A child porn pervert with convictions for taking photos up women’s skirts – now living in a tiny hamlet on Shetland – has overturned a £25,000 fine.
Simon Austin received a two-year suspended sentence at Guildford Crown Court in March this year.
The 45-year-old, who was then living in Rustington, Sussex, admitted 12 counts of making indecent photos of children. He was also handed a £25,000 fine and a sexual harm prevention order. He has now “removed himself to one of the most remote parts of the British Isles” and is living in the village of North Roe, Shetland.
Austin had previous convictions for possessing indecent photos, dating back to 2006, and for outraging public decency. Those charges involved Austin furtively taking photos up women’s skirts, said Mr Justice Kenneth Parker.
A probation officer had noted his “propensity to be sexually attracted to young girls”, the court heard. Austin’s case reached the Appeal Court as he challenged his £25,000 fine, which was overturned.
Mr Justice Parker, sitting with Lady Justice Sharp and Judge Anthony Leonard QC, said there had been no proper inquiry into his means.
Austin had also spent 135 days behind bars on remand, and the judge ruled: “It wasn’t appropriate in the circumstances of the case to impose a fine as further punishment”.
The court also deleted parts of Austin’s sexual harm prevention order, which barred him from staying in the same house as a minor “without the consent of social services”.