ONLY one in 14 “upskirting” reports to cops are passed to prosecutors, shock figures reveal.
The Scottish Government faced calls last night to review the law amid fears offenders are exploiting “loopholes” — leaving police unable to nail perpetrators.
Figures obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats – compared by the Scottish Sun to recorded crimes – suggest around seven per cent of cases reported to cops end up going to the Crown Office.
MSP Liam McArthur said research has suggested there are “loopholes in the law, which at present only covers images obtained for motives of sexual gratification or causing distress”.
He said: “Victims already feel a sense of shame when reporting offenders to the police and worry there will be no consequences.
“We need the government to take these offences seriously. They compromise the safety and dignity of women and constitute a form of harassment that for too long has been ignored.
“We need to give victims confidence that their cases will be dealt with and instil in perpetrators a fear that they will not get away with it.”
The figures from the Lib Dems show 169 cases were reported by cops to the Crown between 2018/19 and 2023/24. All were under section 9 of the 2009 Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act dealing with “voyeurism”.
In the same period, 2,435 crimes were recorded by police referencing the same part of the legislation, which includes offences concerning taking images by “operating equipment beneath clothing without consent”.
Mr McArthur the Scottish Government should “review the law” to ensure all upskirting incidents are illegal.
We told last month(DEC) how victims of pervert teacher Brian Smith, 54, blasted a sheriff who spared him jail after a nine-year campaign where he took seedy phone snaps of fellow staff and pupils at two Ayrshire schools.
In another incident, a man appeared in court last year accused of upskirting a teenage girl during a Taylor Swift concert.
Academics previously warned the 2009 law had loopholes including where images are taken for financial gain or when circulated among groups but it can be argued they have not caused “distress”.
In 2018, the Scottish Government claimed the 2009 law “may well have acted as a deterrent to this type of harmful and damaging crime”. But since then, levels of recorded voyeurism crimes have roughly doubled.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We keep the law under continual review to ensure it is effective.” The Crown Office said it was “committed to the effective, rigorous and fair prosecution of sexual crime”.
