A "DEEPLY ashamed" driving instructor has escaped jail after setting up cameras to film up the skirts of his young female pupils.

Darlington man Rory Robertson last night apologised to his victims after walking free from court for filming the learner drivers and installing covert cameras in changing rooms at a leisure centre.

Speaking to The Northern Echo following the conclusion of the case, father-of-two Robertson said: "I am very sorry to anyone affected by what I have done. I am deeply ashamed and that is the god's honest truth."

Recorder Richard Wright had decided against sending the perverted instructor directly to prison, saying suitable treatment would not be available behind bars.

But campaigners last night called for a change in the law so judges do not have to choose between treatment or prison.

Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday that Robertson recorded people using the changing facilities at Darlington's Dolphin Centre, spying on girls as young as 12 as well as an elderly woman, a young man and a couple engaging in sexual activity.

The 53-year-old was caught after one victim spotted a hidden camera above his cubicle and reported it to staff, who handed it to police. Officers found images on it from the centre, plus pictures clearly taken in a driving school car.

The court was told that Robertson had been making regular recordings between January 1, 2014, and March 21, 2015.

Prosecutor Harry Hadfield said Robertson used velcro to fix a discreet camera in the car he used for driving lessons at his one-man Darlington firm - Rory's Driving School - enabling him to film the crotch and inner thighs of young women.

He would also hide cameras in air vents at the Dolphin Centre and position recording devices under or over partition walls of changing rooms.

Robertson admitted eight charges of voyeurism, one of taking indecent images of a child and another of perverting the course of justice by burning evidence.

Robertson, of Geneva Road, Darlington, was ordered to register as a sex offender, engage with a three year community order and complete a lengthy sex offender treatment programme.

It is impossible to know how many people Robertson spied on, but two victims traced by police said they had been left feeling sickened and disgusted by his violation of their privacy.

One of the young women caught on film was wearing the uniform of a local comprehensive, her school badge visible in the film. When police went to the school they found the girl, 18, who told them who the instructor was.

In a statement read to the court, she said: "As his pupil, I would have expected him to be trustworthy and treat me with dignity and respect.

"Now, knowing what he has done, he clearly had no consideration about me and the only thought he had was of his own sexual feelings."

Dan Cordey, mitigating, said Robertson had not intentionally been seeking out children and the judge accepted his intention was to capture pictures of young women he found attractive.

Mr Cordey said: "He was mildly depressed at the time and accepted his guilt from the beginning. He knows what he did was in no way acceptable and does not wish me to put forward any excuses, he is fully aware of the effects this has had on the victims."

He said Robertson's wife divorced him following his arrest, his two grown-up children are "disgusted" with him, he lost his career and now lives alone.

Recorder Wright said the catalogue of offences crossed the custody threshold but said a short sentence would not be the best way to protect the public from Robertson in future.

The father of the learner driver identified as Robertson's victim slammed the sentence.

He said: "We expected him to go to prison and I think that would have been the right sentence.

"It's very disappointing to find he has been sent on a course, people with his propensity for this kind of thing rarely change and it's not a fitting punishment.

"My daughter was very anxious about pressing charges against him but the police said it was important to go through it so that he had to take responsibility for what he did.

"Now she will wonder whether it was worthwhile. If he hadn't been caught out I'm sure he would have continued doing it."

Sexual abuse experts are calling for changes in the law to allow for treatment to begin behind bars.

Dilys Davy, chief executive of Middlesbrough charity ARCH North East, said: "If people are imprisoned for a few months, they do not get extra help or the chance to engage in anything.

"With people like Robertson, it needs to be about rehabilitation - if he doesn't have help, his offending will escalate and who knows what he could be capable of.

"I'd like to see him go to prison and then complete a programme or do it at the same time, I don't know why it has to be one or the other.

"Judges' hands are tied and there needs to be a change - help and rehabilitation should be available in prison."