A man has pleaded guilty to upskirting a teenage girl in Weymouth following a detailed investigation.
Karl Noble, aged 33 and of All Saints Road in Weymouth, appeared at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 17 July 2025 where he pleaded guilty to operating equipment beneath the clothing of another without consent.
Dorset Police received a report that on Friday 16 June 2023 a man followed a group of teenage girls into and around the Tesco Express store in Portland Road. He then knelt to take items from the bottom shelf close to the group before placing his mobile phone under the skirt of one of the girls and took photos. When confronted by a member of the public who witnessed the incident, Noble promptly made to leave the store and was caught on CCTV cameras checking the photos he had taken before deleting them.
Following detailed enquiries conducted by officers and detectives, Noble was arrested and subsequently charged with the offence of upskirting.
He was given a two-year community order, including 120 hours of unpaid work and 46 days of rehabilitation. He was also ordered to pay £514 to cover court costs, a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), and he has been placed on the sexual offenders register.
Police Constable Nathan Busby, of County CID, said: “I would like to thank the victim and her family for their bravery in coming forward and the key witness who alerted us and provided a statement as to what occurred in the store that day.
“Thanks to them, we were able to bring Noble before the courts to be held accountable for his actions.
“We take all reports of sexual offences against women and girls extremely seriously, and we would urge victims, or anyone who suspects someone of being the victim of such offences, to please come forward. You will be listened to, and we will investigate the incident further.
“We would like to raise awareness that upskirting is a criminal offence and anyone found to be committing the crime can expect to be arrested and brought to justice.”
