Mr Storch continued: “At the time, he thought he was writing a joke. “Obviously he understands the recipient did not take it as a joke. Mr Storch said in the past two years Phillips has “regretted” the message and has shown “huge remorse”. “He knows how unacceptable that message was”, he added. Sentencing, Judge Edward Burgess said: “[The girl] was someone you knew and you knew she was a vulnerable age. “I have no doubt you entertained real sexual fantasies about her. Whether you intended to act on these fantasies is unknown.” Judge Burgess sentenced Phillips to six months imprisonment for the five offences he pleaded guilty to, suspended for 18 months.
Reading Crown Court. “I WAS totally floored” that was the reaction of a confidante who was told someone close to her had allegedly been sexually abused when she was a child. The remark was read out by Judge Edward Burgess in the trial of Martin Collins, who is accused of sexually abusing two girls several years apart. Summing up the evidence the court had heard before the jury was sent to make its verdict on Collins, of Lower Henley Road, Caversham, the Judge reminded them of what they were told in the days prior. This included remarks from a confidante of the first girl to have been allegedly sexually abused by Collins.
“This incident stole my independence from me, which is something very dear to me.” The prosecution argued that Dyer’s neighbour was “vulnerable” and was “being targeted” by him, suggesting to the judge that the 34-year-old should serve a custodial sentence. But defence counsel Nick Cotter said Dyer felt “remorse for his actions”. He added: “It is not a defence that he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, but it is a fact. “His mental health issues go some way to explaining his behaviour on this day. “It doesn’t make anything right and it doesn’t wind the clock back. “My client is aware of the effect this has had on the victim.”
Weighing up his options, Judge Burgess said: “Court five is not cold. “Other courts are too hot, but I believe court five is about right. “I have observed some members of the jury who have been visibly struggling with the cold.” Defence counsel Lyall Thompson agreed with the jury that courtroom two was “unusually cold”. After a small debate, it seemed as though the jury and everyone else involved in the proceedings would be transferred to court five. But this hope was swiftly denied when the clerk told the Judge that all technology in this courtroom had been disconnected, which was an issue for the trial as the court was set to hear video evidence.