Police swooped on a mobile phone shop after a male worker was caught scrolling through a female customer’s intimate selfies.
Louise Johnson, 28, took her iPhone 11 to be fixed after the screen and battery were smashed after she dropped it on the floor.
She agreed to pay £85 for the phone to be fixed at The Mobile Doctor in Worcester on Saturday 13 November.
But when she collected it, she caught a male worker leering at intimate pictures of her in underwear and bikinis which she had taken for her boyfriend.
Police confirmed the man had looked at her picture for 15 minutes but could not help Louise further because he had not downloaded or shared the snaps.
Marketing manager Louise Johnson, 28, pictured, said she was horrified to find out an employee at Worcester’s The Mobile Doctor went through her intimate photos after she left her iPhone 11 there to be repaired
Police told Louise, pictured, that they could not give her the name of the employee who looked at her pictures because of GDPR
Louise said she grabbed the phone but claims the man snatched it back, scratching her hand.
She said: ‘As soon as I walked in, I saw him lock my phone and put it to the side, but I saw my wallpaper, so I knew it was mine.
‘I asked whether my phone was ready, and he told me it would be another hour because someone had to come and finish repairing the frame.
‘But I knew he’d been on my phone, so I asked for it back, swiped up to see my most recent tabs and saw that he was looking through all my photographs from years ago.
Louise, pictured, said the police told her they could not help her because the man did not download or shared her pictures
The 28-year-old, pictured, was in Worcester visiting a friend when she dropped her phone and smashed the screen
‘Some of them were personal to me.
‘There were pictures of me in bikinis and in underwear which were quite intimate. They were pictures I had sent to a boyfriend and no one else.
‘I could see that he’d been looking at them.
‘I felt disgusted and was in total shock, I could not believe what was happening.
‘I snatched the phone off the counter but he grabbed my arm and scratched me really hard.
Louise, pictured in frotnt of the shop, said the man scratched her hand when she tried to get her phone back
The 28-year-old said the employee looked at pictures of her that were taken for her boyfriend’s eyes only a year ago
The marketing manager said she felt ‘completely violated’ and said the employee was ‘creepy and perverted’
‘I felt completely violated. It’s creepy and perverted to go through someone else’s most private pictures without their permission.’
When Louise demanded her phone back, she claims the man refused to hand it over unless she coughed up £85 for the repair.
She called police who attended the shop and says they confirmed that CCTV showed the man looking through her phone for 15 minutes.
Louise, pictured, said police told her CCTV showed the employee had been looking at her phone for 15 minutes before she came to pick it up
A spokesperson for The Mobile Doctor said: ‘We have resolved the issue in the presence of police.’
Louise was shocked when she was told she could not get the man’s name, even though he had been going through her personal pictures
But officers were powerless to act because the man had not downloaded or shared the images, therefore no law was broken.
Louise, a marketing manager from London who was visiting friends in Worcester, added: ‘When I asked the police for the man’s name they refused claiming it was because of GDPR.
‘I almost fell over in shock. Basically a strange man can rifle through my private pictures without permission but his identity is protected because of data protection? How is that right?’
A spokesperson for The Mobile Doctor said: ‘We have resolved the issue in the presence of police.’
Louise said the repair shop employee demanded £85 for the phone repairs after she caught him looking at her pictures