A man has been placed on the Sex Offender’s list after he was caught filming women and girls in changing rooms. One woman discovered the man filming, and authorities then found other videos of other women in changing rooms on his phone. Police seized Darren Cox’s phone and found one video of a girl who is believed to be between 10 and 12 years old. The 49-year-old man, of Lanark Road, Carstairs, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court this week.
There, he admitted to filming females at Sainsbury’s in Hamilton and other unknown locations between February and April 2024. He was caught after one female shopper realised a phone had been placed on top of the cubicle she was changing in. She confronted Cox, and the police were then called. When officers viewed CCTV from the supermarket, Cox could be seen going into a fitting room carrying two pairs of trousers and two t-shirts, with the woman then entering the adjacent cubicle.
Prosecutor Kevin Morrow said that 20 videos of adult women in a state of undress in fitting rooms were found on the perpetrator’s phone. It was also revealed that he had filmed a girl thought to be aged between 10 and 12 years old as she changed in a cubicle.
None of his victoms have been identified, apart from the woman who caught him. Cox was “tearful” and apologetic when police officers quizzed him about the videos, Mr Morrow said.
“He admitted he had been watching people and videoing them in changing areas,” he said. “He claimed he didn’t know the girl he filmed was so young and deleted that video as soon as he realised.
“The accused said his wife had been going through a ‘horrendous’ time and he had been her carer. There had been all sorts of issues.”
He added: “He told police he had been ‘flaming stupid’ and wanted to apologise.”
Sheriff Liam Murphy said that it was clear the woman who caught Cox has felt a “significant” impact from the incident, as revealed in a submitted statement.
Cox was told by the sherriff: “Be under no illusion, you have pleaded guilty to a serious offence.”
Sentence was deferred until next month for background reports, as well as an electronic tagging assessment and a risk assessment.