An osteopath to the stars is facing jail after he was caught spying on female university students as they got undressed at their halls of residence.
Torben Hersborg, 63, made at least 60 videos of women over the course of four years, and was carrying a camera and a telescope when he was caught by police, a court heard.
Chillingly, Hersborg was wearing black gloves when he was arrested and had covered the back seat of his car with black bin liners.
At Highbury Corner magistrates courts on Monday Hersborg pleaded guilty to three charges of spying on women. He was remanded in custody until sentencing next month.
Police are interrogating electronic devices recovered from his home in Wapping, east London, amid fears that what they know of his activities already may be the “tip of the iceberg”.
Hersborg has clients including tennis ace Caroline Wozniacki, actress Anna Friel, and athlete Christina Ohuruogo, and is the director of the Central London Osteopathy and Sports Clinic in Old Street, central London.
He has worked with Italian Serie A football team Brescia and the Danish Tennis Federation, and boasts on Instagram that his practice is “trusted by Olympic champions”.
His social media feed includes a video of a treatment session with Strictly Come Dancing contestant Viscountess Emma Weymouth, as well as pictures posing with DJ Fearne Cotton, Oscar-winning actor Mark Rylance, Olympic sprinter Yohan Blake, and musicians Ronnie Wood and Beverley Knight.
Hersborg, a married father, admitted incidents of spying on December 10, 14, and 21 this year, at student halls of residence in Islington, north London.
“He was outside university halls of residence, spying on female students, filming and recording them”, said prosecutor Zahid Hussain.
He said Hersborg was caught out because his “distinctive” car had been spotted lurking in the area on those nights and was reported to police.
The court heard detectives are now hunting for another man who is suspected of “colluding” with Hersborg as he spied on the students.
“The defendant’s home and motor car were searched”, said the prosecutor. “Extensive digital equipment and IT storage devices were found at his home address.
“The devices have yet to be interrogated.”
The court heard Hersborg, a Danish national and childhood friend of actor Mads Mikkelsen, is married with a 21-year-old daughter, he moved to the UK in 1984, and has lived at the family home in east London for the last 31 years.
He and his wife run the osteopath clinic together.
Deputy District Judge Rhys Rosser refused Hersborg bail ahead of sentencing, and warned that he is likely to face a “sentence of immediate custody”.
He said the incidents of voyeurism this month are believed to be “not just isolated incidents”, with evidence of illicit activity “over the last four years”.
“You had a camera with tape over the lens and a telescope”, added the judge.
“While sitting in the rear of your vehicle you were wearing black gloves, with black bin liners on the seat.
“You had 60 videos of female university students changing and going about their private business.”
Hersborg, of Peartree Lane in Wapping, admitted three charges of observing a person doing a private act. He is due to return to court for sentencing on January 9.
