A man caught masturbating in a city centre as shoppers passed by has been jailed.

Iraqi-born Fershid Halmat Hemdadi, who had pleasured himself outside Primark in Swansea in the middle of the day of July 25, had told the court he behaved in the way he did because he could no longer afford prostitutes.

Hemdadi, an asylum seeker, was sentenced to 20 weeks after being found guilty of outraging public decency by 'behaving in an indecent manner', following a trial at Swansea Magistrates' Court.

The defendant, who is believed to be 23-years-old after giving the court a number of different ages, was spotted in the public lane which links Oxford Street with McDonald's with his hands thrust down his trousers, the Evening Post reported .

He had pleaded not guilty to the act, claiming the lane was not public.

"This court is a public place, McDonald's is a public place — the place this happened isn't"

The court was shown a video of police questioning Hemdadi, where he put his hands down his trousers to demonstrate what he had done. Hemdadi laughed while the video was played.

When he tried to demonstrate in court what had happened that day, he was quickly told to stop by magistrate Nell Brown.

He told the court, speaking through an interpreter: "This court is a public place, McDonald's is a public place — the place this happened isn't.

"I used to have money and I paid for sex, but I don't, I'm sleeping on the streets."

He also told the court he had been given a 25-year prison sentence in Iraq and after an early release he had fled the country for his safety.

Prosecuting lawyer Vaughan Pritchard-Jones said: "All the defendant has disputed is that this incident didn't take place in a public place."

In addition to 20 weeks imprisonment, he was also ordered to pay a £115 surcharge.