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A self-employed gardener found guilty of being the ‘Somerset Gimp’ will lock himself away in his bedroom for a month while the fuss dies down after escaping a jail sentence, his father said today.
Joshua Hunt, 32, scared women drivers while dressed in a black gimp suit and mask which a court had banned him from wearing for five years.
Hunt was let off a jail sentence after being found guilty of causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress.
After being freed, Hunt returned to the farm in Yatton, Somerset, where he lives with his parents who are protesting his innocence.
His father, who declined to give his name, said: ‘This has ruined his life – he’s not even the Somerset gimp man. It’s someone else.’
‘He says he’s locking himself away in his bedroom for a month until all the fuss dies down, which it will.’
![Joshua Hunt, 32, the self employed gardener found guilty of being the 'Somerset Gimp' has vowed to lock himself in his room for a month 'while the fuss dies down'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/12/77364183-12706873-image-m-9_1699016007199.jpg)
Joshua Hunt, 32, the self employed gardener found guilty of being the ‘Somerset Gimp’ has vowed to lock himself in his room for a month ‘while the fuss dies down’
![Hunt was convicted last week of offences under the Public Order Act and was let off a jail sentence after being found guilty of causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/12/77363227-12706873-Joshua_Hunt_was_convicted_last_week_of_offences_under_the_Public-m-2_1699015969576.jpg)
Hunt was convicted last week of offences under the Public Order Act and was let off a jail sentence after being found guilty of causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress.
![A picture of the 'Somerset Gimp' in Claverham in 2019, but it has not been proven that the person in this picture is Hunt](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/12/77364171-12706873-image-a-1_1699015962057.jpg)
A picture of the ‘Somerset Gimp’ in Claverham in 2019, but it has not been proven that the person in this picture is Hunt
He was banned for five years from wearing masks, dressing in all-in-one black outfits at night and ‘crawling, wriggling or writhing on the ground’ in public.
A district judge imposed restrictions on Hunt’s behaviour following a hearing at Bristol Magistrates’ Court a week after he was convicted of two offences under the Public Order Act of intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress.
Last week’s hearing heard how a man in an all-black gimp suit had terrified two female motorists in May this year in Bleadon, near Weston-super-Mare.
It was the latest in a series of bizarre incidents where a man dressed in skin-tight dark clothing was seen writhing around on the ground and stepping out in front of cars in remote locations across North Somerset since 2018.
The court previously heard that witnesses to one incident in October last year saw a man wearing a gimp suit who grabbed his penis over the top of his clothing and also ‘gyrated against the floor’.
Lawrence Wilcox, representing Avon and Somerset Police, told Friday’s hearing that Hunt had been linked to 25 incidents in total.
‘The evidence of the earlier incidents is based upon intelligence reports and the latter report is more specific,’ he said.
‘But, we say, if the court is satisfied that the intelligence of the earlier incidents were of a sexual nature and committed by the defendant, there is material within that bundle that relates to that of a sexual nature and the acceptance of necessity.’
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 offenders’ register for the same period.
![Police found several masks with white neon paint painted on them when Hunt was arrested (Avon and Somerset Police/PA)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/12/wire-77363225-1699014144-728_634x339.jpg)
Police found several masks with white neon paint painted on them when Hunt was arrested (Avon and Somerset Police/PA)
![A mask recovered from Joshua Hunt by Avon and Somerset Police as part of their investigation](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/14/77085247-12706873-A_mask_recovered_from_Joshua_Hunt_by_Avon_and_Somerset_Police_as-a-42_1699020012862.jpg)
A mask recovered from Joshua Hunt by Avon and Somerset Police as part of their investigation
![Clothing recovered from Hunt, who was convicted in court of being the 'Somerset Gimp'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/14/77085249-12706873-Clothing_recovered_from_Hunt_who_was_convicted_in_court_of_being-a-43_1699020016927.jpg)
Clothing recovered from Hunt, who was convicted in court of being the ‘Somerset Gimp’
But Mr Hunt said his son was responsible for just one of the gimp incidents in villages close to the family farm.
He said: ‘We know who the real gimp man is and we’ve told the police. There was an incident involving my son and this individual some time ago but that’s it.
‘He may have done it once a while ago but it’s not right that people are calling him the Somerset Gimp. It’s not him.’
Mr Hunt said he was too busy on the farm to attend Bristol Magistrates Court today(Fri) where his son was given a five-year sexual risk order and put on the sex offenders register for the same amount of time.
He told Mail Online: ‘I’ve been listening to reports on local radio – it’s all a load of rubbish.’
Hunt, a loner who finds it difficult to make friends, works as a gardener, tending people’s lawns and borders in nearby villages.
His father added: ‘His customers know he’s been in court and they all want him back. Would they do that if they thought he was this gimp man?
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/14/77087879-12706873-image-a-44_1699020019971.jpg)
![Giving evidence, Hunt told the court he had been in a 'very traumatic state of mind' in May](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/03/14/77084259-12706873-Giving_evidence_Hunt_told_the_court_he_had_been_in_a_very_trauma-a-45_1699020031430.jpg)
Giving evidence, Hunt told the court he had been in a ‘very traumatic state of mind’ in May
There are also restrictions placed upon Hunt’s computer use and access of the internet.
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.’
His trial last week heard that when Hunt was arrested in May this year, he told police: ‘I am not a gimp, I do not own a gimp suit.
‘I am not in a gimp suit. I am not dangerous, I am a normal person, I have got a few problems.’
He had also researched news and videos online about the Somerset Gimp who had been terrorising people late at night since 2018.
The farmer’s son had previously been arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance in connection with a series of incidents in the Cleeve, Claverham and Yatton areas last year.
Due to insufficient evidence no further action was taken.