February 2000

Sex revelations shattered warder

A PRISON officer plans to quit his job after discovering his partner had an affair behind bars with a child killer.

James Smith’s long-term lover Anne Marie Brook, 48, was carrying on a relationship with vicious child killer Geoffrey Blakey, 30.

It emerged that prison authorities at Peterhead had discovered that more than 100 telphone calls of a “sexual nature which left nothing to the imagination” had been made by Blakey to Brook on a mobile phone paid for by his family.

Now a shattered James, 51, is set to retire early.

Prison staff and inmates were aware of Brook’s affair with the vicious child killer but couldn’t bring themselves to tell James, a respected and popular officer, about it.

Sources close to James said yesterday that he has been so humiliated by recent events that he is considering early retirement.

Brook was forced to resign last Wednesday, after prison bosses confronted her with details of the sexually-explicit taped telephone messages between herself and Blakey.

She told James she had to quit because of stress.

Geoffrey Blakey shocked Scotland nine years ago with the brutal murder of his 20-month-old stepson Martin Nicoll.

Rumours had been increasing in the prison about the couple and Blakey had been openly boasting about his affair with Brook, a civilian administrator involved in the prison’s sex offenders’ treatment programme.

Blakey is a protected prisoner in the sex offenders’ unit.

Prisoners and officers were aware that he was having sexual intercourse with Brook in her office over a lengthy period of time.

Every telephone call from the prison is taped and checks are made by staff for monitoring purposes.

When they discovered the number of calls and the sexually-explicit details, special investigators were brought in and they quickly discovered that the calls had been made to Brook’s mobile phone.

When she was confronted with the evidence of the taped calls she had no option but to resign. A prison source stated: “James will probably take one of two options and the most likely is early retirement.

“That is sad because he has less than 20 years service and won’t even qualify for half wages.

“The other rotten thing is that other people are going to be dragged into it.

“Bosses who knew nothing about the affair could be disciplined because they should have known about it.”

Drug addict Blakey was jailed for life at the High Court in Kilmarnock in 1992 for his stepson’s murder . His wife was jailed for a year for neglect.

A spokesman for the Scottish Prisons Service confirmed that a woman had resigned from Peterhead and that there was an on-going investigation.

February 2000

Warder in sex sessions with evil child killer

A FEMALE prison officer had sex sessions behind bars with evil child killer Geoffrey Blakey.

Disgraced Anne-Marie Brook, 48, has quit her post at HMP Peterhead after admitting the affair to bosses.

Colleagues informed prison chiefs of Brook’s trysts with Blakey, 30, who was jailed for life in 1992 for beating his baby step-son to death.

They gathered damning video evidence and love letters proving the illicit affair.

Brook’s partner Jim Smith, who also works at Peterhead, took temporary leave after learning the news.

Meanwhile, Blakey has been put into solitary confinement by prison bosses.

Shamed Brook and her partner Smith have not spoken publicly about the scandal which has rocked Scotland’s prison service.

But one colleague said: “It’s unthinkable that a prison officer would get involved with an inmate – especially a monster like Blakey. The only person who deserves sympathy in this sorry saga is Jim.”

During Blakey’s trial at the High Court in Kilmarnock, jurors heard how his 15- month-old stepson Martin Nicoll suffered a catalogue of abuse.

Blakey made the toddler drink lager and pierced his ear with a pal’s earring.

He also tore the nail off his left index finger.

Medical experts said Martin, who lived with his mum and step-father in Dumfries, died from a severe blow to the head.

A post-mortem revealed the youngster’s body was covered in 67 marks and bruises.

February 2000

For months, he battered his stepson black and blue – then one day he went too far

GEOFFREY Blakey’s brutal murder of stepson Martin Nicoll shocked the whole of Scotland.

The 20-month-old toddler suffered a fractured skull and doctors who examined his body found 67 bruises with between 20 and 40 marks across his buttocks.

The alarm was raised on September 20, 1991, after a doctor called to their home found Martin deeply unconscious and showing signs of brain damage. He died the next day.

During Blakey’s 10-day trial at the High Court in Kilmarnock in 1992, some members of the jury were in tears as they were shown photographs of Martin’s injuries.

Blakey claimed the little boy’s head injuries were caused by falling down stairs, but his story was blown apart by the medical evidence and he was jailed for life.

The drug addict was also found guilty of assaulting the boy over several weeks and of piercing Martin’s ear with an ear-ring.

His wife, Clare 27, had her plea of not guilty to murder accepted by the Crown, but she was jailed for a year after she admitted neglecting her son.

Before Blakey and Clare got married, little Martin had enjoyed a carefree life for 15 months, living with his mum and grandparents.

Clare told the court that her husband’s attitude towards Martin changed dramatically when the three of them moved in together.

She claimed he would punish the boy for almost anything.

She described how Martin would be left with bruises after being hit on the head, arms and legs.

And Clare said Blakey once threw Martin across the landing, hitting his head against a door.

Neighbours in Dumfries spoke of cannabis parties at the couple’s home and described noises which sounded “like Martin being kicked around the room”.

Clare told the court: “I told Geoffrey to leave him alone, but he just wouldn’t listen.

