July 2014

Two men who were sending child abuse images to each other to be sentenced

Two men were discovered to be sending dozens of images of child abuse images to each other when one of them accidentally sent an image of a naked 12-year-old girl to female acquaintance.

Kevin Bowes (60) (pictured above) later told this woman he would cut her throat after she had reported the image to gardai.

Bowes and his co-accused Kenneth Powell (47) (pictured below) were found with a total of 92 images depicting children engaged in sexual activity with each other and with adults.

The boys and girls depicted were aged from under 10 and up to 17 and some of the images showed young teenage girls dressed in school uniforms.

Bowes of Markievicz House, Townsend Street, Dublin and Powell of Bessborough Avenue, North Strand, Dublin both pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of child pornography at their homes in March 2011. Bowes also pleaded guilty to intimidating a witness at Markievicz House on July 12, 2011.

Powell admitted a separate charge of sending an indecent message by telephone on February 14, 2011. He had telephoned Child Fund Ireland, a charity which allows people to sponsor children in the developing world, and made obscene comments to the volunteer staff manning the telephones.

Powell told one woman that he was throbbing and that she had “beautiful nipples” and he made a slobbering noise down the phone. He rang three times and on another call he said he wanted to “spank” himself off the woman’s nipples.

Detective Inspector Michael Cryan told Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting, that the volunteers had found the calls particularly disturbing.

Det Insp Cryan said that the child pornography offences came to light after Bowes inadvertently sent an image to Carol Anne Montgomery, who he knew. The image was captioned “She’s 12, she’s 12″. 

The woman brought the image to gardaí and in March 2011 they went to Bowes’ flat and seized three mobile phones.

Gardaí found thousands of texts sent between Bowes and a man named as “Kinky Ken” or “Master Ken” in Bowes’ mobile.

Gardaí linked this contact number to Powell. Some of the texts were lurid in detail and in 39 of them Powell talked about abusing children.

The following July Bowes threatened Ms Montgomery, telling her through the door of a flat: “I will cut your throat if you don’t drop the charges”.

The court heard Bowes also said: “Tell her she has to pass my door on the way out and I’ll slit her throat”.

Ms Montgomery said that because of the Bowes’ threats she has slept with a spade beside her bed and an iron bar in the sitting room and has stopped walking her dogs in a neighbourhood park for fear of meeting Bowes.

Bowes’ previous convictions include robbery and the breach of a protection order in 1992. Powell was previously convicted of harassment in 2000, criminal damage and intoxication in 2008 and shoplifting of a bottle of wine last year.

Judge Patricia Ryan adjourned sentencing until later this month when a full plea in mitigation will be heard.

July 2014

Jailed: Paedophile former teacher at Highgate Wood School who groomed pupil, 13, for sex on premises

A former assistant headteacher at Crouch End’s Highgate Wood School has been jailed for 12 years today after being unmasked as a paedophile who groomed one of his pupils for sex.

Andrew Adams, 69, could now die behind bars after admitting a string of sexual assaults – including sex acts with the young teenager in the school’s changing rooms and indecent assault during a school trip to a mosque.

The offences date back to the early 1980s when Adams was a PE teacher at the school, in Montenotte Road. The victim – aged between 13 and 15 at the time and “particularly vulnerable”, said prosecutor Jonathan Polnay – was “befriended” by Adams, Wood Green Crown Court heard.

“Adams gave him lifts home and [the victim] felt he was one of the few people he could trust and get on with,” said Mr Polnay.

An “imposing figure in the school,” Adams would talk to the pupil in his car after school, until one day he touched his leg and kissed him, the court heard.

The lifts continued, until Adams drove the boy to a car park and had sex with him. “This became a regular pattern… the intercourse was taking place, at one point, every day.

There may be 100 or more significant incidents that took place,” said Mr Polnay. “[The victim] said it was always very quick, with little affection afterwards. It took place in the sports hall, in the changing room, actually on school premises.”

On one occasion in the school’s communal baths, Adams fondled the boy’s genitals under the water in the presence of other pupils, the court heard.

Adams even took the boy aside and made him perform oral sex on him during a school trip to a mosque, and would also regularly take him back to his house for sex.

On one such occasion, the victim said the school’s deputy headteacher visited Adams unexpectedly.

Adams ordered the boy to hide behind a door, but the deputy saw him in a mirror. “The deputy headmaster looked shocked but absolutely nothing was done,” said Mr Polnay. “[The victim] took the view that, after that, the deputy headmaster was even harsher on him than he was before.”

He added: “Suffice it to say that the offence has had an absolutely profound and lasting effect on every aspect of [the victim’s] life.”

In a lengthy victim impact statement, the former pupil, who is now a psychiatric inpatient, said he still feels “a deep, toxic shame and guilt” over the relationship and has considered taking his own life.

Judge Witold Pawlak quoted from the statement, in which he revealed Adams would embark on monologues fantasising about other boys he saw in the school showers.

He has spent years with “sadness, anxiety and depression, suffering alone and believing it all to be my fault,” the statement continued. “I was encouraged to lie to my family about my whereabouts and made up friends.” He said Adams had no care for his “welfare, education and family life”.

Even now he fears being “found out” at work as being “stupid, unworthy and evil”.

