A man who was caught trying to wander through Bolton town centre with his underwear around his ankles has vowed to not repeat his drunken mistake. "Ashamed" Gary Charnock, 37, pleaded guilty to outraging public decency by exposing his genitals when he appeared at Bolton Magistrates' Court yesterday.
Charnock, of Duke Street, Bolton, was caught on CCTV in Victoria Square stumbling and staggering around, before dropping his trousers two or three times and exposing his genitals to members of the public about 6pm on February 25.
Mr Miller, defending, told the bench that his client was very drunk at the time, and did not intend to break the law. He said: "My client was very drunk, staggering around, and there were very few people around and fortunately no children.
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"He engaged with three other young males, hugging and speaking with them, with no aggression shown. At that point he has simply gotten carried away with the good natured exchanges that had gone on before and drops his trousers.
"At one point his trousers were around his ankles and he does try to walk whilst one person goes by. Whilst I'm not trying to make light of the situation, there was a comedic element to the incident." Mr Miller also told the court his client had not been in trouble with the law since 2013, and was a reformed man who was ashamed by his actions that night.
He added: "My client would like to apologise to the court for his behaviour that evening. He told me 'I'm really not looking forward to this, I'm totally ashamed' before his hearing today." Charnock was the victim of a serious machete attack in 2021, which left him struggling to walk and he had been drinking heavily on the night the offence took place as the anniversary of the attack was coming up.
Mr Monks, the chair of the bench, addressed Charnock as he handed down an £80 fine for the offence. He said: "You find yourself in the fortunate situation, through no control of your own, that there were no more people there to witness this, and no children present. Any repeat offences will not be considered so lightly."
Charnock interrupted the magistrate to assure him and the other members of the bench, Miss Haq and Mr Fagan, that he would not be appearing before the court again. Charnock will also need to pay £150 prosecution costs, and a £34 victim surcharge for a total of £264.
