GRAHAM HOTHAM FROM ASH SENTENCED FOR VOYEURISM AND ILLEGAL PHOTOGRAPHY AT FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW

In a case that has shocked the local community and raised serious concerns about personal privacy and safety, Graham Hotham, a 45-year-old resident of Longfield Road in Ash, has been sentenced to prison for his involvement in illegal voyeuristic activities and the possession of indecent images of minors. The incident unfolded during the Farnborough Air Show, a major event attracting thousands of visitors, where Hotham was caught in the act of attempting to photograph an 11-year-old girl, leading to his arrest and subsequent investigation.

Hotham, who was employed as a bookings officer for the Waterway Recovery Group BITM volunteers—a team dedicated to restoring waterways across southern England—had been secretly filming young girls over a period of 14 months. Court proceedings revealed that he installed covert recording devices at various locations without the knowledge or consent of his victims. The illicit photographs he took were stored on his personal computer, which became a key piece of evidence during the investigation.

The police action was triggered when concerned spectators at the Farnborough Air Show noticed Hotham behaving suspiciously with a camera, seemingly taking pictures of an 11-year-old girl. Recognizing that Hotham was neither a family member nor a known acquaintance of the girl, security personnel promptly alerted the authorities. Security staff confirmed that Hotham was not associated with the girl’s family, and police were called to intervene.

Although no illegal material was found on Hotham’s camera, authorities seized his computer equipment for further examination. It was during this analysis that they discovered approximately 1,650 indecent images of teenage girls stored on his hard drive. Prosecutor Rachel Davies clarified that these images were not downloaded from the internet but were obtained through Hotham’s covert filming activities. Hotham admitted to police that he had obtained the images by secretly filming young girls in situations where they had a reasonable expectation of privacy, a confession that contributed to his conviction.

Hotham’s actions were formally recognized as voyeurism, and he pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including 15 counts of making indecent photographs and two counts of possessing indecent images, all relating to the period between April 30, 2009, and July 25 of the following year. Last Friday, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison by Judge Peter Moss, who emphasized the seriousness of his offending, stating, “Your offending calls for punishment and deterrence.”

In addition to his prison sentence, Hotham was ordered to register as a sex offender and was subjected to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, which restricts him from having unsupervised contact with children. The court acknowledged that Hotham had previously maintained an unblemished character, with a good record of employment and community volunteering since he was 16. However, the court made it clear that his recent actions warranted strict penalties.

During the proceedings, it was noted that Hotham had initially alerted police himself, indicating that he was aware of the illegal material on his computer. Prosecutor Rachel Davies stated, “He told police: ‘I did not do it for sexual gratification,’” highlighting his attempt to distance himself from motives of sexual pleasure. Defense lawyer Lisa Stewart expressed remorse on behalf of her client, stating, “My client realises that what he did was wrong. He feels utterly terrible.”

Grahame Jones, operations director for Farnborough International Ltd, also commented on the incident, reaffirming the importance of safety at the airshow. “The safety and security of all visitors to the Farnborough Airshow is of paramount importance to FIL as the event organisers. We support the work of Hampshire Police and work closely alongside them before, during and after the airshow in order to do everything possible to ensure the safety of all who attend,” he said, underscoring the collective effort to maintain security at such a high-profile event.