Adams and the victim continued their sexual relationship until 2004, and the pair kept in touch until 2012, when the victim had a breakdown.

But Judge Pawlak said he wasn’t surprised at his continued relations with Adams: “It is a common phenomenon that the abused becomes dependent on the abuser,” he said.

Highly thought of while at Highgate Wood, Adams worked there until 2004, but helped out arranging work experience placements for pupils until 2010. He even has a wing at the school named after him.

He made no comment to police after his arrest, but admitted the charges at the first opportunity. The court also heard Adams had had a relationship with another teenager, a former pupil who had left the school and was over 16.

Judge Pawlak told him: “You befriended the victim and he took you into his confidence, and he took you as a friend… Putting it absolutely bluntly, you screwed up a young boy’s life.

Your responsibility was to protect him. Instead, for your own sexual pleasure, you took advantage of him. It was a gross breach of trust. The impact of that sort of behaviour on a child is well-known.”

Adams, of Solna Road, Winchmore Hill, north London, admitted a multiple indictment count of indecent assault between two dates in 1980, a multiple indictment count of buggery during the 1980/1 school year, another multiple indictment count of buggery the following school year, and a count of indecent assault at a mosque on a date between 1980 and 1982.

Adams remained impassive in the dock as the judge sentenced him to six years consecutively for the buggery counts and three years each, concurrently, for the indecent assaults. He was given full credit for entering early guilty pleas, reducing his sentence by a third, and is likely to serve half the total 12-year sentence behind bars.

Talking exclusively to the Broadway this afternoon, the victim of Adams’ assaults said: “He will be out in six years. He pays society eight per cent of his life for damage to 73 per cent of mine to date, not counting the further 20 years’ therapy [to come] indicated by a specialist. It doesn’t seem much, but it is what it is.”

The school, which has removed the signs to the Adams Wing, sent pupils home today with a letter from head teacher Patrick Cozier, which said “everyone at Highgate Wood is shocked by this appalling case, and our thoughts are with the victim at this very difficult time”.

He continues: “It is of course distressing that a long-standing member of staff was able to so seriously abuse his position of trust, and we are offering support to any parents, students and staff affected by this case.”

He said Adams “has no ongoing link” with the school, and the Adams Wing “will now be referred to as the Admin Building”. He added that Adams “is in no way linked to any existing member of staff”.

August 2008

Pervert teacher escapes jail as judge changes his mind

A Retford school teacher has escaped jail for sexual offences against two schoolgirls after a judge changed his mind about his sentence.

At first Judge Jonathon Teare jailed Richard Dixon, 47, who has resigned from the Elizabethan High School, for three years – but ten minutes later went back on his decision.

After being seen privately by counsel in the case, the Judge said he had been reminded that at an earlier hearing he had said he would not ‘close the door on Dixon’.

Because of this earlier indication, Judge Teare changed the sentence to two years, suspended for two years with supervision.

But the Judge at the hearing at Nottingham Crown Court today added that he thought the original sentence was correct.

Dixon, who had been living in Worksop, before being bailed to an undisclosed address, admitted indecently assaulting one girl and encouraging the second to look at sexually explicit material.

The girls, both aged 13, were not pupils at his school where he was a head of year.

He assaulted the first girl in 1995, said Michael Bauty, prosecuting, and the other offences took place in 2005.

In mitigation it was said that Dixon was of previous good character and would never again be able to work in his profession.

Judge Teare told him: “You are a school teacher and know where the boundaries are set.”

An order was made preventing him working with children and he will be on the sex offender register for seven years

July 2014

Child sex attacker on the run after failing to show at court

A convicted child sex attacker is wanted by police after being on the run for almost a month.

Michael Bennett,  formerly of Tensing Street in Oldham, was on trial for sexual assaults on two young girls at Preston Crown Court but did not turn up for the hearing on June 23 – so a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The case continued in his absence and he was convicted of two counts of child abduction and two counts of sexual assault against the two 11-year-olds.

Police have now appealed for members of the public to contact officers if they see him or know of his whereabouts.

Bennett aged 60 is described as bald, having a round face and a large build.

DC Marc Armstrong said: “We have recent information to believe that Bennett has been in the Fleetwood and St Annes areas and he also has connections to Ashton-under-Lyne and Oldham.

“We would urge him to hand himself into police and I would appeal to anyone who may have seen him or who knows of his whereabouts to contact police.”

Call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, or visit Crimestoppers-uk.org.

July 2014

‘Shame and guilt’ of Flint man over sex act in car

A MAN who was seen by a schoolgirl pleasuring himself in a car has been fined.

Graham Griffiths, 59, of Palace Close, Flint, pleaded guilty at West Cheshire Magistrates Court to two counts of exposure.

The court heard that early in the morning on March 28 a girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, on her way to school saw a man inside a gold coloured Land Rover pleasuring himself on City Road, Chester.

Prosecuting, Lionel Cope said the girl was “shocked” to see the man carrying out a sex act on himself and she was “worried about younger girls from her school seeing the same thing”.

Mr Cope said the girl walked away from the car and found a passing police officer and pointed the officer in the direction of the car.

In interview Griffiths denied the offence and said he had gone to Chester after a long shift at work to buy a bicycle for his wife and was waiting for the shops to open.

