A FARMER from Devon has been given a suspended prison sentence for sexual offences. 

Andrew Webber, 53, of Bartridge Farm in Umberleigh, Devon, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual touching at Exeter Crown Court on September 19 2024. 

He pleaded not guilty to a third offence of sexual touching, but this offence is to lie on file.

According to Devon Live, Webber hugged and kissed a 16-year-old girl in a car, and grabbed her thigh before she managed to get away. When police were investigating Webber, they learned he was already being investigated for comments he had made to a decoy child online. 

He was given 10 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months, with a course to attend, and 70 hours unpaid work. 

Webber was also ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation and will be on the sex offenders register for 10 years with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years as well. 

Devon Live also reported that Webber was spared prison, after the judge was told it would result in him selling his livestock and losing his farm. 

Nick Lewin, defending, said: "A prison sentence will result in the farm having to be closed. Animals will have to be sold and he won't be able to buy them again.

"This will very likely to be the only time he appears before criminal court. He'll continue living an entirely law-abiding life, having done so for 53 years."