Sudanese bus passenger admits public indecency charge, says cause was incontinence

Court told that the incident had been caused by an old gunshot wound

A Sudanese man who was arraigned in court this morning and accused of exposing himself on public transport has been conditionally discharged after the court was told that the incident had been caused by an old gunshot wound.

Magistrate Neville Camilleri heard Police Inspector Nikolai Sant accuse 40 year old Bushra Found Bakhit Comi from Sudan of offending public decency and morals in public and of exposing himself, after a female passenger had reported a man manually stimulating his member on the number 120 bus at around 7:15pm yesterday, when the bus was in the St. Julian's area.

The accused, who walked into the courtroom with a pronounced limp, pleaded guilty to the charges. Legal aid lawyer Leontine Calleja categorically denied her client had been self-pleasuring. Comi had not exposed himself completely, she said. The accused had been shot in his home country, suffering partial paralysis and incontinence as a result. "He was trying to relieve [his discomfort]. He was not exposing himself or masturbating,” said the embarrassed-sounding lawyer, adding that her client had explained to her that he was trying to avoid wetting himself on the long bus ride. While no medical certificate was presented to the court, the prosecution confirmed that the claim of incontinence appeared to be genuine. This counted for naught, however, as the accused had already admitted to the charges.

In view of his admission, Magistrate Neville Camilleri found the man guilty, but after taking into account the early guilty plea and the particular circumstances of the case, conditionally discharged Comi for a year and fined him €50.