A convicted sex offender was spotted ‘tweaking his nipples’ near a children’s playground, a court heard.

Christopher Bagley appeared before Southampton Crown Court on Friday accused of exposing himself in the presence of children.

Bagley, of Stroudley Way in Hedge End, was at Dowds Farm Park last November when a member of the public saw him ‘lurking’ near a duck pond.

Prosecuting, Tom Wright told the court how prior to this incident, Bagley, 77, was subject to previous convictions when he lived in Blandford.

In the early-2000s he paid young boys for them to ‘touch him sexually'.

Mr Wright said: “He encouraged young boys to touch him and stimulate his nipples and chest area.

“The relevance of his previous conviction is that it demonstrates that what he was doing in the park in November was of a sexual nature.”

He added: “A witness saw Mr Bagley furtively sheltering in the bushes near a duck pond.

“He removed his hoodie and was apparently massaging and touching his nipples.”

The witness told the court how he was wearing an ‘unzipped hoodie which revealed his bare chest.’ She said: “He unzipped his hoodie and proceeded to rub and tweak his nipples for about five seconds.

“He then took the whole jacket off.

“There were two boys on the opposite side of the pond area playing.”

She then told the court how he left the pond area and park, passing by a children’s playground.

But, mitigating, Damien Hayes, said the defendant was ‘out of sight’ at the pond and undressed to urinate.

Mr Hayes said: “He undressed in order to urinate.

“It was a private moment.”

Giving evidence in court, Mr Bagley, said: “After urinating, I came back out of the bushes and got caught up and decided to take my hoodie off.

“I have no recollection of tweaking my nipples. I was not aware of anyone in the area.

“I could have done more if I had seen the boys.”

Mr Bagley went on to say the reason he was not wearing a t-shirt was that his favoured t-shirt was ‘in the wash.’

He pleaded not guilty to breaching a sexual harm prevention order and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

The court recorder, Mr Donald Tait, said Mr Bagley’s attempt to ‘pull the wool over everyone’s eyes’ was unsuccessful.

He said: “The evidence was clear, and I take into account that you only entered into the exclusion zone for a brief period.

“I sentence you to six months for breaching your sexual harm prevention order and 12 months for engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, a total of 18 months.

"They will run consecutively."