Victim 'angry' at voyeur being given leave to appeal

A victim of a serial voyeur says she is "angry" after finding out the man who secretly filmed her in her house had been given leave to appeal his sentence through the media.

Kirk Bishop, 40, was granted leave to appeal his six-year royal court sentence after a judge found there were grounds he should have received greater credit for his guilty pleas and co-operation with police.

One of Bishop's 14 victims, Lucy Domaille was critical of the notice she received of the appeal: "To wake up and find this out, angry is probably an understatement."

Officials from Guernsey's Court of Appeal said the next hearing will be in December. Guernsey Police has been approached for comment.

In a statement Antonia Read who oversees operations at Guernsey's courts said: "Leave to appeal is ordinarily determined by a single judge on the papers, without the need for an oral hearing, and that was the process followed in this case.

"The grant of leave to appeal does not determine the outcome of the appeal itself.

"The appeal will now be considered and determined by the Court of Appeal, sitting as a plenary court, in due course."

In May, Bishop was sentenced to six years in prison by the Royal Court, and an additional two by the Magistrates Court.

The voyeurism offences included filming people having sex in their own homes.

He also admitted to burglary and trespassing with intent to commit a sexual offence.

The court was told Bishop's offending had led to ongoing fear and a lack of safety for victims in their homes, with two of them seeking therapy.

Domaille added: "The fact that he's appealing shows to me he has got absolutely no consideration for his victims. None."

After hearing Bishop had been granted leave to appeal his sentence by the Rt Hon Dame Julia Macur, Domaille posted a video on social media expressing her frustration at the decision.

She said the reaction to that video had been overwhelmingly positive with many people expressing their surprise and shock Bishop had been given the chance to appeal.

In an interview with the BBC she described the reasoning behind the grounds to appeal as "absolutely shocking".

She criticised the length of sentence received by Bishop and said if he was sorry for his actions, he should be willing to serve it in full.

"He had no choice but to plead guilty. He was caught literally red-handed.

"He got a light sentence. Six years out of a possible 14 was light."

Domaille's biggest frustration was the way the appeal has been handled by Guernsey's court system.

"There is no transparency whatsoever," she said.

"It means that people don't trust that system."

Ahead of the leave to appeal being granted she said she was told if she wants to get details of how the appeal will work she will have to pay for an advocate.

She said: "Why should I as a victim, who's already financially suffered because of this situation, have to pay for somebody to explain to me a process that should be public knowledge?"

She also criticised the fact Bishop would receive legal aid, paid for by the taxpayer.

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