The incident occurred in 2019.
A man who upskirted a woman on the Luas has been given a suspended sentence.
Francesco Lampasi pleaded guilty to using his phone to take photos up a woman’s skirt on the Green Line tram from the city centre to Bride’s Glen in 2019.
The Irish Examiner reports that a passenger saw Lampasi holding a phone by his side near a woman he was standing next to. The passenger said they noticed the colour of the phone’s screen was the same colour of the woman’s skirt and skin colour.
The woman, who exited the tram, has never been traced.
Lampasi was given a nine month sentence for engaging in offensive conduct of a sexual nature, suspended entirely for good behaviour.
“Upskirting” is defined as the practise of taking a photograph up a person’s skirt or dress without their knowledge or consent. It was was made an offence in Ireland under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill.
The bill, originally put forward by the Labour party in 2017, also addressed imaged based sexual abuse (otherwise known as revenge porn) and online bullying.
Image based sexual abuse made headlines last year following the considerable delay in active legislation in Ireland concerning the act.
Commonly referred to as ‘revenge porn’ image based sexual abuse has seen an increase in recent years due to the prevalence of social media and, more recently, the reliance on online communication triggered by the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Following much pressure from victims rights groups, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said that she intended the law to change by the end of 2020.
“I know the huge and very damaging impact that something like this can have on someone,” she said last year.
“There is currently legislation in place around harassment and harmful communications, but what we’re doing with this other piece of legislation is strengthening that from the criminal aspect and the criminal side.”
