Beeston, Nottingham: 41-year-old Adam George-Wood was detained by a Tesco security guard at a branch in Beeston, Nottingham after a customer spotted him acting suspiciously. Turned out, George-Wood was carrying a shopping basket with a camera phone placed inside it upside down and positioned it right below a woman's skirt, trying to film a video. The customer, who caught him in the act, alerted the woman and challenged George-Wood. A security guard detained him and handed him over to the police later.
After initially denying the allegations laid on him, Adam George-Wood later admitted to the crime in a statement to the police. He even pleaded guilty to numerous other offenses, some involving hiding a camera inside his shoelaces to film up women's skirts.
Police found more than 100 lewd videos
While searching George-Wood's electronic devices, police found more than 100 videos of the same nature, which were filmed at a variety of locations, including on public transport. Beeston native, George-Wood pleaded guilty to three counts of recording an image under clothing to observe another without consent. The charges stemmed from multiple instances involving different women between July 2019 and September 21, 2019.
George-Wood was sentenced to six months of imprisonment at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday, October 26. He was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders' register for ten years. "Upskirting is a disgusting invasion of somebody's privacy and can be an incredibly distressing offence for a victim," Detective Constable Laura Gray, of Nottinghamshire Police said after the sentencing.
'George-Wood showed a brazen disregard for his victims'
Detective Gray commented on how George-Wood "collected a large collection of invasive videos, all filmed without the consent or knowledge of his victims," showing a "brazen disregard for his victims." Appreciating the guard who detained George-Wood and helped "bring his offending to an end," Detective Gray noted that "Had he [George-Wood] not been challenged when he was I have no doubt that his offending would have continued." "I would like to commend the actions of the staff and security guard who originally helped to detain George-Wood."
Detective Gray also urged "women who fear they may have been the victim of upskirting to come forward and tell the police." "We will investigate and we will take very firm action against perpetrators if we can."
