Chesterfield pervert who twice pulled out his penis and masturbated before lone women gets three weeks knocked off his sentence

Matthew Patrick Murphy was jailed for a total of 35 weeks when he appeared before Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court on December 17 last year after pleading guilty to indecent exposure on November 11, 2019.

At the time, the court heard that Murphy, 53, of Lea Court, Newland Dale, Newbold, Chesterfield, was serving a community order for a similar offence on April 4 the same year.

He was jailed for 20 weeks for the November offence, and magistrates revoked the community order and jailed him for an additional 15 weeks for the first offence.

Murphy then appealed against the severity of his sentence and appeared before Derby Crown Court on Friday, January 29.

Responding for the Crown, Stephen Kemp told the court that Murphy had six previous convictions, most of which were for indecent exposure.

Talking about the most recent offence, He said: “The offence took place between 910pm and 9.20pm on Stephenson Place, Chesterfield. The female was returning home when she was approached by a male who she didn’t know, but turned out to be the defendant.

“He asked her if there were any clubs open and she said there were two and pointed to them. She went to the bus stop and he followed her. He asked her if she would like to go for a drink and she said no. She then noticed that he was masturbating. He said it was cold but that it was getting warmer.”

He told the court that the woman had then walked away and gone to stand with another female and then called the police.

Describing the April offence, Mr Kemp told the court: “The female had stopped outside the Hunter’s estate agent in Vicar Lane, Chesterfield, and he approached her and said he had just got off a bus and would she like to go for a drink?

“She declined and he said he would walk her to the pub she was going to. As they were walking she saw him take out his penis with his right hand and start masturbating. She told him to stop and to put it away and he did.”

In interview, Murphy told police that he had been out with his brother earlier in the evening but had carried on drinking alone when he left, consuming 14 pints of beer, five Jack Daniels and some shots.

Mitigating, Denney Lau told the court that Murphy had completed many elements of the three-year community order he was first given for the April offence, and that he had apologised and walked away when his victim had told him to “put it away”.

Sentencing, Recorder William Harbage QC told Murphy: “These were the fifth and sixth offences of exposure which, clearly, indicated you have developed some form of habit for, even though they were carried out over a period of years.

“There’s some suggestion of the specific targeting of a vulnerable female in that you approached a lone woman in the hours of darkness.”

Recorder Harbage reduced the 15 week sentence to 12 weeks, because he agreed more account should have been paid to the community order.

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