Company director streaking on beach

October 1987

A 24-year-old company director was sentenced at Wexford District Court to one month in prison for what District Justice Dermot Dunleavy described as ‘an outlandish act of indecency’.

The Justice had heard that [NAME AND ADDRESS WITHELD] had stripped naked on the Burrow beach at Kilmore and had run and down the strand before placing a pair of sunglasses over his private parts and making rude gestures at other beach users.

Inspector Thomas Conneely said [DEFENDANT] had committed the offence on a sunny summer afternoon, when a large crowd of people, including many children, were on the beach.

‘Some people were so disgusted by his antics that they just got up and left,’ he told the Justice.

Mr James O’Connor, Solr., said [DEFENDANT] wished to apologise for ‘the quite disgraceful behaviour’.

He told the Justice that his client had been in a factory at the time and had just come off a fifteen hour shift before the incident and had then consumed an amount of alcohol on an empty stomach. He has since become self-employed and is a director of the company he set up.

‘This was something that was very much out of character for him,’ said Mr. O’Connor.

The Justice said the evidence before him showed an ‘outlandish’ case.

‘I have no other intention but to impose the maximum penalty, which is one month in prison,’ he said.

When pressed by Mr. O’Connor to suspend the sentence, the Justice said he could not take the responsibility. ‘This type of streaking offence is an outlandish crime, and drink is no excuse,’ he said.

The Justice also bound [DEFENDANT] to the peace for two years.

Recognisances were fixed in the event of an appeal.