A man who made "highly offensive and sexually explicit" phone calls to schools or nurseries in Watford has been jailed.

Joel Deeny made phone calls that were indecent or grossly offensive in their nature to five different schools or nurseries around Hertfordshire between 8 to 14 December 2020.

According to the Ipswich Star, Deeny, who previously lived in Watford, called Laurance Haines Primary School in the town on December 8 before contacting Squirrels Day Nursery in Hertfordshire a day later. 

The 33-year-old then called Boys and Girls Nursery Group - which has settings in Watford, Rickmansworth, Croxley and Stanmore – on December 10 before making a further offensive call to Watford Grammar School for Girls on December 13.

He had also contacted Grove Academy School on December 14 before being arrested on December 15.

Deeny, of Fuchsia Lane, Ipswich, pleaded guilty to five counts of making an electronic communication, namely phone calls, that were indecent or grossly offensive in their nature.

Suffolk Constabulary says Deeny also made admissions to a further 29 offences of a similar nature that were taken into consideration during his sentencing at Ipswich Crown Court.

The vast majority of these - 17 - took place on December 5, 2020 to various schools and nurseries in the Ipswich area.

The other offences took place between December 4 and December 9 in Ipswich and one offence to an establishment in Surrey.

Deeny's arrest and subsequent searches identified the phone and SIM card that had been used to commit the offences and further evidence linking Deeny to the phone.

He was sentenced to 20 months in jail on Thursday, June 3.

Duncan Etchells, from Suffolk Constabulary’s Op Converter unit, said: "The content of these telephone calls were highly offensive and sexually explicit in their nature and tone and would have been very distressing for the recipients to hear.

“They were left on the voice mail systems of various schools and nurseries.  He showed remorse for the calls that he had made whilst he was under the influence of controlled drugs and wished to apologise to those for whom he had caused such offence.”

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