EDWIN TOOP, FARNBOROUGH SEX OFFENDER, FINED FOR FAILURE TO UPDATE POLICE IN ALDERSHOT

A sex offender has been fined after admitting he failed to inform police of his current residence. Edwin Eddie Toop, 52, is obligated to visit his nearest police station at least once annually to update his whereabouts, as outlined in his sex offender notification requirements. Magistrates in Aldershot heard on Thursday, September 9, that this year, Toop did not provide police with his Farnborough address, breaching his obligations.

Toop was convicted in 2006 of two counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity. He was sentenced to five years in prison following a trial at Reading Crown Court. The court heard that he had forced his victim to perform sexual acts on him on at least two occasions.

At the time of the offending, Toop was employed as a bus driver in Reading and was on sick leave after a gang threw acid into his eyes, an attack that led to his injuries. His employer, Reading Buses, faced criticism for allowing him to continue driving buses for a year after the allegations emerged.

Prosecutor David Renwick told magistrates that Toop last informed police of his address, Curly Bridge Close in Farnborough, on August 17 of the previous year.