He told officers he was messing around with a camera in the car while he was waiting but denied filming passers-by and denied the offences.

Mr Cope said Griffiths then admitted the offences on his first court appearance at West Cheshire Magistrates Court on June 4.

Damien Sabino, defending, told the Chester court Griffiths felt “shame, guilt and remorse” for his actions.

Griffiths, he said, now had to rebuild the trust of his family and community and he was also in fear of losing his job because of his actions.

Mr Sabino said Griffiths had been suffering from depression for a number of years after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Mr Sabino said the treatment had seemingly been successful and Griffiths was in remission but the diagnosis and treatment had left a “significant physical and mental impact”.

On the day of the incident, Mr Sabino said, Griffiths drove to Chester after a long shift at work to buy a bicycle for his wife and had arrived before the shop had opened. He said the camera in the car had no footage of passers-by and was not used to follow females walking past and Mr Sabino said Griffiths had not made eye contact with anyone walking past which showed he was not intending to get sexual gratification out of being in a public place.

Mr Sabino also pointed out Griffiths was of previous good character and after interviews with probation staff he had been put at a low risk of re-offending.

Magistrates fined Griffiths £370 for exposure and gave him a six-month community order with supervision. They also told him to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £60. He was given 14 days to pay £515.

July 2014

Teaching assistant jailed for kissing 13 year old Tamworth schoolgirl

A teaching assistant who kissed and cuddled a 13-year-old Tamworth girl has been jailed for 14 months.

Sean Meier befriended the girl after a chance meeting with her mother, whom he knew from the past, and offered to help with her studies.

But, at his former home in Tamworth, Meier kissed the girl on the lips and told her she was ‘the daughter he never had’.

Miss Michelle Heeley, prosecuting, said Meier instructed the girl not to tell anyone but the girl’s mother saw comments from him on her daughter’s Facebook page which were disturbing.

The girl then confided in her mother about Meier’s behaviour and after he was confronted about it, he was reported to police.

While checking Meier’s computer for the Facebook conversations, officers also discovered more than 40 indecent images of children, including five at the serious level four.

The 48-year-old, now of Dukes Road, Dordon, admitted sexual activity with a child, inciting sexual activity and six charges of possessing indecent images of children.

Speaking at Stafford Crown Court, Judge Mark Eades said: “You were a school teaching assistant and you knew that in that position you had a high responsibility for the children in your care.

“You knew that they look up to you, often as a father-like figure and a person in authority. They place great trust in you, as do their parents and you know if you abuse that trust, it would be a betrayal.

“You got in to conversation with [the girl] that caused or incited her to engage in sexual activity and you did indulge in sexual activity with her, all the time knowing it was a gross breach of trust.”

Along with the jail sentence, Meier was also banned from working with children indefinitely and made subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

Miss Heeley said Meier’s own son had, on one occasion, seen his father kneeling at the girl’s feet. One of his Facebook tweets to her said ‘if you want to touch me, that’s fine’.

When questioned, Meier accepted that his behaviour had been inappropriate and he told police that he had been giving safeguarding lessons to children.

Mr Tom Walkling, defending, said Meier was a man with sufficient prospects for rehabilitation.

“He is beginning to acknowledge that what he’s done is wrong. He is a low risk of re-offending.”

July 2014

Witness’ quick thinking saved schoolgirl from sexual exploitation

A sharp eyed car passenger helped to bring to justice a 41 year old man sexually exploiting a girl of 13, a judge heard on Friday.

Charles Rutherford had parked his van at a layby at Pope Hill, Johnston, and followed the girl into the ladies’ toilets.

But he had been seen by Benjamin Hawthorn, who had been a passenger in a car parked at the same layby, and he went into the gents’ to find it empty of people.

Assuming that the man was still in the ladies’ Mr Hawthorn telephoned the police and two female officers entered the toilets.

Patrick Griffiths, prosecuting, said one went into the ladies’ and found one cubicle locked. She banged on the door and shouted “police” and after a short while Rutherford opened the door as he and the girl continued to adjust their lower clothing.

The girl was taken into police protection and driven home. Eventually, she confessed that she and Rutherford had been having a relationship.

Rutherford was arrested and he and the girl’s mobiles were examined. Police found more than 1,500 text messages from him to her and 950 in the other direction.

The messages, said Mr Griffiths, made it clear what had been happening.

Rutherford, from Llanelli, admitted two offences of engaging in sexual activity with a child, one involving sexual intercourse.

Ian Wright, the barrister representing Rutherford, said he lived an isolated life and had thought that he was in a loving relationship, despite the obvious difference between their ages.

Judge Christopher Vosper had, he said, a “stark” choice between jailing Rutherford or making him the subject of a community order that would include treatment and education.

Judge Vosper said the offending was too serious and jailed Rutherford for two years and eight months.

It was clear, he added, that some sexual touching had been going on in the toilets at Pope Hill.

Rutherford was ordered to register with the police as a sex offender and, in due course, will be banned from working with children or vulnerable people.

April 1999

Cyber sex boss jailed

A Briton who had sex with a girl of 13 he met on an Internet chat line has been jailed for 14 months.

Insurance executive Toby Acton, 28, above, used his office computer to swap suggestive messages with the schoolgirl before inviting her to meet him at a hotel in the sleazy Wan Chai district. He hired a room and they had sex.

