Jail for man, 28, who took upskirt videos of women after news reports of voyeurism offences ‘piqued his interest’

SINGAPORE — Brandon Wan Yeu Herng was no stranger to group channels on instant messaging platform Telegram where he accessed voyeuristic content. 

He also knew the consequences of voyeurism offences through the news reports he has read, but they only served to "pique his interest" in committing a similar offence.

On Wednesday (May 31), the 28-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty to a single charge of using his mobile phone to take two upskirt videos of a woman without her consent and was sentenced to five weeks' jail.

Two other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The victim cannot be named due to a gag order by the court. Court documents did not state Wan's occupation.

WHAT HAPPENED

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tung Shou Pin told the court that on the morning of July 29 last year, Wan had alighted from a bus at a bus stop outside Clementi MRT Station and was on his way into the station when he spotted the victim who was also headed in the same direction.

Overcome with a temptation to film her, he decided to record an upskirt video of her.

Wan placed the back of his mobile phone against a book he was holding so that the phone camera faced upwards, before standing behind the woman while they rode the escalator.

He then moved his phone closer to below her dress and recorded an upskirt video of her.

Wan continued to follow closely behind her as they entered the MRT station's concourse and passed through the gantries.

As they took the next escalator, Wan again stood right behind the victim and recorded a second upskirt video of her.

A witness, Mr Wesley Sim, saw Wan surreptitiously film the victim on both occasions and decided to follow the two of them.

While they were on the MRT platform, Mr Sim stopped both of them and informed the woman that Wan had been taking upskirt videos of her.

Startled, Wan offered to delete the upskirt videos but Mr Sim made him hand over the mobile phone.

Mr Sim then showed the victim what Wan had done.

Mr Sim and the woman subsequently approached officers from the Public Transport Security Command, who detained Wan.

The court heard that Wan had been accessing voyeuristic content on Telegram group channels since 2021. 

After he was arrested, snapshots from the voyeuristic videos that he had been viewing were found on his phone alongside two other upskirt videos that were taken on July 13 at Bayfront MRT Station and on July 27 at Clementi MRT Station.

These two videos were the subject of charges that were taken into consideration. 

"The accused also admitted that he had, prior to the offences being committed, read news reports on voyeurism offences. This 'piqued (his) interest' and led the accused to decide to commit similar offences," said court documents.

The prosecution sought a jail term of five to six weeks for Wan.

However, his defence lawyer, Mr Ashvin Hariharan from Kalidass Law Corporation, urged District Judge Lim Wee Ming to consider a lighter sentence of one week in jail.

Mr Hariharan added that Wan's actions "lacked premeditation" and were more a "spur of the moment" act as he intended to commit the offence "only" when he saw her at the bus stop and they "happened to be" heading in the same direction.

He also said that Wan's offer to delete the videos was "indicative of his remorse" and that he has since sought counselling, which will mean that his risk of reoffending is "very low".

In response, DPP Tung argued that Wan's actions were not on a spur of the moment because after recording the first video, he had time to "rethink" and not take the second video.

He also highlighted to the court that Wan sought counselling only after he "got caught red-handed".

For taking upskirt videos without consent, Wan could have been jailed up to two years, fined, or caned, or given any combination of these punishments.