‘I wasn’t flashing, I was just scratching an itch’
A HOMELESS man with a skin condition who dropped his trousers in front of passengers on a train said he needed to scratch an itch.
Darryl Phillips, 37, started taking his clothes off as he staggered towards the train toilet.
Once inside, he left the automatic door open and began drunkenly dancing around the cubicle with his pants around his ankles, a court heard.
Members of the public were so shocked by what they saw that they called the police and Phillips was arrested after he got off the train at
Paignton, Devon.
Phillips, who suffers from scabies, said he needed to undress to satisfy an itch.
He admitted he had been drinking.
Nuisance
The defendant, who is currently serving a short sentence in prison for unrelated matters, appeared by video link and pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance by exposing his genitals.
Magistrates said he did not need to expose his genitals and ‘ make eye contact’ with other passengers while he was doing it.
Phillips was given an extra four weeks inside.
Prosecutor Philip Sewell said Phillips and his girlfriend boarded the Exeter Central service at Newton Abbot at 7.40pm.
He headed to the lavatory, taking off his t- shirt and handing it to his partner on the way.
“He dropped his trousers to his ankles, exposing himself to the occupants of the carriage while the toilet doors were open,” said Mr Sewell.
One witness said Phillips exposed himself for about two minutes while at the same time ‘ dancing and waving and making eye contact’.
A six- year- old girl was in the carriage at the time Phillips bared all, but she only heard the man swearing.