Cannibal fetish nurse was 'not intent on killing and eating' girl he met online, court hears

Dale Bolinger said his motivation for going to Ashford International Station following their agreement to meet was out of concern

Dale Bolinger arranged to meet the girl via a fetish website (PA)

A “fantasist” nurse with a cannibalism fetish who is accused of sexually grooming a 14-year-old girl online is “more Walter Mitty than Hannibal Lecter”, his lawyer told jurors today.

Dale Bolinger, 58, arranged to meet the girl via a fetish website after telling her he would kill her with an axe and then eat her, Canterbury Crown Court has heard.

The father-of-three bought the axe from a store in Broadstairs, Kent, the day before he planned to meet the Mexican girl called “Eva” who was living in Hamburg, Germany.

But jurors heard that “Eva”, whose true identity has never been uncovered, failed to show up at Ashford International Station. Under cross-examination, Mr Bolinger said he had made “very serious mistakes” but that he had not been intent on killing and eating “Eva”.

He said his motivation for going to Ashford International Station following their agreement to meet was out of concern. Mr Bolinger told the court: “I wasn’t going to take off anyone’s head. It would have been horrible.”

In his closing speech, Mr Bolinger’s defence counsel Paul Jarvis said: “It’s quite clear that Mr Bolinger is far more Walter Mitty than Hannibal Lecter.”

Mr Bolinger denies one charge of attempting to meet a girl under the age of 16 following sexual grooming.

The jury have retired to consider their verdicts.