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A brave pensioner has told how he confronted a suspected pervert who was allegedly masturbating beside a primary school.

Fearless James O'Reilly saw a man acting suspiciously around Scoil Bhride, on Colmcille Road in Galway when he jumped into action.

Mr O'Reilly, 71, said he was standing outside his home at around 1pm when he noticed the man behaving oddly.

He told the Irish Daily Star: "I saw this man coming down the road and there was something about him.

"He crossed the road and went over to the wall at the school and got down on his knees.

"He kept bobbing up and down looking over the wall and getting down on his knees. I thought 'that fella is up to something' and went over to see what he was doing.

"I went up to him and saw that he was masturbating.

"I grabbed hold of him and called him a dirty b*****d.

"There were people nearby including my daughter and I shouted for them to call the gardai.

"The man just kept shouting at me to let him go and said that he was looking for his girlfriend.

"I had to hold him until the gardai came. I told him I was not letting go of him."

Brave Mr O'Reilly held the man, who is from Pakistan, until cops from Mill Street Garda Station arrived on scene.

He was arrested under the public order act and was last night still in custody.