Former lawyer Nicholas Yeo Shao Yi pleaded guilty to 2 counts of voyeurism and was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment, with another 2 charges of criminal trespass being considered during his sentencing.
He had filmed his neighbour showering on multiple occasions and told the investigating officers that he did so because he was feeling stressed from being a lawyer, as well as the pressure he felt from the circuit breaker.
What happened?
Yeo and the victim lived in terrace houses that shared a wall, with the victim’s master bedroom having a toilet that was overlooking a small balcony.
On 23 November 2020, at about 7pm, the victim was showing while playing videos on her phone, a habit that the former lawyer was familiar with.
He then proceeded to climb out of his window upon hearing the sound and climbed over the parapet that linked his house to the victim’s balcony to film her.
The victim then saw Yeo’s arm through the open window, holding onto an iPhone while she was drying herself after the shower.
She then shouted and Yeo then escaped the scene, climbing the wall that divided their two balconies – the victim told her husband about what happened and they then went to confront Yeo.
The former lawyer then repeatedly apologised and asked them to lower their voices, before asking if they could resolve the matter any other way or talk elsewhere.
Yeo then offered them to check his phone and they didn’t find anything, but the victim decided to call the police anyway.
The voyeuristic lawyer then confessed to officers that he had filmed the victim in the shower a few months ago but deleted the footage.
He told them that he did so to relieve the “work-related” stress that he was going through due to his lawyer job and the circuit breaker at the time.
Yeo’s electronic devices were then examined by investigators, who didn’t find any other such content.