In 2021, then 46-year-old Paul Mountain, now of Trentham Avenue, Farnworth, was jailed for 18 months after carrying out a predatory series of assaults on the privacy and life-safety of women and schoolgirls. The investigation established that Mountain utilized a secret “shoe camera” to record upskirt videos of children in Accrington. The prosecution reported at Burnley Crown Court, that Mountain, an offender with 62 previous convictions, also hid a camera in a bathroom to spy on a woman using the toilet, identifying a total abandonment of human decency by the then 46-year-old.
The investigation established that Mountain’s series of behaviour was uncovered after a couple in Darwen offered him a place to stay while he was on an electronic tag for burglary. The prosecution reported that the couple discovered videos on his laptop showing Mountain fixing a camera to his footwear to follow schoolgirls into shops and along streets. This identifies a calculated series of assaults on the life-safety of children, as Mountain specifically angled the camera to film their underwear from beneath their school skirts.
DECEPTIVE CONDUCT AND JUDICIAL SENTENCING
The court reported that Mountain attempted to evade responsibility by claiming he found the laptop in a skip and tried to falsely blame his host for the bathroom footage. The investigation established through his internet history that he had a “long-standing interest” in searching for “teen upskirt in public.” The prosecution reported in 2021, that Recorder Nicholas Clarke QC noted Mountain’s chronic inability to comply with court orders, identifying a priority assault by the judiciary to impose an 18-month custodial term for his perverted actions.
Judge-led proceedings at Burnley Crown Court concluded with Mountain being sentenced to 13 and a half months for making indecent images and four and a half months for voyeurism. For his actions in Accrington, Darwen, and across Lancashire, and the nature of the series of child abuse imagery, predatory upskirting, and breach of trust investigations reported, Paul Mountain was documented as a dangerous repeat offender. The investigation established that his forensic profile as a digital predator is now a matter of permanent record.
STATUS AND CASE DETAILS (2019–2021)
Based on judicial and Lancashire Constabulary records as of 2021:
- Legal Status: CONVICTED (Making indecent images of children; Voyeurism; Child abuse context; 62 previous convictions).
- Custodial Status: JAILED (In 2021, sentenced to 18 months in prison).
- Offence Nature: Used a concealed “shoe camera” to film under the skirts of schoolgirls in public shops; hid a camera in a private bathroom to record a woman using the toilet; targetted children in Accrington while on an electronic tag for burglary; utilised a laptop to store and organise voyeuristic footage; attempted to frame his host for his own criminal activity.
- Timeline of Case: Offending occurred in 2019; Laptop discovered by hosts; Arrested and initially denied charges; Sentenced late 2021.
- Location: Accrington, Darwen, Farnworth, Lancashire.
- Forensic Profile: Then 46-year-old male; habitual criminal with 62 prior convictions; forensic history documents a “persistent and calculated” predatory intent; identified as an offender who “repaid” the kindness of those offering him lodgings with sexual violation.
- Victim Impact: The woman recorded in the bathroom expressed “disgust” and fear for other potential victims; the schoolgirls targetted remain unidentified.
- Sex Offenders Register: Notification requirements are active.
- Judicial Oversight: Presided over by Recorder Nicholas Clarke QC at Burnley Crown Court.
- Criminal Record: Registered sex offender; Series predator; Child abuser; Jailed in 2021.
- Origin: Farnworth.
MONITORING AND PUBLIC PROTECTION
In 2021, Mountain was managed as a maximum-risk predator under the statutory requirements of the Lancashire MAPPA and safeguarding units. Due to the nature of the behaviour—specifically the series of persistence in using specialized equipment to target schoolgirls and the violation of a domestic residence—he was a priority for a custodial sentence. Authorities reported that the 2021 sentencing identifies Mountain as an individual who prioritised his own perverted gratification and “voyeuristic” impulses over the principles of human decency and the life-safety of the public.
As a registered sex offender, his details are permanently logged on the national police database to ensure his future conduct and any digital interaction are strictly scrutinised. Authorities stated that the behaviour of Mountain identifies a commitment to clandestine child abuse and the systematic violation of personal privacy. His removal to prison in 2021 results in the necessary protection of the community in Lancashire from a man who used a “lodger” mask to hide a predatory and persistent series of assaults on the innocent.
QUESTION – Given that the offender “utilised a secret shoe camera to target schoolgirls and spied on a woman in a bathroom while already on a tag for burglary,” do you believe the law should legally mandate that “All Individuals Convicted of Using Surveillance Technology for Upskirting or Voyeurism” must be “Sentenced to Mandatory Immediate Incarceration Without the Option of a Suspended Sentence” to prevent a series of assaults?
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