Foot fetish pervert freed

12:11pm Thursday 7th June 2007

A pervert with a foot fetish has been freed after his trial collapsed at St Albans Crown Court.

Martin Rodrigues, 37, had been in custody while waiting to face allegations of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity after asking a young girl in the street to walk on his jacket.

Rodrigues, of Marlborough Road, Watford, is the subject of a sexual offences prevention order banning him from taking pictures of girls' feet after pestering children in Cassiobury Park on previous occasions.

However, Rodrigues, also known as Spiers, stopped a girl in Watford on Wednesday, February 7, and asked her to walk on his jacket leaving her "footprints" on it.

The frightened girl told police and Rodrigues was arrested.

But the bizarre case came to an abrupt end on Tuesday when Judge Michael Baker threw the case out after an application from the defence that what Rodrigues had done did not constitute sexual activity under the Sexual Offences Act.

For full story see tomorrow's Watford Observer.