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Accountant who upskirted a 17-year-old girl in school uniform on a train is jailed

A former PWC accountant has been jailed after he upskirted a 17-year-old girl in school uniform on a train. (SWNS)
A former accountant has been jailed after he upskirted a 17-year-old girl in school uniform on a train. (SWNS)

A former accountant has been jailed after he upskirted a 17-year-old girl in school uniform on a train.

Leon Chan, 26, from Sheffield, was travelling on a train to Ashtead in Surrey in October last year when he took photos up the teenage girl’s skirt.

Chan, who used to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), had previously been found to have 1,700 upskirting images of women on his phone after he was stopped by store detectives at Top Shop’s flagship Oxford Circus store in London in 2019.

Later that year, he was handed a suspended sentence and Sexual Harm Prevention Order which banned him from having any device that can take photos or videos, unless he satisfied certain court conditions.

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During the train journey last October, Chan sat down by the teenager and started staring at her, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

She then got up and went to stand by the train door but he followed her and crouched down on the carriage floor, pretending to rummage in a bag.

Chan then began to take pictures up the teenager’s skirt.

CCTV showed the light on his camera appearing to flash, police said.

The victim then moved away and the defendant followed her, crouching down again and holding his phone towards her.

As she turned around, she caught him pointing his camera up her skirt.

Chan got off the train at Ashtead before quickly re-boarding and continuing his journey.

He was later identified by police in Sheffield and arrested.

Watch: Upskirting case caught on camera prompts warning from police

On Friday, he was jailed for 20 months at Sheffield Crown Court after he was found guilty of recording an image under clothing to observe another without consent and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Chan, who now lives in Sheffield, was also ordered to sign the Sex Offender's Register for 10 years.

Detective Constable Amina Khoyratee of British Transport Police told reporters after his sentencing that Chan showed no remorse for what had he done.

She added: "Upskirting is a truly horrendous invasion of privacy and I would like to make it absolutely clear that we will always take these reports seriously.

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"Chan is a repeat offender who has shown no remorse throughout our investigation, so it's lucky he'll now have plenty of time on his hands in prison where he can reflect on his predatory behaviour.

"This is relatively new legislation, having only been introduced in 2019, but the bespoke powers make it much easier for us to charge suspects for this invasive and disgusting form of sexual offending.”

DC Khoyratee urged anyone who is a victim of upskirting, or any other sexual offence, to text police on 61016 or call 999 in an emergency.

Watch: UK passes legislation to criminalise 'upskirting'