OAP jailed for sexual activity with pram and doll in Notts

A pensioner who is banned from pushing a doll in a pram in public and called a 'risk to the public and in particular to young children' has been jailed for breaching the order.
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72-year-old Trevor Robinson was spotted taking a cot out of his car, in Newark, on June 28, and police were called as witnesses feared for children because it was a hot day.

Police were called to Newark Cemetery on July 17, after reports of a man acting suspiciously with a doll in a pushchair, said prosecutor Robert Carr.

“He tried to quickly walk away but was apprehended,” he said. “He accepted the breaches of the anti-social behaviour orders, but said he couldn’t stop himself acting in this way.”

The court heard the ASBO was originally imposed by Lincoln Crown Court in 2009, when Robinson was banned from being in public with a pram and dolls, following a conviction for a sexual offence.

A prison sentence was suspended for two years when he breached the order in August 2016.

Matthew Taylor, mitigating, said: “Mr Robinson’s reasons for doing this are that he likes people to think he is a grandfather out walking with his grandchildren.”

He said Robinson only had one short relationship as an adult and “lives a very lonely life”, without friends or family.

“His one get-out is that he takes this pram and doll out for a walk,” he said. “It is no longer sexual conduct.

“This is an elderly gentleman who likes to go out with his pram and likes to walk around the area.”

Robinson, of Martin Close, Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire, admitted breaching the order, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

District judge Jonathan Taaffe said it was a “difficult case to deal with” after adjourning it from a previous date for a probation report.

He said that since Robinson received a suspended sentence, in August 2016, he had appeared before the courts on “numerous occasions”, and the court had “bent over backwards” to keep him out of custody.

“You say there are no sexualised matters,” the judge said. “I have to say that I don’t accept that.

“I take the view that they occurred in circumstances where there is a direct risk to the public and, in particular, young children.”

He activated the 12 week suspended sentence and added 16 weeks for the breaches, jailing Robinson for a total of 28 weeks, of which he will serve half. He must also pay a £115 government surcharge.