Paula Stanton, 62, of Severn Avenue, Barry, has been jailed after masturbating in full public view in a hospital waiting room. The transgender woman pleaded guilty to committing an act outraging public decency at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff earlier this year.
Incident Details
Cardiff Magistrates' Court was told on Monday that Stanton had been transported to hospital by ambulance following threats of self-harm in the early hours of May 17. While sitting in the waiting area awaiting a mental health evaluation, she placed her hand down her trousers in the groin area.
Prosecutor Lewis Ball informed the court: "The defendant put her hands down her leggings to the groin area. Staff could see that she had her penis in her hand and that her hand was moving up and down." The court heard how Stanton was masturbating in full view of the nurses' station, maintaining eye contact with a nurse on duty. This behaviour continued intermittently before staff contacted the police.
Arrest and Previous Convictions
When arrested, Stanton declared to officers "I did nothing wrong", before responding "no comment" throughout her police interview. The defendant has a record of 12 previous convictions for 19 offences, five of which are sex offences committed between 2019 and 2025. In November 2019, she received a five-year sexual harm prevention order for outraging public decency. Another five-year sexual harm prevention order was given in August 2025 for indecent exposure offences.
Violation of Suspended Sentence
The offence in the hospital waiting room violated a previously imposed sentence of six months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, for an indecent exposure offence committed in August 2025. Mr Ball highlighted that the offending was exacerbated by the location being a public hospital, where there is a "particular need to comply" with public safety laws.
Court Proceedings
Alice Sykes, representing Stanton, informed the court that her client understood immediate custody was likely. Sykes noted that before her recent offences, Stanton had completed an alcohol abstinence requirement programme and "had been making good progress" with the Probation Service. She also told the court that the defendant had already served the equivalent of a two-month jail sentence while being held on remand in May.
Sentencing
Recorder Barry Clarke told Stanton that her offending was so serious that only a custodial sentence would be justified. He said: "In the early hours of May 17 you were taken by ambulance to the University Hospital of Wales after making threats of self harm. Several members of staff saw you masturbating on a number of occasions." Acknowledging the early guilty plea, Judge Clarke handed Stanton a sentence of just over five months behind bars: 100 days for the offence on May 17, with an additional 60 days to be served consecutively for breaching her suspended sentence. Stanton will be freed after serving 70 days in custody, with the rest of her sentence to be served on licence.
