Quarsim Allum Zadah, 67 guilty of wilful and obscene exposure in public in Byron Bay CBD
A Byron man busted walking through the tourist town in his birthday suit in the middle of the afternoon says he thought it was fine after local nude beach closure protests.
Police & Courts
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A Byron Bay man busted walking through the tourist town’s CBD in his birthday suit in the middle of the afternoon says he thought it was acceptable after protests about the closure of a local nude beach.
Quarsim Allum Zadah faced Byron Bay Local Court on Monday.
The 67-year-old man pleaded guilty to wilful and obscene exposure in a public place.
Police received calls about a man walking along Jonson St and Bay Ln without clothes on about 2.30pm on December 4.
Officers found Zadah on the footpath of the Main Beach car park and as suspected, he “was not wearing any clothing”, police state in court documents.
“He had an over-the-shoulder bag with his (genitalia) visible to all the members of the public in his vicinity,” police state.
Officers asked Zadah if he had any clothing and he took a T-shirt and shorts from the bag.
Zadah was asked to get dressed and said: “But I like it”.
However, he did put the clothing on before police issued a move-on order, which Zadah complied with.
“At the time, the area was busy with members of the public,” police state.
Defence lawyer Natasha Wood said Zadah had consumed alcohol before the offending and had a limited recollection.
“He was confused about what he was doing,” she said.
“He said the Echo (Byron’s community newspaper) had nude people on the cover holding signs to cover their private parts, so he thought it wouldn’t be an issue.”
Ms Wood told the court her client was unlikely to reoffend, and on medication for heartburn.
Magistrate Karen Stafford said even if Zadah did spot an article about the beach closure in a newspaper, she did not recall a nude protest being held on Jonson St, in the middle of town.
“No one wants to see a naked man walking through town nude in the middle of the day when there may be families around,” she said.
“There’s a need for the court to stop you from reoffending, and others as well.”
Ms Stafford asked for details relating to an offensive behaviour charge on Zadah’s criminal history dating back to 1984. Zadah informed the court he was “just carrying on” and it did not relate to public nudity.
Zadah was sentenced to a 12-month community correction order and was fined $500. A conviction was recorded.
Zadah walked out of courthouse smiling, while a woman accompanying him exclaimed he could have been sent to prison.
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