A CONVICTED sex offender who exposed himself to a woman as she walked her dog in a popular Chard park has narrowly escaped going to prison.

Brendan Leigh Harnett, 23, of Bubwith Close, was given a 20 week suspended prison sentence following an earlier trial at Somerset Magistrates Court.

In the trial, the court heard Harnett had approached the victim as she walked her new puppy in Snowden Park on April 16, 2015 and asked her “do you like it?” while looking down towards his genitals which he had exposed.

Prosecutor Lucy Coleman told the court: “She walked round the park with her new puppy and when she got back, noticed the man had an orange t-shirt on,” she said.

“She heard him say something to her but when she turned towards him he said “do you like it?” while looking towards his groin and she saw he was exposing himself.”

A police press release was issued and an appeal in the press for the culprit resulted in a member of the public naming Harnett, saying he had seen him wearing the same clothes as in the description.

A statement read out to the court from the female victim said she felt “shocked” by what happened that day and she immediately ran home, locked herself in her house and cried.

She said: “I could not go back to the park and am now walking my dogs in Ilminster but still get very nervous seeing a man on his own in any park.

“And although the events were over in less than a few minutes it will continue to have a negative effect on my life.”

Harnett had denied the offence and magistrates were told at the sentencing that he continued to deny he had committed the offence.

Mitigating solicitor Chris Ivory said the main aggravating factor was that Harnett had a previous conviction for a similar offence.

He said: “He has suffered from various difficulties his whole life and he still robustly denies this offence.

“The prognosis if he were to get help with treatment is good, and if he were to engage with the psychological therapy service his risk of reoffending would diminish.

“However, if he went to custody then he would not gain that insight or help that is being offered by doctors and his prognosis would then not be good.”

Magistrates imposed a 20 week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and during that time ordered him to comply with an NHS mental health treatment programme.

They also ordered him to take part in a 15 day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement with the Probation Service and directed him to pay £300 compensation to the victim along with £200 costs. He was also ordered to sign on the national Sex Offenders Register for the next seven years.