Man who exposed himself outside McDonald’s breaches terms of Sex Offender’s Register

Donnie Adrian Harper, now of Yarmouth Way, attended Great Yarmouth Police Station on December 6 to inform officers he no longer had a fixed address.

After previously being made to sign the Sex Offender’s Register, Harper was then required to report to the station on a weekly basis if he became homeless, but he failed to return to the station until December 20, when he went to tell officers he had a new address.

The 44-year-old admitted failing to comply with notification requirements as part of the Sex Offender’s Register when he appeared at Great Yarmouth Magistrates’ Court on March 6.

Stacie Cossey, prosecuting, said: “He told police that he forgot he had to attend every week. He has no previous breaches of the register.”

Harper had previously been made to sign the Sex Offender’s Register after indecently exposing himself outside McDonald’s while drunk.

Christoper Bowles, defending, said: “I have known Donnie for all of his adult offending life and he has become a regular client of my firm. There are two Donnie Harpers.

“One is nice and listens intently to what is being said like he is today, but the other is a drunken menace who gets himself into all sorts of trouble.

“In December, he had not long come out of prison and his life was in a chaotic state. He was sleeping in a tent on the beach at the time.

“The next thing he really remembers is getting accommodation and going back to the police station to tell them.

“It can be difficult to organise things when you are homeless.

“In terms of the harm caused, I believe it is zero.

“The offence he was made to sign the register for was an indecent exposure charge. It was stupid, drunken behaviour.

“There has been no repetition of that and there never was any history of that sort of offence before. It was very much a one-off offence.”

Harper was fined £50 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £30. No order was made for court costs.