Acton was transferred from Liverpool to Hong Kong with his company Griffiths and Armour in 1997

However after the sexual abuse was discovered Acton was fired from his lucrative job.

Acton admitted having unlawful intercourse with a girl under 16 years old and he was jailed for 14 months

August 2008

Child killer fails in sentence challenge

A SADISTIC child killer who indecently assaulted a three-year-old before throwing her into a river has failed in a challenge against his 30-year minimum jail term at London’s High Court.

Xavier Themis, 50, then known as Gary Hopkins, was convicted of murdering Leoni Keating in June 1986 at Ipswich Crown Court.

He abducted the girl from a caravan park in Great Yarmouth and her body was found four days later in a river near Mildenhall.

Initially he was told that he would die behind bars but Themis later had his tariff – the minimum time he must spend behind bars before being considered for parole – reduced by then Home Secretary Michael Howard to 30 years in 1994.

At London’s High Court yesterday, Themis attempted to have his tariff slashed even further with his lawyers telling Mr Justice Field that he had made such good progress behind bars it should be cut.

The judge was also told that there was a possibility that Themis – who has a high IQ – was suffering from Asperger’s syndrome at the time of the killing.

But describing the murder as “sheer evil” and “horrific”, Mr Justice Field said Themis was fit to stand trial at the time his case went to court and would have had no defence of diminished responsibility.

He added that the way he had conducted himself in prison had not been “exceptional” enough to justify a cut in his tariff.

On Friday September 13, 1985, Themis took Leoni from a caravan on the Seashore Holiday Camp at Great Yarmouth.

Her body was found four days later in the River Lark at Barton Mills. near Mildenhall. She had been gagged, her hands were tied up with a washing line and she had been sexually assaulted.

A police search was launched and a search of the waterway and nearby picnic site was undertaken for vital missing clothing. Eight months later unemployed labourer Hopkins, from Bedford, was given four life sentences for abducting and murdering Leoni – and for the kidnap of a 10-year-old girl from an Essex caravan site and kidnap of a 14-year-old girl from a Great Yarmouth caravan site.

Hopkins had admitted kidnapping Leoni but denied murdering her. He claimed he left her alive but with her hands tied in woodland.

Given the time he spent on remand before sentencing, yesterday’s ruling means that Themis -27 at the time of the murder – can seek parole in 2016. He will only be freed once he has convinced the authorities he is no longer a danger to the public.

JUDGEMENT ON REVIEW OF MINIMUM TERM

Mr Justice Field:

1. On 25 June 1986 the applicant, Xavier Themis, was convicted of the murder of Leoni Cornell, a little girl aged 3 years. During the night of 13 September 1985, Themis took Leoni from the caravan where she had been left by her mother. He masturbated over her and penetrated her vagina with his finger. He then tied her hands behind her back and threw her into the water channel at Barton Mills. Three days later, she was found dead in the water 200 yards away. The cause of death was drowning. At the time of the murder, Themis was 27 years old.

2. The trial judge, Mann J, recommended that Themis serve a minimum of 25 years before being eligible for parole. The Lord Chief Justice was of the view that Themis should remain in prison until he died and recommended a tariff of 99 years. The Home Secretary imposed a tariff of 30 years which was notified to the applicant on 22 November 1994.

3. Themis now applies under s. 276 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (“the Act”) to have the notified minimum term of 30 years reviewed. He has not sought an oral hearing and I am satisfied that his application can be determined justly and in accordance with his rights under the Human Rights Act 1998 on the documents and the written submissions provided to the court. Included in the documents are numerous psychiatric reports, a Healthcare Report as part of a Category A Review, a CPA/Ram Occupational Therapy Report and a document entitled The Integrated Multi-Disciplinary Treatment Model For the DSPD Unit at HMP Whitemoor.

4. Under paragraph 4 (1) and (2) of Schedule 22 to the Act, when reviewing a notified minimum term the court must have regard to the seriousness of the offence and in doing so must have regard, inter alia, to: (i) the length of the notified term; (ii) the general principles set out in Schedule 21; and (iii) any recommendations to the Home Secretary by the trial judge and the Lord Chief Justice as to the minimum term before the applicant could be released on licence. Further, the court cannot fix a minimum term of a greater duration than the notified minimum term (see para. 3 of Schedule 22).

5. Paragraph 4 (1) of Schedule 22 to the 2003 Act provides that if the court considers the seriousness of the offence is exceptionally high and the offender was aged 21 or over when he committed the offence, the appropriate starting point in setting the minimum term is a whole life order. Paragraph 4 (2) sets out a non-exclusive list of cases that would normally fall within paragraph 4 (1). Included in that list is “(b) the murder of a child if involving the abduction of the child or sexual or sadistic motivation.” As stated above, the applicant abducted Leoni and masturbated over her and digitally penetrated her vagina before throwing into the water with her hands tied behind her back. Given these circumstances, if the minimum term were being fixed for first time under the 2003 Act, the appropriate starting point in my judgement would be a whole life order.

6. Even if this were wrong, the lowest starting point would be 30 years under paragraph 5 (1) of Schedule 21 which applies to cases not falling within paragraph 4 (1) but where the court considers that the seriousness of the offence is particularly high, such as a murder involving sexual conduct.