“Then Geoffrey said he didn’t love Martin and wanted him adopted or fostered by my mother.”

She said that on the day of the fatal assault, she was in her bedroom and heard Martin scream, followed by a bang. Blakey then carried the unconscious toddler into her room and told her he was dead.

As they were sentenced, the couple wept in the dock. But as they were led away to the cells, Blakey lunged over the dock and punched Clare on the face, hitting her head against a wall.

Clare’s mother, Dorothy Nicholl, insisted her daughter was in no way to blame for Martin’s death. Mrs Nicoll said: “She was too terrified of Blakey and just too scared to come to us for help.”

Blakey had a number of previous convictions, mainly for dishonesty but also for assault.

Shortly after starting his life sentence, Blakey’s neck was slashed by a fellow prisoner. The injury, however, was not serious.

July 2014

Mum screams ‘pig’ as paedophile is jailed for abusing her 7 yr old daughter

A MOTHER has spoken of her nightmare after the paedophile who abused her seven-year-old daughter was jailed for six years. Christopher Brewin, 32, sobbed in the dock as details of his “sickening” crimes were read out at Hull Crown Court.

Now, as he starts his six-year jail sentence, the mother of his victim has told of her anger at what he did.

“We have finally got closure and now, me and my family can move on,” she said after the hearing.

“Every day since I found out has been a struggle but we can all move on now”

Brewin, formerly of Corbridge Close, east Hull, pleaded guilty to causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, taking indecent photographs of a child and the sexual assault of a child.

His crimes came to light after his victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told her mother that she had her photograph taken by Brewin.

When police arrived at his house, they searched the property and found notes and lists of what he intended to do to her, along with pornographic DVDs hidden among children’s clothes.

A later search of his iPad found 392 indecent images, a number of which were explicit images of the girl, taken by Brewin, who was high on amphetamines and cannabis at the time.

Prosecuting, Richard Walker, said: “The complainant asked her mother if the defendant had shown her a photograph of her on the iPad. She didn’t want to give any details.

“Officers attended his address on January 3. His first query was whether it was about drugs, then he asked about Facebook. They replied no and he then went pale and began to sob.

“When he was arrested he said ‘I have never done anything wrong, it is the speed, it makes me filthy and dirty. I don’t want to do it when I haven’t had speed’.”

When Mr Walker went on to describe the discovery of the notes, some of which described the photographs he was going to take, Judge Mark Bury warned the packed public gallery to “prepare themselves” because what they were about to hear would be “very distressing”.

One note read: “I really can’t believe I am doing this for real but I can’t help it and to be honest, it was always going to happen …”

Mr Walker said: “He said he had taken a lot of speed at the time and said he created the photograph in his head and had written things down like a story but never had the intention of making them real.”

In mitigation, Jeremy Lindsay, said: “It is not possible to explain this depraved behaviour such as this against a child. There is no doubt her mother has been severely affected.

“He accepts responsibility, stating ‘I am to blame’.

“He said ‘at one point I hated people who touch kids and I hate myself because I have gone and done it myself’.

“There is an element of remorse for what he has done and the effects it has had on the people it involves.”

As Judge Bury sentenced Brewin to six years in jail, the victim’s mother screamed from the gallery: “You dirty pig, you dirty pig, how dare you.”

Judge Bury told Brewin: “This was planned, the evidence for that is in the notes that you made.

“You said you only do that when you are under the influence. I don’t believe that for one moment, that has not caused your behaviour, it is simply how you are.”

Sickened mother won’t let kids out of her sight

The mother of Christopher Brewin’s victim is too scared to let her children play outside.

In a victim impact statement read by Judge Mark Bury as he jailed Brewin for six years, she said: “This has all made me feel sick to my stomach.

“I am really anxious all the time and I don’t let the kids out of my sight.”

Judge Bury said: “She had a house lined up to live independently but she feels unable to take that on at present because she needs the security and comfort of her own parents at home and feels she can’t protect her children any more.

“She blames herself.”

After the hearing she told the Mail: “I don’t even let my kids play outside because I feel like I can’t trust anyone.

“Hopefully, with time, that will go, but, at the moment, I just feel I need to protect them from everyone and everything.”

March 2004

OAP gets 12 years for abuse of girls

A MID Wales pensioner whose catalogue of abuse of young girls spanned three decades was jailed for 12 years yesterday. 

John Arthur Lane, 69,of Pendinas,Coed-y-Glyn, Guilsfield near Welshpool, admitted 16 offences of indecent assault and unlawful sexual intercourse involving five victims. 

Lane indecently touched a girl aged 12, who told her mother. Police were informed and their investigation revealed the full extent of what Lane had been doing over the years,Mold Crown Court was told. 

Judge Huw Daniel told him the case was about as bad as it could get. 

He placed Lane on the sex-offenders’ register for life, and made an order banning contact with children. He also made a special restraining order which means that he can never contact any of his victims. 

He had started sexually abusing girls when he was in his early 30s Lane stressed that he had not been violent with any of his victims.

June 2002

Care home residents win case

LIVERPOOL council could face a final compensation bill of more than £250,000 after former residents of a children’s care home won damages for years of abuse.

