Belfast man jailed for offences of ‘revenge porn’ and voyeurism

Police investigations revealed Bell had sent one image of the victim to his own father

A Belfast man was jailed for a year on Friday for offences of ‘revenge porn’ and voyeurism.

Ryan Bell, 33, formerly of Spires View, previously pleaded guilty to offences of disclosing a private sexual photograph, observing a woman doing a private act for his own sexual gratification, and sexually assaulting the same female.

A charge of making threats to kill was left on the books in the usual terms.

Belfast Crown Court heard that on September 14, 2024, the victim was with the defendant. She looked through his phone and discovered he had taken photographs of her while she was naked.

The court heard she later took screen shots of the offending material before contacting police.

Bell was subsequently arrested after returning to Belfast from London where he had moved to after he donated one of his kidneys to his father in a transplant operation.

Police investigations revealed Bell had sent one image of the victim to his own father.

In a victim impact statement, the complainant said she felt “let down, embarrassed and humiliated that images of her when she was naked took away her ability to feel secure in her own body”.

She said the incident “took away my ability to trust people” and she gave no consent for the images to be taken or distributed.

“I felt ashamed and dehumanised. I am worried about who may have seen these images and that they may resurface.”

Defence barrister Michael Halleron said Bell made the case that he had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol and drugs and he had no recollection of what he had done.

He said he wanted to help his father with the transplant as he had helped through his addiction issues.

The barrister added: “The defendant is extremely aware that this type of behaviour is abhorrent and these types of cases call for determinate sentencing”.

Mr Halleron told the court that on his instructions Bell no longer takes alcohol and drugs because he is on prescribed medication following the transplant operation.

Judge Patrick Lynch KC said Bell had been assessed as a medium risk of reoffending but did not pose a danger to the public.

He imposed a sentence of nine months and activated a three month suspended sentence for disorderly behaviour giving a global sentence of 12 months in custody.

Judge Lynch added that he did not believe it was appropriate to impose a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

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