John Hitch has been sentenced to 39 weeks’ imprisonment on Friday (3 February), suspended for 12 months, after pleading guilty to making upskirting videos several women in supermarkets and secretly filming a woman showering.

The incident occurred on 17 June 2022 in Tesco supermarket.

Hitch visited walked up close to four women, using his mobile phone in his shopping basket to secretly record video footage under their dresses. At one point, a woman became suspicious after seeing Hitch standing close to her multiple times and feeling her leg bump against his shopping basket, where she noticed the phone.

She reported it to the store manager that she believed a man had been using his phone in his shopping basket to take footage up her skirt.

A review of CCTV footage from the store confirmed the same man, Hitch, had taking similar footage of four other women.

When police searched through video footage on Hitch’s phone, they also discovered a video of a woman undressing and showering, seemingly without her consent. Furthermore, over 900 video clips were found on memory sticks, the majority of which were upskirting. Investigating officers were able to identify 22 further victims of upskirting.

In an interview with the police, Hitch admitted to secretly filming the woman in the shower and to regularly upskirting women in supermarkets in Baldock and Hemel Hempstead.

Hitch, from Bovingdon, Herts, later pleaded guilty to:

Five offences of recording an image or operating equipment under clothing to observe another without consent.
One offence of voyeurism by recording a private act.

Hitch was also handed a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order against him

Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Mamawai Conteh said: “Colin Hitch opportunistically filmed women without their consent or knowledge for his own gratification. Upskirting and voyeurism are serious crimes, and Hitch committed them while knowing what he was doing was wrong.

“He was caught out however when one shopper became suspicious and reported her concerns; thanks to her, Hitch’s illegal activities were uncovered, and we were able to present strong enough evidence that he had no choice but to plead guilty for his crimes.”

The Crown Prosecution Service’s national lead for stalking and harassment, Olivia Rose, said: “Feeling safe should not be a luxury for women. If someone exposes themselves, tries to take inappropriate pictures or makes you feel threatened on the street, these are crimes, and we will do all we can to support those who come forward.”

Detective Constable Rebecca Hargrave said: “Hitch collected hundreds of images of women on his phone – each one a violation of that person. Many of these women remain unidentified as they likely were unaware of his actions. Had they known however, I am sure they would have felt demeaned, intruded upon, and even humiliated.

“Hitch said he knew what he had done was wrong, but despite this continued without any consideration for the women he targeted. We will not tolerate these kinds of offences that target women going about their lives, where they have a right to feel safe and free from this kind of intrusion.”