Man cleared of indecent act on train says he was strumming pretend banjo

A man has been cleared of indecency on a train after he told a court he was just strumming a pretend banjo with a newspaper over his lap. And the judge at Reading Crown Court told the jury to ignore a prosecutor's summing up comments that no one sits on a train adjusting their underwear in public.

A blonde commuter on the 7.08 Basingstoke to Reading service had said she looked over to see the paper jumping up and down on Melvyn Webb's lap while he pulled a face and breathed heavily. But Mr Webb, 54, claimed he was just picking out the notes on a pretend banjo and was adjusting his underpants because his groin was sore. Judge Mr Recorder Jeremy Donne, QC made reference to a 2007 BBC TV documentary called Street Doctor which showed men scratching their groin in public and said that the act was commonplace



"The TV show made that very point. They had a series of films of men walking down the street and fiddling with themselves," said the judge. He said men may be rude to reorganise themselves in the presence of women but told jurors the practice was commonplace and in some cases revealed the early signs of prostate cancer. Mr Webb, of Basingstoke, Hants., added that he had a lower respiratory tract infection which was to blame for the heavy breathing.

He had submitted videos of him playing his banjo to the prosecution, which they accepted was genuine. During the two-day trial, the defendant was called on to mime his plucking, positioning the newspaper over his hand and tapping his fingers on his knee as jurors giggled. The jury decided, by a majority verdict, to clear Mr Webb of outraging public decency.