Woman allegedly find phone hidden in Main Beach public toilet

A man has been charged by police after he was confronted by a woman who allegedly made a horrifying find in a public toilet on the Gold Coast.

Townsville, Queensland, Australia - December 2020: Inside a blue tiled male public toilet at a rest stop

A man has been arrested and charged by police after allegedly hiding a mobile phone to secretly record people using public toilets at Main Beach.

Officers were called to the area at 10.45am on Sunday after a woman not only found the phone hidden in a cubicle, but confronted the alleged perpetrator.

The man allegedly responsible fled by car from the scene, but not before the woman captured images of the vehicle, with the number plate leading police quickly towards a suspect.

Acting Superintendent Scott Knowles. Picture: Keith Woods.

“(The woman) had just used the public toilets. She located a phone secreted in those toilets, capturing footage of people using those toilets,” Acting Superintendent Scott Knowles from Gold Coast police said.

“She’s managed to remove the phone, and as she’s exited the toilets she’s apparently confronted or been confronted by the person who (allegedly) placed it there. Upon being confronted he’s fled in a motor vehicle.

Acting Supt Knowles alleged: “Thankfully they’ve managed to video the motor vehicle with their cameras which then led police to identify the owner of the vehicle, contact the driver and the owner subsequently surrendered himself back at the scene.

“As a result of that a 31-year-old man from Southport has been arrested and charged.”

Supt Knowles said investigations into the man’s alleged activities were ongoing, with his phone being studied by police.

He said the alleged offence was a rare occurrence on the Gold Coast, but a matter of great concern to police when it did occur.

“It doesn’t happen very often but it’s very concerning when this sort of activity does happen,” he said. “This sort of behaviour completely invades people’s privacy.”

The accused man will appear in court on November 4.

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