A Sri Lankan man has been found guilty of exposing himself after assaulting two members of staff at a Southampton hotel for asylum seekers in England.

Sukirthan Thangrasha, from Sri Lanka, is on trial at Portsmouth Crown Court for one count of exposure after the incident at Highfield House Hotel in Southampton on August 15 2025.

The jury was told that the 38-year-old, who was assisted in court by a Tamil interpreter, had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of assault against two members of staff.

Jack Furness, prosecuting, said that Thangrasha went to the hotel reception where the altercation began as he was “angry” his phone was not working. He started to be verbally abusive before going on to pull down his trousers.

He told the court: “At that time the defendant was staying in accommodation for asylum seekers. He came down to the reception area of the accommodation, he was angry his phone was not working.

“He was verbally abusive to members of staff, he demanded that they fix the phone for him, he threw the phone at the reception desk. He said words to the effect of, ‘I am from Sri Lanka, you small men are from India and Pakistan, you should respect me’.

“Members of staff tried to calm the defendant down. The defendant approached a plant pot, he made some attempt to pull the plant out of the pot, he then pulled his trousers down.

“First time he left his underwear on, he lifted his top to expose his torso, he started walking around like this. The staff told him to stop and he did ultimately pull up his trousers.

“Shortly later the defendant pulls his trousers down again along with his underpants, thus exposing his genitals to the people around him. He exposed himself in front of multiple other people.”

The prosecutor said one of the staff members reported feeling “scared” that the defendant would attack him and Thangrasha had admitted assaults on him and another employee.

Mr Furness said that CCTV showed the incident and the defendant did not deny exposing himself but denied intending to cause alarm or distress.

The trial continues.

Source: Mirror

--Agencies