A MAN who secretly photographed his naked girlfriend as she slept before uploading the images to a porn website after they broke up has been spared prison.

Gary McKeown had 'expressed genuine remorse and regret' for the offence which he committed at a time when he was 'using cannabis daily', Greenock Sheriff Court was told.

The 30-year-old first offender has been handed 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay his victim £500 compensation as a direct alternative to a jail term.

His lawyer, Gerry Keenan, told the court: "He acknowledges the seriousness of the offence and how it would have caused the victim distress and psychological harm."

The woman told a trial in August that she had been left 'absolutely demoralised and completely embarrassed' by what McKeown did.

She said: "They showed my whole body.

"I had no idea these pictures had been taken."

Port Glasgow man McKeown took the photos without her knowledge or consent seven years ago — when she was 18 — and posted them on the adult website in mid-2014.

He was finally caught out in May of this year after the woman was told by a third party that a number of images of her in a state of complete undress were on the site.

Prosecutor John Penman told the trial: "They were there for the world to see."

McKeown, a fitness adviser with Inverclyde Leisure, told police he'd done it out of 'emotional anger' because he thought the woman had been cheating on him during their short-lived relationship.

In a text message exchange between himself and woman, he wrote: 'Honestly, I'm so sorry. I deeply regret it.'

Solicitor Mr Keenan told a sentencing hearing: "Mr McKeown has expressed genuine remorse and regret.

"He did this at a time that he was feeling bad about the break-up and he was using cannabis on a daily basis."

Sheriff Joseph Hughes told McKeown: "I note that you have not been in trouble before, as well as the age of the offence, but it is still very serious."

As well as the unpaid work and compensation orders, McKeown will also be under social work supervision for a year.

Sheriff Hughes told him: "This is a direct alternative to a prison sentence."