BREAKING: Disgraced ex-Wes Streeting aide handed suspended prison sentence

A disgraced ex-aide to Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been spared jail after exposing himself to a teenage girl and following her.

Sam Gould, 33, was on Monday sentenced to 22 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years after admitting two counts of exposure earlier this year. Gould, who worked in Mr Streeting's office handling casework, pleaded guilty last month.

The former councillor was seen by a 13-year-old girl masturbating in his parked car in Romford on March 8. He then followed the girl who hid and knocked on nearby flats to try and get help, prosecutors say.

He was also seen by a woman masturbating while he was seated in a Mini Cooper with the windows down on Patricia Drive in Hornchurch on February 9, Barkingside Magistrates' Court heard. The former parliamentary candidate was suspended by the and resigned from his role as a Redbridge councillor back in March.

Earlier this year the Health Secretary Mr Streeting voiced his "horror" over the case. He said: "There are no words to express my horror that a mother and her daughter have been put through this ordeal, and will have to deal with the trauma of it for some time to come.

"As soon as I was made aware of his arrest he was suspended, and as soon as the guilty plea was entered I took immediate steps to sack him through official HR processes."

The 13-year-old girl's mum previously told The Sun her daughter is now scared to leave the house. She said: “We’re meant to be able to trust people in power. It’s worrying to know that he has worked with vulnerable people and school-aged children.”

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