A MAN stripped naked in front of youngsters because he was convinced he had “bugs in his clothes”, a court heard.

Tarron Crutcher indecently exposed himself on three occasions, to teenagers in public.

Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard that the 27-year-old was found to be in his boxers in East Park, near Above Bar Street, shouting.

Mitigating, Raymond Tan said: “He believed his clothes were infested with vermin and he said ‘I can see them. They’re still moving’.

“In his mind they were real.”

Prosecuting, Rachel Standish told the court that Crutcher had been sleeping rough at the time in March 2017 and felt that the insects had also infested his sleeping bag.

The following day, whilst on bail, Crutcher was found to be in a “state of undress”.

Crutcher pleaded guilty to five charges of breaching a criminal behaviour order which was handed to him from Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court in September 2015.

Ms Standish told the court Crutcher had also caused “distress and alarm” among four 13 and 14-year-olds when they found him naked on March 30.

She said: “A witness said they could hear the group either laughing or screaming and one of them looked upset.

“He began to get dressed but his body was still visible.

“When someone shouted at Mr Crutcher, he replied ‘what you looking at?’.

There was a further breach of his order, when Crutcher entered Co-operative Bank, in Above Bar Street, “foaming from the mouth” and “heavily under the influence of drugs”.

The bank was forced to close early when Crutcher’s blood was found on the branch’s sofa.

Mr Tan told the court that Crutcher’s life had been affected by heroin and that he had been “hallucinating” when he saw the bugs in his sleeping bag, “likely withdrawing from the drugs”.

Mr Tan said: “He is getting help and realises he must cooperate to get better.

“He is getting support.”

He added: “This is the starting point for him to turn a corner in his life.

“A custodial sentence will stop his progress and see him go back to his old ways and being homeless again.”

In sentencing, magistrates handed Crutcher, of Millbrook Road West, Southampton, a six-month suspended sentence.

He was ordered to pay £115 victim surcharge and £50 costs by the court.