Glastonbury Man Mooned at PCSO

A Glastonbury man has been convicted of a public order offence after baring his bottom in the direction of a PCSO and young girl.

Jonathan Paul Roper, 34, of Dunstan Road, pleaded guilty to using threatening or abusive words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour likely to cause somebody harassment, alarm or distress when he appeared at Yeovil Magistrates' Court.

This is an offence contrary to section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 (read our earlier article for an example of how this same piece of legislation was recently misused by Derbyshire Police). This is a summary offence, which can only be dealt with in the Magistrates' Court, and the maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale (currently £1,000).

Magistrates heard how the PCSO approached Roper on 23rd October 2018, after spotting him consuming alcohol in a no-alcohol zone. When challenged he partially pulled down his trousers, before slapping his bare buttocks and asking the female officer to "kiss my fucking arse".

There was a man with a young girl nearby who witnessed the incident and the defendant was arrested and charged with the offence.

The PCSO was on duty in Glastonbury town centre at the time of the offence, which was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. She became aware of Roper drinking from a bottle as he followed behind.

Emma Lenanton, for the Crown, said: "She could see he was drinking from a bottle of cider while he was in a public no-drinking zone so she challenged him and asked him to stop.

"He then told her to kiss his fucking arse and bent over, slapping his bum and showing part of his bare backside and there was a man with a young girl in the area who also saw the offence."

In a victim impact statement the PCSO said she had found Roper's behaviour difficult and embarrassing to deal with. She also said he had displayed a blatant disregard for the law and disrespect towards the local community.

Jeffrey Bannister, defending, said that the PCSO's embarrassment had been down to the fact that she could not detain the defendant and no colleague was available to help her at the time.

"Roper was walking through a designated non-drinking area when he took a drink from the bottle and when the officer spoke to him he ignored her," he said.

Magistrates fined Roper £150 and ordered him to pay £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.