Seven of them were each awarded damages of between £12,000 and £36,000 at the end of a two week hearing at Liverpool High Court.

Judge Mr Justice Davies ruled the council had failed in its duty of care at the Ternhall Road home in Norris Green, during the 60s and 70s.

Claims they suffered cruelty and neglect from several more former residents are still to be considered.

The home was run by Joyce Beesley. She was jailed for child cruelty in 1997. Her husband Kenneth was jailed for indecent assault and cruelty.

The abuse included youngsters being tied to chairs with bedsheets, being denied food and beatings.

One claimant suffered frost bite while at Ternhall and later lost two toes.

Mr Justice Davis said: “There was inadequate training, supervision and inspection.

“In my judgement the council has been proved to be in breach of its duty to take steps to safeguard the well-being of the claimants.”

After yesterday’s hearing solicitor Keith Robertson, representing the group said: “We hope that the council will now look sensibly at this case and the remaining cases and settle them without further cost to the taxpayers of Liverpool and without putting the claimants through the trauma.”

He estimated the Ternhall Road litigation could cost the city council around  £260,000 in damages and up to pounds 400,000 in legal costs.

A spokesman for Liverpool council said he could not comment on the costs involved, but said: “We hope to reach amicable solutions with everyone concerned.”

May 2002

Weeping victim of care home abuse tells of her ordeals

A WOMAN wept as she described to a court the abuse she had suffered while a resident at a children’s home.

The woman, who cannot be named, told how she witnessed her brother’s head being pushed underwater during bath time.

The woman had been living at the council-run home in Ternhall Road, Norris Green, in the 1960s.

Joyce Beesley, who ran the home, was later jailed for child cruelty. Her husband Kenneth was also given a prison sentence for indecent assault and cruelty.

Sixteen former residents are suing Liverpool City Council for damages for psychological and physical injury. The current case at Liverpool Crown Court involves nine of them.

They allege the local authority had a duty of care.

Justice Davis yesterday heard that one former resident had on several occasions tried to take her own life.

The woman, who lived at the home from the age of five until she was nine, described how Kenneth Beesley had rubbed her legs, claiming it was part of her physiotherapy.

She said: “He was a dirty old man. I closed my eyes and shut it off. That’s how I got through this life.”

She had also seen her brother’s head being pushed underwater during bath time. The woman, now a mother-of-three, added: “I still see it now. This is not about money. It’s about them people being vetted and properly trained to look after kids.”

Earlier her sister, also a resident at Ternhall in the mid-60s, told the court how she had complained to the authorities after seeing her younger brother being abused at the home, but her concerns went unheeded.

“No one wanted to believe us. We were just abandoned and left to get on with it.”

During the Beesleys’ trial in 1997, the court heard that punishments meted out by the pair included cutting the grass with scissors, being tied in sheets at bedtime, and beatings.

April 1997

Cruel couple jailed for child cruelty

A CRUEL couple who abused and mistreated youngsters at the children’s home they ran were behind bars last night.

There were gasps of delight from their victims in the public gallery as 70-year-old Joyce Beesley was sentenced to five years and her husband, Kenneth, 73, was given two and a half years.

Mrs Beesley was convicted of cruelty to 13 children while her husband was found guilty of ill-treating one child and indecently assaulting four girls.

They had denied all the offences.

Their harrowing catalogue of offences spanned the 13 years to 1978 and involved 16 youngsters.

Jailing the couple at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, Judge Elizabeth Steel said there was `an atmosphere of fear’ at the home, where the children were `among the most vulnerable members of society’

August 2004

Life for paedophile after 35 years of abuse

A PAEDOPHILE was yesterday jailed for 16 years after a extensive campaign of abuse against young girls.

Pensioner Robert Offer was found guilty of more than 20 sex attacks during 35 years of child abuse.

Cardiff Crown Court heard his four victims were aged between five and 13-years-old during his rapes and assaults, which took place from 1961 to 1996.

Offer, 71, faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars.

Peter Harding-Roberts, defending, said, “Offer does not know if he is going to die in prison.”

Offer, of Llanrumney, Cardiff, was found guilty of 24 indecent assaults, rape, gross indecency and two charges of causing actual bodily harm.

Judge David Wynn Morgan told him, “You are a stranger to the normal feelings of love and affection.

“In pursuit of the opportunities to obtain perverted sexual gratification, you have shown yourself to be self-centred, devious and manipulative.

“The effect of your behaviour on your victims was obvious and I commend each one of them for the dignity with which they endured yet another example of your cruelty in giving evidence.

“You pose a grave risk to young girls in general and the concern of the court is the protection of the public.”

In addition to his prison sentence, Offer was ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

July 2014

Primary school teacher with two children downloaded 700 child abuse images after his ‘dark secret’ was exposed

A primary school teacher from Gosforth has walked free from court after admitting downloading indecent images of children onto his laptop

A primary school teacher found with almost 700 child abuse images and banned from working with children has been told his offending would ‘send a shudder down the backs’ of parents.

Andrew Douglas, who now lives in Norwich but who was living in Gosforth, Newcastle at the time of the offences admitted making and possessing illegal images of children and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with supervision.

