'Fetishist' dumped soiled nappies at nurseries

Abbi Taylor admitted multiple offences

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A "diaper fetishist" who repeatedly dumped soiled nappies outside nurseries and was caught raking through bins semi-naked has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Abbi Taylor also smeared faeces on children's bottles and was filmed with her trousers down in a bin at a South Shields block of flats, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Taylor, who identifies as female, had a history of similar offending in the Nottingham area before moving to the North East, the court heard.

Taylor, who admitted depositing controlled waste and breaching a court order that had banned the 46-year-old from attending nurseries or climbing into bins, was jailed for two years suspended for two years.

Staff at nurseries in Jarrow, Cleadon and South Shields frequently arrived at work to find bags of soiled adult nappies dumped on their doorsteps between October 2022 and November 2023, prosecutor Jane Foley said.

Initially it was believed the waste was left accidentally by nursery workers or even dumped as part of a campaign by a childcare rival, the court heard.

Investigations revealed the nappies were larger than those used by the children and on one occasion sections of carpet smeared with faeces were found in the dumped bags, Ms Foley said.

Staff also caught Taylor, of Newmarket Walk in South Shields, going through their clinical waste bins before fleeing, Ms Foley said.

On one occasion a haul of 50 used nappies was found and excrement had been smeared on children's milk bottles and fire escapes, the court heard.

In a statement read to the court, one of the nursery managers said staff had been traumatised by the "really sinister" episodes.

One nursery spent £3,000 improving security while others had spent hundreds of pounds installing CCTV and lighting, Ms Foley said.

Taylor's actions had left staff fearing to enter and leave work and parents wanting to remove their children from the nurseries, the court heard.

In September 2024, a resident at a flat block in South Shields caught Taylor naked from the waist down inside a bin bag in a wheelie bin in the communal waste store, the court heard.

The man filmed Taylor pulling up her trousers and fleeing, the court heard.

'Adult baby diaper lover'

In the early hours of 4 April, Taylor was caught on CCTV searching a bin outside a home on Wansbeck Mews, South Shields, and making off with an item while leaving rubbish strewn across the garden, Ms Foley said.

The actions meant Taylor breached a criminal behaviour order made in April 2023 at Nottinghamshire Magistrates' Court, which banned her from going within 100m of nurseries, being inside a bin or wearing any incontinence aid over clothing, the court heard.

That three year-long order was made after Taylor was convicted of causing harassment alarm or distress, having been seen climbing out of a bin while wearing a nappy at a nursery in Nottingham, Ms Foley said.

Taylor had 90 offences on her criminal record, many committed under the previous name of Martin Tarling, and in November 2014 was found partially clothed in a bin of nappies, the court heard.

A Facebook account search found a post Taylor had made depicting herself in cartoon form wearing a nappy, with a caption declaring she was an "adult baby diaper lover", the court heard.

'Bizarre behaviour'

In mitigation, Nick Lane said Taylor's motivations were not sexual but regressing into childhood behaviour was a "coping mechanism" for stress and a "comfort" to address childhood trauma.

He said psychiatric reports confirmed a "diaper fetishist" was "not simply linked to sexual arousal" but could symbolise a more "carefree" time in a person's life with a "return to childhood innocence" providing "psychological comfort" and a "unique form of self expression".

He also said Taylor's medical record showed references to her identifying as female as long ago as 1993, adding it was not a "recent development or claim".

While being held on remand at HMP Durham since May, Taylor had been attacked several times by other inmates and now spends her time alone in a cell, Mr Lane told the court.

Recorder Richard Herrmann said it "must have been horrifying" for parents leaving their children at nurseries where Taylor had "strewn" waste.

The judge said the "highly unusual" case was made "more troubling" by Taylor's "failure to properly explain" the motivation for the "bizarre" behaviour, adding it was "surprising" the defendant had not been diagnosed with any "acute" mental health condition.

But Taylor had not had the opportunity to work with probation services before and her three months in prison had been "very difficult", the judge said.

Taylor was also ordered to do 100 hours' unpaid work and will have to wear a GPS tag for a year.