A flasher who told police he was 'living out a fantasy' by exposing himself at a block of flats in Swindon has been sentenced. 

Police were called to Hinton Street on April 26 after receiving an anonymous report that a male who lived at the flat had been seen outside the entrance to the property naked and showing his genitals.

After another call was made that evening, this time describing the same man standing near  where the bins of the Gorse Hill building were stored and exposing himself, officers found the suspect naked from the waist down before placing him under arrest. 

Enrico Rippa, a 60-year-old former Nationwide employee, appeared before Swindon Magistrates Court on June 17 for sentencing having previously pleaded guilty to one count of exposure.

Prosecuting Keith Ballinger said: "He was described as acting very oddly and was wearing a jacket/cardigan that he wore open on his chest.

"He undid his trousers and exposed himself, making a strange face and moving his hips and he did this for a number of minutes."

In his police interview, Rippa admitted to exposing himself but added it 'was not to anything specific'. 

He told officers that it was a fantasy of his to get caught and that he was heavily intoxicated at the time. 

The court heard that Rippa had previously been convicted of sex offences, with the last conviction in 1996 for which he was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely. 

In his defence, Miss Hollier explained that he had lost his job at Nationwide as a result of the ongoing court case and was know working part-time doing IT support and bookkeeping. 

Magistrates told him: “Clearly you know this is a serious offence that would’ve had an impact on everyone, everyone who lives in those flats will know what had happened, and everyone will have been affected.

"If that was where I lived, I’d be frightened to go out the back and come across you."

He was given a 24-month community order to do everything the probation service asks, including  20 rehab activity sessions, 31 sessions of the Horizon programme, and 90 hours of unpaid work

"Use this to address your behaviour and learn how to prevent reoffending," magistrates added. 

He must also re-register as a sex offender at a nearby police station within three days of sentencing.