Lee Parmley, a former England under-16s footballer, was apprehended by police while masturbating in the Queen Elizabeth II Country Park in Northumberland, the Metro reports.
According to the newspaper, Parmley was literally caught with his pants down after cops received a tip from a "concerned member of the public" who said that a male was exposing himself in the park.
Despite facing the officers with his pants and underwear around his ankles, the ex-footballer reportedly claimed that the cops were "wrong" and that he merely had been sitting and enjoying a cigarette.
During the trial at the South East Northumberland Magistrates’ Court, the prosecution stated that the cops approached Parmley from behind while he was “standing in a wooded area, oblivious of the police officers approaching”.
"At this stage he appeared to have both hands down his trousers. ‘He pulled his trousers and underwear down, exposing his penis", the prosecutor said, adding that Parmley then produced two magazines (later revealed to be porn mags) from a black bag he had with him and started to masturbate.
The defence described the ex-footballer as a “courteous, respectful and likeable young man” who got ruined by drug use, adding that he is "deeply remorseful" for what he has done.
In the end, Parmley ended up pleading guilty to one charge of outraging public decency and got slapped with a 12-month community order, with the magistrates also banning him from visiting the park for the same amount of time.
