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A joker was arrested after he waved a sausage roll near his groin and fooled a passer-by into thinking he was exposing his penis.

Daniel Proctor made out like he was flashing his genitals at a woman early one morning outside McDonald’s, on Newcastle’s Grainger Street, a court heard.

The horrified ‘victim’ immediately reported the 30-year-old to the police and Proctor was traced to the toilets inside the fast food restaurant.

An officer initially arrested him on suspicion of indecent exposure but subsequently discovered he had in fact been holding a Greggs sausage roll near his groin area.

However, the smile was wiped off Proctor’s face when police instead charged him with a public order offence on the grounds that he made the pastry “look like his penis” and, as a result, “behaved in a disorderly manner”, prosecutors said.

Proctor, of Westgate Court, Newcastle, was due to appear at North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on Friday but failed to show and the case was proved in his absence.

James Palmer, prosecuting, said the woman had been walking to work on the morning of November 4 when she saw Proctor standing near some bins outside McDonald’s.

Reading from the victim’s statement, Mr Palmer added: “I was about 100 yards away from the male and I had a clear, unobstructed view. The street was very quiet at that time of day.

“I looked across and noticed his penis was sticking out the top of his trousers. He was waving it about. On seeing me, he stared at me for five to 10 seconds.”

The court was told the shocked woman crossed the road to get away from Proctor and considered taking his picture.

However, he continued to stare and the female felt so uncomfortable, she instead contacted the police.

An officer attended and found Proctor in the toilets inside McDonald’s.

Mr Palmer said: “The officer cautioned and arrested him on suspicion of exposure and the defendant replied saying ‘It was a Greggs sausage roll’.”

Proctor took the officer outside and showed him the remains of the pastry on the top of a bin.

“It clearly was not his penis,” said Mr Palmer. “It was a sausage roll but he made it look like it was his penis, which was disorderly.”

In a statement, the woman said she had been left feeling “alarmed and afraid”. She added: “As a result of this, I will change my route and the time I go to work. I don’t think anyone should behave in this manner.”

Proctor’s solicitor, Alanna Wesencraft, told the court he suffered from mental health issues but had no explanation as to why he failed to appear at court.

Magistrates gave him a six-month conditional discharge after they found him guilty in absence of behaving in a disorderly manner, which caused harassment, alarm or distress.