7. The next stage under Schedule 21 is to consider whether the starting point should be increased to take account of aggravating factors and then to see if the term should be reduced in the light of any mitigating factors. A list of mitigating factors that might be relevant is set out in paragraph 11 of Schedule 21.

8. In my opinion, a whole life order or a starting point of 30 years would each take account of the full horrific nature of Leoni’s murder. Neither of these starting points therefore would be further increased. I am also of the view that there are no mitigating factors. The applicant raises the argument that at the time of the murder he may have been suffering from Asperger syndrome. But even if he were, this would not mitigate the sheer evil and cruelty of the murder. The applicant was fit to plead and did not fall within either of the McNaghten Rules. Further, there is nothing to suggest that Asperger syndrome would have given the applicant a defence based on diminished responsibility.

9. The applicant also prays in aid the progress he has made in prison. After a poor start he has done well educationally. He has a high IQ. However, in my judgement, his conduct in prison has not been sufficiently exceptional to justify a reduction in what would otherwise be the appropriate minimum term.

10. I bear in mind the recommendation of the trial judge but am firmly of the view that there are no grounds for reducing the notified minimum term of 30 years. The minimum term that the applicant must serve is therefore 30 years from which the time he spent in custody on remand – 6 months and 22 days—stands to be deducted.

June 2002

12 years after Joe died, DNA reveals he was the man who raped and murdered three girls in 1973

A FORMER nightclub doorman was yesterday unmasked as a Ripper-style serial sex killer – 12 years after his death. 

Dad-of-three Joe Kappen brutally raped and strangled three teenage girls almost thirty years ago. 

He went to his grave in 1990 with the crimes unsolved. But police never gave up hope of catching the killer and exhumed Kappen’s body for fresh DNA tests last month. 

And yesterday police revealed samples from his remains matched those taken from his victims. 

They now fear the long distance lorry driver may also be responsible for a string of other unsolved sex crimes. 

Police forces across the UK have been told to check their archives and Interpol are looking for matches on their database. 

Kappen was a prime suspect in the hunt for the “Saturday Night Strangler” who killed three 16-year-old girls in 1973. 

Sandra Newton, Pauline Floyd and Geraldine Hughes were raped and strangled in south Wales. 

More than 30,000 people were quizzed during the inquiry but Kappen was never arrested. 

He died from lung cancer, aged 49, with his wife and family still convinced he was innocent. 

Police yesterday said that while they were relieved to have caught the killer they were frustrated that he cannot be brought to justice. 

Det Chief Supt Wynne Phillips said: “While these results are conclusive the suspect can never stand trial. 

“If the suspect was alive today he would have been arrested and charged with these offences. 

“We are not looking for anyone else. These murder investigations will now be closed.” 

The news came as a relief for one of the victim’s families. 

Geraldine Hughes’ dad Denvar, 72, said: “We have been through so much – we just couldn’t stand anymore.” 

A team of four detectives trawled the national DNA database looking for clues to his daughter’s killer. 

They found a near match belonged to one of Kappen’s relatives who was on their forensic files. 

They then asked the Home Secretary for permission to dig up Kappen’s body last month. 

It is the first time a body has ever been exhumed after DNA tests. 

Det Chief Supt Phillips, added: “The samples taken matched those from the crime scene where Sandra, Geraldine and Pauline died. 

“We suspect there may be further crimes which he may have been responsible for. We are looking at sex attacks, rapes and murders during the 1970s and early 1980s. 

“We need to know about Kappen’s lifestyle, movements and what made him tick.” 

Police are now probing the death of Maureen Mulcahy, 22, who was throttled in 1976 in Port Talbot to see if Kappen was responsible. 

They are also concentrating their inquires in the Humberside area where Kappen also lived. 

Sandra, 16, was murdered after leaving a club in Briton Ferry, south Wales, on a Saturday night. 

Three months later best friends Geraldine and Pauline, also 16, were found strangled in woods at Llandarcy near Swansea. 

Kappen was 32 at the time of the murders and married to his first wife Christine, who has since remarried. 

Christine and Kappen’s three grown-up children Paul, Beverley and Deborah have been told of the DNA results. 

Just weeks ago Christine said: “Joe was a loving family man. 

“He lived on the wrong side of the law and was no angel – but he was no sex monster either.” 

Police said when he was interviewed 29 years ago Kappen had a ‘water-tight alibi’. 

They also praised the victims’ families for never giving up hope. 

Det Chief Supt Phillips said: “They have lived a life of turmoil. Their lives stopped in 1973. 

“Our thoughts are with them and we now hope they can finally find some peace.” Geraldine’s mother Jean, 69, said: “You know there are evils out there but you never believe it will touch on you and yours. 

“When it does it is a lifetime’s sentence of hell. 

“We now hope we can close the book on the most horrific chapter of our lives.” 

Husband, Denvar, added: “We have relived what Geraldine must have gone through every night for nearly 30 years. 

“Now we know for certain who killed our daughter and we can find some peace. 

“When we heard about the police breakthrough we couldn’t believe it at first. We were so shocked my wife and myself broke down and cried all night. 

“It really is wonderful that technology has moved on to give police these vital new tools of detection. 

