Upskirter who took perverted photos ‘as a hobby’ given suspended sentence

A voyeur caught taking upskirt pictures of tourists’ underwear around Buckingham Palace who told police it was a ‘hobby’ was spared jail today (thurs).

Richard Sivier, 57, admitted targeting females in their 20s, including a woman pushing a child in a buggy, and filming videos up their skirts on 20 June this year.

Police officers in the area received a call that a man was ‘upskirting’ nearby and quickly identified Sivier walking around with a lens poking out his bag, Westminster Magistrate’s court heard.

Officers watched him following young women and holding out his bag by their legs to take videos without their knowledge.

Prosecutor Trevor Green said: ‘On 20 June at 11:15am police officers, on Spur Road in the Buckingham Palace area, received a call about a man filming up skirts.

‘They saw Mr Sivier and decided to follow him.

‘He began to film a woman who was about 25 years old, walking with another man, and he then positioned his bag near her.

‘The officers saw that there was a lens poking out of the bag and the female did not seem to know what was going on.

‘The defendant soon came across another female and this behaviour was repeated.

‘The woman was, again, in her early 20s, was standing against some railings and appeared unaware of what the defendant was doing.

‘The camera bag was dangling down by his ankles near the floor.

‘The suspect stopped on the grass opposite Horse Guards Parade, here he began to follow a white female in a white dress who was pushing a buggy. He followed behind her, holding out the camera bag trying to film up her skirt.

‘He then turned away and headed on to Horse Guards Parade when officers decided to stop him.’

Defence counsel Paul Dillon told the court how Sivier’s actions had rocked his marriage.

Mr Dillon said: ‘He had to explain his absence over night to his wife – he says she is finding it hard to understand his behaviour.

‘It is deeply embarrassing to Mr Sivier.

‘The thrust of my argument is that Mr Sivier has now acknowledged that his behaviour is simply unacceptable.’

When he was stopped by the police, Sivier immediately admitted what he was doing and told officers: ‘I have recordings of upskirts from the Trooping of the Colour.’

‘He was using a new Lumix digital SLR camera and it was concealed in the bag for this purpose,’ added Mr Green.

Sivier said he had been taking videos for about 18 months in London and Cambridge on six previous occasions.

He also told police that it was a hobby and that he wasn’t aroused by it but he was a straight man who enjoyed upskirting women in their 20s.

Magistrate Jane Smith said: ‘You pleaded guilty to this offence. We have given this some thought, it is a serious offence – you were uploading images onto a website so we do find that it passes the custody threshold but we are going to suspend it.’

Sivier, of Warren Road, Cambridge, admitted outraging public decency on 9 August of this year.

He was sentenced to eight weeks, suspended for 24 months.

Sivier was also ordered to carry out 100 days of sexual rehabilitation under the Horizon Programme and 20 day rehabilitation activity requirements.

He was also banned from being in possession of a camera in a public place but he was allowed to continue owning a mobile phone.

The SD card that contained the videos was ordered to be seized and destroyed.

He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £115 and costs of £85.

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