Robert Warren Bates (left) with his co-star
Robert Warren Bates (left) as Joe the Plumber
Robert 'Basher' Bates
The convicted child abuse grandson of psychopathic Shankill Butcher Robert ‘Basher’ Bates has become a gay porn ‘star’.
The Sunday World can reveal Robert Warren Bates has made a seedy career as a no-holds-barred hard-core porn actor featuring in internet movies and £20 DVDs.
Bates, who is 24, fled his Shankill Road home in 2008 after getting death threats – five years after he had committed a string of illegal sex acts against a boy under 10.
The whole affair sparked a feud between various UVF-linked families on the Shankill Road.
The thug, who received serious beatings from paramilitaries, later returned to the Shankill where he launched a terrifying attack on the home of the grandparents of his young victim.
After he escaped a jail sentence again he went back to England to live when he received more death threats.
It’s from his new home of London where he has etched out a career as a gay porn ‘star’.
Going under the name ‘Joe the Plumber’ Bates plays a handyman who does more than fix a leaky tap.
Some of the videos are free to watch online and are extremely hard-core, often involving sex with several men at the same time.
He also shot a number of DVDs, which cost £20, called ‘Man and Van: Joe The Plumber’.
According to the blurb on the film it states: “We all know there’s not enough honest tradesmen – cowboy builders, rip-off prices, etc. Well, in Man & Van: Joe the Plumber the rough lad not only comes round and does a good honest day’s work unblocking your plug hole and attending to your old boiler, he also helps out with any other needs his customer’s might have.
“Whether it’s in the bathroom, the kitchen Joe’s always got his bag of tools ready and he’s always willing to lend a hand. And he ain’t adverse to sh***** his work mates either.”
The shocking sex scenes throw into doubt his recent claim that being named and shamed on a paedophile facebook page had left him scared to leave his house.
We understand Bates issued legal proceedings against the website in an effort to have his name and face removed.
Bates’ grandfather, known as Robert ‘Basher’ Bates, was one of the most notorious killers in the Troubles after he was involved in at least 10 grisly murders as one of the Shankill Butchers UVF gang.
Basher Bates mugshot
‘Basher’ was killed by loyalists in 1997 in a revenge attack for killing someone in a bar brawl 20 years before.
One Shankill loyalist told the Sunday World: “This isn’t a massive shock to the people who know Bates on the Shankill Road.
“It’s not the first time he has been involved in acting. He used to be involved in doing musical work when he was a community worker before he was discovered to be a child abuser.
“I’m pretty sure this isn’t the kind of thing he imagined he would end up doing when he got involved in that, or maybe it’s exactly what he wanted to get into.
“Either way it’s the talk of the Shankill and has caused massive embarrassment for his family once again... can’t ever see him coming back here now.”
Bates, who was 13 at the time he committed the sex abuse offences, had been charged with 14 offences including indecent assault and gross indecency.
However in 2009 the then 19-year-old did a deal with the PPS along with the permission of the victim’s family, that he would plead guilty to three counts of gross indecency.
He was sentenced to a year’s youth conference order and told to sign the sex offender’s register for 30 months.
Bates fled to Liverpool after his life was threatened but he soon returned in a violent rage.
In 2010 when Bates was 19, he fled Belfast Crown Court after his two-and-a-half year custodial term was suspended for three years.
The thug pulled his hood down over his face and sprinted to a waiting van to avoid having his picture taken minutes after the suspended term was imposed.
Bates admitted aggravated burglary with intent to cause criminal damage and causing criminal damage on April 2 last year.
The court heard that the home belonged to the grandparents of Bates’ young victim.
After pouring the paint stripper over the couple’s car, causing almost £5,000 of damage, he began beating the front door down with the sledgehammer.
As Bates forced his way in the husband locked himself into a bedroom but could hear Bates roaming around the house, shouting threats, smashing doors, windows and fixtures.
Police who arrived at the scene found Bates outside the house with the weapons still in hand and the officer drew his gun as he felt that his CS spray “would be inadequate”.