Cop who used work phone to film teen in shower denied discharge without conviction

The policeman has since resigned. Photo / File

A former Central Otago policeman sentenced today for using his police-issued iPhone to video a teenage girl having a shower had his application for a discharge without conviction declined.

The man appeared in the Alexandra District Court this morning and was granted final suppression of his name.

Judge Kevin Phillips said it was serious and premeditated offending and sentenced the man to nine months' intensive supervision and 150 hours' community work.

The defendant was a first offender and sought a discharge without conviction after admitting intentionally making an intimate visual recording of another person.

Counsel Nic Soper submitted the offending, which happened when the man was off-duty, was at the lower end of the scale and said the direct and indirect consequences of a conviction would outweigh the gravity of the offence.

However, Judge Phillips rejected that submission.

At the time of the offence, the man had been under considerable pressure at work and at home, he said.

The defendant had since resigned from the police.