AT THE COURTS
Jail for lawyer who entered neighbour's home to film her in shower
He climbed over parapet, holding his phone to the window, but fled when victim saw him
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
To watch his neighbour shower, a man climbed over a parapet separating their balconies to get into her home.
Nicholas Yeo Shao Yi, 32, who was a lawyer at the time, did that twice and even filmed the woman, who is in her 20s, showering on the first occasion.
Yeo was sentenced to 12 weeks' jail yesterday after pleading guilty to a charge of using his mobile phone to observe his neighbour showering and another of filming her. Another two charges of committing criminal trespass were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
The court heard that Yeo, who committed the offences over a few months in 2020, was experiencing work-related stress due to the April to June circuit breaker that year. He was formerly employed at top law firm Allen & Gledhill but has since resigned.
He lived in a terraced house that shares an adjoining wall with his neighbour, whose master bedroom toilet looks out onto a balcony through a window. Their toilets were next to each other, so Yeo could tell when she was in the shower by listening out for her voice or the sound of videos playing.
On the evening of Nov 23, 2020, he climbed over the parapet and held his phone outside the shower window, but the victim caught a glimpse of it before he could start recording.
She shouted in alarm and saw him fleeing back to his house.
The victim and her husband then went over to Yeo's home to confront him. He kept apologising and asked if they could resolve the matter in some way.
The victim did not find incriminating material on his phones but called the police anyway. Investigations showed that some months before the Nov 2020 incident, the accused had filmed her showering. He later deleted the video.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Yvonne Poon told the court there was premeditation involved as Yeo would wait till he could sense that the victim was in the toilet to commit his crimes.
In mitigation, Yeo's lawyer Shashi Nathan from Withers KhattarWong said his client was suffering from generalised anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, which contributed to his offending.
He added that Yeo, who is now working in a private enterprise, was a high-achieving individual who had acted out of character.
For using his phone to observe the victim in a private act, Yeo could have been jailed for up to two years, fined or caned, or any combination of the three. The same maximum penalty applies for recording the showering.
