BREAKING NEWS: PCSO who masturbated behind the wheel of his car guilty of outraging public decency

Former soldier Kelvin Mackenzie (49), of Holbeach, denied committing an act which outraged public decency in St Albans, claiming it simply wasn’t him or his car.

But a jury of eight men and four women did not believe him and took just over an hour to reach their guilty verdict.

Judge Christopher Morgan indicated Mackenzie would not be going to prison and adjourned sentence for reports until the week starting February 22. He was released on bail.

Witness Adam Barnes, about to go out on a cycle ride at 4.50pm on July 30, 2014, said he saw the driver through an open window of a red Renault Megane, as it slowly passed him in Faircross Way, St Albans.

“When he drew level I could see that he was struggling. I assumed he was trying to put his seat belt in but as I looked in the window I could see what he was doing.

“The passenger window was open. I saw his penis in his hand. It was erect. He was going up and down with his right hand. His left hand was on the steering wheel.

“He was looking straight ahead. There was a girl walking along on my side of the pavement, about 16-17, slim, wearing a skirt,” the witness told the jury.

Prosecutor Alex Rooke said the driver appeared to be “fixed” on the young girl.

Giving evidence, Mackenzie, a full-time PCSO since 2005, said his car was not in Faircross Way at any stage on that day. “I didn’t commit this offence.”

He had finished his shift at St Albans police station at 4.30pm and was leaving the city for his two-hour journey home.. His route took him close to Faircross Way but he did not drive down it. He had moved to Cowfield Gould, Holbeach, in November 2012.

He suggested that the witness had made a mistake in the registration number he wrote down, that the number might be very similar to his, or cloned.

Mackenzie, who served in the Royal Anglian Regiment, including in Northern Ireland in his early 20s, is of previous good character. He had arranged a transfer to Cambridgeshire as a PCSO to be closer to his new home when the allegation was made and he was suspended.

WEDNESDAY, 4.13PM: PCSO from Holbeach accused of masturbating in car tells court: ‘I wasn’t there’

A suspended police community support officer, accused of masturbating in his car as he drove in St Albans, where he was stationed, has denied in court that he was a “thrill seeker”.

Former soldier Kelvin Mackenzie (49), a PCSO for nine years, is alleged to have committed the act while driving in Faircross Way, St Albans, en route for his home near Holbeach.

In evidence he told a jury at Crown Court where he is alleged to have been when the offence is said to have taken place.

The jury has been told that a shocked cyclist allegedly saw a man holding his erect penis behind the wheel of a red Renault Megane at 4.50pm as a teenage girl walked along the pavement. The witness noted the registration number and that vehicle was later traced to Mackenzie.

Mackenzie, of Cowfield Gould, Holbeach, who pleads not guily to committing an act which outrages public decency on July 30, 2014 has been suspended from his job since the allegation was made.

Giving evidence in his defence today (Wednesday), Mackenzie, who moved to Holbeach in November 2012, said: “At no point did I go into Faircross Way in my car on that day.”

The former Royal Anglian Regiment soldier added: “I didn’t commit this offence.”

Mackenzie said he didn’t drive along that road as he set off from the city centre police station for his regular two hour drive home via nearby Sandpit Lane and the A1(M).

He suggested that the number plate noted by the witness might be very similar to his, or it might be a cloned one.

Cross-examined by prosecutor Alex Rooke, the defendant said he didn’t know the witness, Adam Barnes, or Mr Barnes’ father who lives in Faircross Way and that he wasn’t aware of “any axe to grind” between him and them.

Asked: “Does the risk of getting caught excite you?” – Mackenzie replied: “No. I don’t understand why people do it. I go out occasionally with sex offender officers. It amazes me what people get kicks out of.”

During his summing up Judge Christopher Morgan said the issues in the case boiled down to whether Mr Barnes was correct in the number plate he had identified.

• The jury has now retired to consider its verdict.

TUESDAY, 3.29PM: PCSO accused of masturbating at the wheel

A police community support officer from Holbeach allegedly masturbated as he drove in St Albans where he was stationed, “fixated” at the time on a teenage girl who was walking towards him.

Kelvin Mackenzie (49) was on his way home to Holbeach when a shocked St Albans cyclist saw through an open passenger window what the motorist was doing as drove slowly along Faircross Way, St Albans, a Crown Court jury was told.

Mackenzie, of Cowfield Gould, Holbeach, has pleaded not guilty to committing an act which outrages public decency on July 30, 2014.

Prosecutor Alex Rooke, opening the trial, said cyclist Adam Barnes saw a middle-aged man masturbating behind the wheel of a red Renault Megane about 4.50pm.

“There was a young girl, about 16, in the vicinity. Mr Barnes says this man appeared to be fixed on the girl walking along,” said Mr Rooke.

It was discovered after the alleged incident was reported to police that the registration number given for the vehicle belonged to PCSO Mackenzie. In fact, the vehicle was in St Alban’s police station car park when the officer traced it through the database, jurors were told.

Mr Barnes, who grew up in Faircross Way and was visiting his father’s house to go on a bike ride together, told the court he was “a bit shocked” by what he witnessed and added “it took me aback”.

He said he noticed the car because it was driving slowly as he sat on his cycle on the drive waiting for his father. The Megane was on his side of the road.

He continued: “When he drew level I could see that he was struggling. I assumed he was trying to put his seat belt in but as I looked in the window I could see what he was doing.

“He was looking straight ahead. There was a girl walking along on my side of the pavement, about 16-17, slim, wearing a skirt. She looked as if she could have been a school leaver. She was walking towards the car.”

Mackenzie, when interviewed by police, said the Sandpit Lane area was part of his patrol beat. He said he was driving home to Spalding at that time – a journey of two and a half hours – and that no-one else used his car at the time.

In relation to the alleged act, he told officers: “I was certainly not doing that.”

The prosecutor told the jury of eight men and four women they would have to decide whether the motorist was Mackenzie, and whether “masturbating in public outrages public decency”.

He added that, legally, two people have to be “capable of seeing it” to make it an offence though they do not necessarily have to see the act, merely be capable of seeing it.

The trial continues.