Brethren Criminality — Part Two

As reported by the Wiltshire Gazette & Herald, Brethren member Oscar Holley walked free from court despite being caught with over 1,000 child abuse images, after the judge heard he "played a strong role in his community and church".

Over a three-year period, Holley searched for abusive images of children aged between 0 and 5, including entering deeply disturbing search terms. He used a TOR browser to access the dark web, a history eraser and eight VPN applications on his mobile phone. Wiltshire Police's child internet exploitation team was alerted that an IP address in the Chippenham area had accessed child abuse material. Officers attended Holley's address in Dauntsey, Wiltshire and spoke to his mother. The following day, his father called the investigating officer and reported that his son had confessed.

At least 1,100 indecent images of children were recovered — police stopped counting before establishing the true total. Images found on the mobile phone included 196 at Category A (the most serious), 528 at Category B and 550 at Category C. Multiple victims were under the age of two years old.

In mitigation, defence counsel described his client as possessing "the most significant cumulation of mitigating features", pointing to his previous good character, age and immaturity. He said the then 23-year-old had "led quite a sheltered life" and lacked "the typical sexual maturity" of a person his age at the time of offending. He likened the behaviour to falling down a "rabbit hole" in the "privacy" of his bedroom. He added: "We have evidence of a young man that is family-orientated, hard-working, conscientious, someone who plays a strong role in his community and church," noting that Holley cleared footpaths and helped elderly people in his parish.

Judge Jason Taylor QC said the "strong" mitigation outweighed the requirement for immediate custody, telling Holley: "I'm sure this has dawned on you by now — you were a cog in this whole industry, because if people like you didn't access them, they wouldn't be produced. The children you witnessed were real and they will have real consequences for the rest of their lives." He warned Holley that any further offending would result in prison, and placed his trust in him to stay in close contact with his family.

Holley was given a two-year jail term, suspended for two years, with 20 rehabilitation activity days, 175 hours of unpaid work and a ten-year sexual harm prevention order restricting his contact with young people and internet usage.

Our investigation established that Oscar Holley is still working as a Sales Manager in the family business. He shares content regularly on LinkedIn under the name Oscar H. rather than his full name. We would be surprised if many of his customers are aware of his background.

We suspect he was not excommunicated — likely "withdrawn from" temporarily around the time of the court case. We base this on analysis of LinkedIn engagement: around May 2022, likes on his posts came from non-Brethren customers and family; more recent posts attract likes from across the wider Brethren community. Holley appears to have worked for the family company before, during and after the 2022 court case. The family business has seen significant growth, with revenues reaching AUD $46 million (£23 million) in 2024.

As reported by Cambridge News, Brethren member Brooke Watney pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving and was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months. He was also disqualified from driving for two years, ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work and to pay prosecution costs of £500.

Watney, aged 20 at the time, was involved in a crash with motorcyclist Clive Kingsley (63) on Long Lane, Fowlmere, in February 2017. A dashcam from Watney's car was removed from the scene by his father, but was later recovered by police at the family home in Little Abington. The footage showed Watney was on the wrong side of the road when he collided with Mr Kingsley's motorbike, and that the bike had been in full view of his car for three seconds before the collision. Watney said he was distracted but could not recall by what, noting he had looked down while struggling to change gear.

Mr Kingsley had been on his way home from work. A neighbour who heard the crash rushed outside and saw Watney's car swerving as if trying to regain control. Mr Kingsley was found in a roadside bush. His wife Sue stated in her victim impact statement: "Wednesday, February 15, 2017, is the day my life as I know it ended." She added: "Months on it's still the same total devastation, my whole life will never be normal... when he died, part of me also died." The couple had been together 40 years, had two sons and were about to begin building their dream home.

In mitigation, defence counsel said: "He is not a typical carefree young person, he's a deeply religious person in conscience and spirit, he's a young man of committed faith. He has deeply felt the shame of the actions." The court heard that Watney, as a Brethren member, had already been given a community order by his church with 17 months still to run.

