A FORMER Monmouth chef who thought he was talking to a ‘mum of two’ instead of an undercover cop said it was his fantasy to have sex with children, a court heard.

Forty-six-year-old Russell Brookman was appointed head chef at Creates restaurant in Church Street on July 14, 2025, then appointed head chef for Roots + Seeds Far Peak near Northleach, which opened in March this year, and was said to be working there as of earlier this month.

According to the restaurant group, he unexpectedly stopped contact with the restaurant group and had failed to turn up for work.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that in July 2025, Brookman contacted an online profile on the adult content streaming platform LuxureTV.

The profile purported to belong to a mother with two young daughters, but was actually run by an undercover police office and they moved their conversation to encrypted apps.

Brookman sent highly explicit messages detailing a sexual fantasy involving children to who he believed was the mother.

Prosecution evidence established a clear intent by Brookman to arrange a physical meeting for sexual activity with a child he believed to be 10 years old.

Police arrested Brookman at his then Monmouth home and in a subsequent police interview answered "no comment" to all questions.

In court, he admitted charges of arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and distributing two indecent category C photographs of a child.

Defence barrister Alice Skyes stated that following his arrest, Brookman proactively sought help from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation and argued he had done extensive work to understand and address the underlying issues behind his offending behaviour.

She also highlighted to the court that Brookman, most recently of Warwick Close, Chippenham, Wiltshire, had no previous convictions.

Brookman’s sentence was reduced by one-third because he entered an early guilty plea, and will serve up to half of the 32-month sentence in prison custody.

He will serve the remaining half on licence and will have to register as a sex offender for life and be made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for seven years.

In a statement, Roots and Seeds Ltd and Cattivo Pizza Ltd said they learned of Brookman’s arrest and sentencing through media reports.

They were ‘shocked, appalled and deeply saddened’ after its ex-head chef was jailed.

The operation involving Brookman was a targeted investigation led by Gwent Police to identify and apprehend individuals attempting to engage in online grooming and the distribution of prohibited materials.