Man jailed for 21 months for breaching restraining order

Sunday 22 October 2023

A man who met a teenager three times – despite a restraining order banning him from being alone with girls under 16 – has been imprisoned for 21 months.

Keligh Botting (31), who has a very low IQ, was caught with the same girl once in a shop and twice in a car park. On one occasion, he was seen with his trousers around his ankles.

Lieutenant Bailiff Anthony Olsen, who was presiding in the Royal Court on Friday, told Botting: “One of the witnesses described you as having looked like a deer in the headlights.

“You knew what you were doing was wrong.

“Restraining orders are not a punishment. They exist to protect our children.”

Crown Advocate Carla Carvalho, prosecuting, said that Botting knew that the girl was under 16, adding: “These were not technical breaches. The defendant acted entirely voluntarily.”

On the first occasion, she explained, Botting was seen on CCTV entering a shop, closely followed by the girl.

Less than a week later, a member of Shelter Trust’s outreach team found him with the girl, who was lying down on her side in a car park.

When asked if they were okay, Botting responded: “We’re fine.”

Advocate Carvalho said that when the girl did not respond, the incident was reported to the States police.

During the third breach, Botting had his trousers around his ankles when a Shelter team member found him.

“[The team member] knew the conditions of the restraining order and, as a result, called the police,” she told he court.

She added that the defendant had claimed his “friendship” with the girl was “platonic”.

She recommended a 21-month prison sentence, along with restraining orders reflecting those imposed on Botting in 2017, when he was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison after having sex with a girl under the age of 16.

Advocate Chris Baglin, defending, said Botting’s IQ placed him in the lowest 1% of the population and that, as a result, he did not fully understand the severity of the restraining order.

He said: “He is isolated and found that difficult. There is no evidence at all of any physical contact whatsoever and no sexual contact whatsoever.”

Announcing the Jurats’ sentence of 21 months, Lieutenant Bailiff Anthony Olsen said the court did not accept that the meetings were not sexual, highlighting that the defendant had his trousers around his ankles on one occasion.

Jurats David Gareth Hughes and Andrew Lawrence Cornish were sitting.