A man "violated" a woman by spying on her getting changed in a leisure centre cubicle, a court heard.

The victim was drying herself when she spotted Daniel Toms’ head under the cubicle door at Applemore Leisure Centre.

She saw him "out of the corner of her eye", Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard.

Prosecuting, Anthony McCafferty told the court how the incident on March 30 has had a profound effect on the victim.

He said: “The victim was drying herself when she saw some hair, something out the corner of her eye.

“She said that it started to move, and it turned out to be a man’s head – the defendant.

“He was looking at her underneath the cubicle.

“The victim, quite rightly, became very upset and scared.

“She left the changing room straight away to tell her friend and cousin what happened.”

Toms was seen fleeing the changing rooms "barely dressed" with his belt undone, but the victim and her friends challenged him.

The police were then called, and he was arrested.

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Speaking in court, the victim said: “This incident has had a massive impact on my mental health, and very quickly my life. I kept reliving the incident.

“He made me feel violated. I used to go swimming weekly with my friends, but I couldn’t go for a couple of months because of my anxieties.

“I am still unable to go into cubicles on my own. Even when I am in an enclosed area I am looking around - I am paranoid.

“I feel I will need long term help.”

Toms, of Deneside Copse in Pennington, pleaded guilty to one count of observing another person doing a private act for the purpose of sexual gratification.

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Mitigating, Nigel Couzens said Toms pleaded guilty on the first occasion, and added: “He is ashamed and disgusted by his own behaviour.”

Passing sentence, chairman of the magistrates’ Miles Spencer-Shaw barred Toms from Applemore Health and Leisure Centre for two years.

He added: “You will undertake a community order of 24 months and part of that will be a sexual offending programme.

“You will also undertake 250 hours of unpaid work.

“You will pay a £114 victim surcharge, £85 costs, and £500 compensation to the victim.”