Somerset Gimp who terrorised town banned from wearing fetish gear for five years
A man convicted of being the Somerset Gimp has been banned from crawling, wriggling or writhing on the ground in public while wearing a full-body covering or mask for five years.
Joshua Hunt is now subject to a sexual risk order order and he is not allowed to wear a mask or possess one in a public place and is not able to wear black all-in-one clothing at night in public. He also must not “crawl, wriggle or writhe on the ground wearing a full-body covering or mask” or visit the areas where he jumped out on people, after a temporary injunction was made permanent.
The 32-year-old was found guilty of harassment last month and the police linked him to 25 incidents committed by the so-called “Somerset Gimp”. The court previously heard Hunt was seen by a lone female driver to be writhing around on the ground, and he left another victim shaking and crying. Bristol Magistrates' Court heard the incidents 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 - I do not own a gimp suit. I am not in a gimp suit." The defendant had denied two offences of causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress. At a previous hearing motorist Lucy Lodge said in a written statement that she was driving home 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.
Joshua Hunt (Avon and Somerset Police / SWNS)
One of Joshua Hunt's gimp masks (Avon and Somerset Constabulary / SWNS)"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.
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"They were face down in a military fashion and writhing and crawling on their belly." Martin Mills, a passenger in a vehicle driving in the area at the same time as Miss Lodge, saw a man "commando crawling" on the floor. "I can see they were all in black and shiny and the car lights were reflecting off him," he said.
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.
Joshua Hunt's gimp masks (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.
"I am crying out for help and need help with my mental health." The court heard that during a search of Hunt's home in Claverham, officers found a journal in which he had written a story about someone called Jack who purchases a black rubber suit and mask with white paint on the mask.
"The face was looking like something out of a horror film - a face that would scare the life out of anyone," Hunt wrote. He had also done internet searches in 2022 and 2023 about the "Somerset Gimp" and the "Gimp of Cleeve", the court heard. Giving evidence, Hunt, a self-employed gardener, told the court he had been in a "very traumatic state of mind" in May of this year and was speaking with the Samaritans and getting counselling.
Joshua Hunt's gimp costume (Avon and Somerset Constabulary / SWNS)"I hated myself with the way I looked and the way I am and everything about me," he told the court, fighting back tears. He explained he would go out at night and change into black clothing to go "mudding". "Which a lot of people wouldn't understand, which is something I do to get covered in mud which is another reason I was there as it is close to the estuary where there is mud," he said.
"The clothes I wear and face masks are for mudding only, hence why I had them in the vehicle," he said. "Time from time, it is a self-loathing thing because I feel so crap about myself. It's a release because I feel like s*** - I cover myself in s***." Hunt told the court on the two nights he had been seen on the side of the road he had wanted to kill himself by being hit by a car.
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"It never entered my head that what I was doing was frightening people," he said. "I apologise to those people - I agree what I was doing was frightening but hand on my heart I never intended to cause them harassment, alarm or distress."
District Judge Joanna Dickens said that the issue in this case was whether or not Hunt caused intentional harassment, alarm and distress. "In fairness to you, you have always accepted they were caused harassment, alarm or distress, and you’ve apologised for that", she said.
She added: “Everyone accepts and it has been proved, you were unwell and were suffering from a serious depressive episode. “You were seen on a very quiet lane in the Bleadon area, and that you were – on both occasions – highly visible to both [victims], wearing quite a bizarre get-up."
Judge Dickens added that “it makes no sense at all”. "I do not believe your evidence as to why you were wearing the bizarre costume. I think there was an intention to cause fear, alarm anxious and distress to others, and that’s what happened on those occasions."
Judge Dickens found Hunt guilty of two offences of Section 4A Public Order Act offences. Accepting that he had spent one month in prison on remand for his crimes earlier this year, she imposed a £100 fine and told Hunt to pay £200 compensation to each of his three victims.
Imposing the order, District Judge Joanna Dickens said: “I am satisfied that you have done a series of acts of a sexual nature. I have been informed what they are, and they certainly fall within the terms of the Act.
“They are clearly acts of a sexual nature with a sexual element to them. 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. I only make an order if I think it is necessary to protect the public from you and I do think it is necessary.”
The sexual risk order was imposed for five years and also means Hunt is on the sex offenders’ register for the same period.
Among the restrictions, Hunt, of Claverham, 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 whilst 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 whilst in a vehicle in a public place, between the hours of 2100 and 0600 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 2100 and 0600.
– Crawling, wriggling or writhing on the ground in a public place whilst wearing a full-body covering, clothing that appears like a full body covering and/or mask/full face covering.
There are also restrictions placed upon Hunt’s computer use and access of the internet.
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