A cross-dressing burglar who broke into a house and filmed himself wearing a schoolgirl's underwear has been jailed indefinitely.
Gary Marie, 42, of Burnley, Lancashire, would break into unoccupied properties or spy on his female victims to indulge his sexual fantasies, Preston Crown Court was told.
One woman had since tried to commit suicide while another, a 15-year-old schoolgirl, suffered regular nightmares.
Balaclava-clad Marie was spotted by officers on a routine patrol in Padiham during the early hours of March 19 last year. He tried to escape on a bicycle down a back street but when cornered he pulled out a CS gas canister and squirted the spray in the faces of six officers.
The defendant was eventually overpowered and arrested, and was found to be wearing a woman's white thong and a black sports bra. His balaclava had been fashioned from a pair of knickers and he also carried a device for turning keys and a pair of gloves, the court heard.
Richard Haworth, prosecuting, said a mobile phone and digital camera were recovered following his arrest.
He said: "These items supported the evidence that the defendant was entering the homes of complete strangers and committing acts of a sexual nature."
Images of bedrooms that Marie had filmed were published in a local newspaper and a number of people came forward to police. It emerged that Marie broke into the home of one of his victims on the night he was arrested.
Marie was convicted of more than two dozen offences including six counts of voyeurism, 10 counts of possessing indecent photographs of children and six counts of assaulting police officers. He was also found guilty of aggravated burglary, burglary and possession of a firearm, namely a CS gas canister.
He did not give evidence at his trial and he refused to leave the cells on some days of the hearing. Marie, of Lubbock Street, was handed an indeterminate sentence for public protection by Judge Stuart Baker and must serve a minimum of six years in jail before he can be considered for parole.
