This British Has 22 Children From 11 Wives

Former neighbours of a father of 22, this week spared jail for drug dealing, have spoken of his lavish lifestyle, impressive cars and raucous late-night parties in a caravan.

Raymond Hull, 58, who has children by 11 women despite only having been married once, appears to have enjoyed the trappings of wealth - BMWs, foreign holidays, and presents for his numerous girlfriends - despite having been out of work for a decade.

Hull, who already had 31 convictions and has been jailed four times, was had his prison sentence suspended this week after asking a judge to let him go so that he could care for his newest child - seven-month-old Barry.

'I just love kids': Raymond Hull, who was spared jail for dealing drugs, with his 22nd and youngest child Barry

'Great dad': Hull has defended his record as a father, saying he loves his kids - some of whom he cannot name

Residents of Wigton, Cumbria, where Hull used to live with ex-girlfriend Vanessa Wright, 32, told the Daily Mirror how he had BMWs and even a speedboat in his driveway, and would post photographs of himself enjoying fry-ups while holidaying abroad.

They also attacked him for holding wild parties in a caravan - described as 'pure madness' - almost forcing his neighbours to move away.

One said: 'It was just awful. There was a caravan, a speedboat and a double decker bus parked in the drive or in the street.

'The place was like ­Piccadilly Circus. We were on the verge of moving out as we couldn’t take any more. It’s nice and quiet here now.'

Estimates for the total cost of Hull's lifestyle - totalling up his unemployment payouts, housing benefits as well as handouts to support his children - suggest that he could have cost the taxpayer more than £1million.

Meanwhile, it emerged that one of his daughters, 23-year-old Rianna, posted a jeering message online where, in poor English, she thanked taxpayers for supporting her life of idleness.

She wrote: 'Jst gta announce that i love every working person in cumbria cz fanx to uze i get to sit on my jeer all day nd help use spend yr wagez ! Yaz no hw t spend it wisely ya jenerous f***z xxxxx.'

But despite his record - and the fact that he seems unable to name all his children - Hull last night insisted that he is 'a great dad'.

Speaking to The Sun, he said: 'People might have a pop at me but I love my kids. I can't help it if I'm so fertile and it's not my fault I can't work.

'I keep in touch with as many of my kids as I can and they come round for dinner every week - I'm a great dad — all my kids will tell you that.'

When asked by reporters to list all of his children, Hull could only manage 15 - and says that the remaining seven do not know he is their father.

After his court hearing this week, Hull, who has been married only once insisted ‘I just love kids’, but admitted he was in contact with only ‘about 12’ of them.

Despite police finding a stash of cannabis and text messages from customers, a judge accepted he was helping to raise child number 22 while his partner returned to work.

With ‘considerable hesitation’ the judge went on to impose a suspended sentence.

Afterwards Hull – who has a series of convictions dating back four decades – defended his unconventional lifestyle, saying he had ‘never been short of offers’.

‘I just love kids,’ he said. ‘I don’t regret anything, even though I don’t speak to them all. Some of them don’t even know I’m their dad.’ And he bragged: ‘I don’t know what it is about me, but I’m never short of offers.

 

Raymond Hull narrowly missed time behind bars when his 18-month jail sentence was suspended to allow him to care for his youngest son Barry

‘It’s just my luck that every time I have a one-night stand, the girl ends up getting pregnant.

'I've never had to chase after women. I'm easy going, they are always chasing me.

'If it's tidy, you don't knock it back, do you?'

‘I only know one or two of their birthdays, but they don’t mind. One of the girls got a sister for her birthday one year,’ he recalled yesterday.

The couple split up and Hull is listed as the father of three children – Leon, now 23, Rianna, 22, and Kane, 20 – by his next partner.

Two years ago he set up home in the Cumbrian village of Aspatria with a bakery worker less than half his age, 26-year-old Emma McNeil, and last year she gave birth to a baby boy, Barry. However, when he appeared in court this week he claimed to have fathered a total of 22 children.

Explaining how he fathered so many children by so many women, he said yesterday: ‘I’ve only been married once. I’ve got five kids with one woman; three with another; three with another; and three with another. I’ve got two kids with one woman and little Barry with Emma.

MEET THE FAMILY: RAYMOND HULL'S CHILDREN

When asked by The Sun to name all of his children, Hull made it up to 15 before stopping.

He added that the remaining seven do not know he is their father.

They are:

Naomi, 39, Michael, 39, Raymond, 38, Joseph, 36, AdrIan, 34, Rebecca MarIe, 29, Leon, 23, Rianna, 22, Kane, 20, Callum, 10, CaItlyn, 9, Connor, 16, Reece, 16, Abbie, 14, and Barry, seven months.

Seven more were not named.

‘The others were just one each with different women.

'Some of the girls were happy to give the relationship a go, others did not want anything to do with me after they got pregnant. I still keep in touch with all the women now though. I get on better with them now we've split.

'I agreed with some of my exes now that if they get married to someone else, and another man raises the kid, it is not my kid anymore. I see 14 of my kids who know I am their dad all the time'.

Hull hasn’t worked for ten years because of a bad back and says 'it must be from running round after all these kids all these years'.

A picture of Hull was once placed on Facebook of him clutching a condom and smiling, and his son Raymond Jr posted: 'You wanna learn how to use them.'

The house of father-of-22 Raymond Hull: His most recent offspring is just seven-months-old, while he claims his eldest is 39

Carlisle Crown Court, where a judge decided to suspend Hull's jail sentence so he could look after his youngest child

He claimed to be in debt – but his baby son was playing with an iPad when a reporter visited this week. Hull, who also claims to have 19 grandchildren, was arrested after police raided his terraced home last May and discovered cannabis worth £350.

Examination of his mobile phone revealed a text message telling a customer there would be a delay in supplying drugs due to Barry’s impending birth.

Hull admitted using cannabis to help with his own medical problems at Carlisle Crown Court, but claimed he only sold to friends to cover costs. However, Judge Paul Batty QC dismissed Hull’s claims as a ‘cock and bull story’. Hull then abandoned his story, choosing not to give evidence in support of it.

In mitigation, Anthony Wilson said Hull had ‘a number of medicinal conditions’ including breathing problems, back pains and frequent chest infections which would make any time in prison difficult.

He suggested that a suspended sentence could be imposed so that Hull could stay at home and look after the baby while his partner went back to work.

Judge Batty imposed an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years. He also put Hull under a night-time curfew for the next six months and ordered him pay £200 which will be taken out of his benefits.

Hull had 31 previous

The Mail