A man has been banned for five years from wearing a mask and dressing in an all-black suit in public at night and “crawling, wriggling or writhing on the ground” after police linked him to 25 incidents committed by the so-called “Somerset gimp”.
Joshua Hunt, 32, has been given a sexual risk order after police argued there was a sexual motivation to the incidents.
A district judge imposed the order after a hearing at Bristol magistrates court a week after Hunt, who insists he is not the gimp, was convicted of two offences under the Public Order Act of intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress.
Lawrence Wilcox, representing Avon and Somerset police, told Friday’s hearing that Hunt had been linked to 25 incidents.
Peter Richardson, defending, said Hunt had taken a “pragmatic and practical approach” to the application. “We are not contesting the application but that is not the same as agreeing with everything that is set out,” he said.
The sexual risk order was imposed for five years and also means Hunt is on the sex offender register for the same period.
Among the restrictions, Hunt, a gardener from north Somerset, is banned from:
Wearing any type of mask or face covering, including improvised mask or face coverings that cover all or part of the face, in any public place, including while in a vehicle in a public place, unless officially required for medical purposes or by law.
Being in possession of any type of mask or face covering, including improvised masks or face coverings that cover all or part of the face, in a public place, including while in a vehicle in a public place, between the hours of 9pm and 6am unless officially required for medical purposes or by law.
Wearing or being in possession of black all-in-one garments or any combination of full-length black-coloured top and black-coloured bottom clothing which has the appearance of an all-in-one garment, in a public place, including in a vehicle in a public place between the hours of 9pm and 6am.
Crawling, wriggling or writhing on the ground in a public place while wearing a full-body covering, clothing that appears like a full-body covering and/or mask/full-face covering.
The district judge Joanna Dickens said: “I am satisfied that you have done a series of acts of a sexual nature. A sexual risk order is quite a serious order, and it has a lot of obligations of you and if you breach this order you can go to prison.”
