Met Police detective who spied on woman in shower spared jail

Benjamin McNish claimed he was using the phone to find his razor in the shower

A married detective who used his iPhone to spy on a woman in the shower has been spared jail.

The victim said she felt "confused and shocked" after catching Benjamin McNish trying to take pictures of her naked on the morning of 18 February 2019.

The 30-year-old Met Police detective sergeant was found guilty of voyeurism at Southwark Crown Court last month.

He was handed a 20-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, on Wednesday.

McNish is currently suspended from the force pending misconduct proceedings, and will be on the sex offenders register for seven years, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

He was also ordered to complete a sexual offenders' programme, attend rehabilitation and pay £750 in costs.

Absurd lie

The court heard the woman, who cannot be named, did a "double take" when she spotted McNish's phone as she was washing.

"Once I had seen the telephone for the second time, I was quite confused and shocked. My assumption was that someone was filming me," she said.

"I did not turn off the shower. I just grabbed the towel to my chest, wrenched open the door and, immediately after I opened the door, I saw Mr McNish standing outside."

She said he looked "a bit shocked, like a rabbit in the headlights" and she started shouting at him.

The father-of-two, from Benfleet in Essex, claimed he had used the device as an "extension of my eyes" to find a razor.

CPS senior specialist prosecutor Andrew Levin said: "He violated the victim's privacy by spying on her in a bathroom.

"During the trial, McNish claimed that he had just been using his phone to look for his razor by the sink, but the prosecution was able to prove to the jury that this was an absurd lie."