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Man caught pleasuring himself near baby at Wood Green court after telling woman 'I can do what I want'

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date17 April 2024
Publication titleMyLondon (England)
The 44-year-old, from Woodberry Down Estate in Hackney, was outside a courtroom in the afternoon when the victim asked if he needed help. When he said 'no', she noticed his hands down his trousers, and soon after he went to a consultation room and began masturbating while staring directly at her, prosecutor Sarah Gabay told the court on Tuesday April 16

"She felt scared. She filmed what he was doing. She was scared to call security as she did not want to panic him. He shouted at her 'why did you call security on me This is a public building, I can do what I want'," said Ms Gabay.

In an almost identical incident one year later in August 2023, outside a different courtroom at Wood Green Crown Court, Mcarthy masturbated in front of a woman holding a baby on her lap, but this time without letting her see his penis directly.

"Mr Mcarthy moved in position to see them. He set up around a corner, exposed his penis and started masturbating," said Ms Gabay.

After watching the disturbing incident unfold on CCTV, a security guard raced over and found Mcarthy self-gratifying with his eyes on the woman and her child. Security guards and police officers rushed to detain him, but it was 'quite a struggle', Ms Gabay explained.

Mcarthy was charged with one count of exposure and one count of outraging public decency, which he pleaded guilty to at Highbury Magistrates on August 10 last year.

Mcarthy's criminal history includes 35 convictions for sex offences, the latest from April 2017. Ms Gabay argued there was raised harm because of his previous convictions, and because he had masturbated in front of a child.

Defence counsel Bridget Irving said she accepted the raised harm and the aggravation brought by his...

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