‘Public nuisance’ jailed after blighting Mansfield town centre - including exposing himself and harassing young women

Valerian Ciornei, aged 53, has also been made the subject of a court order banning him from a series of things in Mansfield town centre.

Ciornei, who has been arrested multiple times over the last two years, was jailed for 42 weeks at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court.

The sentence related to four charges including an incident on 12 August this year when he was seen performing a sexual act in public.

On other occasions he made lewd and threatening comments to a woman at Mansfield bus station, stole a pair of jeans, carried a knife in public and threatened to kill a shopworker after being asked to leave.

He was also given a two-year community behaviour order banning him from drinking alcohol in public, engaging with any females aged under 18 and causing harassment, alarm or distress to any member of the public in Mansfield town centre.

The order follows more than 18 months of complaints about Ciornei’s behaviour – including multiple incidents of exposure, theft and harassment.

Any breaches of the order could lead to an immediate return to prison.

Sergeant Alice Bartle, who leads the Mansfield town centre policing team, said: “This man has been a public nuisance for a long time and caused considerable alarm and distress to many different people.

“This appalling behaviour is the kind of thing that puts people off visiting the town centre and as a result causes harm to everyone who lives and works in the town.

“We are working hard every day to make our town a better place to live and work in and we simply won’t tolerate those who blight the area with persistent antisocial and criminal behaviour.”

Insp Kylie Davies, Mansfield district commander, said: “A huge amount of work has gone into securing this order and I would like to thank every member of the town centre team who helped to secure the necessary evidence to bring it about.

“The job of the police is to protect the public from harm, and that is exactly what these officers have done by securing this order.”