A former college lecturer has been convicted of masturbating while driving around supermarket car parks and secretly filming women using a caravan.
A jury at Swansea Crown Court on Wednesday found Anthony George Rundle, 51, of Glebelands, Johnston, near Haverfordwest, unanimously guilty of two counts of indecent exposure and four of voyeurism.
Rundle, who had a clean previous character apart from being cautioned in 2002 for being found drunk in a public place, had denied all the charges against him.
Jeans around his knees
Carina Hughes, prosecuting, said on March 12, 2014, a woman shopper visiting the Tesco store in Cardigan saw English tutor Rundle drive slowly past with his trousers around his knees and his genitals exposed.
Weeks later in May, 2014, a female worker at the Marks and Spencer store at Withybush, Haverfordwest, saw Rundle with his right hand on the steering wheel and his left hand on his penis while his jeans were around his knees.
Dyfed Powys Police arrested Rundle ten days later and removed his computers.
'Just a joke'
Miss Hughes said experts found four different videos, each having been filmed by a camera focussed on what appeared to be the bathroom of a caravan.
The jury heard two of the films showed women removing their clothes before taking showers and in all four videos the private parts of the women could be seen.
When asked for an explanation for the videos by police, Rundle claimed the women involved were “exhibitionists” and he planned, as a joke, to film them and put the footage on the internet to “show how stupid they were”.
Prosthetic leg
Giving evidence during the brief trial at Swansea Crown Court, Rundle, who has suffered spina bifida from birth and who has a prosthetic leg as well as urinary problems, said he could not remember the car parks involved but was “probably” preparing to urinate when the women witnesses noticed him.
He said: “I wasn’t masturbating but I don’t deny showing my penis. I always try to find somewhere quiet but it’s not always possible.”
But Carina Hughes, prosecuting, showed Rundle a map of the Tesco car park which highlighted three different areas he’d stopped in before the woman shopper caught him.
'A discreet man?'
She said: “I would imagine any occasion you were caught short would have been embarrassing for you, wouldn’t it?
“You say you’re a discreet man.
“You’d think then that these occasions would’ve been quite memorable to you.
“You had your left hand on your penis, moving it up and down.”
Health issues
Addressing the jury before they retired on Wednesday morning, Ms Hughes said Rundle’s motivation in all the offences was simply sexual gratification.
But Dyfed Thomas, defending, said his client had genuine health issues which affected his ability to urinate normally and this could have been what witnesses saw.
He said: “For some time he has had to self-catheterise before urinating.”
'Really stupid'
Regarding the voyeurism offences, Mr Thomas said: "He accepts making the films.
“The prosecution says he did it to get sexual gratification, the defendant’s view is that it was a joke and later accepted it was wrong.”
He told the jury: “If he was really stupid and took the films from a warped sense of humour then you’d have to find him not guilty.”
Rundle, who was granted bail, is due to be sentenced in three weeks time.
Speaking after the hearing, Pembrokeshire College said Rundle was a former employee.
In a statement, a spokesman for the college said: "Upon receiving notification of his arrest in May 2014, immediate steps were taken to suspend him in accordance with the College’s staff disciplinary policy.
"Mr Rundle has not worked for the College since May 2014, his employment was terminated in January 2015.
"Prior to his appointment at the College thorough background checks were undertaken for Mr Rundle, as we do for all our staff, including a satisfactory enhanced DBS disclosure.
"As a College the safeguarding of our learners is our highest priority. We operate strictly in accordance with the All Wales Child Protection procedures and protocols and liaise with all statutory authorities as necessary.”
see-http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/teacher-found-guilty-masturbating-supermarket-10798664
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