A man with a ‘long, long history’ of pleasuring himself in front of horses has been jailed for re-offending twice, just hours after being released.

Malcolm Downes, 61, said he had been planning to see his doctor for libido suppressing drugs but instead went to a field after being freed from prison.

He was spotted on February 18 in Bransholme, Hull, by a witness who thought he was urinating.

Malcolm Downes knew it was wrong but couldn’t help himself because he felt ‘sexy’ at the time (Picture: MEN Media)

Prosecutor Neil Coxon said it ‘soon became clear he was in fact masturbating’.


He added: ‘This activity went on for three or four minutes. His penis was exposed for about 10 minutes.’

During a police interview he told detectives: ‘I was sat on a bench. I was feeling sexy so I started to…’



Downes told them he knew what he was doing was wrong but didn’t do it to draw attention to himself.

He was released on bail but within 24 hours he was spotted by an off-duty police officer at the same field, again masturbating. He admitted that he had a problem but got a thrill out of it.

Downes was caught masturbating near a field again in the same area (Picture: MEN Media)

Downes, who only recently reconnected with family and friends after being shunned, had 12 similar offences on his record.

He also had nine breaches of an ASBO for masturbating in public that banned him from entering any field, stable or area that might contain equine animals across Humberside.

He has now been jailed for eight months for his latest offending.

His lawyer Stephen Robinson said: ‘The defendant is very disappointed to be back before the courts again for precisely the same sort of behaviour he’s been convicted of in the past.

‘The defendant was of the view he’d been doing quite well.’

‘He can’t really explain it. He said he felt he was starting to conquer his demons. He believes this was some sort of lapse he can’t explain. He is, he insists, very sorry for his actions.’

Judge David Tremberg told him: ‘You know you are doing wrong but you appear either unable or unwilling to stop yourself.’

Got a story for Metro.co.uk? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page.