Creator Of Failed "Willy Wonka Experience" Added To Sex Offenders Registry

The event's creator, William "Billy" Coull, has been added to the sex offenders registry for harassing a woman in a separate incident.

According to STV News, following the fallout from the "Willy Wonka Experience," Coull became the subject of a police investigation for harassing a woman over several months in 2024. The harassment included sending explicit messages and images. When the woman asked him to stop, he continued. One chilling message even described him as a “wolf” and the woman as his “prey.”

The viral "Willy Wonka Experience," promoted as a whimsical, candy-filled journey for Glasgow families, quickly became one of the biggest PR disasters of early 2024. Despite being marketed as a vibrant, magical space where "dreams become reality," the event was held in a cold warehouse in Glasgow.

Advertised with warped and unsettling AI-generated images of Willy Wonka (think misshapen fingers and elongated features), it was clear the marketing didn’t quite match the reality. But no one could have anticipated just how far the gap would be between expectation and delivery.

Parents paid £35 ($44.39) per ticket and arrived only to find a few candy-themed props and a bouncy castle in a desolate warehouse. Kids cried, the police were called, and the event was shut down midway through its run.

One attendee, Eva Stewart, described her experience, explaining that it took her family just five minutes to walk through the entire setup. "It was basically advertised as this big massive Willy Wonka experience with optical illusions and big chocolate fountains and sweets," Stewart said. "But when we got there, it was practically an abandoned, empty warehouse, with hardly anything in it."

Despite pleading guilty to engaging in criminal behavior, Coull's actions led to him being placed on the sex offenders registry for a year, a sentence that also included 120 hours of community service and one year under supervision.

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