Ex-gym instructor filmed female client showering after workout session
SINGAPORE — A gym instructor was caught recording a female client in the shower after the woman looked up to see his phone being held above the cubicle partition.
Fairez Rafi Mohamed Ameen, 30, was jailed for four weeks on Monday (13 December) after he pleaded guilty to one count each of criminal trespass and insulting the modesty of a woman.
An unrelated charge of criminal breach of trust was taken into account for his sentencing.
Fairez was an instructor at 9Round, a kickboxing gym which had an outlet at City House, 36 Robinson Road. The outlet has since closed down.
On the morning of 7 October 2019, the victim, 40, went to 9Round's outlet at City House for a workout. As Fairez was the fitness trainer on duty, he provided guidance to her.
At around 8.50am, the woman finished her workout and went for a shower. Shortly after, Fairez entered the female toilet and entered the cubicle next to the woman’s. After relieving himself, he switched his phone to recording mode and pointed the lens at her from above the cubicle partition.
The woman saw the phone and shouted. She wrapped herself in a towel and exited to check the cubicle next to hers. She saw Fairez and asked him to leave.
The woman then put on her clothes, took her things and left the gym. She called the police over the incident.
Meanwhile, Fairez, who had already deleted any incriminating videos, did a factory reset to further prevent the recovery of any evidence. After he was arrested, Fairez told the police that he had entered the female toilet for the same purpose on two other occasions.
However, on both occasions, upon lifting his phone slightly over the partition, Fairez felt that what he was doing was not a good idea. He stopped recording and left. He deleted the videos upon realising that he had not captured anything. No incriminating photos or videos were recovered from his phone.
In a mitigation plea written by his lawyer Raphael Louis, Fairez told the court that he was remorseful for his actions and promised not to repeat his mistakes. Louis also asked for a community-based sentence (CBS), such as a short detention order, citing Fairez’s “strong propensity” for reform.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Samyata Ravindran said that there was no documentary proof to support this argument. She also pointed out that CBS was usually given to youthful offenders and Fairez was 30.
And while Fairez claimed he was stressed, DPP Ravindran said this was just his attempt to diminish his culpability as Fairez did not have a psychiatric condition with a causal link to his offences.
District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan agreed with the prosecution that CBS was “wholly inappropriate”. He said that the key sentencing consideration was general deterrence, which required the imposition of a jail term.
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