Description
A judge has ordered sex offender Fintan Burke to remain in custody for re-evaluation of his risk to the public.
The 35-year-old, formerly of Newbury and latterly of no fixed address, horrified witnesses by committing a sex act in public view on the Kennet and Avon Canal towpath near Toomers Wharf last July, causing a woman in her 60s to end up in the water.
He also faces sentencing for assaulting emergency workers and racially aggravated public order offences.
Burke, pictured in a 2017 Thames Valley Police custody photo before his jailing for assault causing grievous bodily harm, has prior convictions for outraging public decency and indecent exposure.
He was due for sentencing at Reading Crown Court on Thursday, January 8, but refused to participate via video link despite the presence of barristers, judge, and staff.
Defense barrister Naomi Perry requested an adjournment, saying: “I can only ask for an adjournment in the hope that he will deign to attend [next time].”
Prosecutor Tom Blackburn urged proceeding in his absence.
Judge Rachel Drake, noting difficulty, highlighted a pre-sentence report deeming Burke a “high risk” to the public. She feared his mental health had deteriorated since a three-month-old assessment, adding: “If I were to simply sentence him today or adjourn until next week when he could refuse to come on the [prison video] link, it’s likely he would be released immediately or very shortly thereafter [due to time spent in custody on remand].”
Although a prior psychiatric report found him fit to plead and understand proceedings, Judge Drake worried this might no longer hold. She refused to sentence and release him without an updated report, stating: “If he is not now fit to plead, or his condition has deteriorated such that he should be in hospital, then now is the right time to make that decision rather than him being released now or in February and breaching the terms of his [mandated early release on licence] recall terms or committing another offence and having to start again and be assessed from scratch.”
She ordered assessment by the same psychiatrist to detect any changes and adjourned sentencing to Thursday, February 5, remanding Burke in custody.