MAN JAILED OVER UPSKIRTING OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN
A man labeled as 'devious' was sentenced to jail after he secretly followed adults and children in public places, recording images underneath their clothing.Aiden Lord, aged 34 from Accrington, was responsible for offenses of 'upskirting' committed from 2019 to 2021, both in public spaces and at his workplace.
He pleaded guilty to four counts of capturing images underneath clothing and two counts of producing indecent images of a child, after videos of minors in sexualized positions were found on his mobile phone.
At Preston Crown Court, authorities identified three victims from videos stored on Lord’s devices concerning the upskirting crimes.
The first victim was a child observed by Lord in a supermarket, where he inserted his device into a shopping basket and angled it to record beneath her skirt.
Four videos related to this incident were recovered.
The second victim was also in a supermarket; Lord again lowered his device to secretly record under her skirt while crouching nearby, with two videos detected.
The third victim was a colleague of Lord's, with twenty-nine videos found, four of which involved upskirting.
Further charges involved countless other unidentified victims, with evidence showing hundreds of images and videos of children and adults captured via Lord’s devices.
Regarding indecent images, authorities found one Category B video lasting eight minutes that depicted a girl between 12 and 14 years old.
Additionally, nineteen Category C images included a seven-minute video of a girl aged 11 to 13.
Defending Lord, Ellie McManus explained that her client developed an addiction to this conduct following a breakup.
She stated that Lord’s arrest was a wake-up call, prompting him to take corrective actions, including switching to a phone without internet and seeking therapy.
Lord has maintained a clean record since his arrest and is working to recover.
He resides on Oak Avenue in Accrington and has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, along with a decade-long sexual harm prevention order.
