Man behind Willy Wonka experience blames backlash for becoming sexually abusive

The man behind Glasgow’s infamous Wonka experience has been placed on the sex offenders register for pestering a woman with unwanted sexual messages and explicit photos.

Billy Coull, 36, made headlines around the world earlier this year when his Willy’s Chocolate Experience went viral for all the wrong reasons.

He has now admitted engaging in abusive behaviour within weeks of the fiasco, telling Glasgow Sheriff Court the backlash to the terrible event took a toll on his mental health.

The court heard he started messaging a woman on Facebook using a false name in March. During the chats, which later continued over Snapchat and WhatsApp, Coull called himself a ‘wolf’ and the woman as his ‘prey’.

As well as the unwanted texts, he also bombarded her with selfies in his underwear and other intimate images which his victim ‘did not ask for or want’.

Prosecutor Iain Mathieson said: ‘Coull sent a snapchat of himself holding his belt with the caption, “Do you want me to do more?”

‘He then sent a picture in his underwear with the caption “Do you want me to go further?”’

Coull was put on the sex offenders register for a year after his behaviour was ruled to have had a ‘significant sexual element’ to it.

He was also ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and placed under 12 months’ supervision, STV reports.

His lawyer Neil Stewart told the court the former charity worker’s mental health ‘declined’ during the fallout from his disastrous Wonka event.

He told the court: ‘He has been distressed with the proceedings and will never do something of this nature again.’

According to Willy’s Chocolate website, the event promised ‘a whimsical place where chocolate dreams become reality’ and ‘a journey filled with wondrous creations and enchanting surprises at every turn!’.

There was to be ‘an enchanted garden, with giant sweets, vibrant blooms, mysterious looking sculptures and magical surprises’, plus ‘mind-expanding projections, optical marvels and exhibits that transport you into the realm of creativity.’

Instead, parents forking out £35 per ticket to take their families along were confronted with an ‘abandoned and empty warehouse’ filled with dire props and actors reading from an AI-generated script.

Sentencing Coull, Sheriff Mark Maguire said: ‘[The victim] told you to stop and you failed to desist and sent further messages of a menacing nature.

‘She told you to desist from using sexual language but despite this, you sent intimate images and messages of an alarming character.’

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