Redhill man imprisoned following one of the first upskirting convictions in UK

A 51-year-old man from Redhill is behind bars following one of the first convictions for upskirting offences in the UK.

Trevor Beasley, 51, of Lynwood Road, Redhill, was sentenced to two years and four months in prison after he was caught upskirting at a supermarket in Burgh Heath in July.

Beasley, who was already the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) was found guilty of two counts of upskirting, as well as two breaches of his SHPO and three counts of making indecent images of children, when he appeared at Guildford Crown Court earlier today (25 November).

Officers were called to Asda store on Monday, 1 July following reports of Beasley acting suspiciously, with witnesses claiming they had seen him film up girls’ skirts.

Security staff at the supermarket had initially asked Beasley to leave following these complaints, but he continued to try and come back into the shop on three occasions, even changing the clothes he was wearing.

Upon police arrival, Beasley was identified and arrested on suspicion of upskirting. A number of items were seized from him, including several phones and a black bag, which when examined was found to have a small hole in the bottom with Velcro taped on the inside, which is where devices were concealed.

As well as this, a search carried out of computers at Beasley’s address revealed that he was in possession of over 250,000 indecent images and videos, majority of which fell into Category A.

Beasley, who was already the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) was convicted of upskirting, two breaches of his SHPO and three counts of making indecent images of children.

DC Mia Lombardi, who investigated the case, said: “Trevor Beasley was swiftly arrested due to the vigilant member of the public who reported his suspicious behaviour. His victims were completely unaware of what he was doing, and if the member of the public hadn’t have noticed what he was doing, then we may not have got the result we have today.

“This offence will not be tolerated and we want to encourage victims to report crimes of this nature to us. If you see anyone acting suspiciously and are concerned they may be acting in a similar way, please call us so we can prevent other people from having these images taken.”

Upskirting, the act of someone taking a picture underneath someone’s clothing without their permission, became illegal in April 2019 under The Voyeurism Act, following campaigning from victims and MPs.

Surrey Police encourages victims to report sexual assaults by calling us on 101 (or 999 in an emergency. For further advice on sexual abuse, please contact Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre http://www.rasasc.org/. We are currently showing our support to the annual White Ribbon Campaign, which aims to end male violence and abuse against women. For more information please either visit the White Ribbon website, or the Surrey Against Domestic Abuse Website which also contains information about support available in Surrey.