Former UEA student spared jail after filming women in library toilets and halls

A former UEA student has been spared jail after filming women at UEA going to the toilet, undressing and showering.

Luke Mallaband, 23, hid recording equipment in various locations around campus, including the library toilets and student accommodation.

Mallaband was caught when a woman reported the case to Norwich Magistrates Court having discovered she herself was being filmed. The student had found a white plastic bag with a hole in, used by Mallaband to camouflage his hidden camera.

The prosecutor, Louis Mantell-Sayer, said “there was a white plastic bag which had a hole in one corner”. Inside the plastic bag was an iPhone 6 on record mode.

Mallaband admitted six counts of voyeurism at Norwich Magistrates’ Court after Police discovered a cache of 38 indecent videos and pictures taken of female university students between July 2013 and February 2016.

A probation report described Mallaband as a “high risk of posing serious harm to females”. Having been condemned to a three-year community order, a 200-hour sex offending behaviour programme, and a fine of £170 to the Magistrates’ Court, Mallaband has been banned from all gender neutral and female public toilets for three years and imposed a six-month curfew. The University has permanently banned him from campus grounds and terminated his degree.

The incident brougt to light has left many students feeling somewhat unsafe using the unisex toilets on campus, with one Facebook post from a student saying: “On a busy LCR night these toilets feel pretty unsafe, especially for women.”

Nevertheless, a University spokesperson defended unisex toilets by claiming that “they provide sufficient toilet facilities to meet demand”.