Mum says ‘sinister’ man took photos of her breastfeeding – then refused to delete them

The stranger admitted to photographing the mother and baby when when confronted.

A UK mother has claimed a man photographed her breastfeeding her daughter and refused to delete the photos when she confronted him. Julia Cooper, 32, was on a walk with friends at a park in Sale, Greater Manchester, when she stopped to feed her 9-month-old daughter on a bench. Due to the April weather, the mother had been wearing a large coat that allowed her to discreetly breastfeed her baby girl. She noticed the man, who was sitting at a nearby picnic table, staring at them and decided to stare back to try and get him to avert his gaze. Instead, he attached a zoom lens to his DLSR camera and began photographing them. Julia says she turned so that her back would be facing him as she continued to feed her daughter. Once the baby was done, she confronted him. The man admitted that they were indeed the subjects of his photographs, but refused to delete them. "He calmly told me it was his right to photograph me as I breastfed because we were in public," Julia says. The mum then sought help from the park warden, who also asked him to delete the pictures. Again, he refused. "He didn't explain why he'd taken the pictures and I didn't think to ask," Julia told the Mirror. "In a way, I didn't want to know. It was obviously a sinister reason. "I would guess it was for sexual gratification. It was a cold April day, and I was wearing a big coat. It was only when he saw me breastfeeding that he decided to get his camera out, so I'm guessing it was [for] some sort of pleasure." Later that day, Julia reported the incident to the Greater Manchester Police but claims they said nothing could be done about it as she was in public. The incident was only her second time breastfeeding in public but was enough to put her off doing so again. She has since launched a campaign aiming to make the "disturbing, intrusive act" of photographing a breastfeeding person illegal.