Dean Wood, the Kingstanding Paedophile, was pursued throughout a Tesco supermarket for photographing youngsters in the toy section. An irate mother pursued Dean Wood upon seeing he was photographing her two small children.
The court has heard that Dean Wood attempted to escape before being apprehended by other members of the public. Indecent photographs and videos of minors were discovered on the phone of a convicted sex offender.
The mother noticed the 46-year-old, who appeared “dodgy and on-edge”, holding his phone close to his chest and not looking at toys at around 2.30pm on February 12. He was around 4ft from the children, aged three and six, and seemed to be taking pictures of them, said Phillip Vollans, prosecuting.
Dean Wood moved away to the Health and Beauty section and the mum decided to follow him and believed he may have been taking photos of other children, BirminghamLive reports. Mr Vollans said the woman called her husband, who was outside, and they confronted Wood, demanding: “Excuse me why are you taking photos of my kids?”
Mr Vollans said Dean Wood was defensive and denied having taken pictures, but tried to flee the Sutton Coldfield branch when the family said they were going to contact store security. Police officers sent to the scene found he had been made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order in October 2011 after a conviction for a series of sexual offences.
In breach of the order, Dean Wood twice refused to give the pin number for his phone and he was also found to have another phone at his home along with a Toshiba laptop. Mr Vollans said indecent images, both moving and still, were found on the phone he had used at Tesco.
Dean Wood had admitted four breaches of a sexual harm prevention order and three charges of possessing indecent images. He was jailed for four years and two months. Passing sentence, Judge John Butterfield told him he had taken pictures in Tesco “for sexual purposes”.
He went on: “Your behaviour was serious and distressing for the parents who effectively had to chase you through the supermarket and grab the phone off you facing the knowledge their children had been photographed on a phone by a sex offender.” Charles Blatchford, defending, said there had not been any physical contact with the children.
He said there had been some deception regarding the phone and laptop found at his home but he had been in regular contact with his offender manager. Mr Blatchford said Dean Wood had a 78-year-old mother to whom he had given regular assistance over mobility issues and that, after going on the straight and narrow for some time during lockdown, his “bad habits had come back”.
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