BEXLEY KILLER BEN WORDEN JAILED AGAIN FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES
A convicted killer who caused the death of Paul Gunner outside a Bexley kebab shop has been re-imprisoned after pleading guilty to online child sex offences.Ben Worden was previously sentenced to six years in 2012 for manslaughter after being found guilty of the death of Paul Gunner, a lighting technician who was celebrating his 32nd birthday in Bexley Village when he was punched at least twice by Worden, whom he had never met.
The altercation happened after Worden, who had been drinking heavily, took exception to Mr Gunner banging on the window of Charcoal Grill to call his brother.
Mr Gunner never regained consciousness after the punch caused him to fall and hit his head.
During his trial, he was reported to have boasted to a group of girls about the attack: “I just smashed someone up – look at my knuckles.” Now 46, Worden from Welling has been sentenced to three years and four months for the child sex offences, which involved sending sexual Facebook messages to girls he believed to be aged 13 and 14, although the accounts were controlled by paedophile hunters.
He sent friend requests to the girls within a week of each other in late 2023.
He then sent sexual messages, including videos of himself and requests for explicit photos, despite being warned of their age.
When questioned, Worden claimed he was unaware they were underage, but he later pleaded guilty to five charges, including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity.
The court heard that Worden, who admitted to using cocaine and alcohol heavily at the time, had no memory of the conversations, though a judge stated he had full awareness of his actions.
Judge Ben Gumpert KC described Worden as an “intelligent and manipulative person,” and sentencing him, he emphasized Worden’s control over his faculties during the offences.
On his release, Worden will be required to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order restricting internet usage.
