Man who rammed soiled underwear down young boy’s throat walks free from court

Stanley Haywood blames experience of his father doing same to him when he was young

Haywood arrives at Swindon Magistrates’ Court for sentencing on Monday (SWNS)

A 42-year-old man who forced faeces-filled underpants down a child’s throat has evaded jail time, blaming childhood “trauma” for his behaviour.

Stanley Haywood, of Cirencester, Gloucestershire, attacked the young boy moments after he told Haywood he had “had an accident,” Swindon Magistrates’ Court heard on Monday.

The youngster became “scared” after Haywood repeatedly asked him about the incident, leaving him to remain silent before heading upstairs to change his dirty clothes and clean himself up.

Haywood then followed the child and found him holding a soiled pair of underpants, prompting him to launch his attack.

“He grabbed [the underpants] from [the boy] and then he was grabbed by the defendant by the back of his head”, prosecutor Keith Ballinger told the court. “[Haywood] pulled his hair and used his other hand to push the underpants into [the boy’s] mouth.”

Magistrates heard how the child initially closed his mouth but was forced, by Haywood’s strength, to open it so the dirty underpants could be pushed in further.

A short time later, Mr Ballinger added, the child’s “shocked” mother found her son bleeding from the mouth and “excrement coating his teeth”.

She swiftly rushed him to Great Western Hospital, in Swindon, where he was assessed.

While doctors found bruising to the boy’s cheek and the back of his throat, no treatment was required. Haywood was arrested by Wiltshire Police a short time later.

In an interview while in custody, the 42-year-old told officers he did not remember most of the incident but insisted he was “disgusted and horrified” at his behaviour.

He was “very stressed” during this time and disclosed that “his father used to do the same to him when he was young”, Mr Ballinger, prosecuting, told the court.

At the time of the offence, he was already serving a community order imposed by Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court for possession of a bladed article in a public place.

Appearing for sentencing yesterday, Haywood, wearing a black coat, black jeans and a pair of blue trainers, sobbed loudly in the dock throughout the hearing.

He attended court with a psychiatrist, who told the court Haywood had a “complex trauma history” and has never received any treatment for his “obvious” mental health issues.

Mark Glendenning, defending, said his client was “devastated that he acted in this way and is ashamed of his actions”. He added Haywood was a recovering drug addict, “desperately struggling” at the time of the offence.

Labelling the vile attack as “very humiliating” for the victim, magistrates sentenced Haywood to a three-month prison sentence – but suspended it for 18 months. They also ordered him to pay the child, his victim, £100 in compensation.

As part of the order, Haywood was told he must complete an 18-month mental health treatment requirement and 25 rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) days.

Additional reporting by SWNS