An alcoholic who exposed his penis in a Chester Tesco has been jailed for 28 days.

Neil Johnson, 53, was being escorted out when his trousers fell down at the Frodsham Street store on September 18.

He was found guilty of exposure after a trial at Chester Magistrates Court on October 13.

District Judge Michael Abelson said: “You had the opportunity to pull your trousers up and you chose not to.

“Eventually you did, but drunken or not you knowingly exposed your penis.”

Johnson was ‘heavily intoxicated’ when he went into the Tesco to buy a chicken on September 18.

The defendant was already barred from buying alcohol from the store.

Security officer Wayne Beech said: “He was hanging on to the till at a 45 degree angle and it was clear he was heavily intoxicated.

“My colleague asked if he needed any help and he said ‘If you touch me I will urinate all over the till’.

“When we escorted the man out his jeans fell down and he was exposed for no more than a minute.

“One of our customers got really upset because her young daughter said she had seen it.”

CCTV footage showed Johnson being taken out and finding it difficult to stand outside with his trousers around his thighs.

Goading security

It was alleged he said to the two security men ‘What are you going to do about it?’.

Sam Aynsley, prosecuting, said: “You were goading them, weren’t you?

“You were annoyed at being escorted out of the store and this was your way of showing it.”

Johnson eventually readjusted his clothing.

He said: “I don’t think I would have said those things.

“I was trying my best, once I managed to find the coordination I pulled my trousers up.”

The security officers stopped him getting back inside the supermarket and seated him on a bench while police were called.

Judge Abelson said: “There was a prolonged exposure which could’ve been as long as a minute.

“If we were to time it now it would seem like an eternity.

“If elderly people, housewives and children were to pass by it was there for all to see.”

A bottle of vodka a day

Johnson has been homeless for more than a decade and said he consumes a bottle of vodka a day.

The 53-year-old added soon before the incident he had done up his belt in the wrong loop after going to the toilet.

Johnson said: “I cycle more than 10 miles a day and had noticed my waistline was getting narrower.

“I was drunk and so must have just put the belt back through the loop I used to always use.

“The level of alcohol always has a stronger effect going indoors to outdoors.”

An ‘intelligent’ man, Johnson once worked in radio communication and engineering.

The defendant was also ordered to pay a £1,000 government surcharge and £80 victim costs.