A MAN has been jailed for more than a year after performing a sex act in front of staff and members of the public at Ayrshire's largest hospital.

Lee Robert William Nicol, 29, a prisoner at HMP Kilmarnock, will be on the sex offenders register until 2034 after he pleaded guilty to a single charge following an incident at Crosshouse Hospital on November 14 last year.

Nicol admitted intentionally exposing himself to medical staff and others in the hospital, before performing a sex act.

Speaking at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, the procurator fiscal depute explained that at around 2:30pm, staff at the hospital were made aware that Nicol was being brought in by paramedics.

He was placed in a safe room within the A&E department. But following a medical examination he exposed himself to staff and members of the public in the waiting area, and was said to have masturbated repeatedly. 

When he was told that police had been called, he stopped, and was taken into custody when police arrived.

Nicol's solicitor said her client had been released from prison three weeks before the incident and was living in temporary accommodation.

She said Nicol had taken street Valium, and it was that that led to his actions. She also told Sheriff Murdo Mactaggart that her client may benefit from treatment for his drug use.

Sheriff Mactaggart told Nicol that no sentence was appropriate other than a custodial one.

He was sentenced to 13 months in prison, and was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.