Tory councillor suspended following upskirting arrest

A TORY councillor has been suspended after being arrested on suspicion of upskirting in TK Maxx.

Lee Hawthorne, 39, became one of the first people to be arrested under new voyeurism laws which came into force in April making it an offence to take a picture up a person’s clothing.

He was held after police issued a CCTV photo of a man they wanted to speak to about the alleged offence at the store’s Gloucester branch on June 27. A Conservative Party source confirmed he had been ARRESTED Cllr Hawthorne suspended. A Gloucestershire Police spokeswoman said: “Officers arrested a 39-year-old man from Gloucester on suspicion of voyeurism on Wednesday. “The man has since been released under investigation.”

Mr Hawthorne is a councillor for the Quedgeley Fieldcourt ward on Gloucester City Council and sits on the authority’s scrutiny committee, as well as its planning committee. Neither Conservative Campaign headquarters nor Mr Hawthorne responded to requests to comment.