“The area has been tainted with these murders for years and hopefully the stigma hanging over it will be removed once and for all.” 

July 2014

Ystalyfera man accessed indecent pictures of children

A MAN struggling to come to terms with his sexuality downloaded indecent images of children, a court heard.

Richard Williams told police he had been intending to find pictures of “young men” but when intelligence led officers to search his computer they found images and videos of children, including some as young as three-years-old.

Williams, aged 25, from Allt y Grug Road in Ystalyfera, admitted eight counts of making indecent images and one of possessing indecent images.

The judge sentencing him, Keith Thomas, said: “Offences of possession and downloading of indecent images are very disturbing.

“My personal experience is that those who possess such images fall into two groups; those who are predatory paedophiles and those who are lonely men who don’t have the maturity to deal with their sexual issues in an up front way. I believe you fall in to the latter category.”

Local police were tipped-off by the child exploitation team about activity on Williams’s computer.

They went to his home on January 9 and searches of his computer revealed 57 photographs and 13 films.

In interview Williams, who works for a fast food chain, told police he had accessed the images by mistake after making a typing error and he had not intended to look for images of children.

Giles Hayes, representing Williams at Swansea Crown Court, said his client had led an insular life.

He said Williams was supported by his partner and mother in court and that his accessing such images was in the past.

Judge Thomas made him subject to a three year community order and told him he will have to complete a sex offender group programme. Williams will also have to pay £535 in costs.

July 2014

Man viewed indecent films and images of children after accessing hidden “dark net”

A MAN viewed indecent films featuring children after installing software on his home computer to enable him to access the “dark net”, a court was told.

The software allowed Peter Angell to view material on the hidden internet not usually available to browsers online.

But his activities came to the attention of police, who, armed with a warrant, removed the equipment, including a lap-top and mobile phone, in a search of his home, in Spennymoor, County Durham, on April 11.

Durham Crown Court heard that examination of their contents revealed 89 video clips and 142 still indecent images featuring children, mostly stored on the lap-top, but some on the phone.

Shaun Dryden, prosecuting, said the moving images amounted to a total of seven-and-a-half hours of footage, featuring children in the range of about six to ten-years-old.

He was arrested and in interview denied having a sexual interest in children, claiming he sought the offending material, “out of curiosity”.

Angell told police he read about the “dark net” in a magazine and set about fitting the software to access it, which took two weeks to install.

Angell, 39, now of Church Street, Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, admitted 16 charges of making indecent pictures of a child, plus one ‘roll up’ count each of possessing the moving and still images.

Tom Mitchell, mitigating, told the court Angell is of previous good character and, referring to his probation pre-sentence report, stated that he is not considered to pose a great threat to children.

He added that installing the software to access the “dark net” was not as complex as painted by the prosecution.

Judge Colin Burn told Angell: “It’s the quantity of material rather than the length of the clips that demonstrates there’s a problem.

“You’ve watched those images of real children being really abused for the entertainment, titillation or the gratification of those making them or sharing them with others.

“For every individual who possesses this material there are tens and hundreds of children in far flung corners of the world being horribly abused.

“By downloading these images you’re providing a market and in doing so perpetrating the trade in such images.”

He imposed a 12 month prison sentence, suspended for two years to enable Angell to undergo a sex offender treatment programme under the supervision of the Probation Service.

Angell was also made subject of a five-year sexual offences prevention order, restricting future contact with children and limiting internet access, while he must register as a sex offender for ten years.

Judge Burn also ordered forfeiture and destruction of his computer equipment.

July 2014

Gosport paedophile caught out after using his girlfriend’s laptop

PERVERT Gerald Fisher was caught out by his girlfriend after looking at hundreds of pictures of child abuse, including photos of babies, on her laptop.

Fisher, of Sycamore Close, Gosport, pleaded guilty to five counts of making indecent photographs of a child and two counts of possession of extreme pornography involving children, when he appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court.

In total, Fisher had 794 images of children, ranging across all levels of seriousness, and 26 extreme images of children.

The court heard the 34-year-old had been caught out by his girlfriend, who had discovered the sick images in her internet browsing history, before she shopped him to the police.

Tammy Mears, prosecuting, told the court that Fisher had been looking at the images over a period of five years and that he had two previous cautions for similar offences – one for flirting with young girls in a shop in 2007 and one for declaring his undying love for a nine-year-old to her parents in 2010.

She said that some of the less graphic pictures had involved babies, and that children as young as six had been pictured in the most graphic photos.

All the pictures had been still images that Fisher had downloaded from the internet and it was made clear that he had not been involved in the original production of them.

Jeffrey Norie-Miller, defending, said: ‘He is disgusted with his behaviour and with the fact that he has allowed it to go on for as long as it has without seeking help.’

The court heard that Fisher had attempted to seek help in the past, but this had not been structured.

Mr Norie-Miller argued that Fisher was ‘extremely vulnerable’ and that he would be in a ‘difficult situation in custody’ whereby he might not be able to access the treatment he needed to correct his offending.

He also said Fisher’s medical conditions – chest condition costochondritis and rare skin condition Darier’s disease – should be taken into account.

Judge Nicholas Haggan QC sentenced Fisher to a three-year community order, with three years’ supervision with a requirement to attend a sexual offender’s treatment programme.

