An amateur photographer, who filmed 269 zoomed-in photos of women's breasts and buttocks, has had his conviction for offensive behaviour quashed on appeal.
The 49-year-old technician Errol Standeven was convicted and fined 600 dollars at a hearing before Justices of the Peace in September for taking the photos from his car at Christchurch's Hagley Park, Stuff.co.nz reported.
That decision was appealed and Christchurch District Court Judge Jane Farish has now directed that the conviction be quashed and there be no retrial.
A man, who was "disgusted" when he saw Standeven photographing women walking and exercising, had complaint it to the police, who the found full-body shots and photos that were zoomed-in between the shoulders and the knees on his camera.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Kathy Pomfrett told the defended hearing that the sheer number of photographs of females' bottoms and breasts are enough for them to continue with the prosecution.
Judge Farish said Standeven, who was at the park to take photographs, did not hide or disguise himself, adding that the snaps show, in his opinion, some fairly poor photography and in no way could they be described as salacious or offensive.
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She added that some of the shots were cropped, some shots showed the lower half of some females' bodies but none of them would be described as indecent and they would not offend the Crimes Act for example in relation to the taking of intimate photos without consent.
However, Judge Farish noted that having said that, his behaviour may be described by some people as being morally reprehensible and he would be cautious to involve himself in similar behaviour which could provoke members of the public to take umbrage as to the photos or the nature of the photos that he is actually taking.