THE secret life of a company director was unravelled after he attempted to drug a woman with a powerful sleeping pill.

Allan Austin, from High Legh, covertly filmed the unsuspecting woman undressing at his home.

The 66-year-old’s sickening deception was uncovered in November last year when he crushed a sedative into a gin and tonic that he had made for her.

The victim from Warrington, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “It looked cloudy but I didn’t think too much of it until I tasted the drink – it was bitter.

“I got up and said ‘I’m going to go and get another one’. As soon as I said that he said ‘I’ll do it’. I told him it was fine.

“I don’t know what made me think to hide the drink but I did and I got myself another one.

“When I was cleaning the dishes at night I could see white sediment at the bottom. He had obviously crushed something and put it in my drink.”

Unable to drive home due to the alcohol she had consumed, the victim endured a sleepless night. It was then she noticed a flashing light – a hidden camera.

That morning she drove to Stockton Heath Police Station to report the matter.

Austin’s home was searched, and it was discovered he had installed a camera to spy on her.

He had 670 images and videos of her getting undressed from May 2014 to November 2017.

The glass used was also analysed and it was revealed that the sleeping pill zoplicone had been put in her gin and tonic.

The past 12 months have been a ‘living nightmare’ for the victim, who had been left emotionally scarred by the ordeal.

Austin was jailed for eight months at Chester Crown Court on October 15 after being convicted of voyeurism and administering poison.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years, and a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the victim was imposed.