Description
A 47-year-old man who hid in the women’s toilets at Newcastle railway station and waited for someone to come in has been jailed, following a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation.
Paul Southern, 16/10/1978, and of no fixed address, was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on 26 March after pleading guilty to Voyeurism.
He was jailed for four months and will sign the sex offenders register for seven years.
The court heard how on Thursday 5 February this year, Southern had entered the women's toilets at the station and waited there for 40 minutes before a woman entered to use the facilities.
The victim, aged in her 40s, entered a cubicle and just seconds later noticed Southern's head appear under the divide. He looked at her for a few seconds before she shouted "what are you doing?" at him. She then banged on the door to try to get Southern to leave.
The victim then ran out of the toilets and informed her partner who approached BTP officers who were on patrol at the station.
Southern was then confronted by the officers, who asked him what he was doing before arresting him.
CCTV footage captured Southern’s movements leading up to the crime, during which he had been aimlessly wandering around the station before entering the women’s toilets.
BTP Detective Sergeant Graham Marshall Batey said:
“Southern’s actions that day were calculated as he laid in wait for a woman to enter the adjacent cubicle. It’s down to the bravery of the woman who reported his disgusting behaviour that we were able to immediately arrest him and put him before the courts.”