The 30-year-old, who has one child and another on the way, must sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and abide by the terms of a sexual offences prevention order for five years.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Douglas confessed to having a ‘dark secret’ for half a decade after being found in possession of 696 child abuse images, some of which were the worst of their type.

Judge Guy Whitburn told him: ‘The very concept of a primary school teacher being in possession of images such as these would send a shudder down the backs of most who send their children to primary school.’

The court heard there had been no complaints about Douglas’ behaviour in the classroom at a Tyneside primary school, but his activities had been tracked online.

Douglas has never been allowed to see his child, born after his arrest, the court was told.

His ban from working with children signals the end of his career.

The court heard the victims in the images were older than the children Douglas taught.

Caroline Goodwin, defending, handed in references to the teacher’s previous good character.

She said: ‘They express shock from those who know him, it is completely out of character.’

October 2004

September 1999

Jail for abuser who was trusted by family

A paedophile who put an entire family of youngsters through a catalogue of sex abuse was jailed for five years yesterday.

James Sneddon, 62, was trusted by the parents of the two brothers and their sister.

He took them to the seaside, parks, pictures and the circus. But Sneddon had only one thing on his mind – sex with the children afterwards.

Temporary Judge Alastair Stewart, QC, said the description of their ordeals was as bad as he had ever heard.

The judge was told that 27 years after first being abused, one of the boys, now 37, hates Sneddon so much for what he did to his innocence, he could kill him.

Sneddon, of Drury Lane Court, Calderwood, East Kilbride, who wears dark glasses because he is going blind, and cannot walk without sticks, pleaded guilty to the charges at the High Court in Glasgow.

November 1999

Five years for elderly child abuser

A child molester who told police he should be shot after subjecting a girl to a decade of abuse was jailed for five years yesterday.

Sidney Rielly subjected his victim to regular sexual abuse from the age of five, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.

The girl’s ordeal only stopped when as a teenager she warned Rielly she would go to the police if he continued to molest her.

Rielly, 67, of Katrine Crescent, Burnfoot, Airdrie, admitted two charges of sex offences against the girl, ending in 1985.

He was originally convicted at Airdrie Sheriff Court but was sent to the High Court for sentence because the sheriff considered that his maximum power – three years imprisonment – was insufficient to deal with the crimes.

June 1998

Music teacher abused pupils

A MUSIC teacher who subjected a young pupil and her elder sister to seven years of sexual abuse was jailed for three years

The sentence was the maximum possible under sheriff court rules.

Accordionist Daniel Stewart (65), a retired railway linesman who ran a private music school in a bedroom of his council house in Drummond Place, Callander, Perthshire, was told by Sheriff William Reid that he had ruined the lives of his victims.

Stewart hung his head in the dock at Stirling Sheriff Court as Sheriff Reid added: “It is clear from psychiatric reports on your victims that they suffered long- term damage and the case involves a breach of trust. “

The frequency and the length of time over which these offences occurred indicates a course of conduct rather than some individual impulse.

July 2014

Paedophile who abused sleeping woman he thought was a child is first to wear 24-hour electronic tag

A DANGEROUS paedophile has become the first sex offender in the region to be forced to wear an electronic tag at all times.

Michael Lee will have his movements tracked by satellite by police when he is released from prison because of the “high risk he poses to all children.”

Lee, 30, was jailed for five years and nine months yesterday for sexually assaulting a sleeping woman at a house party after mistaking her for a child.

He was jailed for seven years in 2002 after luring young girls away from playgrounds and as they were walking home from school and sexually assaulting them.

Judge Jacqueline Davies made Lee the subject of a indefinite sexual offences prevention order (SOPO), including forcing him to wear the GPS tag.

Lee, of Cambridge Street, west Hull, sexually assaulted the 29-year-old woman as she slept during a house party in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

She had gone to bed in a little girl’s bedroom – which was painted bright pink – after feeling unwell.

When she woke to find him sexually assaulting her, he told her: “Don’t tell your mum.”

Hull Crown Court heard he had mistaken her for a child.

When police seized Lee’s mobile phone, they discovered 1,166 indecent images and films of children.

They included 310 still images and 19 films depicting the most serious forms of abuse on children as young as five.

Lee had also been contacting young girls through social networking sites.

In an interview with a probation officer, Lee said he enjoyed seeing children being sexually humiliated and believed that young children could consent to and enjoy sex.

He also said his attraction to children was “unavoidable”.

Lee was made the subject of a SOPO in 2002, banning him from having contact with children. After he was arrested, he told police he had been in a house with children about 20 times.

Lee admitted sexual assault, breaching a SOPO, making indecent images of children and possessing extreme images that showed adult women having sex with animals.

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July 2014

Paedophile Alan Sharpe, 63, jailed for 13 years

A 63-year-old Suffolk paedophile has been jailed for a total of 13 years after being convicted of a string of sex offences.

Alan Sharpe, of Farford Road, Great Cornard was convicted of two serious sexual assaults on a child, three counts of gross indecency with a child and five indecent assaults on a female child.

The conviction followed a trial at Ipswich Crown Court last week before Recorder Maureen Baker QC.

