Reading Magistrates' Court: 'Fab Swingers' stalker from Crookham Common may want to change plea

Meanwhile pre-sentence prepared on 'all options' basis

A CROOKHAM Common man who admitted stalking a woman by sending malicious messages to a ‘Fab Swingers’ website has indicated he may want to change his plea.

In the dock at Reading Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, August 6, was 50-year-old Andrew John Twell, who has a postal address of Napp Lane, Tadley, but who said he lives “on land south of Thornford Road in Crookham Common”.

At a previous court hearing Mr Twell admitted stalking his female victim, sending malicious messages via social media and via the website Fab Swingers, in Fifield, Oxfordshire, between December 1 and December 3 last year.

Magistrates adjourned the case for pre-sentence reports to be prepared on an ‘all options’ basis, including custody.

Mr Twell was meanwhile released on conditional bail.

But at the latest court hearing Adonis Daniel, representing Mr Twell, told magistrates: “There is a ‘nil report’ – probation weren’t aware of this case.

“They will require a four-week adjournment from this date.”

Mr Daniel added that his client had made admissions before being presented with all the facts and had pleaded guilty via the online communications app Skype.

In addition, he added, “the defence was not aware of all the evidence”.

As a result, he said, Mr Twell may seek permission to revisit his original plea of guilty.

The Ministry of Justice advises that “where a defendant has pleaded guilty, the court has a discretion to allow a change to a plea of not guilty at any stage of the proceedings up to and including sentence, although this discretion should be exercised sparingly, and rarely where the original plea was unequivocal and the defendant was represented at the earlier hearing”.

A district judge agreed to the adjournment and noted that there may be a future application “to reopen the plea”.

Mr Twell was meanwhile released again on conditional bail.