A man with a long history of performing sex acts near horses has done it again – for the second time in 24 hours. Malcolm Downes, 61, has a “long, long history” of pleasuring himself near horses and was last before the courts in 2016 when he was jailed for what a judge called his “totally disgusting” behaviour.
Downes, who was then said to be planning a doctor’s visit “to seek libido suppressing drugs”, was arrested on February 18 this year after he was seen to be up to his old tricks again in a field in the Bude Park area of Bransholme, in Hull.
The shocked member of the public was about 200 yards away and initially thought Downes was urinating.
Prosecutor Neil Coxon told Hull Crown Court: “It soon became clear he was in fact masturbating. This activity went on for three or four minutes. His penis was exposed for about ten minutes.
“The matter was reported to the police and the defendant was arrested.”
Interviewed that day, Downes told officers: “I was sat on a bench. I was feeling sexy so I started to…”Mr Coxon said: “Asked if he realised it was an offence he said ‘Yes’.”
Downes said he knew what he was doing was “wrong” and said he “didn’t do it to draw attention to himself. He was sorry”. Downes was charged and released on bail, but within 24 hours was seen by an off duty female police officer doing the same thing in the same area.
The officer was driving along the road towards Home Bargains when “her attention was drawn to this defendant at the end of an emergency access road”.
He “had his manhood in his hand and was masturbating,” the court heard.
It was not safe for the officer to stop so she sounded her horn to signal for him to stop. Downes was arrested, taken into custody and was again candid and straightforward in interview.
He had 12 similar offences among the 35 crimes on his record, as well as nine breaches of an antisocial behaviour order for the same behaviour.
Jailing Downes for eight months, Judge David Tremberg told him: “You know you are doing wrong but you appear either unable or unwilling to stop yourself.”