Jailed: Pervert who performed sex act outside school was chased by teachers
A pervert who was chased by teachers after performing a sex act outside a school set fire to his flat "to **** off" his landlord.
Alan Washbourne, aged 50, was caged for four-and-a-half years after appearing in court for performing the sex act outside Charlton School in Wellington, before starting the fire at his flat in Mill Bank, a five-minute drive away.
The fire is now the second serious arson attack he has been jailed for, and it was claimed "bullying" over the public indecency offence contributed to him deciding to start the blaze.
Shrewsbury Crown Court was told that Washbourne was seen on a bench outside Charlton School "with his trousers round his ankles" at around 8.15am on March 16, 2022, as children were arriving to start their lessons.
One witness was driving past and, when he got out of the car, Washbourne got up and moved to another bench before hiding behind a tree.
He then went to hide behind a larger tree and had his trousers down when three young girls walked past.
"He moved away from the tree, pulled his trousers up and left," said Kevin Jones, prosecuting.
The court was told that the school's headteacher and other teachers gave chase and caught up with Washbourne. The police had already been called.
Washbourne was arrested. He was seen in prison by a liaison and diversion officer who said he was pleasuring himself in his cell. He warned her about his sexual attraction to children and said if a child was left alone with him he "could take them away".
The officer suspected Washbourne may have been saying that to try and secure himself a place in a mental hospital rather than prison.
The arson attack was carried out more than a year later on the morning of May 29 last year. The court was told that Washbourne started the fire in his flat and locked the door at the block of five apartments in Mill Bank. One of the flats was still occupied but nobody was hurt in the incident.
Washbourne himself phoned the fire brigade at around 8am, but hung up and left the scene. Firefighters attended and got the blaze under control before Washbourne was later arrested.
He admitted to police officers that he was guilty and said he did it "to **** off the landlord" and that if he didn't go to prison, "something would happen", Mr Jones told the court.
The landlord's cleaning bill was £1,500 and repairs are expected to run into the tens of thousands.
Washbourne, of Mill Bank, Wellington, pleaded guilty to outraging public decency and arson with recklessness to endanger life. He had a number of previous convictions including one for arson in 2002. He was jailed initially for that offence, but ended up being sectioned for more than 11 years.
Paul Smith, mitigating, said Washbourne had spent around 10 years before the offences "without incident" and that a change in medication had caused an increase in Washbourne's libido.
Mr Smith added that people "bullying" Washbourne made him want to go to prison.
"Unfortunately he did something very serious," he said.
Recorder Julian Taylor told Washbourne he will not be released until he has served two thirds of his sentence.
He was not placed on the sex offenders' register or made subject of a sexual harm prevention order, as the crime of outraging public decency does not require such orders to be made.