Queenstown voyeur who took intimate photos of woman refused discharge

A man who took 26 videos of women in Queenstown’s London pub toilet after consuming MDMA was granted name suppression but not a discharge without conviction.

The 25-year-old Invercargill man sought the discharge on a representative charge of making an intimate visual recording and a charge of failing to assist police.

Judge John Brandts-Giesen heard the application in the Invercargill District Court earlierand reserved his decision until last Friday — the last matter he presided over as a judge.

The man’s lawyer, Bill Dawkins, told the court the conviction would affect all aspects of his client’s life, including travel and employment prospects.

In reading through the summary, Judge Brandts-Giesen said the man held the telephone below and above the door as he filmed, on June 25 last year.

Some of the recordings were graphic and one included what looked like a drug deal, he said.

“A total of 26 recordings were made before you were caught.

“Some of the cubicles had several women in them for whatever reason, but they could all have expected privacy and were entitled to it.”

Judge Brandts-Giesen said police opposed the application for a discharge, noting the offending was a gross violation of the victims’ privacy and saying a man should not be recording what should not be seen “particularly for the purposes of sexual arousal or gratification of you”, Judge Brandts-Giesen said.

Denying police access to his phone was also an aggravating feature as it could have allowed the man to “obliterate” the evidence.

The offending was not just a momentary lapse as it continued for more than half an hour and was only stopped when three women caught him.

Judge Brandts-Giesen said such offending should not be swept under the carpet and declined the man’s application.

He ordered him to pay $2000 emotional harm reparation to each of the three victims.

He said to the man it was an extremely difficult decision to make.

“This is in fact the last thing I will do as a judge because I am retiring next week.

“It pains me greatly that this sort of matter is before the court at all — for you, a decent young man, acting in this way.

“However, we all make mistakes in this world and you have to own them and you have to build up resilience.”