October 08, 2012

Peeper leaves Christchurch after threats

By David Clarkson

A man has been threatened and has left Christchurch after being labelled a peeping tom.

Forty-four-year-old Sean Robert Trimble says he made an upskirt video of a woman in a store, using his new cellphone, as a dare with his workmates.

But it has led to him being charged and shamed, and at his Christchurch District Court sentencing today he was ordered to do 175 hours of community work.

Trimble had pleaded guilty to a charge of making an intimate visual recording and a charge of wilful damage of a changing room at The Warehouse in Hornby.

He was arrested on April 25 when he was caught carving two small peepholes in a changing room partition.

When police checked his cellphone they found a recording made on March 25, in which he had gone into a store and placed his new cellphone on an item of luggage, with its video function running.

It recorded 1min 36sec of video which included about 5sec up the skirt of an unknown woman.

Defence counsel Steve Rollo said the offending had been motivated initially by a dare from his workmates. Trimble possibly suffered from depression at the time.

He was very embarrassed and extremely remorseful. He had received personal threats and had moved to another city. He had lost his job and was now going to counselling and on a sickness benefit because of his personal shame issues.

Judge Patrick Treston said they had been unsavoury incidents, and one of the offences carried a maximum penalty of three years jail. Trimble?s partner and family had been clearly surprised by his actions and indicated that the behaviour was out of character.

He noted that Trimble was assessed as a low risk of reoffending, and had left Christchurch because of safety concerns.

He had been branded as a peeping tom though he denied any sexual impulse for his actions.

The offending had been demeaning for the unknown woman victim, said the judge.

In some circumstances, a jail term would have been imposed. ?A message needs to be sent out to the community that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated.?

He imposed 175 hours of community work but denied a police request to destroy the cellphone and ordered that it be returned to Trimble.