Ashraful Islam, aged 21, of Kings Avenue, Chippenham, Wiltshire, has walked free from Swindon Crown Court with a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to covertly filming up the skirts of schoolgirls and possessing hundreds of indecent child abuse images.
The offending came to light following an unrelated arrest, during which Wiltshire Police officers confiscated Islam’s mobile phone.
Specialist digital forensic investigators conducted an examination of the handset and uncovered a disturbing catalogue of illegal material, including illicit media personally captured by Islam in public spaces.
The court heard that between 26 September 2022 and 21 March 2023, Islam systematically targeted schoolgirls in the Chippenham area.
He covertly positioned his phone to capture videos and photographs beneath their clothing without their awareness or consent.
Police confirmed that 37 of these recordings met the statutory criteria for Category C indecent images of children.
A deeper examination of the seized device revealed hundreds of downloaded abuse files, including:
- Nearly 350 Category A images (the highest severity classification in law)
- Category B and Category C indecent images of children
- Prohibited images of children
- An extreme pornographic image depicting non-consensual sexual penetration
Islam appeared before Swindon Crown Court, where he entered guilty pleas to seven distinct offences, comprising voyeurism, taking an indecent photograph of a child, possessing Category A, B, and C indecent images of children, possessing a prohibited image of a child, and possessing extreme pornography.
The judge sentenced Islam to 26 months’ imprisonment, but suspended the sentence for an operational period of three years.
In place of immediate custody, the court ordered Islam to complete 200 hours of unpaid community work, attend 26 days of the Building Better Choices rehabilitation programme, and undertake up to 26 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.
He was also ordered to pay a statutory surcharge of £228, while the court approved the forfeiture and destruction of all seized electronic storage devices.
In addition to the suspended sentence, Islam was made subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Register for a period of 10 years and handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
The order imposes strict preventative measures:
- He is barred from unsupervised contact or communication with any child under the age of 16.
- He cannot reside in any household where a child under 16 lives without prior official authorisation.
- He is banned from using VPNs, private browsing features, or software that conceals internet activity.
- He must register all digital devices with police and surrender them for inspection upon request.
- He is prohibited from accessing social media or messaging platforms without written police approval.
- He is barred from taking employment or voluntary roles likely to involve contact with children, and forbidden from photographing or filming any person without express consent.
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