Man masturbated next to child in van outside mother-in-law's house while using her WiFi for porn

A man was caught masturbating next to a sleeping child in a van parked outside his mother-in-law's house so he could use her WiFi to access porn on a mobile phone, a court heard. Trevor Hollins said he was "feeling horny" after dropping his partner off at hospital in the middle of the day so he decided to pleasure himself with a sleeping child next to him.

The 37-year-old parked up on the busy, residential street within range of his mother-in-law's internet router and accessed adult content using his partner's phone. A "disturbed" member of the public saw him thrashing away – the child seemingly oblivious – and took a photo before calling the police, Burnley Magistrates Court heard.

The child woke up while Hollins was masturbating and started playing with the in-van radio, reported the Burnley Express. Hollins stopped masturbating at this point.

Hollins of Waterbarn Street, Burnley, admitted outraging public decency in June but appeared for a pre-sentencing hearing. There is little precedent for his offence and judges have yet to decide how to punish it. "We are leaving all options open in this matter," the bench chairman said.

Charlotte Crane, prosecuting, walked the court through Hoillins's reckless afternoon: "He decided to park directly outside his mother-in-law's address so he could log into her internet. He then used his partner's mobile phone to access an adult site.

"He engaged in some form of communication with people on that site, which resulted in him masturbating while using the mobile phone. The defendant was interviewed and said he was looking for some form of excitement and thought he would take the opportunity while waiting to collect his partner from hospital."

Hollins must now wait until the end of the month to be sentenced. "It would cross the community threshold, if not into custodial territory," Daniel Frazer, defending, said.