Yahoo News He lifted his dress and exposed his penis to young girl outside Cardiff Castle
A man with mental health issues exposed his penis and bottom to a young girl and her father while wearing a dress outside Cardiff Castle. After initially avoiding prison for the offence, he was jailed for breaching a suspended sentence order for smashing a window at a pub.
Andrew Phillips, 57, left his victim traumatised as her father attempted to block her view. The defendant was sitting on a grassy area outside the castle on August 1 last year with two others when the father and daughter passed by. He was wearing a knee-length pink dress which had been hitched up to expose his bottom
Upon seeing them, Phillips opened his legs to expose his genitals in a deliberate act. The father attempted to shield his daughter's view but she asked: "Why did that man open his legs?"
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There were a number of children in the surrounding area who may have also witnessed the defendant's actions. The police were called and he was taken to custody where he denied the offence and claimed he was wearing underwear.
While in custody Phillips emptied the contents of his colostomy bag and smeared faeces on the wall of his cell. The defendant, of no fixed abode, later pleaded guilty to exposure and criminal damage. The court heard he has 27 previous convictions including the sexual assault of a woman and a case of exposure when he chased a woman in Cardiff city centre and exposed his genitals.
He was sentenced to 22 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, at a sentencing hearing in October last year. But Phillips was back before Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday for an offence of criminal damage at the Golden Cross pub in Cardiff.
The defendant had attended the pub, in Hayes Bridge Road, in order to see a drag artist but was refused entry having previously been barred. As a result, he smashed a window with his skateboard, causing £250 worth of damage.
Phillips, of the Huggard Centre, was arrested and admitted the offence, putting him in breach of his suspended sentence. In mitigation, his barrister Ruth Smith said there were concerns about her client's mental health, with concerns raised about his medication. She said the offence was of "low culpability" and would usually have been dealt with in the lower courts.
Judge Nicola Saffman sentenced Phillips to four days imprisonment for the criminal damage offence, and 11 weeks for the breach of the suspended sentence.
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