A father has told of his nightmare year after being wrongly accused of stealing a neighbour’s VIBRATOR.
Ian Bamford said he was ridiculed and forced to leave his close-knit community because of the shame of his conviction.
The 41 year-old was found guilty last April of breaking into a friend’s home and taking the sex toy and an iPad together worth £420.
He was ordered to pay £1,160 and do 150 hours community service and was then electronically tagged as his mental health suffered under the stress of his conviction.
Ian always denied the charge but left his home in Stevenage, Herts and moved to Bexleyheath, South London.
He has now successfully cleared his name after winning an appeal at St. Albans Crown Court.
Ian, a self-employed plumber, said: “It feels like waking up from a nightmare.
“I couldn’t believe it when I was found guilty last year.
“I felt humiliated and was regularly ridiculed for something I hadn’t done.
“The whole process had an awful effect on my mental health. I had lived in a very tight-knit community and suddenly they all thought I was a thief or a pervert or both.
“I knew most of those people since I was really young and it was horrible to feel like they had turned against me. I grew up there but I had to move away, it was too much.
“It feels good to have finally cleared my name and know that I can move on. It’s a huge weight off of my shoulders.”
Ian claims he bought the iPad from someone he had seen drinking in his local pub and sold it on to a friend who wanted one.
He said he only made “pennies” from the sale but claimed that the person who bought it from him accused him of stealing it when he heard about the theft.
Ian said he was then also accused of taking the vibrator “to make me look like a pervert”.
Ian said he became depressed and was temporarily paralysed down one side because of the stress.
His ill health meant he couldn’t complete his community service and was instead put on an electronic tag – taking away his “freedom”.
He added: “They took away my liberty and my freedom for something I didn’t do. It felt awful.
“I have a teenage daughter and she was asking me why I had this on my leg.
“I had to tell her that I was convicted wrongly of something I didn’t do and eventually the truth would come out, and now it has.”
