Portsmouth man, 28, handed six-year prison sentence for ‘traumatic’ sexual offences used Facebook Marketplace to meet victim

Zackery Stephen Bell, of South Avenue, appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court on June 23 for sentence having previously pleaded guilty to sexual offences against two women that took place in Waterlooville and West Sussex.

He has now been given a prison sentence of four years for the Sussex offence and two years for the offence in Hampshire.

Detective Constable Keeka Crewe-Way, of Hampshire Constabulary’s Eastern Criminal Investigation Department, said: ‘I hope that this sentence helps these women gain some form of closure and be able to start to move on with their lives.’

Bell was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten years, and a lifetime Restraining Order relating to both victims, and he will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

The 28-year-old went to the home of the Waterlooville victim on December 6, 2020, over an advert on Facebook Marketplace.

Once inside the address, Bell forcibly kissed the victim - now 30 - and touched her inappropriately over her clothing before he was disturbed and left.

He then sent the victim a message via Facebook asking her to meet up again.

The incident was reported to police the next day and an investigation was launched, leading to the arrest of Bell.

He was later charged with sexual assault.

While he was on bail for the sexual assault, he went to stay with a woman he knew in Chichester.

He was supposed to be staying on the sofa for the night, but in the early hours of Boxing Day morning, he went into the bedroom of the victim while she was asleep and sexually assaulted her.

This awoke the victim who shouted at him to leave.

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Detective Constable Jason Berney of the West Sussex Safegurding Investigations Unit said: ‘It took the victim a great deal of courage to come forward and report, as Bell was known to her and it was a very distressing predicament for her.

‘However she did this and he was successfully convicted which is great testament to her resolution.

‘In addition to this, she then had to cope with the fact that Bell went on the run for a period of time, but he was tracked down which led to his being located and arrested.’

For information on what to do if you have been the victim of sexual assault, including the support available and how to report, visit: hampshire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rsa/rape-and-sexual-assault.

For advice on keeping yourself safe when buying and selling online, visit hampshire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/fa/fraud/personal-fraud/online-shopping or getsafeonline.org.

Detective Constable Keeka Crewe-Way added: ‘These were understandably extremely traumatic ordeals for the women involved and I cannot commend them enough for their courage and bravery in coming forward and telling us what happened, and for their strength throughout the criminal justice process.

‘We know it’s incredibly difficult for people to report incidents of this nature but with the help of these women we were able to secure a guilty plea and bring this man to justice.’