A serial flasher, dubbed the Naked Carpenter, has lost his appeal against a conviction he received after walking through a town centre in see-through trousers.
Robert Jenner, 47, had only recently been released from prison for previous charges of indecent exposure when he was stopped by police while wearing a pair of mesh trousers.
Jenner, a former Princess of Wales Regiment infantryman who served in the Iraq War, had been drinking in a Wetherspoon pub in Maidstone Kent in January 2020 in the mesh trousers, which he wore without underwear, when he was stopped by police.
In April 2020, he was found guilty by magistrates of exposure and breaching a seven-year criminal behaviour order (CBO) and was jailed for 12 months.
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Yesterday, as reported by the Daily Mail, he appeared at Maidstone Crown Court where he attempted to appeal his conviction on the basis that his genitals couldn’t be seen by the officers.
Jenner, who is still in prison, represented himself in court where he shared bodycam footage of his arrest.
Playing the video, he told the court: “As you can see, you cannot see anything.
“My fleece is covering my genitals. That's the bottom line. The behaviour doesn't make any legal sense - it's just a state of dress.”
Jenner then questioned why the officer asked him to lift up his top during the incident.
He went on: “The bottom line in this case is that it's a bit like saying, 'Go and punch that guy' and then arresting them for assault,' he said.
“The arresting officer told me to offend by telling me to lift my top up... And on the point of Wetherspoon's, no member of the public complained.
“My submission is that their evidence is very flimsy.”
He denied that he revealed himself to cause ‘alarm or distress’ saying that had ‘never been’ his intention.
But his appeal was dismissed by Judge David Griffith-Jones QC, with him saying audio from the footage supported what the police had said in their statements, which had not been challenged by Jenner.
He said the footage Jenner shared in court was ‘of no value’ as the man in question wasn’t really visible.
Judge Griffith-Jones told Jenner: “Your fleece was only waist-length and didn't cover your penis or testicles which were clearly visible for all to see.
“It seems inescapable that in the circumstances that you intended people to see and to cause alarm and distress. In the circumstances, the appeal must be refused and your convictions stand.”
Claire Reid