Bath House Bad Boy

A young PhD student got himself in a spot of trouble in the changing room at a swimming pool in Manchester. The realization that unclothed ladies were so tantalizingly close was too much for him — he succumbed to temptation and slipped a mirror under the cubicle’s partition to have a look. Twice.

Unfortunately, he got caught. What’s interesting in this case is his lawyer’s “cultural differences” defense. In Modern Multicultural Britain, it’s every enriched offender’s preferred excuse.

By the way — the Mohammed Coefficient of this case is 100%.

From The Manchester Evening News:

Cubicle Pervert Spied on Women With Mirror at Manchester Aquatics Centre

Bataineh, 35, a PhD student at Salford University, admitted committing two counts of voyeurism at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

A pervert used a mirror to spy on women as they got changed at swimming baths in Manchester.

A court heard that student Mohammad Bataineh, who is originally from Jordan, was confused by ‘very permissive’ Western society.

This young man is not too “confused” to immigrate to England, register for university, attend lectures, take exams, write papers, etc. But when he saw women walking around like uncovered meat, he was evidently confused enough to think, “By the prophet’s beard! That gives me permission to put a mirror under the changing room partition!”

A little peek into paradise for him, perhaps…

The article continues:

But a judge sitting at Manchester magistrates court ‘utterly rejected’ his excuse, saying: “You have been in this country for three years.”

Bataineh, 35, a PhD student at Salford University, admitted committing two counts of voyeurism at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

He was given a six-month community order with a 14-day curfew between 7pm-6am to reflect on his ‘disgrace and shame’.

He also received a six-month sexual prevention order banning him from entering any sports facilities where there are unisex changing rooms.

Deputy District Judge John Maxwell told him: “What you did was disgraceful and disgusting – and disrespectful to women.”

Passing sentence, the judge added: “I appreciate the shame you have brought on yourself and family, but you should have borne that in mind before committing these offences.”

Sean Brady, prosecuting, said Bataineh, of Roberts Avenue, Rusholme, had slipped a compact mirror under the dividing partition of his cubicle to watch the women.

His first victim, in January last year, spotted what was happening and swore and kicked out at his hand.

Bataineh managed to escape but when he returned a month later staff recognised him from CCTV footage.

Mr Brady said a second woman hadn’t realised what was happening and left the baths before staff who had detained Bataineh could speak to her.

Now we come to the crucial part. Pay close attention to what the defendant’s counsel said:

Dawn Sweetman, defending, said Bataineh had no previous convictions. She said: “He found the cultural differences of a very permissive Western society confusing in comparison to those that exist in Jordan.”

Mrs Sweetham said what he had done would ‘haunt him for the rest of his life’ because it was worldwide on the internet.

She added that his family will be disgraced and his sisters considered unfit for marriage – and he will have trouble making a good marriage himself. [emphasis added]

So, from the point of view of the defense, this is about honor — specifically, Muslim honor. Mr. Bataineh has been shamed, and his family has been dishonored. The effect of his actions has been such that people other than himself will be grievously harmed.

That was the line taken by the defense, and it’s understandable, since they didn’t have much else to work with. And the judge was sensisible enough to brush all that multiculti special pleading aside.

But think about the larger implications of this line of argument. What about the honor of those women who were reflected in Mr. Bataineh’s mirror? Weren’t they also shamed? How does an Islamic legal standard regard the damage done to these women?

That’s easy to answer: no harm could possibly be done to them, because they had already shamed themselves totally by being out in public without a brother, father, or husband to chaperone them. They were not properly veiled; in fact, presumably they were flagrantly lewd in their swimming attire. They had become, from a sharia perspective, prostitutes. No additional shame could ever accrue to them.

The only honor worthy of consideration is that of pious, observant Muslims. Under Islamic law, Mr. Bataineh’s defense made complete sense.

But the judge wasn’t buying it, and the defendant didn’t get off scot-free:

Judge Maxwell ordered Bataineh to pay £100 compensation to the first woman who had been ‘angered and upset’.

For a complete listing of previous enrichment news, see The Cultural Enrichment Archives.

Hat tip: C. Cantoni.