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Canterbury ex-nurse Dale Bolinger caught up in US cannibal plot trial appears in court charged with 11 offences

Canterbury nurse Dale Bolinger stood trial accused of attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming
Canterbury nurse Dale Bolinger stood trial accused of attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming

A Canterbury nurse arrested after his name emerged in the cannibal plot trial of a US policeman has today appeared in court accused of 11 offences.

Dale Bolinger, 57, is charged with administering poison to a woman in July 2010, and attempting to meet a 14-year-old girl after grooming her in September 2012.

He is also charged with two counts of possessing indecent images of children - four at the most serious level five and five at level one - in February this year.

The former nurse is also facing seven other charges of publishing an obscene article, allegedly committed between November 2011 and September last year.

Bolinger - formerly of Davidson Road in Canterbury, but who has since moved away from the area - appeared at Canterbury Magistrates' Court via video-link this afternoon.

Dressed in a black suit, white shirt and black and white tie, he spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth, and that he understood the charges against him.

Prosecutor Julie Farbrace said the poisoning charge was too serious to be dealt with at the magistrates' court, and asked for the case to be committed to the crown court.

Chairman Patricia Light agreed and adjourned the case until Monday, November 25, when Bolinger will appear at Canterbury Crown Court for a preliminary hearing.

He was released on bail until then, on the condition he does not try to contact the alleged poisoning victim or have any contact with children under 16.

He is also banned from owning or using a computer with internet access, except for at work or at a public library.

A Facebook picture shows Dale Bolinger with a pet snake around his neck
A Facebook picture shows Dale Bolinger with a pet snake around his neck

Mrs Light also imposed an order to restrict the reporting of Bolinger's new address, after a request from his solicitor, Emma Wright.Miss Wright said Bolinger had been forced to flee his Canterbury home after a brick was thrown through his window following his arrest in February.Bolinger was questioned by Kent Police in February after the force received a tip-off from FBI officials involved in the case of American officer Gilberto Valle, who was convicted of conspiracy to kill and eat women.

Officers with shovels and sniffer dogs swooped on his house in February and he was arrested and released on bail.

The former home of Dale Bolinger in Davidson Road, Canterbury
The former home of Dale Bolinger in Davidson Road, Canterbury

The court in the US heard Gilberto Valle had discussed cannibalism with a British man on an obscene fetish website.

The policeman was convicted in March of plotting to kidnap, cook and eat women - including his own wife.

Prosecutors said he conspired with others he met on fetish websites to abduct, torture and eat women he knew.

The FBI arrested the 28-year-old NYPD officer last year based on a tip by his now-estranged wife Kathleen Mangan.

Valle's lawyers said he was just fantasising and had no intention of harming anyone.

He also was found guilty of accessing a national crime database.

His sentencing in June was postponed indefinitely after he asked for a second trial.

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