A man has been jailed after taking hundreds of pictures of women's bottoms. Police became suspicious when they saw Andrew Smoggie, 52, taking pictures of women at a Pride festival.
When they stopped him, they found he was subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which barred him from taking pictures or videos of women he didn't know in a public place. The order had been imposed in 2021 after Smoggie was caught 'upskirting'.
But despite the order he was seen at Manchester Pride weekend taking pictures of women's bottoms without their knowledge. When an officer checked Smoggie's phone they found it contained 'multiple images of women, mostly from behind, focussing on their bottoms'.
Analysis of the phone found 348 images of mostly adult women, all fully clothed. Some of the images showed girls from the age of 14. Smoggie said none of the pictures he had taken was for sexual gratification, reports MEN.
As part of their investigation, police also uncovered a second phone belonging to Smoggie on which a further 1,400 pictures of women in a public place were found. Smoggie admitted travelling to Pride events to take the images.
Smoggie has 27 previous convictions spanning 36 offences, six of them sex crimes. He has been convicted of breaching an SHPO eleven times.
David Thompson, defending, said his client's conduct 'wouldn't ordinarily be unusual or criminal' but for the existence of the SHPO.
He described his client as 'very much a loner' who had been the victim of abuse as a child which had left him suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Smoggie was also said to have 'features of autism' and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Mr Thompson said: "He's very much a loner. He doesn't have much in the way of support from family and friends."
Recorder Paul Reid KC told the defendant: "You say they weren't for sexual gratification. If they weren't, I don't know what they were for."
Smoggie, of Thelwall Walk in Warrington, was jailed for two years and four months.
