Carrickfergus: man allegedly caught performing sex act near children is 'living under loyalist paramilitary threat'

Refusing to free the 47-year-old on bail, District Judge Peter Magill revealed the defendant has more than 30 previous convictions for similar offending and breaching requirements of the sex offenders register so “I am not prepared to grant him bail”.

"This man is a clear and present danger to children on the evidence before me,” he told Ballymena Magistrates Court.

The 47-year-old Co Antrim man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, appeared in the dock facing three charges arising from an alleged incident in Carrickfergus on Wednesday, June 19 including exposure, indecent behaviour and outraging public decency by performing an act which was ‘disgusting and lewd in nature’.

While a police officer gave evidence that he believed he could connect the defendant to each of the charges, Judge Magill read a synopsis of the case into the record, outlining how police were called by a member of the public who saw the defendant “performing a sexual act on himself”.

He told the court the incident happened around the Bridewell Drive area of Carrickfergus and initially, the witness “thought he has trying to locate a place to go to the toilet but he was in fact masturbating while attempting to hide behind a wall”.

"There were a number of children in the location and the area is close to a primary school,” said the judge, adding that according to the witness, at one point the defendant “ducked up from behind the wall looking in the direction of the children and one came within a metre of him but they ran away when they saw him.”

The court heard the witness had recorded the incident on their mobile phone and having shared the two-minute video with police, officers had recognised the defendant and arrested him.

At one point the defendant tried to intervene in the court proceedings but was ordered by the judge to “keep quiet - I do not want to hear a word from you or else you will be in contempt of court”.

When arrested and interviewed, the man denied the allegations, denied that it was him or his car on the footage and even claimed that the person recording the footage “was a paedo”.

The judge revealed the defendant has 32 previous convictions including multiple entires for breaching the terms of the sex offenders register and a “large number” of convictions relating to indecent images of children.

Revealing that the defendant is living under a threat from loyalist paramilitaries, defence counsel Grant Powles emphasised there were “triable issues” over the purported identification of the defendant along with the presumption of innocence.

With the case likely to proceed to the Crown Court, the barrister argued that would take some significant time so as the defendant has an address the police do not object to, “I ask you to consider bail with a stringent bail package”.

Judge Magill refused however, and remanding the defendant into custody, adjourned the case to July 16.