The Chronicle

Man who hid in toilets to record women jailed

ON HIS PHONE TO FILM IN THE CUBICLE NEXT TO HIM

- By NICOLE GOODWIN Reporter nicole.goodwin@reachplc.com

A MAN who sneaked into female public toilets and recorded women in cubicles for his own sexual gratificat­ion has been jailed.

Pawanjit Singh, also known as Robbie, hid in the cubicles before using his mobile phone to secretly record his victims as they used the toilet next to him. The 35-year-old captured 26 clips and six images of numerous women in several different pubs in the North East in September 2020.

In May 2021, he was caught by a woman as he was in the act of recording her in the female toilets at Washington Service Station. The woman confronted him, and subsequent­ly contacted police. The investigat­ion progressed when police accessed Singh’s mobile phone and, after interrogat­ing the device, uncovered the voyeuristi­c content.

Singh was charged with 27 offences of voyeurism and appeared at South Tyneside Magistrate­s court in April where he pleaded guilty to all counts.

Singh of Henry Street, Shiney Row, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court and was sentenced to one year in prison.

He will spend 10 years on the Sex Offenders’ Register, was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and was ordered to have his devices destroyed.

Talking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Kate Bain, of Northumbri­a Police, said: “We would like to thank the woman who turned out to be Singh’s last victim after she witnessed and challenged his offending – meaning the scale of his depravity was

uncovered. Singh secretly filmed women in what should have been a totally private space, without their knowledge or consent. He showed no respect for these women whatsoever and saw them only as tools for his own sexual gratificat­ion.”

Det Con Bain added: “We are committed to ensuring sexual offenders in our community are identified, arrested, and brought to justice. We have trained teams of officers who are experts at pursuing suspects of any form of sexual abuse and ensuring their depravity does not go unpunished. They’ll be there for you throughout every stage of the investigat­ion and will offer you whatever support you need.

“We would always encourage anybody who is a victim of crime, or who has any informatio­n about this type of offending, to come forward and report it to us so we can act for you.”

Anyone who has been subjected to any form of sexual offence is encouraged to can get in touch using the ‘Report’ pages of the Northumbri­a Police website or call 101.

Sexual offences can also be reported through Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), Rape Crisis Centres, Women’s Aid, Victim Support, The Survivors Trust and Male Survivors Partners. In an emergency, or if a crime is ongoing, call 999 immediatel­y.

Singh secretly filmed women in what should have been a totally private space Detective Constable Kate Bain

 ?? ?? Pawanjit Singh was jailed
Pawanjit Singh was jailed

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