A stripper who was accused of exposing himself in the middle of a busy restaurant has been cleared of public indecency.
Stuart Kennedy was alleged to have exposed his private parts while stripping off for a hen party at La Bamba in Aberdeen.
The charge also stated that by simulating sex and making sexually suggestive remarks at the diner he had committed a public indecency offence.
But the 29-year-old - who has been arrested a total of 24 times while performing his act under the name of Sergeant Eros - denied the charge and went on trial for two days at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Diners Jennifer and Steven Masala told the court they had complained to management about the strip act because they felt uncomfortable watching it.
The couple said they were also concerned about the performance taking place in front of a group of girls celebrating a 16th birthday party at another table.
Jennifer Masala was celebrating her 24th birthday with her fiancé and family at a nearby table when Mr Kennedy arrived.
'Inappropriate'
She said she only caught glimpses of his performance because she didn't want to watch. The nursery nurse, who now lives in Germany, said he eventually took off all his clothes and was left with what looked like a tissue covering his modesty.
Mrs Masala claimed to have seen his genitals at one point but admitted she could have been wrong.
She complained to the restaurant manageress, who explained that it was out of her control. She added: "I felt that it was inappropriate that it was in front of a 16-year-old's birthday party."
Mr Masala, 24, claimed Kennedy simulated sex with the bride-to-be of the hen party on a table. The software developer said: "He was pretending to have sex on the table and on the floor at one point."
He said he watched on as the stripper carried out the "crude" act at the hen table in front of other diners and at one point saw his private parts.
Mr Masala told the court: "I felt uncomfortable. I had a migraine and I was happy to go out. We ate, then complained, then we paid, and then we left."
'Poor management'
On Friday, Sheriff Malcolm Garden said he was not satisfied that the Crown had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt and he found Mr Kennedy not guilty of the charge.
He criticised "poor management" at the establishment and suggested that better arrangements should have been put in place for strip acts taking place at the venue.
After the case, the Aberdeen stripper - who charges £120 a performance - said he was glad the case was finally all over and described it as "ridiculous".
He said: "There is only so much you can do as a performer. I've stripped in a lot of restaurants but I do usually recommend it is in a private area, that way I usually have more control over the audience.
"I make it very obvious that I am going to take my clothes off. That's what upset me about the Masalas. Nobody was forcing them to watch, so why didn't they just not look?"
It is not the first time Mr Kennedy has been in court because of his job. The father-of-one added: "It's so stupid that a male stripper should be arrested for doing his job.
"I pride myself on having a show that's really tame and very comic. It's not to get women sexually excited - women just like a laugh. In this case it was the hen's fiancé that had booked it."