Sharpe had denied all the offences, along with two other serious sexual assaults which were discharged.

Sharpe’s sentencing was adjourned until his appearance before Norwich Crown Court yesterday where Recorder Baker was presiding.

As a result of his conviction Sharpe was also made subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

He must sign the sex offences register for an indefinite period. Sharpe was also given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for an indefinite period.

After the case Kate Pinato, a spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service takes these matters very seriously and we are pleased this case has reached a successful conclusion.

“We are grateful to the victim for coming forward to the authorities and we hope the positive outcome of this case means this ordeal can be put to rest and the victim can move forward.

“The sentence handed down today not only highlights the severe nature of this crime, but also sends a strong message that we will rigorously prosecute these cases for the benefit of victims and remain committed to bringing offenders to justice.”

July 2014

Convicted paedophile jailed again, this time for 100,000 child abuse images

A Keynsham man convicted of downloading more than 100,000 images of child sexual abuse has been jailed for three years.

Stephen Buchan formerly of Springfield Close in Twerton, Bath claimed he didn’t download the material found on a computer at the home he shared with his mother, saying he had no interest in porn and didn’t know how to download pictures from the internet.

But a jury of six men and six women took just over an hour to convict the 57-year-old, of St John’s Court, of seven charges of making indecent photographs of a child between 2003 and 2011.

The court heard he had convictions in the 1980s for indecent assault on a girl aged under 14 and having sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 16.

The recorder Mr Atkinson QC told him: “The seriousness is that each image, still or moving, is a record of a sexual offence committed against a child. Children may well be adversely affected for the rest of their lives.”

Buchan was told to register as a sex offender indefinitely. He was also handed an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order, banning him from having a device accessing the internet unless its history of use can be inspected by police at any time.

Bristol Crown Court heard Buchan had a total of 750,000 photos and videos on computer equipment.

The court was told his brother, Trevor Buchan, was jailed in November 2010 for offences related to indecent images of children and was released from prison in May last year. 

Detective Constable Geoff Colvin told a jury he stopped checking after he had established that the haul included more than 100,000 “degrading” photos and 800 movies.

DC Colvin said: “There were in the region of three quarters of a million images. It was masses. In six years I’ve never had to go through such material. I categorised 110,000 indecent images and I had to say ‘that’s enough’ and I stopped.”

Police found 2,566 photos and 256 movies depicting child rape, as well as 228 photos and 25 movies involving sadism and animals.

Buchan told police the pictures had been collected by a group of men who visited his home – but declined to say who they were.

He told jurors that if he had revealed the men’s identities to the police, he would “not be here” to give evidence. Further police inquiries revealed some 30,000 indecent images of children found in a garage Buchan rented, which he admitted possessing.

Brendon Moorhouse, defending, said his client had had a “sea change in acceptance” regarding the latest images found, which negated the need for further police inquiries.

DC Colvin thanked members of the public who assisted police with evidence concerning Buchan’s lifestyle.

July 2014

East Lancs man who flashed at schoolgirls was ‘sexually frustrated’

A 24-YEAR-OLD man exposed himself to two young girls as they walked in a Clitheroe street.

A court heard how ‘sexually frustrated’ Ashley Mart was laughing while he performed a sex act in front of the 10 and 11 year olds in Salthill Road.

The judge was also told how the following day, the defendant, of Whitewell Road, Dunsop Bridge, beckoned a woman to walk towards him in Lincoln Way before exposing himself again.

She took a photograph of his van and he was arrested soon after, prosecutors said.

Mart’s own barrister told the court his client’s behaviour was “very odd and disturbing”.

The defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity in front of a child and another of indecent exposure.

Judge Heather Lloyd, sitting at Preston Crown Court, sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment suspended for two years.

She told him he must work with probation officers to prevent him from committing another sexual offence again.

The judge told Mart: “Although no-one was hurt, it is of grave concern to me that you had the sexual urge to behave the way you did.

“You did it for sexual excitement and regardless of the effect upon those children and that lady, all of them were frightened.

“You must be sexually attracted to young girls to do this.

“There must be concerns that you will vent your frustrations somewhere else. This deviant behaviour may escalate.”

Defending, Richard Prew said: “We are dealing with a young man of 24 who has shown no propensity for offences of this nature before and to his utmost credit, he pleaded guilty , providing instructions to me that he really did not want to put the victims of his crimes through any greater distress than they had already suffered at his hands.

“It was very odd and disturbing behaviour exhibited by the defendant.”

March 1998

STARS’ CHEF HAD SEX WITH SCHOOLGIRL, 14

AN AWARD winning chef who once worked at millionaire Peter de Savary’s Skibo Castle was yesterday fined £1000 and placed on the paedophile list after admitting having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

At Elgin Sheriff Court, Sheriff Noel McPartlin described the hefty fine as a deterrent to others.

The 1996 Highland Chef of Year Stewart Jarvie, 26, who has prepared meals for people like Prince Andrew, Billy Connolly, and Sam Torrance, admitted the |offence at an earlier hearing.

Sheriff Noel McPartlin told the accused: “The law is there to protect girls of that age. I have a duty to impose a deterrent sentence.

