Michael Turner: Man took ‘creepy’ videos of 13-year-old and unknown woman on trains

A man was “ashamed” after taking photos and videos of a 13-year-old girl and an unknown woman on a train for “sexual gratification”, admitting it was “creepy”.

Michael Turner outside Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.

A man who took photos and videos of a 13-year-old girl and an unknown woman on a train for “sexual gratification”, admitted to it being “creepy”.

Michael Turner appeared at Downing Centre Local Court where his high-profile lawyer Ahmed Dib formally entered guilty pleas to aggravated film person’s private parts without consent and film person’s private parts without consent.

Agreed facts reveal the 61-year-old Kogarah Bay man boarded a train at Redfern on September 21, 2022.

A witness observed Turner getting on and off carriages when he saw a young girl sitting on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest.

When the train was between Arncliffe and Hurstville stations, Turner was holding his phone in front of his chest and recording the 13-year-old.

The witness saw Turner’s phone screen appearing to be zoomed in, filming the young girl’s legs and up her skirt, prompting him to photograph the 61-year-old.

He later reported the incident to Hurstville police.

Michael Turner outside Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.

During a search of Turner’s house on October 5, 2022 police seized a number of items including clothing, electronic devices, photos, film and a USB.

Turner was arrested in Leichhardt with police finding seven photographs zoomed in on the young girl’s private area on his phone and a three minute and 19 second video zooming in on the same area.

During the arrest, he said he saw a young girl on the train sitting with her legs apart and took photos of her.

Turner said he took the photos out of “temptation” and for “something to look at” and admitted they gave him “a ‘little bit’ of sexual gratification”.

In an electronic interview, Turner said “temptation took over” and the way the young girl was sitting was provocative and something he had never seen before.

He told police the images “looked nice” and he felt a rush of adrenaline from getting away with it.

Police found another video on Turner’s phone from September 26, 2022 of an unknown woman on a train with the man admitting to filming her groin area.

Ahmed Dib, who is representing Turner. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

He said the thrill of getting away with previous filming “inspired this act”, agreed facts state.

Turner described his behaviour as “creepy” and he was “ashamed”.

While accepting the charges against his client were “serious”, Mr Dib said despite one driving offence on his criminal record, it was the first time Turner had made “significant mistakes” at 61-years-old.

Mr Dib told the court Turner was addressing his mental health struggles and alcohol addiction which he said was a causal link with his offending behaviour.

He said his client had suffered two seizures which linked to his alcohol abuse.

Magistrate Miranda Moody ultimately convicted Turner and sentenced him to a 12-month community correction order.

“Of course this is serious offending … [they’re] certainly entitled not to be photographed by some people who get some sort of sexual gratification,” she said.