MARTIN VINES FROM GOATACRE BANNED FROM SOCIAL MEDIA AFTER ONLINE PREDATOR BEHAVIOR IN WILTSHIRE

In a significant development in the ongoing efforts to protect vulnerable individuals from online predators, magistrates have issued a comprehensive sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) against Martin Vines, a man with a troubling history of inappropriate behavior and online misconduct. Vines, aged 51 and residing on Quakers Walk in Goatacre, has been under scrutiny by law enforcement authorities following disturbing discoveries made during routine investigations.

Back in 2016, Vines was convicted and sentenced to a community order after being found in possession of explicit images involving children. Despite this prior conviction, concerns about his online activities persisted, prompting further scrutiny by Wiltshire Police. According to Louise Ravenscroft, a lawyer representing the police, there have been serious worries about Vines’s conduct on social media platforms since a key discovery less than two years ago.

Regular home visits carried out by Detective Constable Deborah Cook’s team, part of the public protection unit, uncovered evidence suggesting that Vines posed a significant risk to the public, especially to children. On September 30, 2019, officers seized a laptop from his residence, which revealed that Vines had created two fake social media profiles under the names ‘Samantha’ on Facebook and Instagram. These profiles were used to engage in conversations with real teenage girls—some under 16 and others over that age—as well as with adult women.

Vines reportedly told officers that his motivation for creating these profiles was a desire to understand what it was like to be female, expressing a wish to identify as a woman. However, Ravenscroft pointed out that he could have sought this understanding through conversations with adults rather than engaging in deceptive online behavior. Further investigations in 2020 revealed that Vines continued to operate these fake profiles, maintaining contact with females under the alias ‘Samantha’ despite being advised against such activity. Some of these interactions reportedly contained sexualized content, although no formal charges have yet been filed by Wiltshire Police regarding these communications.

The court was informed that the individuals communicating with Vines believed they were speaking to a teenage girl, highlighting the potential danger posed by his deception. Ravenscroft emphasized that Vines had been using multiple devices to carry out his activities, blatantly ignoring advice to restrict himself to a single device and to allow police inspections if necessary. Evidence also indicated that he frequently deleted his internet browsing history to conceal his online actions, making it more challenging for authorities to monitor and protect potential victims.

As a result of these findings, the magistrates decided to impose a five-year SHPO on Vines. This order includes 13 specific prohibitions related to internet and device usage, aimed at preventing further misconduct. Notably, the order was extended to include a ban on the use or downloading of Virtual Private Network (VPN) software, which Vines had been known to employ to hide his online identity.

It is also significant to note that Vines will soon be released from the current requirement to register as a sex offender, unless the court grants an extension of the SHPO. Without this order, he would be entirely unsupervised, posing a potential risk to the community. The court’s decision underscores the importance of ongoing supervision and restrictions to safeguard the public, especially vulnerable groups such as children, from individuals with a history of sexual offenses and deceptive online behavior.