UNITED KINGDOM
A senior UK Public Servant has been ordered to serve a two-year community service order after being found guilty of the offence of “up-skirting”.
Daren Timson-Hunt (54), a barrister at the Department for International Trade, became one of the first people in the country to be sentenced for the offence after being apprehended by a police officer at a central London tube station in July.
An expert in trade law, Mr Timson-Hunt was head of the Department’s European Union Exit (Brexit) legal team until he left the post last month.
He had previously worked at HM Revenue and Customs.
Mr Timson-Hunt admitted one count of operating equipment beneath the clothing of another person without consent.
The Crown Prosecution Service said he was the fourth man convicted in separate up-skirting cases since the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019 came into effect five months ago.
Magistrates heard that Mr Timson-Hunt’s use of a mobile phone at Embankment Underground Station on the morning of 1 July had attracted the attention of a police inspector based at nearby Scotland Yard.
An inspection of Mr Timson-Hunt’s phone revealed he had recorded two videos of the woman, who was wearing a summer dress.
In addition to his community sentence, Mr Timson-Hunt was made to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years and pay costs of £175 (A$320).
London, 29 September 2019
