revealed the device was a high-end spyware video recording device which could be controlled from a smartphone.

Police found images of 51 women on Corbel’s hard drive, with 19 victims, including 16 models and three escorts, agreeing to make statements against him.

The Argus: Detective Inspector Neil Corbel, 40, leaving Westminster Magistrates' Court, London Detective Inspector Neil Corbel, 40, leaving Westminster Magistrates' Court, London

The 40-year-old, who has been suspended from the force, pleaded guilty to 19 counts of voyeurism with the intention of obtaining sexual gratification by looking at the recordings in September.

The offences took place within the Brighton, Greater London and Manchester areas between January 2017 and February 2020.

On Tuesday, November 2, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring suggested Corbel may have used his previous work to carry out the offences.

Mr Goldspring sent the case to Isleworth Crown Court for sentencing at a later date because his powers to jail Corbel for a maximum of one year were insufficient.

“On any view, the offending involved considerable deceit, not just using the different identity but essentially a different personality.

“He went to extraordinary lengths to hide the filming, and of particular concern to me is there is at least a suggestion he used his knowledge in his former work to secure recording equipment of an undercover nature.”

The Argus: Neil Corbel Neil Corbel

Four of the women, who cannot be identified because they are victims of sexual offences, faced Corbel in court. Three took to the witness box to read victim impact statements.

One model, who was secretly recorded twice by Corbel, with whom she had consensual sex, said sje felt “betrayed”.

“It is particularly upsetting knowing he is a high-ranking police officer,” she said. “I would expect far better from someone in his position.”

Another said: “The fact the defendant is a police officer has scared me and shocked me. He’s supposed to enforce the law.

“I expect he knows how to deal with people, and he’s used his knowledge, experience and training to manipulate me.”

Other victims, who were not in court, mentioned the case of Sarah Everard, who was snatched off the street before being raped and murdered by Met Pc Wayne Couzens.

“The fact that he is policeman is a huge deal,” one victim said. “These people are meant to protect us. Following the murder of Sarah Everard this feels like a very fragile time to be a woman.

“Sex work can be dangerous, though I’m lucky in this is the first form of violence I have experienced at work. If you can’t trust police officers, then what are we supposed to do?”

But Edward Henry QC, defending Corbel, said the case was “light years away” and disputed the “idea he was using his skill as a police officer”.

“All of these objects are freely available,” he said, adding that his client suffers from “sex addiction”.

“Not a penny of police money was abused, it was never done on police time, never in a police-paid hotel room,” he said.

“There was no abuse of trust in the commission of the offences, although obviously an abuse of the victims’ trust.”

Mr Henry said Corbel had spent 13 years as a police officer and highlighted his “single-handed determination” in “leading and investigating a case which was extremely lethal and he thwarted, he foiled it, saving countless lives”.