GOSFORTH DOCTOR PETER FINKLESTONE ADMITTED TO SECRET TOILET VIDEO RECORDINGS AND IS NOW ON SEX OFFENDERS REGISTER

In August 2003, a trusted general practitioner from Gosforth found himself at the center of a disturbing criminal case involving secretly recorded videos of women and children in his own bathroom. The case has sent shockwaves through the local community and has had a profound impact on the life of the doctor involved.

Dr. Peter Finklestone, aged 39, was discovered to have installed a covert camera within his bathroom at his residence in Gosforth, Newcastle. This device was used to secretly record individuals using his bathroom facilities. The footage captured by this hidden camera was subsequently transferred onto a master tape, which Finklestone kept for his own personal amusement. The court heard that the initial recordings inadvertently included children, as Finklestone was attempting to capture images of a woman friend with whom he had developed an obsessive interest.

Rather than discarding the footage of the children, Finklestone chose to retain these images at his Gosforth home. The police investigation revealed that he had compiled a tape containing these recordings, which he kept privately. During an earlier hearing, Finklestone pleaded guilty to nine counts of creating indecent images of the woman and children, with the incidents spanning from November 1998 to October 2002.

On the day of sentencing, magistrates in Newcastle imposed an 18-month community rehabilitation order on Finklestone and mandated that he register as a sex offender for a period of five years. The court was informed that the trusted family doctor, who enjoyed a good reputation among his hundreds of patients, now faces a future in ruins. Finklestone, who is unmarried and has no children, has resigned from his medical practice, lost his income, and is on the verge of losing his home.

Prosecutor Jason Boyd detailed the extent of Finklestone’s actions, stating, “The apparatus was set up in his bathroom to take pictures. He changed address while this was going on, and the equipment was reinstalled. There was a master or compilation tape onto which images were added after being made in the toilet. There was a level of sophistication involved, but there was no evidence of distribution or sharing of these images.”

Defense lawyer Frazer McDermott acknowledged Finklestone’s guilt, explaining, “Mr. Finklestone accepts he placed a pinhole camera in the toilet of his home, and the purpose was to take pictures of a lady with whom he was having a non-sexual relationship. The girls were filmed innocently at first because the camera was set up to record this woman. However, Mr. Finklestone kept the footage, which he knows he should not have done. Importantly, the police recovered tapes that showed no sexual activity involving the children.”

The court’s chairman, Dr. Rievely Gair, emphasized the seriousness of the case, stating that Finklestone would remain on the Sex Offenders Register for five years. Following the case, a helpline was established to support victims and concerned members of the community, highlighting the gravity of the situation and the breach of trust involved in this disturbing case from Gosforth.