A British Airways pilot has been cleared of voyeurism after secretly recording a cabin crew colleague during a sexual encounter and distributing the footage to a fellow aviator.
Tim Capron, 38, faced trial at Reading Crown Court over allegations he filmed the woman without her knowledge or permission during intimate acts at his Maidenhead home.
Following three days of proceedings, a panel of seven men and five women returned a not guilty verdict on Thursday after deliberating for five hours.
The case centred on a single count of voyeurism relating to images captured while the complainant was blindfolded during their encounter.
The pair connected through the dating application Tinder before meeting in person, the court heard.
During their second date, Mr Capron requested that the flight attendant wear a blindfold, jurors were told.
While she was unable to see, the pilot captured photographs as he struck her with a paddle and made recordings during oral sex.
These images were subsequently transmitted via WhatsApp to Steven Farnworth, a fellow British Airways pilot whom Capron described as a "sexual partner" with whom he participated in threesomes.
Mr Capron was alleged to be attempting to involve the unsuspecting woman in what amounted to a "virtual threesome"
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Prosecutors contended that Mr Capron was attempting to involve the unsuspecting woman in what amounted to a "virtual threesome" with Mr Farnworth.
Giving evidence during the trial, Mr Capron maintained he believed the woman would have agreed to being filmed based on their earlier conversations about "whips, restraints and dominance".
He told the jury he thought she would appreciate the "positive affirmation" from Mr Farnworth's reaction, who responded to the images with "Fan dabby dozey".
"I thought from what we had discussed together, I thought this behaviour would be OK, I thought she would be fine with this, I thought she would enjoy it," Mr Capron said. "I have to live with that mistake for the rest of my life, and I have done for the last four and a half years."
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His barrister Jenni Dempster KC reminded jurors that the Crown Court was "not a court of morals", arguing the sole question was whether her client knew consent was absent.
"There is a world of difference between making a gross error of judgment and being a sex offender and crossing that line into criminality," she said.
The incident occurred in September 2021 when the complainant visited Mr Capron's Berkshire residence.
Police arrested him on 28 September that year, and a subsequent investigation uncovered extreme pornography on his mobile device, for which magistrates handed him a six-month conditional discharge.
Mr Capron first appeared before Reading magistrates in August 2023 on the voyeurism charge, with an initial Crown Court trial in July 2024 ending without a verdict.
The Crown Prosecution Service pursued a retrial, which commenced on Monday.
An Oxford graduate with a master's degree in biological science from Christ Church College, Mr Capron joined British Airways as a pilot in 2016.
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