A man who was caught taking photos of bikini-clad girls on a beach in Nelson has had his conviction quashed by the Supreme Court.

On the morning of 23 January 2016, Graham Rowe was discovered taking photos of three young girls on Kaiteriteri beach.

He was crouched behind a campervan, and was using a zoom lens to capture the images.

Photo: Flickr user I Used A Nikon / CC BY-NC 2.0

The Supreme Court decision said he was caught by an off duty policer, Seargent Daniel Isherwood, who was holidaying at the time.

"The Sergeant approached Mr Rowe and said he wanted to talk to him about the photographs. Mr Rowe accepted he had been taking photographs and told the officer that there was nothing wrong with that," said the document.

"Mr Rowe also accepted he did not have permission to take the photographs."

A search of Mr Rowe's caravan uncovered three electronic devices, which contained more images of young women- though none were considered objectionable.

A jury in the Nelson District Court found Mr Rowe guilty of doing an indecent act with intent to insult.

"The [District] Court referred to a number of factors, namely, the surreptitious or covert nature of Mr Rowe's actions... the girls' comparatively young age; the absence of any reason to take the photographs other than to preserve images of the girls' bodies for Mr Rowe's 'own future enjoyment'; and the fact a tresspass notice had been given to Mr Rowe after police were called on an earlier occasion when Mr Rowe was seen taking photographs of young girls at Kaiteriteri beach," said the Supreme Court decision.

He was sentenced to 120 hours' community service and six months' supervision.

However, the Supreme Court has now found that he had no intention of distributing the images or of using them to offend anyone.

As a result, his conviction has been quashed and no retrial has been ordered.