Newcastle station voyeur jailed after lying in wait inside women’s toilets

A man who hid inside the women’s toilets at Newcastle railway station and waited for a victim has been jailed following a police investigation.

Paul Southern, born 16 October 1978 and of no fixed address, was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on 26 March after admitting a charge of voyeurism. He was handed a four-month prison term and will remain on the sex offenders register for seven years.

The court was told that on Thursday 5 February, Southern entered the women’s toilets at the station and remained there for around 40 minutes, waiting for someone to enter.

A woman in her 40s later went into the facilities and entered a cubicle. Moments later, she saw Southern’s head appear beneath the partition. He watched her briefly before she challenged him, shouting “what are you doing?” and banging on the door in an attempt to force him to leave.

The victim then fled the toilets and alerted her partner, who approached officers from British Transport Police patrolling the station.

Officers quickly located and confronted Southern, questioning him before placing him under arrest. CCTV later showed him wandering around the station prior to entering the toilets, where he carried out the offence.

Graham Marshall Batey said:

“Southern’s actions that day were calculated as he laid in wait for a woman to enter the adjacent cubicle. It’s down to the bravery of the woman who reported his disgusting behaviour that we were able to immediately arrest him and put him before the courts. This kind of behaviour will never be tolerated, and we encourage everyone to report any sexual offence on a train or at a station to our patrolling officers or by texting 61016. In an emergency, always call 999. We take every report seriously and will stop at nothing to bring offenders like Southern to justice.”

Image: British Transport Police