A Margate sex offender has been jailed for breaching a ban after he was seen partially-dressed in public.
On December 15, 2019, Kent Police received a report that a man wearing only a burgundy jumper had been seen acting suspiciously and crouching in some bushes near Thanet Road in Margate.
When patrols attended, 51-year-old Ricky Neville left the bushes and tried to run away but was caught by officers and arrested.
He told officers he had been recently released from prison and felt the need to carry out an indecent act on himself in a public place, so had gone out with the intention of doing so.
The court heard that Neville, of Grosvenor Place, admitted outraging public decency and breaching a condition of his sexual offences prevention order by removing lower body clothing in a public place.
The order also prevents him from entering a public park, gardens, churchyards or woods.
Neville was sentenced to two years in prison when he appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday, March 6.
Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Jade Barrett said: “Neville was under strict conditions aimed at allowing him liberty, but preventing him from committing any indecent act in public.
“Although he may have thought that hiding in a bush would not affect anyone else, the simple fact he had chosen to be in a public place automatically leaves others at risk of witnessing his offending, which simply is not acceptable.
“He was aware of the risk he took and now he must face up to the reality of his decision, from the confines of a prison cell.”