On Tuesday at Redhill Magistrates Court, 41-year-old Kane Joseph Smithers, of Sheiling Road, Crowborough, was sentenced on two charges of voyeurism of young women committed at Tandridge Leisure Centre in Oxted. Now this is the second such offence that has been publicised in recent months.
He was able to do this because the changing rooms in the Leisure Centre are mixed sex. In both cases no serious offence took place and Tandridge Leisure staff easly caught the culprits but it made me think.
It has always seemed slighty odd that in some areas of the public realm (especially hospitals) that there has been a strong move in recent years away from the two sexes sharing areas, but in others (swimming pool changing rooms) then it seems to be positively encouraged. Moreover, there appears to be a yo-yo effect with some parts of the country going one way while others go the other.
Does this mean that the arrangements in the Leisure Centre should change - probably not from a child safety perepective asthere appear to be pros and cons for both arrangements , but I for one would the ability to have a proper shower after a swim.
