A CAMBRIDGE-EDUCATED doctor accused of filming men urinating in public toilets appeared in the Royal Court yesterday to deny nine counts of voyeurism.
Diego Balassini (27) was charged after a man caught him filming him naked in a gym changing room.
Police officers seized Dr Balassini’s phone and found a number of videos he had taken in public toilets, including a number taken in Jersey.
A total of eight videos showing men urinating in public toilets, including at Jersey Airport and at St Helier pubs and bars, plus one of men getting changed in the gym locker room, formed the nine voyeurism charges.
Crown Advocate Lauren Taylor, prosecuting, took the court through hundreds of videos and messages, created between 2015 and 2024, many of which were found on a hard drive and included apparently-covert recordings of men using urinals.
The advocate also read out a number of search terms from Dr Balassini’s browsing history, which related to urination and covert recordings, particularly of men. And, she told the court about explicit messages Dr Balassini shared with several men including exchanges about urination.
“It is clear that the defendant has a sexual interest in urinating, public urinals and changing rooms,” the advocate said.
The man who caught Dr Balassini filming him in a gym changing room gave evidence, telling the court he had felt “violated” by the alleged incident.
The gymgoer, giving evidence, described how he confronted Dr Balassini and took his phone. When he saw the video, he alerted gym staff and the police.
“I was really taken aback. I was angered, I was really, really weirded out,” the man said. “Violated I would say was the word.”
In his interview, the defendant told police officers in a statement: “I am a doctor, I have no prior convictions. I am fully aware that an offence of this nature would jeopardise my career, something that I would never risk.”
The court further heard that he had a place in Oxford to study for a DPhil, but that he hadn’t been able to attend because of the criminal proceedings.
In the same statement, he said the video had been taken by accident, however, he later admitted this was untrue. However, he said that the videos were not taken for the purposes of sexual gratification, something which forms the basis of a voyeurism charge.
Advocate Stephen Baker, defending, described Dr Balassini as an intelligent man who had experienced traumatic events in his childhood and adolescence before he left his native Tuscany to study in the UK. He qualified as a doctor in 2023, and was taking part in two practical years in Jersey that would allow him to practice, the court was told.
Giving evidence, Dr Balassini said that he suffered a number of symptoms relating to cleanliness to the court, including cleaning down toilet seats and soaking his cutlery overnight in bleach.
After he was arrested, the court heard, Dr Balassini voluntarily admitted himself at Orchard House.
“I appreciate I wasn’t mentally well at the time,” he told the court.
Commissioner Sir William Bailhache is presiding, with Jurats Andrew Cornish and Michael Powell sitting.
