Sheffield pervert jailed for taking photos up schoolgirl's skirt on train

Leon Chan, of Burngreave Road, had travelled nearly 200 miles from his home when he targeted the lone 17-year-old who was wearing school uniform on a train in Surrey last October.

The 26-year-old former PricewaterhouseCoopers accountant appeared at Sheffield Crown Court on March 9, where he was found guilty of recording an image under clothing to observe another without consent, and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Sheffield boxer Lee Noble dies aged 33 after long battle with cancer

The judge sentenced him to 20 months in prison and he was also ordered to sign the Sex Offender's Register for 10 years.

Chan was described by police as a repeat offender who had shown ‘no remorse’ for his crimes.

In 2019 he was found to have 1,700 upskirting images of women on his phone, after being stopped by store detectives at Top Shop’s flagship central London branch.

He was placed under an SHPO, banning him from having any device that can take photos or videos unless he satisfied certain conditions, and given a suspended prison sentence.

But that didn’t stop him crouching down on the carriage floor on October 1 last year and pretending to rummage through a bag while taking photos up the legs of his teenage victim.

Yobs hunted over arson attack in Sheffield park

He was travelling on a train to Ashtead, Surrey, that day at around 3pm when he sat down and began staring at her.

When she got up and went to stand by the door, Chan followed her, holding his phone camera and pointing it towards her, with CCTV showing the light on the device appearing to flash.

He then stood next to her, in the almost empty carriage, and placed his bag on the floor before crouching down and rummaging through it with one hand while holding his phone camera towards the victim’s legs with his other hand.

The victim moved away and he followed her, crouching down again and holding his phone towards her, at which point she turned around and caught him pointing his camera up her skirt.

Firefighters explain how fire engine ended up in garden after head-on crash in Sheffield

Chan left the train at Ashtead before quickly reboarding and continuing his journey. The incident was captured on CCTV and Chan was identified by local officers in Sheffield and arrested.

Detective Constable Amina Khoyratee, of British Transport Police said following Chan’s sentencing: “Upskirting is a truly horrendous invasion of privacy and I would like to make it absolutely clear that we will always take these reports seriously.

“Chan is a repeat offender who has shown no remorse throughout our investigation, so it's lucky he'll now have plenty of time on his hands in prison where he can reflect on his predatory behaviour.

“This is relatively new legislation, having only been introduced in 2019, but the bespoke powers make it much easier for us to charge suspects for this invasive and disgusting form of sexual offending.

“I would urge anyone who is a victim of upskirting, or any other sexual offence, to text us discretely on 61016 or call 999 in an emergency. No report is too small or trivial, and we will always take you seriously.”