A voyeur who filmed and then sexually assaulted a woman as she slept has been jailed for 30 months.

Paul McCormack’s victim was ‘entitled to feel safe in her own home’, Deemster Graeme Cook told him.

‘You should be disgusted with yourself,’ he said.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said had suffered panic attacks, nightmares and flashbacks since the attack.

She said she now found it difficult trusting people, felt ashamed, unworthy and for a long time had blamed herself for what happened to her.

McCormack, 47, of Castle Street, Peel, had pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault.

The Court of General Gaol Delivery heard that the offences took place while his victim lay passed out face down on the bed after a night out on the evening of December 5, 2020.

She woke to find the defendant kneeling beside her carrying out the assault.

‘She froze and didn’t know how to react,’ said prosecutor Peter Connick.

The woman tried to force him off but was still drunk and didn’t want to wake others in the house downstairs. She was also aware that the defendant was taking photos or videos.

McCormack was arrested after the victim disclosed what happened to her to work colleagues.

Police found voyeuristic video clips on the defendant’s i-Phone showing the woman in a state of undress around the time of the offences.

Mr Connick said that the clips showed he had an interest in surreptitiously filming her in intimate circumstances.

Defence advocate Stephen Wood argued that for a suspended sentencing, pointing out his client had no previous convictions and was of previous good character.

‘This is not a man we will be seeing before this court ever again,’ he said,

But Deemster Cook handed down an immediate custodial sentence of 15 months for each offence to run consecutively, making a total of 30 months.

He said: ‘These offences to society and to the bench are abhorrent. You knew she was in an seriously intoxicated state.

‘She went to bed and crashed out through the effects of drink and you knew that. No means no.’

The Deemster said the victim had felt she was a fraud. ‘Well she’s not a fraud - you are,’ he told McCormack. ‘She was vulnerable, intoxicated, asleep.

‘She was entitled to trust you.’

McCormack will serve half his 30 month sentence in custody and then be automatically released on licence.

He was placed on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period and was served a restraining order banning him from making any contact, directly or indirectly, with the complainant.

The Deemster also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the iPhone containing the video clips.