A Manchester man has been sentenced for "warming his chicken" in a university sauna.
Xin Zhang, 60, of Foundry Lane, Manchester, admitted an offence of outraging public decency when he appeared at Tameside Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 15th February 2024.
He was sentenced at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 24th June 2025.
Outraging public decency is an offence contrary to common law. It has a maximum sentence of 12 months' custody on summary conviction; life imprisonment on conviction on indictment.
A Newton hearing was required due to the differing accounts admitted by Zhang (that he was adjusting the lining of his shorts) and advanced by the Crown (that he was masturbating).
That hearing, which took place at Bolton Magistrates' Court on Monday, 3rd February 2025, concluded that the Crown's account was the correct one - e.g. that the 60-year-old had been dabbling in a spot of onanism.
Magistrates heard that Zhang, a Chinese national, had been a member of the Tom Husband Leisure Centre at the University of Salford for more than a decade. It was during one of his regular visits in March 2023 that he was observed touching his penis as he was staring at a women through the glass of the sauna.
Describing events in her statement, the woman said: "He stood up. He was looking at me. He pulled his pants down just below the knee. He grabbed his penis and I could see his hands they were going up and down. I thought 'oh my God'."
Zhang had initially told police that he was cold from swimming, so had put his hands down his shorts to "warm his chicken" - a phrase he later confirmed referred to his genitals. That account, however, was rejected by the Newton hearing.
Magistrates were of the view that Zhang's offence was serious enough to merit a community order.
He was sentenced to 12-month community order with the requirement that he completes 180 hours' unpaid work and up to 20 days' rehabilitation activity.
He was also ordered to pay £400 towards prosecution costs and £114 surcharge.
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