Jail term for man who exposed his private parts to a 75-year-old woman in Ballymena
A man who intentionally exposed his private parts to a 75-year-old woman and another woman in Ballymena has been jailed for eight months.
David Roddy Patterson (39), with an address listed as Glendun Drive in Ballymena, committed the offence at noon on Saturday November 1 last year.
He has also been put on the Sex Offenders' Register for five years.
He admitted that he 'intentionally exposed' his 'genitals intending that someone would see them and be caused alarm or distress'. He also resisted a police officer.
Patterson appeared at Ballymena Magistrates' Court on Thursday via video link from prison.
The court heard he had 77 previous convictions convictions.
A prosecutor said police received a report about an incident at a housing development in Ballymena.
A woman said two males approached and buzzed to get into an apartment. She was "concerned" about them and she had then gone to the neighbouring apartment of a 75-year-old woman.
There was banging on the door and the males wanted to be let in but as they were not residents admission was refused.
The woman recognised one of the males as being Patterson.
Patterson then "went up to the window and exposed his genitals" to both women, the court heard.
The women were "extremely alarmed and distressed" by the defendant's actions, said the prosecutor.
Patterson left before police arrived. When arrested later he resisted officers.
In another incident, on September 3 last year, the defendant breached a Restraining Order by sending "abusive and threatening" messages via TikTok to a former partner who was left concerned for her safety.
A defence barrister told the court the defendant had been on remand in custody since November.
He said the defendant had an "ongoing battle" with addiction and had "difficulties" over the years with drink and drugs including Ecstasy and heroin.
The barrister said the "drink-fuelled" exposure incident had been "appalling behaviour" and the defendant "knows he has to change his ways going forward".
When he gets out of jail he will have to present himself to the Housing Executive as homeless, the defence lawyer said.
District Judge Nigel Broderick said there were a number of aggravating features in the case and jailed the defendant for eight months and put him on the Sex Offenders' Register for five years.
Patterson was previously imprisoned after a man was left naked and battered in a taped-up wheelie bin at Sentry Hill park in Ballymena.
In 2015, Patterson and another man were each sentenced to three-and-a-half years for imprisoning the man in an incident in September 2013.
They both had pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm and false imprisonment. A woman was also sentenced for her role.
In sentencing, a judge had said the victim had been left suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
He said the victim truly believed he was going to die when he was left in a bin, unable to see and with limited air to breathe.
The judge said this was clearly meant to "punish, humiliate and demean" the man.
He said if he had not been found, the consequences could have been far worse.
Earlier hearings were told the man was only found by chance, when a dog sniffed out the bin, which was propped up against a tree in dense undergrowth and sealed with parcel tape at Sentry Hill in Ballymena.
The pet's barking alerted its owner who then rang the emergency services.
The attack happened after Patterson and others had taken part in a drink and drugs binge over 72 hours.