A former BT manager who cut a hole in his trousers to make it easier to expose himself was jailed today for flashing a woman outside an Iceland store.
Robert Black took out his penis and stared at the woman as he pleasured himself during the sick incident in Edinburgh.
Black, 59, was described as being in a “trance” while he carried out the sordid act just a day after being released from prison.
The court heard the pervert has amassed similar convictions since his successful career with British Telecom was ended by redundancy three years ago.
Black appeared from custody at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and admitted intentionally exposing his genitals in a sexual manner to the woman in her 30s on Easter Road, Leith, on August 19 and handling his penis through a “cut in your lower clothing”.
Jailing him for nine months, Sheriff Thomas Welsh QC told Black: “Your behaviour was outrageous and highly offensive to members of the public.”
Fiscal depute Eilidh Yates said the woman noticed Black on the pavement next to Iceland at around 10.50am while her mother shopped inside.
The court heard Black wore jeans with large holes ripped in them.
Ms Yates said the woman saw Black had pulled his jeans to the side “exposing his penis” through a hole.
She said: “The accused began to flick his penis up and down using his fingers while looking at the woman with an intense stare.
“She noted the accused was semi-erect and exposed for around 20 seconds.
“She shouted, ‘Put that away you dirty bastard’.”
The prosecutor said the woman told a man standing nearby that Black had “flashed her”.
The man approached Black, the court heard, saying, “Why are young doing that? You don’t know that’s wrong?”. Black replied: “Sorry.”
Ms Yates said the woman's mother emerged from Iceland and learned what had happened.
Her mother demanded an apology from Black and he replied: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Don’t phone the police.”
Ms Yates said the woman shouted to Black, “Do you think people want to see that?” and he replied: “No, probably not.”
The court heard the woman spotted a police patrol and flagged them down. Black hid behind a tree but officers found him.
Miss Yates said the officers observed Black had large holes in his trousers and wasn’t wearing underwear.
She added officers believed “the jeans were ripped in such a manner, with large holes created, to make it easier to expose himself”.
Defence agent Craig Scott said his client’s life had “spiralled” since 2018 and was a “tragic tale”.
Black was a “fairly senior manager in a BT office”, he said, but was made redundant in 2017 and hadn’t worked since.
Mr Scott said Black had been jailed for a public indecency offence last August and had convictions for offences “all similar in nature to this one”.
He said Black had lost his tenancy and often sleeps rough despite having a “fairly decent” pension which he couldn’t currently access when in the community due to lost ID and bank cards.
The solicitor said Black had “limited recollection” of the incident, adding he “snapped out of the trance he was in” when confronted.
