Cellphone shutterbug to be sentenced

Wayne Golding-Clarke used his mobile phone to photograph up the skirt of a Hamilton shopper - but he wasn't so keen on being snapped himself.

After Golding-Clarke was convicted last week of committing an indecent act, the Herald on Sunday decided to photograph him at his Morrinsville home.

Initially the 43-year-old musician refused to be photographed, saying he did not want the public to know who he was.

But on a second visit he agreed. He said he was not ashamed of his actions because "no one got hurt".

"I'm not a pervert. I like legs - just like any guy does. Come on, all guys would be perverts - we live in a perverted world."

The incident occurred in May last year when Golding-Clarke was shopping at Farmers in Hamilton and approached two women at the perfume counter. One of the women was wearing a skirt and Golding-Clarke bent down, put his pxt phone between her legs and took a photo.

Neither woman noticed, but security guards were watching him on surveillance video.

When Golding-Clarke tailed the women to a Dollar Smart store, the guards followed. He took more pictures and the guards called police.

He was found guilty in Hamilton District Court on Monday of committing an indecent act.

But Golding-Clarke, a father of three, told the Herald on Sunday he was only trying to take a photo of the woman's legs.

"I saw a girl with a really nice pair of legs. It was a spontaneous moment ... I didn't realise Big Brother was watching."

He admitted what he did was wrong but was not concerned about public vilification. "It doesn't matter what other people think of me - it only matters what I think of myself."

Golding-Clarke said he had been working with mental health patients at the time he committed the offence and his association with them had affected his actions.

"When you're in that business for a while you start to think their behaviour is normal."

His wife, Marion, who laughed when she saw the pictures, said she supported her husband because she thought the photos were harmless. "I'm not saying what Wayne did was right but it's not worth a conviction."

He will be sentenced on April 27.