South London Supermarket Worker Admits Upskirting Customers and Colleagues

A south London supermarket worker has admitted taking upskirt photographs of customers and using a hidden camera to spy on female colleagues using the toilet.

Alex O'Halloran, 33, of Mitcham Road, Croydon, admitted two charges of outraging public decency, one charge of voyeurism and one charge of taking an indecent photograph of a child when he appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court on Friday, 23rd October 2020.

The court heard that the crimes of O'Halloran, who worked in Sainsbury's at The Green, Twickenham, were discovered when a customer saw him holding a mobile phone underneath the skirt of a schoolgirl visiting the store on the afternoon of Wednesday, 18th July 2018 (prior to the enactment of the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019, hence the choice of charge).

Prosecutor Trevor Green outlined the circumstances of the offence.

"An individual walked into Sainsbury's and witnessed the defendant, wearing uniform, with a phone in his hand taking a picture up the skirt of a girl wearing school uniform", Mr Green said.

The witness reported his concerns to management at the store, who reported the incident to the police. O'Halloran was subsequently arrested and an examination of his electronic devices yielded evidence of further offences.

The second charge of outraging public decency related to 388 indecent photographs, mostly of a similar nature, which were found on O'Halloran's phone and personal computer.

The voyeurism charge relates to three videos, each in excess of 30 minutes long, which were taken using a camera concealed in the female staff toilets at the store.

Police also discovered 16 indecent videos of children, which fell into Category C (e.g. nude, but showing no sexual contact).

Tony Meisels, mitigating, said: "Clearly this will need to go to the Crown Court for sentencing. We accept there are images that depict underage persons.

"He is a man of good character, facing serious charges."

Magistrates agreed that their sentencing powers were insufficient given the circumstances of O'Halloran's offences. They ordered a pre-sentence report and committed the case to Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court for sentencing.

O'Halloran was granted conditional bail until his sentencing hearing.

He was told that he must sign the sex offenders register within three days at Croydon Police Station, giving his personal details and where he lives, plus notice of travel or any visits by children to his address.