OUTRAGING public decency is the act of doing something lewd, obscene or of disgusting character and is punishable by imprisonment or a fine.

The act must take place in a public area and must be within view of the public, according to the Criminal Law Act 1977.

Five Berkshire residents have been sentenced for outraging public decency in the past six months.

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Here are their names and what they did to end up before the courts.

David Valentine

A man who was caught masturbating on a train at Reading Station was arrested after a passenger noticed him watching porn.

David Valentine, of Westerleigh Road, South Gloucestershire, was on a train from London to Swansea when he was caught outraging public decency.

The 32-year-old had tried to hide the porn on his phone behind a book but the passenger was still able to see it.

They also noticed Valentine had his hand down his trousers and was masturbating.

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The passenger, who said they felt ‘extremely uncomfortable’, reported the man’s activity to police using a discreet text service.

Valentine was arrested on the platform at Reading for outraging public decency.

He was given a community order and a sexual harm prevention order on Friday, September 24 after being caught masturbating on Friday, August 27.

The judge at East Berkshire Magistrates Court ordered Valentine to take part in a sex offender treatment program for 35 days.

Nicholas Glass and Melanie Urbanski

Glass, 38, and Urbanski, 45, both of Paddock Close, Windsor, were caught having sex at Clewer Memorial Recreation Ground in Dedworth on July 10, 2020.

The pair denied dogging, but were found guilty following a hearing at Slough Magistrates’ Court on June 18, 2021.

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Glass committed the offence during the period of a suspended sentence handed to him for entering a house impacted by a closure order.

He was given a 14-week prison term suspended for 12 months.

Urbanski admitted assaulting an emergency worker on the same date she was caught having sex in the park.

She was handed a community order and told to take part in up to ten days of rehabilitation activities.

William Ambrose

A Reading man caught pleasuring himself in a car on the Oxford Road was spared jail.

William Ambrose, of Basingstoke Road, was caught in the act in a red Toyota Aygo on July 1, 2021.

He pleaded guilty to an act of outraging public decency two days later at Reading Magistrates’ Court.

The 37-year-old also admitted to possession of cannabis after being caught with the drug on the same date as he was seen pleasuring himself.

Returning to the same court last week, Ambrose was handed a 16-week prison sentence suspended for 24 months for the first offence.

He was also told to pay £213 in court fees.

Gemma Hopkins

34-year-old Hopkins, of Wickford Way, Earley, was jailed after she stripped naked and danced outside Reading police station on June 8, 2021.

One day later, the woman assaulted an emergency worker in Wokingham by spitting at him.

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Later that day, the woman admitted to outraging public decency and the assault and was jailed for eight weeks following a court hearing at Reading Magistrates’ Court.

She was also told to pay a £128 victim surcharge.

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