“You were in a position of authority which you manipulated to be alone with the girl.”

At an earlier hearing depute fiscal Sharon Ralph said that an arrangement was made for the girl to accompany Jarvie to his flat on February 4 for sex.

“They left the hotel at 10 pm and Jarvie drove her back to his flat in Buckie where they had full sexual intercourse.

“The girl later informed her guidance teacher. After consultation with other staff the guidance teacher informed the girl’s mother.”

The incident happened while Jarvie, whose address was given as Pringle Court, Buckie, was working at a hotel in Cullen, Banffshire. He has since been sacked and has now started a new job at Scotland’s Hotel in Pitlochry, Perthshire.

Outside the court yesterday a former colleague of Jarvie’s who did not want to be named, said: “This man is a beast and he will strike again.”

March 1998

Mother tells of her anguish after the pervert who molested her child gets probation

A MOTHER who pleaded with a judge to jail the pervert who molested her daughter told yesterday of her devastation when the man was allowed to walk free.

Mark Taaffe, 25, was given probation even though he had regularly committed gross indecency on the woman’s five-year-old girl for more than a year.

Judge John Burke QC claimed the youngster had not suffered permanent damage. But the 31-year-old mum, who cannot be named for legal reasons, wept as she said: “That judge does not know the facts – he’s totally out of touch.

“My little girl is still waking up with nightmares. How can he say that she has not been traumatised?

“The judge, social services and police have all let us down.

“Taaffe has abused my daughter and he walks free from court. All his punishment is that he has lost his job.

“It’s a sick joke. When the police interviewed my daughter on tape she did not even know what Taaffe did was wrong.

“She was embarrassed and would not talk because she said it was rude.

“Now they say because she didn’t tell them everything or cry during the interview that shows she has not been affected.

“It stinks – he stole my child’s innocence.

“Taaffe has shown no remorse, he’s laughing at us.

“He’s caused so much damage to my family – this is a serious crime, there should be a mandatory prison sentence for child abuse.”

Taaffe, a van driver, molested the girl at HIS mother’s home in Salford, Lancs, when she was a foster parent providing respite care for handicapped children.

The woman was looking after the Down’s Syndrome sister of the abuse victim.

Taaffe secretly assaulted the five-year-old when she arrived with her mum to visit the handicapped girl.

When Salford social services first placed children with Taaffe’s mother in 1991 police checks revealed her son had no convictions.

But in May 1995 Taaffe was convicted of common assault on a woman and given a 12-month conditional discharge.

And in January 1997 he was convicted of assaulting a man and given an eight-month suspended jail sentence.

The police officers who handled the cases were unaware Taaffe’s mother was a foster parent – and they did not alert social services.

Taaffe was arrested for molesting the five-year-old after her mum became suspicious.

He denied the accusations but caved in on the day his trial was due to start and pleaded guilty to two gross indecency charges.

The judge at Manchester Crown Court was not told about Taaffe’s previous convictions.

And when Taaffe’s lawyer claimed the abuse had caused no lasting effect on the girl her mother leapt to her feet and shouted: “That is not right, I’m sorry that is not right. She has had to have counselling.”

Judge Burke adjourned the case to find out the impact of the assaults on the girl. But on Friday when Taaffe appeared for sentence the judge ignored the mum’s plea.

He gave Taaffe three years’ probation, ordered him to sign the Sex Offender’s Register and to have treatment for his paedophile tendencies.

The distraught mum said afterwards: “It’s affected my relationship with my husband and totally devastated my family.

“I have good and bad days. Sometimes I can be just washing the dishes and my mind wanders and I think about what he has done and I think, ‘That bastard’ – I just start crying.”

She told how cunning Taaffe had managed to molest her daughter.

She said: “Upstairs he had a video library and the children would go up to watch videos.

“While I was downstairs drinking tea and chatting with his mum, Taaffe was abusing my daughter – it is just unbelievable.”

She added: “She used to be a very bright young girl, very quick and straight into everything.

“But after the abuse she just fell to pieces.”

Judge Burke, who has three daughters himself, said in court he had watched the video-taped police interviews with care.

He said: “I look for trauma and I see none. She appears to be a self confident little girl – every picture tells a story.

“I must take into account the mother’s views but I am not persuaded that I should change tack on the sentence.

“Having been advised that the complainant was not traumatised and the defendant can be weaned away from this sort of behaviour, I stand by my recommendation of three years’ probation.”

An inquiry has been launched by social services with the aim of tightening vetting procedures.

July 2003

Child abuse images ‘is feeding abuse’

The Recorder of Birmingham yesterday spoke of how the trade in child abuse images was perpetuating the abuse of young children.

Judge Wakerley made his comments as he jailed Christopher Carne for 18 months after Carne admitted 35 charges of making indecent photos of children over a three-year period while living at an address in Jardine Road, Aston.

The judge told Carne: ‘The images you kept are as bad as I have seen.’

The city’s Crown Court heard how his secret fascination with girls as young as two was revealed when his partner stumbled on a computer file by chance.

Tracey Lloyd-Nesling said Carne’s girlfriend had been forced to use his computer when her own machine would not work.

