A pensioner who performed a sex act on a horse - before being dragged along by it after it was startled - has avoided being sent to prison.

David Chamberlin, 71, was spotted in a field with the horses head in his groin by the animals owner.

The witness was shaken and disgusted by what he saw, prosecutor Noelle Brockbank told Teesside Magistrates Court.

He picked up a stick and struck the defendant. That startled the horse, causing it to run off, dragging the defendant with it. Chamberlins solicitor, Alex Bousfield, said: Mr Chamberlin cannot explain what happened. He didnt know how to account for that behaviour.

Chamberlin, from Middlesbrough, admitted outraging public decency by committing a lewd act and was handed a 24-month community order.