ROCHDALE BODYBUILDER ALEX DOODSON JAILED IN MANCHESTER FOR VOYEURISM INVOLVING HIS CHILD
In June 2017, Alex Doodson, a 36-year-old bodybuilder from Rochdale, was sentenced to ten months in prison after secretly filming nearly 70 women, including a 15-year-old girl, over a 13-month period.Doodson used his child as a cover during his covert activities, taking 'upskirt' photos with his phone and a hidden camera concealed in his shoe.
Doodson’s victims included women in various retail settings such as a petrol station, a Clarins boutique, and a tanning salon.
At the tanning salon, he attached a camera to his shoe and slid it into an adjacent cubicle to film women changing.
He also filmed a woman in her garden and in a pub.
He was caught in 2015 when a petrol station cashier noticed him acting suspiciously—following a woman around the shop with his phone slanted and bending down beside her as she picked up groceries.
Greater Manchester Police seized multiple devices from Doodson and discovered 86 indecent images of 68 women, most of whom were unaware they had been filmed.
Police delayed pressing charges to help identify the victims.
Investigations uncovered that Doodson, of Rochdale, had approached a schoolgirl in a shop, pretending to pick up sweets to take a photograph of her.
Other victims expressed shock and disgust upon discovering they had been secretly filmed, with one woman saying her first thought was to buy trousers to prevent similar acts.
At Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, Doodson pleaded guilty to four counts of voyeurism between November 2014 and December 2015, four counts of outraging public decency, and one charge of taking an indecent image of a child.
He was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
Additionally, he is banned from using online dating sites or social media to contact women for ten years and must allow police to randomly search his electronic devices once released.
Prosecutor Miss Lisa Boocock explained that suspicion arose when the petrol station cashier observed Doodson’s suspicious behavior across multiple visits, noting he would bend down and record the shop floor with his phone.
On the 6th of November 2015, she noticed him slanting his phone towards a woman and attempting to distract her.
Further incidents involved Doodson approaching a 15-year-old girl in uniform, positioning himself between her and two boys, then bending down to film up her skirt.
The cashier immediately contacted police.
The schoolgirl and another woman, both traced afterward, expressed shock and concern over Doodson’s invading their privacy.
Another victim, approached romantically by Doodson, had been filmed and felt violated enough to change her job.
Miss Boocock highlighted that Doodson’s activities extended to a Clarins store in Bolton where he captured images of 68 women on 86 photos.
On multiple occasions, his young daughter was present.
He also targeted women in their gardens and in public houses.
At the tanning salon, after attaching a camera to his shoe, he filmed women undressing in cubicles—some fully naked or topless.
Doodson admitted that he had taken the images for his own gratification and has since sought counseling.
He is no longer permitted unsupervised contact with his daughter.
Judge Andrew Hatton remarked on the disturbing nature of the case, notably highlighting that Doodson’s young daughter was present during nine of his offending episodes.
