Lorry driver's dashcam caught man with trousers round ankles gesturing into bushes at notorious A43 layby

Andrew Hall was caught masturbating on the dashcam of a lorry driver in the A43 northbound layby as he held his finger to his lips.

The 61-year-old, who described himself as ‘an officer of 30 years’, but did not explain what type of officer, said that he had been suffering from an ‘extreme water infection’ and that his behaviour was out of character.

Northampton Magistrates Court heard that Hall, of Ullswater Avenue, Edith Weston, was seen by the parked-up lorry driver on April 15 this year at the layby between Holcot and Hannington, which is a notorious cruising hotspot.

The driver reported that Hall was sitting in his car behind the lorry, but then he drove slowly forward to come to a stop in front of the lorry.

As he drove past, the lorry driver noticed that Hall had his trousers around his ankles and his right hand on his penis.

The court was told that Hall got out of the car, with his trousers around his ankles and wearing knee-pads.

He put one finger to his lips, gestured towards the bushes and started walking to them. He then sat down on a tarpaulin.

The lorry driver reported what he had seen to police and provided his dashcam footage which showed some of the incident.

Hall, who has no previous convictions, originally stood trial in the summer after denying the charge against him. He was found guilty.

At a previous hearing in June he alleged abuse of process by the police, which was dismissed by District Judge Amar Mehata. He also requested that the duty solicitor who represented him at the police station be called to court to provide testimony about the procedure at the police station.

When he again appeared before magistrates on Thursday (September 18) for sentence, he claimed that ‘irregular activities’ had taken place at his previous magistrates court appearances and said that he wished to call the probation officer who had written his pre-sentence report to cross examine him. This request was denied by presiding magistrate Claudia Wade.

Hall said: “The report is incorrect. It’s biased, or worse. There’s some significant omissions.”

He said that the report author had claimed he went cruising ‘out of boredom’ but that he had a chronic iron deficiency that left him in bed for weeks, and that he was ‘almost agoraphobic’.

"I haven’t got a minute to be bored,” he said.

"I was in a terrible emotional state on that day. I was suffering from an extreme water infection and e-coli. My behaviour that day was out of character and I now realise why.”

He said that he had done cruising ‘for years’ back when there was no way to meet like-minded people.

Hall was given a 12 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to complete 40 rehabilitation activity days and to pay costs of £650 and a £154 surcharge.