A PRISON officer secretly filmed a young girl as she showered and then sent the images to his brother and son, a court heard yesterday.

Former soldier Vincent Jordan, 48, who had worked at Eastwood Park women's prison in Wotton-under-Edge, also tried to talk the 12-year-old girl into having sex with him, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

Jordan, of Abbeydale in Gloucester, was jailed for five-and-a-half years after he admitted four offences of taking indecent images of a child, one of voyeurism, two of distributing indecent images and one of inciting the girl to engage in sexual activity with him between September 1, 2014 and May 31 this year.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC told Jordan it was bad enough that he had indulged in 'vile activity' by covertly filmed the 12 year girl using Apple remote technology, but it was an aggravating feature that he had shared the footage with his brother and his son, who is in his 20s.

"You have served your country as a soldier and you were in good and highly responsible employment when you committed these offences," the judge told Jordan, who had an impeccable previous record.

"I take those matters into account as part of your mitigation in this case. But the way you have behaved in the last year demonstrates that your moral compass had swung through 180 degrees."

The judge said he found it 'very disappointing' that Jordan's brother and son had not immediately reported receipt of the film to the police.

Prosecutor David Scutt said Jordan was caught because of an anonymous phone call to Crimestoppers on May 26 this year.

As a result of the call, police searched the bathroom where the girl had showered and found a bag containing a camera which was wi-fi enabled so it could be remotely operated.

Enquiries revealed that Jordan had been using Apple apps to control the camera from his iPhone and iPad.

A total of 36 videos and 289 stills of the girl using the bathroom were found stored on a variety of his computer devices.

"After he had been charged police received further information that he had been distributing certain images to his brother and his son Lee," said Mr Scutt.

He told the court that in August the girl revealed to her mum and dad that she had met Jordan and that he had spoken to her and texted her about sex in a way that was clearly grooming her.

When police checked Jordan's email account they found messages he had sent talking about wanting to have sex with the girl.

James Burke, defending Jordan, said "He deeply regrets his actions and the effect they have had on others.

"He has had a good employment record. He has always been in work. Between the ages of 17 and 24 he was in the armed forces but left on medical grounds. Subsequently he worked in security for the Royal Mail.

"He suffers from depression and is currently on anti depressants."