Fisher was banned from working with children and added to the sex offender register for a minimum of five years.

He was also given an indefinite sexual offences prevention order and the hard drive of the laptop was ordered to be destroyed.

July 2014

Sunderland paedophile branded a dangerous liar after another sex attack on schoolgirl revealed

A PAEDOPHILE serving 16 years for attacks on children has been branded a dangerous liar after his latest convictions against another schoolgirl.

George Robinson was given the prison term in 2012 for rapes and sex assaults on two girls under 10, which he denied.

At Newcastle Crown Court yesterday, the 63-year-old was given a further four years for attacks on an 11-year-old in the 1980s, which he had also denied.

Because the perverted pensioner has never accepted his guilt, his victims have had to relive their ordeals by giving evidence against him from the witness box.

Mr Recorder Jonathan Carroll told him after his latest convictions yesterday: “Throughout this trial, you have shown no remorse or regret for your behaviour towards that child. You have told lies and those lies have been supported by further, obvious lies from your wife, who no doubt was telling her lies in support of you at your instigation.

“There is no one that should leave this room without the impression that you are a serial and committed paedophile, and that children are not safe in your presence.”

The court heard the four-year jail term will not affect Robinson’s earliest release date, which is in 2019.

But the judge said that does not undermine the importance of the convictions for indecent assault and indecency with a child, which he had denied during a four-day trial this week.

He added: “The point is, the complainant has been brave enough to come forward and give evidence, she has put it on record what you have done to her.

“That has been listened to by this jury and accepted, and you stand convicted of it.

“She has been heard in public, believed, and I hope she takes considerable comfort in that.”

The victim, who cannot be named, said she felt “shock and horror” at what Robinson did to her and took years to find the courage to speak out about her ordeal.

The court heard Robinson, previously of Athol Road, Sunderland, is ill with heart problems and other complaints, which will get progressively worse during his incarceration.

March 2002

Boys brigade officer jailed for abuse after 36 years

A SHAMED Boys’ Brigade leader who groped a nine-year-old boy was jailed for three months yesterday. 

Derek Thomson, 54, was told he had breached his position of trust when he fondled the youngster on a camping trip in the Highlands 10 years ago. 

Thomson and members of Kirkintilloch BB Company had bedded down for the night in Strath Shanary near Kinlochbervie in the summer of 1992. 

Procurator fiscal Alasdair MacDonald told Dornoch Sheriff Court yesterday: “During the night Thomson put his hand inside the boy’s sleeping bag and under his pyjamas in order to commit this crime. 

“The boy was awake and aware of what was happening but pretended to be asleep until the accused’s conduct ceased.” 

The court heard that Thomson might have got away with it because the boy was too embarrassed to say anything. 

Mr Macdonald added: “He said nothing for years, until eight years later, in 2000, he discussed the matter with another young man and, as a result, his mother was told and the police were informed.” 

Married Thomson, of Staffa, East Kilbride, admitted committing lewd, indecent and libidinous practices towards the primary schoolboy. 

The court heard that Thomson had lost his job as a security guard when the incident was reported to the police. 

His lawyer, Michael Callaghan, urged Sheriff Donald Booker-Milburn to consider a non custodial sentence. 

He pointed out that Thomson had pleaded guilty and avoided any further stress to his victim and added that he believed his client was no longer a risk to children. 

The solicitor said: “He lost his job as a result of this matter and has been on anti-depressants. 

“It is fair to say that it has been a somewhat distressing time for him. 

“He does accept it was a breach of trust. 

“He is no longer involved with the Boys’ Brigade.” 

But, jailing Thomson, Sheriff Booker-Milburn said: “Given the nature of this charge and the fact you were in a position of trust and you breached this trust, I consider a custodial sentence to be the only appropriate one.” 

Thomson was also put on the sex offenders’ register. 

September 2004

Man, 81, jailed for sex attacks on girls

A MAN who systematically sexually abused three young girls more than 25 years ago has been jailed for three years. 

Duncan Girvan, 81, pleaded guilty at Liverpool crown court to 10 charges of indecent assault. 

Geoffrey Lowe, prosecuting, told the court that the girls were abused by Girvan between 1978 and 1986. 

The court heard retired taxi driver Girvan, of Botanic Road, Fairfield, Liverpool, regularly sexually attacked the children on separate occasions. 

The offences came to light last year after one of his victims, now aged 30, told police. 

Girvan was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely and was banned from ever working with children.

November 2003

Man jailed for sex abuse of boy

A 60-year-old man from Kenilworth has been jailed for six years after pleading guilty to eight charges of sexually abusing a young boy.

Brian Bevan, of Guy Road, assaulted the boy – now in his 20s – over a number of years during the 1980s.

At Warwick Crown Court, Bevan also admitted 10 charges of making indecent images of children and one of possessing indecent images. He has been ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

John Butterfield, prosecuting, said computer equipment was seized from Bevan’s home in June, and child pornography images discovered on the hard drive and floppy disks.

Following Bevan’s arrest, the man in his 20s contacted police, telling officers he had been sexually abused by him for several years from when he was nine.

Mr Butterfield said Bevan was friends with the boy’s parents and the first incident was at a wedding in the mid-1980s.

He said: “The defendant then took opportunities, when he happened to be alone with the boy, to sexually abuse him.”

