‘Stupid and offensive’: Young man hit with $1500 fine for upskirting in Hobart city centre

A New Norfolk man has faced court after taking photos of women in skirts and jogging in leggings, girls in school uniforms and a video of a mother strolling with her child in a pram in Hobart’s CBD. LATEST >>

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A NEW Norfolk youth has been slapped with a $1500 fine after he used his mobile phone to commit the crime colloquially known as “upskirting”.

Liam Triffett, 22, pleaded guilty to the unusual crime of “observing or recording another person’s genital or anal region” in Hobart’s city centre during November 2019.

But due to his youth and remorse – and what a magistrate dubbed “stupid behaviour” – he has avoided a criminal conviction or having his name recorded on the sex offenders’ register.

Triffett appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Tuesday, with the court told the majority of images and videos found on his phone were “mostly innocuous” – with non-explicit photos of women in skirts, women jogging in leggings, girls in school uniforms and one video of a mother strolling with her child in a pram.

A prosecutor told Magistrate Reg Marron that in an interview with police, Triffett said he took the videos because “it was a power thing, it gave him an adrenaline rush” and “because they were wearing skirts”.

New Norfolk’s Liam Triffett has been slapped with a $1500 fine after he used his mobile phone to commit the crime colloquially known as “upskirting”. Picture: Facebook

She said the carpet layer’s crime was “at the lesser end” of seriousness, but noted the “behaviour was not appropriate” and “the public’s general attitude would be quite scathing”.

The police prosecutor said none of the females who had been recorded had come forward.

Mr Marron said the matter was “tricky to deal with” as Triffett was a young offender and had recorded women over the period of a month, but only been charged over one event.

“It would cause alarm to the people being filmed if they were to know about it and discomfort at the idea by other people that this could possibly occur,” he said while sentencing.

“Everyone has a phone, they’ve all got cameras on them, and on any one day, people are taking pictures of everything and anything.

“But as these things become available, so does the need to protect people’s privacy.”

Mr Marron said the greatest deterrent to Triffett reoffending was the shame it had caused him.

“There’s no suggestion of any other behaviour pending,” he said.

“Consequently, working backwards, I don’t think there’s a need for me to place you on the sex offenders’ register.

“I’m going to put this down to stupid behaviour – you understood it was stupid and offensive.”

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