A former Conservative councillor has admitted an attempted upskirting offence in a high street fashion store.
Lee Hawthorne, 41, who resigned from Gloucester City Council in April last year, pleaded guilty to the charge of attempted voyeurism during a brief hearing at Bristol Crown Court.
The charge stated he attempted to operate a mobile phone beneath another person to observe their genitals, buttocks or underwear, without their consent, “for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification”.
It related to an incident at a branch of TK Maxx in Northgate Street in Gloucester city centre on June 27 2019.
Last week, Hawthorne pleaded guilty at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court to a separate charge of voyeurism, which was committed on a date between 2015 and 2019 in Gloucester.
Monday’s hearing heard that Hawthorne would be sentenced for both offences on March 29 at Bristol Crown Court.
Judge William Hart released Hawthorne, of Abbeydale, Gloucester, on unconditional bail and ordered a pre-sentence report.
He was arrested in July 2019 following a police appeal and subsequently suspended from the Conservative city council group.
He continued to sit as an independent councillor until his resignation last year.
Related: Daily Mail cashes in on more ‘government-sponsored propaganda’
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
