Ben Goodier 32

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Ben Goodier, 32, of Fletcher Street, Latchford, has been sentenced at Warrington Magistrates’ Court after sexually assaulting a woman and harassing her for nine years, and after sending threatening messages to his former landlord.

Between 2012 and 2013, while still a teenager, Goodier sent messages to a pregnant woman in which he suggested a “pregnancy fetish,” asking how her nipples felt and what giving birth would feel like. She blocked him after the messages made her uncomfortable.

In 2014 he sexually assaulted a woman at a party. He grabbed her in a corridor, pushed her and held her shoulders as she told him “no” and to “get off.” He grabbed her breasts and touched her genitals before another guest intervened. The woman later said the attack left her feeling “absolutely horrific” and that she “blamed herself” because she was “made to feel like it was her own fault.” Goodier told her he “didn’t mean to sexually assault her.” The assault was not reported at the time.

He then contacted her repeatedly over the next nine years from different social media accounts, including offers of money to touch her breasts, despite her making clear she did not want contact. In a victim impact statement she said she felt “unsafe” after he claimed to know where she lived. She has since moved and changed her routes around the town to avoid him.

Goodier was also convicted of harassing his former landlord after being evicted over £3,000 in rent arrears. On 17 September, while in Newton-le-Willows, he sent messages including: “You are going to be the reason I kill myself when I get evicted,” “I hope all of your kids and your blubber-framed wife die of an aggressive and uncurable cancer you sick disgusting f**k,” “I am going to turn up at your office and f**k you into oblivion with a claw hammer and I will s***k over your lifeless body,” and “I hate your pathetic face.”

The court heard he has mental health issues that “would not be helped in a custodial setting.” He was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for 16 months, with a nine-month treatment requirement, 20 rehabilitation activity days, and £454 in costs. A 10-year restraining order protects the woman he assaulted and harassed. He must sign the sex offenders register for seven years.