'Upskirting' perverts regularly being spared jail sentences

02 December 2023 , 16:12

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Just 169 people were jailed for voyeur crimes in the past five years (Image: PA)

Upskirting perverts are routinely being spared jail, shocking figures reveal.

Just a quarter of those convicted of voyeurism, which includes crimes such as filming up skirts and hiding spy cams in loos, are locked up. In the past five years 684 were convicted of sexually recording women without consent with 169 jailed, Ministry of Justice data shows.

Others got community service or a suspended sentence. They included Benjamin McNish, who in 2021 quit as a Met Police DS after getting a 20-week suspended term and seven years on the sex offenders register for using his iPhone to spy on a showering woman.

Upskirting became a crime in 2019 after victim Gina Martin pushed for a change in the law. The Centre for Crime Prevention’s David Spencer said: “Voyeurism is an abhorrent crime. We have to ensure those convicted are sentenced properly.”

The Government said: “While judges decide sentences, we made upskirting a specific offence so police and courts can tackle this degrading crime.”

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