A Cowley man ‘didn't know’ that people could see him masturbating on his balcony, a court heard.

Horrified bystanders called the police after spotting Andrew Hibbitt, 63, performing the open air onanism on a balcony overlooking the back of the Tesco store in Cowley Road on April 16.

Police worked out who it was from his flat number and twice knocked at the door but received no answer.

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Eventually, a detective sergeant working out of St Aldates police station rang Hibbitt up and arranged a time for him to come for interview.

Quizzed by the police, he admitted masturbating but said he had no intention of being seen by the public.

The magistrates heard that he had previous convictions, including from 2008 when he was sentenced for three counts of exposing himself. He was on the sex offender register for life.

Mitigating, India Ferris said: “He didn’t know people were walking past and it wasn’t his intention to be seen but accepts given the witness statements people have obviously witnessed it.”

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Her client had a number of mental and physical health difficulties. At around the time he was caught touching himself on his balcony he had ‘slipped off’ medication for his mental health complaints. His physical problems included blocked arteries and a bad spine, his solicitor added.

Hibbitt, of Cowley Road, Oxford, pleaded guilty to indecent exposure.

The magistrates ordered a pre-sentence report and bailed him to return to court on June 7.

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