A man who tied a phone to his ankle with a rubber band in order to film up the skirt of a female colleague was jailed for 18 weeks’ on Wednesday (10 November).

The 60-year-old man, who had been infatuated with his colleague, earlier pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism. Neither the man nor the victim can be named due to a gag order protecting her identity.

Between 7 February and 14 September last year, the man would use either of his two mobile phones, and secure the phone to his ankle with a rubber band, such that the back camera of the phone was facing outwards. The phone would have its video recording function switched on.

The man would then approach the victim and start a conversation with her to distract her while standing or sitting behind her. He positioned his ankle with the tied handphone under the victim’s skirt or dress.

While watching the video later on, the man would take screenshots of selected moments for his own pleasure.

He recorded 15 upskirt videos of the victim – capturing her underwear or inner thighs – across 15 occasions. The man eventually deleted some of the videos because he realised what he was doing was wrong.

However, he continued to film her illicitly.

On 24 September last year, the victim lodged a police report stating that the man had taken an upskirt video of her. She made the report as she felt something was wrong with his behaviour.

Defence lawyer Mark Yeo had sought 10 to 12 weeks’ jail for his client. In mitigation, Yeo said that his client had demonstrated “genuine remorse” since investigations commenced. He also penned a letter of apology to the victim dated 3 October 2020.

The man has since acknowledged the errors of his ways, said Yeo, and made decisive steps to reform. He has also completed 12 counselling sessions.

While the man has left his job, his former supervisor encouraged him to return to work. He declined to do so out of consideration for the victim.

For the offence of voyeurism, the mancould have been jailed up to two years, or fined, or caned, or any combination of the penalties.