Bridlington man banned from contacting girls under 18 after preying on youngsters in car park

Benjamin Lumby, 27, targeted McDonald's drive thru in Bridlington where he tried to meet young girls in his blue Vauxhall Corsa.

Once he had lured them into his car he would take them to a nearby Carnaby Industrial Estate to have sex with other pals in cars.

As a result of reports of abuse against five girls, police asked Beverley Magistrates Court in March to put a Sexual Harm Prevention Order on him – banning him from associating with girls under 16. One girl said she feared he would one day kill one of them.

The order was granted despite Lumby having no previous convictions for sexual offences - to try and prevent young girls coming to harm.

The jobless dad-of-two allegedly picked up two girls - one was underage and the other over 16 - with another man, and referred to them as “car whores".

Hull Crown Court heard he sent texts to his mate warning him: “You should not get involved lad. You know how it is. Bros before hoes”.

The Sexual Harm Prevention Order banned him from living or associating with girls under the age of 16. It also banned him from seeing the other man – since he became a sex offender - and entering school grounds to pick up girls under the age of 16. He also had to sign on the National Sex Offenders’ Register.

Lumby, formerly of Tennyson Avenue, Bridlington, made a four-day appeal against the SHPO to Hull Crown Court (October 9-13).

A series of girls were called to give evidence describing being physically and mentally abused in a series of humiliating and frightening incidents over six years which allegedly included multiple rapes, sex with under-age girls and daily punching, grabbing and kicking.

Despite the order being in place for just six months he admitted he bedded three new girls, who were all over 16. He told a judge, group sex is part of modern life for many women he knows in Bridlington.

Lumby admitted he probably did organise girls for the other man, but denied calling the girls he met regularly at the Bridlington McDonald’s car park his “car whores.”

He told the court: “I don’t want the label as a sex offender. Since this was done, I have had my car smashed up, my mum’s windows smashed. I have had people attack me. I am not a sex offender. I have written a letter about how this has affected me. I have actually thought of committing suicide over it.”

He said he had become the victim of a police and social services plot to get him with exaggerated evidence from two former girlfriends who were bitter at him after they split up.

Lumby, who has one conviction for causing actual bodily harm on one girl and two of battery, insisted he was in normal relationships.

He called two girls to give evidence who had both had sex with him. One said: “I was out with friends at McDonald's. I asked a friend who he was. I searched for him on Facebook and messaged him, I consented to sex. He was fine towards me. I heard a social worker say if Ben ever got sent down she would throw a party.”

Crown barrister Phillipa Hildyard told Lumby in cross examination all the girls had similar experiences at his hands.

She said: “You meet them on Facebook. You impress them, you take them all out in your car. You buy them cigarettes, alcohol and cannabis.

"You groom them, sleep with them and exploit them. You control them, they become withdrawn, their families become concerned and you isolate them from their friends and families.

"You control their clothing and their make up. Then the abuse starts when you become insecure and start accusing them of sleeping with other men. The women describe sexual violence and examinations. That is your process. That is what you do to girls.”

Incidents alleged by the five victims include:

• Deleted all her mobile phone numbers.

• Punched her five months into pregnancy.

• Grabbing her around the neck and squeezing hard at a funeral.

• Telling her “You are lucky you are a girl, or I would have killed you by now.”

• Daily, punching grabbing or kicking.

• Randomly punching her in the middle of the night.

• Brainwashed her to withdraw police complaints.

• Grooming girls for sex with cigarettes and alcohol.

• Blocking all male friends on their Facebook.

• Throwing every piece of furniture in the room at a girlfriend.

Barrister Ms Hildyard said Lumby attacked a girl he had groomed since December 2015.

She accused Lumby: “You smashed her phone - threw it out of the car window. You punched her right arm, right hand ribs and top of her right leg. You took her to Carnaby Industrial estate pulled her out of the car by her hair and abandoned her. She had to be taken home by her dad."

Lumby denied the assault - as did the girl- he said he was the victim of a vengeful grandmother who did not like the age gap.

Defence barrister Katherine Kioko-Gillighan said he had no historic offences of sexual assault, and a large proportion of evidence against him was hearsay.

She said: “These girls are both desperate to make his life difficult. It is submitted this is a far reaching order. Would it be proper to grant the order on tainted evidence of hearsay?

"He concedes he has behaved poorly to previous partners. He concedes his behaviour to be abhorrent, however, does his promiscuous lifestyle mean he is paedophile? This is a method of punishing him in a criminal way for breaching social convention.”

Judge Simon Jack, sitting with two magistrates, told Lumby he was not only refusing his appeal, but was making it more onerous to protect the girls over 16 he was now seeing.

“We take the view he is are a violent man who is prepared to get into relationships with girls under 16 and manipulate and abuse them so that they do not give evidence against them,” said Judge Jack.

He said the court had heard evidence that since the order was made he had had sex with a string of girls over 16. The court took the view that the girls were vulnerable and were being exploited by a 27 year old man.

He said evidence of his text messages showed his predatory nature.

"He refers to them as whores” said Judge Jack, "he has no appreciation that it is people like him who are turning them in to whores. These are someone's daughters, someone's granddaughters - and they need protection.

"Instead of trying to protect them, he is out there abusing them and moving on to the next one. He is of the view that because they are 16 then that is good enough for him. We don’t take that view. It is not fitting for a 27-year-old man to have sex with 16-year-old girls.

“He has written us an impassioned letter. It is all about the affect this order has had on his life. He must appreciate the only reason we are making this order is because of the harmful affect he has had on other people’s lives. This court has no sympathy at all for him. This court's sympathy rests with the girls who need to be protected.”

He ordered the age restriction should be increased from 16 years to 18 years.

The court ordered Lumby should pay £1,600 towards the legal costs of the case. He scowled at the judge’s ruling and turned to the police officers in the public gallery and said: “I suppose I’ll just go out with ***** now!” referring to a girl he is prevented from contacting.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Inspector Paul Welton, child sexual exploitation lead at the force's protecting vulnerable people unit, said: "I'm happy with the result and really pleased that we were able to show to the judge, since the original order, Mr Lumby has repeatedly targeted 16 and 17-year-old children for sexual activity, and we are committed to protecting children of all ages and all vulnerable people."