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Between approximately 1996 and 1998, two men in Southport, Merseyside, England ran a scam to trick people into surrendering socks. They became known as the Southport Sockmen.[1]
Steven Bain and Steven Gawthrop would approach people in bars and clubs in Southport and buy the socks off their feet, claiming to be collecting them for charity. They would also take photos of the socks' owners and carefully keep track of their names and pictures. It later emerged that the men were foot fetishists and were hoarding the socks for their own sexual gratification.[2][3]
When the men's flat was raided, the police found socks in 18-inch-deep (460 mm) piles everywhere around the residence, such that one officer commented it was "like an explosion in a sock factory".[1][4] The socks were thought to number 10,000,[5] and later estimated at 30,000.[6] Bain and Gawthrop were both sentenced to 18 months incarceration, and were registered as sex offenders.[2][7]
Whilst in prison, the pair got a job working in the prison laundry cleaning prisoners' socks.[2][8]
In popular culture
editFilm
editIn 2016, a 14 minte short film titled Holes in their Souls, detailing the scam, was released.[9] The film's writer and director, Andy Smith, was one of the Sockmen's victims.[10] The film was independently funded, with a £10,000 budget raised in 28 days.[11]
Book
editIn 2017, author Kim Adrian released a novel adaptation titled Sock.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b "Curious case of pair's obsession with socks". Southport Visiter. 16 January 2009. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ^ a b c John Siddle (13 May 2015). "Southport perverts who swindled thousands of socks from drinkers to support bizarre foot fetish inspire new film". Liverpool Echo. Archived from the original on 18 June 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
- ^ "Fetishists Hoodwink Donors". Medicine Hat News. 4 June 1996. p. 34. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ^ "Sock it to Me - Weird News Story Archive". Thisistrue.com. 7 June 1998. Archived from the original on 18 June 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
- ^ Lake, Howard (2 June 1998). "Fraudulent fundraising leaves a bad smell". UK Fundraising. Archived from the original on 18 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ^ "Foot fetish perverts who swindled 15,000 people out of their socks 'for charity' heading for silver screen - Mirror Online". www.mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ "Foot fetishists who conned drinkers out of 15,000 pairs of socks remembered". Daily Record. 29 June 2021. Archived from the original on 18 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ^ Siddle, John (14 May 2015). "Foot fetish perverts who swindled 15,000 people out of their socks 'for charity' heading for silver screen". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 18 June 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
- ^ Holes in their Souls (2016) - IMDb. Retrieved 25 June 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
- ^ "Film about bizarre Southport Sockmen tale nears completion - Liverpool Echo". www.liverpoolecho.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ "Foot fetish perverts who swindled 15,000 people out of their socks 'for charity' heading for silver screen - Mirror Online". www.mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ Adrian, Kim (7 September 2017). Sock. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-5013-1508-4.
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