AN Ipswich pensioner who indecently exposed himself to a teenager in her home after she advertised her car for sale has been jailed for 15 months.John Bursnell, 65, responded to the 18-year-old woman's advert and she had taken him for a test drive before inviting him in to her Ipswich home to see the car documents, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

AN Ipswich pensioner who indecently exposed himself to a teenager in her home after she advertised her car for sale has been jailed for 15 months.

John Bursnell, 65, responded to the 18-year-old woman's advert and she had taken him for a test drive before inviting him in to her Ipswich home to see the car documents, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Bursnell, of Nightingale Road had begun by scratching his groin area and had then made coarse comments about a woman who was on the television screen.

Bursnell had then pulled down his trousers and performed an indecent act in front of the shocked woman who told him to get out of her house.

Jailing Bursnell, who admitted one offence of exposure, Judge John Holt said the woman had been crying and shaking and had described him as sitting back in a chair as bold as brass while she was phoning the police.

He said the woman had shouted at Bursnell to get out of her house and he had then walked slowly out while doing up his trousers.

“She was extremely distressed by the incident. The psychological impact on her has made her very nervous,” said the judge.

He said that before the incident the woman had had a good job but she had now lost this because of her inability to concentrate.

A woman friend who had been present when Bursnell exposed himself had become more concerned for her personal safety since the incident.

She had also wondered if the offence might have been more serious if she hadn't been there with her friend, said the judge.

Judge Holt said Bursnell had four similar convictions going back 30 years.

In addition to jailing him for 15 months less 144 days he has already spent in custody Judge Holt ordered him to sign on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

David Wilson, for Bursnell, said his client suffered from a form of mental illness which resulted in him being unable to keep his impulses under control.

The time he had spent in custody had been his first taste of prison. “That has been a lesson to him and one he doesn't want to repeat in the future,” said Mr Wilson.

He said Bursnell's last offending had been 30 years ago.