Somerset Gimp said five words after being arrested for 'writhing on the ground'

27 October 2023 , 16:56

987     0

Joshua Hunt arriving at Bristol Magistrates' Court today (Image: Tom Wren / SWNS)

The man arrested for sparking terror in a UK town for dressing up in a gimp suit and writhing around on the floor gave cops a chilling statement as he was arrested.

Joshua Hunt, 32, was seen by one lone female driver on the ground while another was left shaking and crying by the shocking incident. Bristol Magistrates' Court heard they took place in the evening of May 7 and shortly after midnight on May 9 this year in Bleadon, near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

When Hunt was arrested minutes after the second incident, he told police: "I am not a gimp." He continued: "I do not own a gimp suit. I am not in a gimp suit." The defendant denies two offences of causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress.

Hunt's gimp masks which were recovered by police (Avon and Somerset Constabulary / SWNS)

In a written statement, motorist Lucy Lodge said she was driving home along Accommodation Road in Bleadon when she saw something moving on the ground. He was writhing and crawling as if in a military fashion," she said. I could see the person was wearing very tight, dark clothing and had a mask on their face. The mask was dark and very tight and two white crosses where the eyes should be.

"My first thought was it could be a possible abduction and the person was trying to get me out of my car. It was terrifying although I had only seen them for a few seconds. He was dressed all in black with a shiny, black facemask with white crosses on. They were face down in a military fashion and writhing and crawling on their belly."

Man in 30s dies after being stabbed in park sparking police probe

She added: "The whole incident felt so surreal, and I was questioning myself about what I was seeing and making this statement makes me feel anxious. I genuinely believed it was an abduction because you read about this in the newspapers. When I got home I was breathing heavily and I was having a borderline panic attack. I had never seen anything like this before. I feel scared and I never want to see this thing again due to the fright it gave me. I didn't sleep more than three hours that night."

Hunt's mugshot taken after his arrest (Avon and Somerset Police / SWNS)

Just 24 hours later - shortly after midnight on May 9 - Samantha Brown was driving from work with her sister-in-law and another colleague when she saw a man dressed all in black with a face mask. "When I saw them my sister-in-law screamed. I had to speed up to get past them and he jumped to the side of my car," she said in a statement.

"When I saw the person I felt sheer horror. When I got home I was shaking and crying. I was scared by this person - anything could have happened and they had their hands behind their back and they could have been holding anything." Ms Brown's sister-in-law, Chloe Smith, also saw the man and said: "I was scared by what he was doing because it was dark and they were dressed like that."

The teenager in the car said when he saw the man he grabbed the door handle in case he tried to open the door. "I was angry that he scared Samantha and Chloe," he said. Following reports of the second incident, police went to Bleadon and spotted a white Berlingo van in a field which was reversing and decided to stop it.

He has been found guilty of two public order offences (Avon and Somerset Constabulary / SWNS)

Pc Declan Coppock spoke to the defendant, who was wearing grey trousers and a black hooded top, and arrested him - with Hunt telling him he was not a gimp. "I noticed his skin was extremely wet and damp - suggesting he had been lying on the side of the road," the officer said.

Hunt told him: "I am not dangerous, I am a normal person, I have got a few problems." A search found Hunt was not wearing a T-shirt or any underwear and inside his van was a collection of wet black clothing, women's tights, face masks and gloves. There was also neon white paint used for drawing on a mask, the court heard.

Hunt told police during an interview that his mental health had been in "crisis" over problems with his medication and wanted to take his own life, the court heard. "I stood in the road because I wanted to kill myself and I never intended to scare anybody," he told officers.

Ryan Fahey