Camera ban for voyeur who filmed under women's skirts in Lancashire supermarket (From Preston and Leyland Citizen)

Camera ban for voyeur who filmed under women's skirts in Lancashire supermarket

5:22pm Wednesday 11th November 2009

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A VOYEUR who filmed underneath women’s skirts in a Lancashire supermarket has been ordered not to use a camera in public for the next two years.

Hungarian national Szilard Szlavec, 30, was handed the antisocial behaviour order after he admitted a charge of outraging public decency.

Szlavec, of Preston, secretly captured moving images of three women at the city's Morrisons store in Riversway.

Preston Crown Court was told he entered the supermarket on the afternoon of May 31 with a black rucksack over his shoulder.

Paul Brookwell, prosecuting, said the defendant went on to stand directly behind a female wearing a white denim skirt. Szlavec then put the bag down near to the woman’s legs before she moved on about 20 seconds later.

A security guard was observing and also saw similar incidents involving two other women wearing short skirts. The guard then realised that a camera device was attached to the strap of the rucksack.

Szlavec, who has lived in the UK for the past year, was detained by staff and arrested by police. The defendant, of Northcote Road, admitted taking the images but gave no explanation to detectives.

Judge Andrew Woolman said he would not impose a custodial sentence because he treated the matter as a basic offence of voyeurism.

He gave the defendant a 12-month community service order with a direction that he performs 80 hours of unpaid work.

A two-year Asbo was also imposed in which Szlavec cannot carry a camera in public, other than a camera in a mobile phone.

However, he was not permitted to use the phone camera in public.

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