Flashers and voyeurs are getting away, figures show

FLASHERS and sexual voyeurs in Cheshire appear to be getting away with their crimes, according to figures.

Of the total 155 offences committed across Cheshire, investigations were completed in 109 cases without anyone receiving any form of punishment of any kind – either because of a lack of a suspect, difficulties with evidence, or because investigation or prosecution was not deemed in the public interest.

That means seven out of 10 offenders (70 per cent) got off scot-free. Of those who were punished, only 13 (8 per cent of all offenders) were charged or received a court summons.

Overall, crimes of exposure and voyeurism fell in Cheshire last year during the pandemic and lockdowns which have generally seen crime fall.

There were 155 crimes of exposure and voyeurism recorded in the county in 2020/21. That was an 11 per cent drop on the 175 offences the previous year.

Some 25 of the total offences in Cheshire were committed in Halton, which was also an 11 per cent drop on 28 in 2019/20.

However, many more crimes of this nature may have been committed, because research shows that the overwhelming majority of victims do not report sexual offences.

Voyeurism includes crimes such as “upskirting”, when an offender attempts to record an image beneath another person’s clothing without their consent, and of watching a private act for the purpose of sexual gratification without consent.

Exposure is when someone intentionally exposes their genitals with the intent of causing harm or distress – the crime that Couzens allegedly committed three times before the rape and murder of Sarah Everard.

These offences carry a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

In the county, Cheshire East saw the most offences, with 50 of these crimes recorded in the area last year.

There were also 47 offences in Cheshire West and Chester, and 30 in Warrington.

However, compared to the population, Halton was a hotspot for exposure and voyeurism.

For every 100,000 people in the borough, there were more than 19 offences last year, compared to 14 per 100,000 in Cheshire West and Chester and also in Warrington, and 13 per 100,000 in Cheshire East.

Ex-Met Police officer Wayne Couzens was accused of driving around Dover naked from the waist down in 2015, and of twice flashing staff at a McDonald’s in Kent just days before he abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard in March.

It has been claimed that those accusations of indecent exposure should have led police to conclude that the killer was a potential threat to women.

However, many of those accused of exposure and voyeurism never have to answer for their crime in a court of law.

Calls have now been made for reforms of police vetting procedures, after the accusations of indecent exposure against Couzens were revealed.

According to the College of Policing, only a registered sex offender or someone who had served a prison sentence – including a suspended or deferred sentence – would be automatically barred from joining the police.

But there is also a “rebuttable presumption” that anyone with a previous conviction or caution for a criminal offence would not be suitable to become a police officer.

However, a damning probe into the Met Police has revealed that 26 former colleagues of Wayne Couzens have committed sex crimes since 2016.

That includes one officer who was recruited last year, despite a conviction for indecent exposure, according to the investigation by The Sunday Mirror.