Man accused of being ‘Somerset gimp’ wrote disturbing journal about masks, court hears

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A man who dressed in a black latex outfit and crawled on the floor in a “military fashion” had written a disturbing journal entry about terrifying people with a face mask made of women’s tights.

Joshua Hunt, 32, left female motorists “terrified” in Somerset, wearing an all-in-one ‘gimp suit’ with his hands behind his back, the court heard.

Upon his arrest, he told police officers “I’m not a gimp, I don’t own a gimp suit”, before a number of black clothes, facemasks, gloves and neon UV paint was discovered in his white Berlingo van.

Bristol magistrates court heard that Hunt later said during his interview that he was suffering from a mental health episode, while his internet history revealed a number of searches for ‘Somerset gimp man’.

Hunt, of Claverham, Somerset, has denied two charges of putting someone in fear of provocation or violence under section 4 of the Public Order Act. He accepts causing harassment, alarm and distress but denies intending to do so.

He was first reported to the police on May 7, after a lone female driver came across a “dark coloured object” on the side of the road at around 11.15pm.

“As I drove closer to the object, I could see it was moving and I could see the object was in fact a person,” Lucy Lodge said.

She described the individual as “lying face down in a military fashion and crawling on his belly”, causing her to fear that it was an abduction attempt. After returning home, she reported him to the police, and described being unable to sleep for three hours that evening.

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.

A second vehicle carrying a family who were travelling from a nearby caravan park also came across Mr Hunt at around 10.30pm. The figure was wearing an “all black and shiny” outfit and was lying on the floor, with the “shoulders moving like they were doing a commando crawl”.

Just over 24 hours later, police received reports during the early hours of 9 May that a figure wearing “all black shiny clothing” had once again been spotted on the same rural road.

Samantha Brown had been returning from work with her sister-in-law, when they came across a man standing in the middle of the road with his hands behind his back and legs apart.

She said she felt “sheer horror” at the costume, and was forced to speed up her vehicle, before contacting the police five minutes later.

A short while later, PC Declan Coppock apprehended Hunt, who was wearing grey joggers, after spotting his white van near the entry road to a field. Upon his arrest, he told the officer “ “I’m not a gimp, I don’t own a gimp suit, I’m not in a gimp suit”, before adding “I need mum”.

He also added: “I am not dangerous, I am a normal person, I have got a few problems.”

A search of his van found black gloves, a white UV body crayon, wet black clothing, some black tape, four masks with eyes and a mouth painted on and some dark trousers.

During his police interview, he said: “My mental health deteriorated rapidly and I am in crisis”, before adding that he had been attempting to kill himself and had not intended on causing alarm. “I am crying out for help and would like some support for my mental health,” he said.

Officers also found a disturbing journal in which Hunt had written a story about a character called Jack, who had purchased a black rubber suit and had made a mask out of women’s tights.

“The face was looking like something out of a horror film, a face that would scare the life out of anyone,” he had written.

A download of his internet history found searches for “mask weirdo latex suit”, “masked man seen in Somerset” and “Somerset gimp”. An ASDA receipt found at his address also showed a purchase of two pairs of women’s leggings, while he had also ordered neon UV paint from Ebay.

The court heard that Hunt had recently been prescribed new antidepressants which had disagreed with him, and had made 19 phone calls to the Samaritans.

Giving evidence, he told the court: “I apologise greatly to these people and that I agree that what they saw would have frightened them but my hand is on my heart that I never ever intended to cause those people harm or distress.”

Becoming emotional, he said: “I basically hate myself, the way I look, the way I am, just everything about me.” He claimed that he had travelled to the area to go ‘mudding’, and that he had intended on killing himself on both evenings.

The trial, which is due to conclude today, continues.