A VOYEURISTIC air force flight sergeant used a high-quality camera to film up unsuspecting women’s dresses at Royal Ascot, a court heard.

Didcot father-to-be Andrew Hack used his camera to film behind him as women sat around having picnics on the grass during the world-famous race meeting.

The married 44-year-old used his high-quality lens to zoom in on the women, capturing images of their underwear as they stood up and sat down.

Prosecutor Pamela Hayre-Wakefield told East Berkshire Magistrates’ Court in Slough that Hack, of Westwater Way, Didcot, had filmed backwards under his arm while lying on the grass on Friday, June 19.

She added: “For the majority of the videos, the defendant had clearly sat down on the grass near a group of women drinking and filmed backwards with the camera positioned between his arm and his body.

“The camera was of very good quality and could perform extreme close-ups.

“The majority of the women in the footage were wearing underwear.”

The court heard Hack had been spotted by security guards patrolling the grandstand and parade ring and threw him out for snooping with his camcorder.

But once outside, police officers swooped on the self-confessed naturist and arrested him in the car park.

Ms Hayre-Wakefield said officers found 82 video files on the device’s memory card which showed upskirt shots of about 13 different women. She added: “One officer observed images of female genitalia and breasts on the camera. Mr Hack had been using his camera to zoom in and film up skirts and down tops.”

Hack admitted one count of outraging public decency but claimed he was unaware he was committing a crime and had gained no sexual gratification from doing it.

The court heard Hack had been stressed at work and sought a challenge and a thrill, having done a similar thing 20 or 30 times in the past.

Jelia Sane, defending, said her client had not pursued the women or made any threats to them.

She added: “There is no indication that he followed or pursued the women in any way.

“He did not subject the women to high levels of harm and he understands the repercussions his actions will have on his work life and family life – his partner is currently seven months pregnant."

Hack is due to appear again in court later this month for sentencing.