(no subject)

Barrister 'not guilty' of filming up girls' skirts

A verdict of not guilty has been returned on a barrister accused of making indecent images by covertly filming up girls' skirts.

Simon Austin Hamilton, 35, of Haringey, north London, told Canterbury Crown Court he got no sexual gratification from the practice. His pleasure came from collecting and cataloguing the images, he said. Mr Hamilton denied five charges of outraging public decency saying collecting was a "hobby" in his family.

He said he stopped "upskirting" when he joined the Bar as it was inappropriate.

Mr Hamilton denied eight charges relating to making and owning indecent pictures of children from 2002 to 2003. He further denied a charge of taking an indecent photograph of a child in September 2001.

Mr Hamilton told the jury that his actions in filming up skirts had been about getting the image and accumulating a collection. "Collecting is something my family is very prone to. We're collectors of pretty much anything you can imagine," he explained. He added that he would spend most of his time cataloguing the images as opposed to looking at them. "It was the sort of gratification of a job well done," he said.

At the time of the offences, Mr Hamilton lived in Bosham, West Sussex, with his fiancée whom he later married.

The court heard that he had started "upskirting" when he worked part-time and had "too much time on his hands". He said: "In 2001, I came back to the Bar and it was no longer an appropriate or convenient habit to indulge in."

Ordering a verdict of not guilty to be returned, Judge Adele Williams adjourned the trial until Thursday.

EDIT: The Beeb appear to have got a little over-excited reporting this case. That final sentence was swiftly deleted, and if you're reading this in reverse chronological order you already know the result. What's it like up there in the future, anyway? Have we finally got jet-packs?