‘She went to use his computer instead and needed to access the history folder,’ Miss Lloyd Nesling said.

‘But when she did she found an image of a ten-year-old girl in a bikini and in a flirtatious pose, with words of a sexual nature written underneath.

‘She looked at other files and found more images. Deeply disturbed, she contacted friends for advice and after a discussion, called the police. Mr Carne was arrested later that night.’

Judge Wakerley banned Carne from working with children for life and imposed a 20-month supervision order, to be activated on his release from prison.

‘There is the general public concern as to the availability of this filth,’ he said. ‘It feeds the practice of abuse of children and if there was no trade in images there would be no abuse.’

The court heard how Carne told police of his ‘interest’ in girls aged between two and ten-years-old.

Malcolm Fowler, defending, said Carne had become a ‘traumatised person’ since his arrest.

July 1999

Jailed sex abuse head used school trips to prey on victims

A FORMER headmaster has been given a six-year jail sentence for sexually abusing boys over three decades.

The 66-year-old bachelor pleaded guilty to 14 charges of indecent assault and gross indecency against nine victims.

Brendan Patrick Tiernan of Foxrock, Co Dublin, was principal of Clogher Road Vocational School in Crumlin from 1979 until his crimes were exposed by one of his victims three years ago.

Dublin Circuit Court heard a total of five abuse victims tell how coming into contact with Tiernan had severely affected their lives.

They all said it caused them problems in their social, business and sporting activities.

And they also reported alcoholism and suicidal tendencies as a result.

One victim, now aged 26, said the abuse he suffered caused him to become a heroin addict and a male prostitute.

He said he had lost all his self-respect for a long time and was violent to girlfriends.

Another said he had a good job but had not been able to cope properly at work in recent years because he found it difficult simply to get up in the morning.”It’s unbelievable,” said the victim. “But people who have never been in this situation just do not understand.”

Judge Elizabeth Dunne commended Detective Sergeant David Walsh and his colleagues for their sensitive handling of the case and noted how much the victims thanked them.

Det Sgt Walsh told prosecuting counsel Erwan Mill Arden SC, that the abuse occurred from 1969 to 1996 in Tiernan’s car, his office, his home and on school trips.

The former headmaster often took his victims on trips in his car to Brittas Bay and the Pine Forest where abuse followed a similar sick pattern.

Mr Mill Arden said one victim, who was assaulted between 1982 and 1984, was paid money by Tiernan after he wrote to him some years later explaining the effect the abuse had on him.

Another victim, now 42, who was abused between 1969 and 1974, spoke to Tiernan in 1976.

The former headmaster, originally from Bawnboy, Co Cavan, was very distressed about this and said it would ruin his career. The victim didn’t pursue the matter then.

The sexual crimes finally came to light in 1996 when the a victim complained to the Eastern Health Board and Gardai were subsequently contacted.

Det Sgt Walsh agreed this man was “the catalyst” who set the investigation in motion.

Det Sgt Walsh agreed with Mr MacEntee that Tiernan appeared to be “a loner” who operated by himself.

The investigation was complex and Gardai might not have discovered some victims without Tiernan’s co-operation.

He had come to the station for one interview and insisted on making a statement despite legal advice.

Mr Patrick Randalls, clinical psychologist with the Granada Institute, said Tiernan acknowledged he had sexually abused young boys, but appeared to believe at first his victims had consented.

He said the headmaster had very poorly developed social skills and little insight into the effect on his victims.

Mr Randalls said the defendant was confused about his sexual orientation and that he was attracted to boys.

But Mr Randalls didn’t think his relationship with the victims was driven by sex and believed he saw his activity as expressing friendship and forging a common bond with them.

He said Tiernan badly needed help, but did not believe he posed a problem to society at large.

His behaviour was not predatory and he could be treated in the community.

Judge Elizabeth Dunne imposed concurrent one year sentences on the five gross indecency charges and three year terms for the indecent assault counts.

She directed that the three-year terms on three of the indecent assault offences be made consecutive to the others because Tiernan had committed the offences at the two schools in which he held positions of trust.

Judge Dunne agreed to review Tiernan’s case in three years’ time and to enquire into what treatment, if any, Tiernan was getting in prison.

July 2003

Stepmother jailed for cruelty to girl

Court sketch – 2003-05-02, at CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT (OLD BAILEY)

A stepmother was jailed yesterday for torturing and abusing a five-year-old girl who was “too beautiful”.

Annastacia Williams was found dying of head injuries at the bottom of stairs after arriving in Britain from Jamaica to live with her father. It was also revealed she also had a broken bone in her chest, a chipped bone in her arm and bruising and scratches. 

She hoped to find a better life in Islington, north London, with Ken Williams, 31, and his new partner, Christine Green, 25, but she died nine months later in September last year, from brain damage which Green said had been caused by a fall.

Green, who taunted and abused the little girl who called her mummy, was jailed for four years for two offences of child cruelty.

Williams, who like Green worked as a cleaner, was jailed for two years for two offences of neglect after failing to stop the abuse.

The couple had been found guilty last week.

The jury found Green not guilty of murder but failed to agree on a charge of manslaughter against her, which was ordered to lie on file.

