A WOMAN who was allegedly photographed from up her skirt at a music festival is calling on police to reopen her case and bring justice.

Gina Martin, from Northwich, was waiting for rock band The Killers to appear at the British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park, London, when she caught the two alleged offenders.

After the issue was dealt with by the Metropolitan Police, the 25-year-old, who now lives in the capital, was told that no law had been broken ‘because her genitals were not visible’.

But case law shows that offenders who have taken ‘upskirt’ images have been prosecuted for outraging public decency – and now Gina wants the Met to look at her case again.

“It seemed like the police officer’s hands were tied because of the law,” she told the Guardian.

“I think it should be set in the Sexual Offences Act as a specific offence – it’s degrading and upsetting.

“It’s not easy to change that but until it happens there will be no change, and people need to see that this goes on.”

After the two men responsible had been ‘acting stupidly’ for half an hour, Gina claims she saw they were looking at a picture of a woman’s crotch before The Killers took to the stage.

“I just thought they were idiots – but then I recognised the underwear and I knew it was me they were looking at,” Gina said.

Northwich Guardian:

The incident was dealt with by security and police, and Gina claims that the officer who dealt with the incident asked the offender to delete the image ‘to make me feel better’.

Days later, the Met said her case was closed, leaving Gina questioning why the officer would ask for the evidence to be removed.

“I am surprised they didn’t do any more about it, and that they made him delete the image off his phone,” she added.

“I do think that if the law was different, the officer probably wouldn’t have asked for the evidence to be deleted.

“The reaction I’ve had since has been incredible, I’ve had so many messages from other girls who it has happened to.

“It’s clearly a bigger issue than just my own, and it is part of a wider problem with guys harassing girls that every girl I know has had to deal with at some point.”

In 2011, a Croydon man was prosecuted for taking pictures up women’s skirts on the London Underground, while three years earlier an east Sussex man was fined for a similar offence.

A petition calling on the Met to reopen the case has attracted more than 20,000 signatures.

A spokesman for the Met told the Guardian: “The Met takes allegations of voyeurism seriously and does and will investigate them thoroughly.

"We use a range of policing tactics and deploy officers on specific operations to target this sort of criminal behaviour based on intelligence.

“We understand that it can be incredibly invasive and distressing for those that this happens to.

“In this specific case we will be re-contacting the victim, as we believed the allegation had originally been dealt with in line with her wishes.”

To sign the petition, click here.