JAILED AGAIN: Steven Karu wasn't keen to show his face in court yesterday.

Steven Karu wasn't keen to show his face as he was sentenced for his latest offending - pulling his jacket up as high as it would go.

He is, however, keen to show off other parts of his body and that landed him in court in the first place.

In the Palmerston North District Court yesterday, the 43-year-old was jailed for 14 months after admitting a charge of committing an indecent act to insult - in an ambulance.

Karu has a criminal record that runs to 21 pages and he has masturbated in places all over the district, including outside a Palmerston North bakery and on a city bus.

Last year he was jailed for performing an indecent act outside a Bulls business while a cleaner worked inside. He said then he did not plan to hang out in Manawatu any more, but just three or four days after that prison sentence finished he was back in Bulls.

About 2.20am on April 13 he called for an ambulance from a petrol station and asked for a female officer.

Karu disputed that, but Judge Gregory Ross did not accept his denial.

Karu complained of stomach pains and when he was being examined in the back of the ambulance, by a woman, he suddenly pulled down a sheet and revealed that he was masturbating.

The woman escaped the situation by swapping places with her male colleague, who continued to deal with Karu.

When police spoke to him he declined to give an explanation but defence lawyer Mike Ryan told the court: "He says at the time of his offending he was lost, in the figurative sense, sad, confused and hungry.

"He says these things motivated his offending on this occasion."

Karu had told Ryan he was remorseful. Judge Ross noted assessment reports that detailed Karu's "borderline personality and anti-social disorder". The judge said Karu's offending was "repugnant" - "It's a disgraceful case".

A victim statement from the ambulance officer says the incident has not put her off working as a St John volunteer, although she will be more careful on late-night jobs.

Karu was given credit for his guilty plea and had time shaved off his sentence for his mental disorders, although the judge also added to his tally for his previous convictions.