A 28-year-old man who filmed a girl whilst she sat on a toilet at McDonald's has been found guilty of a string of disturbing offences.

On July 25 2015, John Bate, from The Heart in Walton-on-Thames, was arrested for voyeurism after a passerby grabbed him outside the toilet of the fast food restaurant in Hanworth .

In a separate incident a month earlier on June 18, he sexually assaulted a girl in front of her friend and touched himself in public after they got off a broken down bus in Walton-on-Thames.

On Thursday February 16 this year, a jury at Kingston Crown Court found Bate guilty of voyeurism in relation to the McDonald's offence and further charges of sexual assault and outraging public decency for the incident in June 2015.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Bate fled the scene of the McDonald's in Apex Corner when he was spotted by the distressed victim while filming her.

He was arrested after a passer-by grabbed him outside the toilet and a search found his phone a metre away.

Bate's phone was searched by the victim's boyfriend who saw the video of his girlfriend sitting on the toilet and then shouting at Bate.

The boyfriend deleted the video and photographs before giving the phone back to Bate, but they had been seen by the victim and a witness.

Bate then offered to give cash to the victim while pleading with them not to call the police.

When officers arrived they could not find Bate's phone as his girlfriend had taken it home and hidden it, the CPS said, and it was later recovered.

CPS London reviewing lawyer Catherine Wear said: “Bate's sexual offences were extremely disturbing and distressing for his victims.

“Less than a week before filming the girl in the toilet, he had been questioned by police about the offence involving two schoolgirls, suggesting a flagrant disregard of the law and a belief that he could not be caught.

“I am most grateful to the victims and the independent witnesses who helped convict Bate by coming forward and giving evidence against him.”

Bate will be sentenced on March 14 at Kingston Crown Court.

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