Sentencing judge David Farrell QC said: "You had ample opportunity, if paying attention, to steer out of the pathway of the motorbike and avoid the collision." He added there was "a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and strong personal mitigation, in particular your age and steps taken by you."

Following the crash, our investigation found that Brooke Watney left his customer service role at Brethren-owned company Accora in April 2017, joined the Watney family business in August 2017 and is now its General Manager. We can also confirm he has volunteered for the Brethren-owned Rapid Relief Team — where we suspect he completed his PBCC "community order".

Carlton Slegg pleaded guilty to impersonating a police officer at Staines Magistrates Court. This case was not reported by any local media outlet. It was brought to our attention by a source inside the Brethren, who informed us — incorrectly — that Slegg had received a six-month custodial sentence. We contacted Carlton Slegg directly. A conversation took place, following which we obtained the court records confirming the guilty plea. He was sentenced to a curfew with electronic monitoring, rehabilitation activity, unpaid work and an order to deprive him of the right to blue lights seized from the vehicle. We subsequently provided Slegg with an opportunity to comment before publication. No response was received.

Prior to the court case, we were already familiar with Carlton Slegg from our Covid contracts investigations. Before the pandemic, he was an Associate in Client Relations, EMEA, at the Hales-owned Unispace, where he worked alongside Brethren member Ross Robertson — who later founded Medco Solutions, one of the largest UK Government PPE and testing contract winners. Slegg was himself actively involved in PPE supply during the pandemic, with regular LinkedIn posts and activity linking him to PPE sourcing. Following the pandemic, he joined the Hales-owned Sante Group — the company established by Gareth and Charles Hales after the Unispace sale.

In June 2024, Slegg left Sante to become a Senior Associate at Woodalls — the interior outfitting company owned by the Woodcock family, who had been the original founders of Unispace in the UK.

We were surprised by the decision to excommunicate Slegg, particularly given his close involvement with the Hales, Hazell and Woodcock families, and in contrast to the treatment of Oscar Holley and Brooke Watney — neither of whom, despite more serious offences, appears to have been excommunicated. It would also run counter to information provided to us from sources inside the Brethren, suggesting that every effort is currently being made to retain members during a difficult period for the church. Since his excommunication and departure from Woodalls in July 2025, Slegg has, according to his LinkedIn profile, secured a new position as European Director at Thirdway — a non-Brethren interior outfitting company.

As we were preparing to publish this article, a further case appeared in the East Anglian Daily Times — once again featuring a Brethren member deploying church membership as courtroom mitigation.

Kester Fentiman, of Common Road, Weston Colville, was caught driving on the A11 at Mildenhall more than twice the legal alcohol limit, the day after a Christmas party in December 2025. The court heard that Fentiman was in the process of taking over the family business from his father. The business employs 30 people and Fentiman holds a sales representative role within it.

The court heard that Fentiman is a practising member of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church — described as a branch of Christianity. The potential impact of a driving ban on his employees, family and his commitment to his church and charity activities were all raised. It was stated that Fentiman attends church every day and three times on Sundays, with his place of worship described as being a 28-mile round trip from his home.

Fentiman was given a 23-month driving ban, fined £1,750, ordered to pay surcharges of £700 and costs of £110 — a total of £2,560. The presiding magistrates informed him this was the minimum ban they could impose and that they had taken his previous good character into account.

The claim of a 28-mile round trip to his place of worship prompted us to investigate. Fentiman gave his address as Common Road, Weston Colville. We found that there is a Brethren meeting room — owned by the Radegund Gospel Hall Trust, registered at 50 Chapel Road, Weston Green — less than one mile from that address. One of the trustees of this meeting room is Brentley Fentiman, Kester's brother. Meeting room planning applications routinely emphasise local need as a justification. The 28-mile round trip claim appears difficult to reconcile with what we found.