A chilling video clip showed the moment a stalker crept into a woman's bedroom, peeled off her duvet and filmed her as she slept.

Barry Parnell’s terrified victim discovered the footage, alongside other dubious images of her, on a phone he hid in her car as a tracking device.

When she confronted the 42-year-old he tried wrestling away the mobile and assaulted her.

The violence came as Parnell spied on his victim for months; hiding in woodlands, following her to a relative’s home and a country park.

He lurked outside her house, traced her to a supermarket and - even after being arrested and bailed - was back in her garden.

A judge this week handed the “narcissistic” father-of-three a restraining order after hearing the woman remains fearful both inside and outside her Thanet home.

Parnell’s chilling campaign began in August, as he followed the woman to her relative’s house.

He hid in nearby woodlands and a car park on two consecutive nights, waiting for her to return after evenings out. Parnell was even spotted outside her home the morning after.

He then followed her to Aldi and days later his victim, now aware she was being stalked, found his phone in the car.

"This is when she discovered pictures of her,” prosecutor Caroline Knight told the court.

Among the improper images was a video.

It showed Parnell filming himself creeping into the woman’s bedroom, removing the duvet and recording her in a state of undress.

When she confronted Parnell with the images a scuffle broke out and he assaulted her, the court heard.

Arrested in September, police handed Parnell a restraining order to not go within 200 metres of the woman's home.

But a neighbour soon spotted him twice outside and Parnell was arrested in possession of a small quantity of cannabis.

Bailed again, Parnell was back at it, hiding in her garden in October and following her to a country park in Gravesend two days later.

Following his final arrest, Parnell was remanded in custody for three months, but the victim was still left feeling scared inside and outside her house.

“She is in fear when she is in the house and when she leaves it, in case you follow her...” - Recorder David Jeremy QC

The woman told the court she has trouble sleeping, panic attacks and “anxiety ten-fold” following the three-month ordeal, which has affected her work.

A judge told Parnell his victim lives in fear and the cause of his bizarre behaviour is narcissism.

“The effect of all this on (your victim) is she has found herself constantly looking over her shoulder, wondering what is going to happen next,” Recorder David Jeremy QC said.

“She is in fear when she is in the house and when she leaves it, in case you follow her.”

“The root of all this is narcissism - your narcissism.”

Hearing Parnell denied stalking in police interviews, he added: “In that, you showed you are incapable of taking responsibility, and have a preference to tell lies rather than admit what you have done.”

But given Parnell’s guilty plea, previous good character and having served three months in custody, a prison sentence could be suspended, he continued.

Jack Triggs, for Parnell, said his client had abstained from substance abuse and it was his “first brush with the court”.

He highlighted the tougher conditions in HMP Elmley - following numerous Covid-19 lockdowns - where some of Parnell’s friends had allegedly died.

Parnell, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to voyeurism, stalking, assault by beating and two counts of cannabis possession at a previous hearing.

He was handed a 15-month jail sentence suspended for two years, 30 probation rehabilitation days and conditional discharges for the cannabis offences.

Now free for release, a restraining order will prohibit Parnell from contacting his victim or being within 200 metres of her home.

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