Ex-police sergeant avoids conviction over park nudity

Simon Ince, a former police sergeant, was arrested after being caught naked in a park near a children's play area in Chatham, Kent. He was spared a criminal conviction because prosecutors ruled there was no evidence anybody had seen him engaging in the lewd behaviour, according to multiple reports. Kent Police had hoped to secure a charge of either indecent exposure or outraging public decency, but the Crown Prosecution Service ruled the offence could not be prosecuted as there was no evidence Ince had been seen by anyone.

Ince claimed he was wringing sweat from his clothes after jogging. However, Judge Roy Brown ruled that 'reckless' Ince had acted for sexual gratification and 'enjoyed the thrill of doing it outdoors', describing his evidence as 'evasive and untruthful'. Ince was first seen naked in the woodland by shocked passersby on February 1, 2024. One eyewitness said: 'As we walked through the cut-through bushes, I jumped, stopped straight away and said "I think there is a naked person".'

Ince was handed a sexual risk order (SRO) by a judge at Medway Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. The SRO bans Ince from taking his underwear off or urinating in public, unless using a public toilet, and prohibits him from going to the Horsted Valley nature reserve. Ince could be jailed for up to five years if the order is breached.

Police found incriminating pictures on Ince's phone showing him masturbating while naked in the same woodland area around five months before the incident, according to multiple reports. Ince previously admitted to a lesser public order offence at Brighton Magistrates' Court and was given a conditional caution, which required him to attend a 'thinking skills' course. Ince avoided being placed on the sex offenders' register.