The abuse stopped when the boy was 15 but he said it left him depressed and suicidal, and he once tried to kill himself.

In police questioning, Bevan said the offences were a long time in the past, he had forgotten them, but accepted they had happened.

Philip Brown, defending, said Bevan lived with his 92-year-old mother, hated himself for what he had done, and, had it not been for his mother, would have killed himself.

Judge Richard Cole said he accepted Bevan’s mother would suffer through his imprisonment but he had to be jailed.

January 2003

Churchman jailed for child abuse

A LEADING member of a church was jailed for 18 months yesterday for sex assaults on a teenage boy which took place nearly 30 years ago. 

Retired company director Peter Sweetmore, 69, of St Mellons, Cardiff, admitted four charges of indecent assault against a boy in his mid teens over a two-year period in the mid to late 1970s. 

Newport Crown Court heard that Sweetmore had been a respected member of the Church of God in Cardiff and met the boy through church activities.

But married Sweetmore was arrested only in the autumn of last year after the victim, who is also married, felt able to complain about the abuse.

Sweetmore was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Prosecutor David Wooller told the court that after the defendant began to abuse the complainant he would “lean over him and become physically intrusive”. 

Mr Wooller told the court that at the time the victim felt unable to complain about Sweetmore who had a “position as a senior respected member of the church”. But when he was 16, the victim’s feelings of “guilt and disgust” meant he found the courage to tell Sweetmore that what was going on had to stop, Mr Wooller said.

The court heard that the abuse had a detrimental effect on the victim’s life, with him achieving lower exam grades than was expected and he later attempted suicide. The prosecutor said the victim only felt able to disclose matters in Christmas 2000, and Sweetmore was later arrested.

Hilary Roberts, defending, told the court: “At the time of these offences he was an active and leading member of the Church of God. 

“It gave him a position of authority and a position of trust which he abused.” Mr Roberts said Sweetmore had been excommunicated from the church for six months when the offences came to light but had since been welcomed back. Mr Roberts said: `

`The process of healing and forgiveness was sought. “He has been punished in a way the church thought was appropriate.”

September 2005

Man jailed for boy sex assaults

A man who abused two boys in Lanarkshire more than 30 years ago has been jailed for six years.

Ian Stewart, 54, apologised to his victims – who were aged seven and five at the time – as he was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh.

He had pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting one youngster in woods near Bothwell, Lanarkshire, in 1970.

Stewart also admitted indecently assaulting the seven-year-old boy near High Blantyre three years later.

Sentencing Stewart of Harpurchey, Manchester, judge Lord Reed noted that he had not been in trouble for 20 years and was not regarded as a particular danger to the public.

But the judge told him: “Sexual offences against young children causes great public concern and courts must reflect that concern in the sentences they impose.”

March 2000

Six years for evil monster who preyed on youngsters

AN EVIL sex monster is back behind bars

Norman Porter-Jones, who preyed on young children in a small Irish village, has been jailed for six years for a string of offences in Scotland. 

The Irish Sunday People revealed how the sex sicko was living just yards from a school in remote Co Donegal. 

Porter Jones, a former coastguard, tried to hide his shameful past from villagers in Fanad. 

However, the twisted 59-year-old was wanted for sex offences in Northern Ireland. 

Porter Jones estranged wife, who still lives in fear of him in Donegal, contacted us to reveal how her daughter had also been abused by the monster. 

Last week he was sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of attacks on two toddlers in the Scottish village of Usan, Angus more than 25 years ago. 

Although he never faced charges for abusing his step-daughter, his estranged wife says perhaps now the people of Donegal and Ireland will believe her story. 

“My life with him was a nightmare. When I discovered he had been abusing my daughter my life fell part. 

“I tried to convince others that he was evil but nobody was listening. 

“He could turn on the charm when he wanted to. People thought I was imagining all this stuff. 

“Perhaps now they will see him for what he really was,” she said last night. 

While awaiting sentence in Northern Ireland Porter-Jones mixed freely with locals in the picturesque village of Fanad. 

When we confronted him about his seedy past outside his bungalow he just smirked and said he had nothing to say. 

Villagers were shocked after he was sent down for the sex offences. 

They recalled how he had dressed up as Santa for a Christmas party at Fanad Fisheries where he had worked as a diver. 

Management at the plant knew nothing of his disgusting past. 

The evil Welshman, nicknamed Taff, was deported to Scotland last year after serving a sentence for offences in Northern Ireland. 

The Scottish court heard how Porter Jones preyed on the innocent youngsters, then aged just 9 and 12, between 1973 and 1975 while stationed as a coastguard there. 

Edinburgh High Court heard how he lured the girl into his own home before abusing her. 

“Their friendship developed by him inviting the girl to his house to have tea with his wife and children,” said Advocate depute Graham Bell. 

He abused the girl for three years until she was 12 and he then moved to Northern Ireland. 

His second victim was a 12-year-old – now aged 38 – from England. 

He met the girl in 1974 while she spent the school holidays at his home. 

Mr Bell told how police were alerted in 1997 after the second victim told a psycologist of her ordeal. Detectives later traced the first victim. 

Defence councel Simon Gilbride claimed Porter-Jones – who admitted the twisted offences – was appalled at his own behaviour.