Man behind botched Willy Wonka event exposed as sex pest

Billy Coull harassed a woman via messages after being criticised internationally when his low budget Glasgow exhibit left children in tears

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The man behind the notorious Willy Wonka experience that left children in tears because of its low quality has been exposed as a sex pest.
Billy Coull, 36, who made international headlines after footage of his low-budget Glasgow exhibit went viral, has been placed on the sex offenders register for hounding his female victim with a barrage of sexual messages.
His lawyer blamed Coull’s action on a decline in his mental health, because of the global attention and ridicule the botched event had attracted.
The £35 a head Willy Wonka experience, held in a Glasgow warehouse in February, promised a day “where dreams come to life” and was promoted with elaborate marketing.
However, it was axed within hours and police were called after furious parents complained that their children had been offered half cups of lemonade and small rations of jelly beans, in “little more than an abandoned, empty warehouse”.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that weeks after his event ended in disaster, Coull began messaging his victim online.
He repeatedly sent explicit pictures and messages to her despite being told to stop. One of the texts stated that Coull was a “wolf” and that she was his “prey”.
He was accused of messaging his victim from a fake Facebook account in March. He continued to message the woman on Snapchat and WhatsApp and used “sexual language”. Coull referred to her as “sexy”, “sugar lips” and “my wee charm”.
On July 2, Coull sent a Snapchat saying: “I’m the wolf and you are my prey, I will get you.”
The matter was then reported to the police and Coull, of Anniesland in Glasgow, was arrested.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that Coull suffered a “decline in his mental health” owing to the “significant media attention” which included a documentary being made about him.
Stories about the event, and now infamous images of a sad-looking actress portraying an Oompa Loompa and a bizarre masked villain called The Unknown, featured in outlets including CNN, the New York Times and the Rolling Stone.
The event provoked comparisons to notorious flop events which do not live up to their marketing, such as the 2017 Fyre Festival in The Bahamas, which promised to be a luxury VIP music festival but turned into a viral disaster.
Neil Stewart, defending Coull, told the sentencing hearing: “He has been distressed with the proceedings and will never do something of this nature again.”
Sheriff Mark Maguire, sentencing, said that the custodial threshold had been passed by Coull but he was able to impose an “alternative to custody”. He had earlier pleaded guilty to engaging in a course of criminal behaviour which was abusive.
The former charity worker was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid work and put under supervision for a year. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for 12 months.
Sheriff Maguire added: “She told you to desist from using sexual language but despite this, you sent intimate images and messages of an alarming character.
“She told you to stop and you failed to desist and sent further messages of a menacing nature.”
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