Richard Horwell, prosecuting, told the trial: “Green repeatedly said to Williams that Annastacia was too beautiful to be his child and another man must have been her father.”

Nadine Richards, the wife of Williams’s cousin, said Annastacia called Green “mummy”. Green had treated the child well for about a week and then started treating her badly.

She said she witnessed Green’s cruelty. “She was brushing Annastacia’s teeth in the bathroom.

“She was brushing very hard and Annastacia’s mouth began to bleed.

“She threw some hot water into her face. Annastacia was crying.”

Mrs Richards said Annastacia was happy when she or Williams were around but became sad “as soon as Christine was there”.

Annastacia’s mother, Melissa Francis, told the court that Williams was her child’s father.

Green said Annastacia had “conked out” after falling downstairs and hitting her head on September 9 last year.

Annastacia died on September 13 when a life support machine was turned off.

Marks on her body which looked like chicken pox scars were later found to be the result of her being gripped with force.

After the funeral, a consultant radiologist at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, London, spotted a number of injuries on X-rays. Annastacia’s body was exhumed a week after she was buried and a number of old injuries were found.

Williams had known about the abuse but had failed to protect his daughter, said Mr Horwell.

Judge Paul Focke recommended that Green and Williams, who were both illegal over-stayers, should be recommended for deportation to Jamaica.

November 1996

Sisters See Abuser Jailed

Two sisters embraced each other yesterday as the man who abused them 30 years ago began a two-year sentence.

The women, now 35 and 40 years old, waived their right to anonymity after their uncle, David Percy, was jailed.

They said: `We are both just delighted that justice has been done and one more pervert has been taken off the streets. Child abuse is an illness.

She was raped as a child and suffered physical violence as a wife, but Janey Godley, 44, has finally found happiness by entertaining others…

Staring at the wallpaper, my body shook uncontrollably as I blurted my terrible secret out to my mum.

“Uncle David tickles me down there,” I said, and told her that when I was alone with her brother, he’d pull down my knickers and touch me. I looked at my mum, longing for her to tell me it wouldn’t happen again. But there was a cold look in her eyes.

“If you ever tell your dad, he’ll kill my brother and go to jail, and you’ll have no daddy!” she hissed, staring into my eyes. “Is that what you want?”

I was crushed. I was just six years old, but even my own mother thought that I was a bad little girl…

The two-bedroomed flat in Glasgow where I grew up was cold and smelly. I shared a room with my sister Ann and our elder brothers Mij and Vid. Our mum would watch old movies on our black-and-white TV. “Look at me, I’m Judy Garland,” she’d laugh, trying to escape her demons.

Dad was an alcoholic, but he held down a job at a local steelworks. He worked hard, but we were still poor. Our clothes were ragged and our plastic shoes were no barrier against the cold. We were infested with fleas and head lice.

Like a lot of the women where we lived, Mum took Valium. Her life was full of turmoil. We had to keep everything a secret from Dad.

“Don’t tell him I’ve been to the pawn shop,” she’d beg us

But from the age of five, I kept the biggest secret locked inside me – my
uncle David Percy was abusing me. After Mum’s reaction, the only way I could protect myself was to keep out of his way. But he always found me.

“What’s up?”Ann asked one day when she heard me crying in the toilet.

“Uncle David tickles me there and l hate it,” I sobbed.

“Oh, Janey, no!” she cried, wrapping her arms around me. “I thought if I let him touch me, he wouldn’t touch you.” Ann was just 12 years old, but she promised to protect me.

“We’ll make sure neither of us is ever alone with him,” she said. But it wasn’t long before he progressed to rape. His abuse went on until I was 11 or 12. I don’t know why it stopped. Maybe I got better at hiding.

Even though Dad was drunk every weekend, I was heartbroken when he left. He knew how unstable Mum was,yet he’d left us to deal with it.

I muddled through the following years, studying hard at school. My teachers said I showed promise. But, aged 16, I marched into school and announced I wouldn’t be coming back.

“I need to earn money,” I told the teachers They tried to get me to stay. but I’d made my mind up.

I got a job working as a carer in an old people’s home. But life was
still miserable. Mum started seeing a bully who regularly beat her up.

“He’ll kill you one day,” I shouted at her, but she wouldn’t listen.

I was 18 and working as a barmaid in a nightclub when I met Sean
Storrie, who was 16. His father George, a well-known villain, owned the club and Sean worked there as a bouncer. I couldn’t stand him – he was so moody. But when he asked me out, I said yes out of curiosity.

‘Wow, so this is what it’s meant to feel like,’ I thought when he kissed
me. Within weeks, we were in love. When I told him about being abused, he listened patiently. Sean didn’t pressurise me to sleep with him, and 1f when it happened it was wonderful.

Three weeks after our first date, he slipped a diamond ring on my finger and asked me to marry him. The two of us had never been happier.

We married on 27 September 1980, and moved into a pub George
owned in one of the roughest areas of Glasgow – he wanted it run by family.

“I wouldn’t trust a stranger to look after my business,” he said. But the pub was barely paying its way, and most of our regulars were gangsters.

Sean and I worked hard at turning the place around. Behind the bar, we seemed happy, but upstairs I endured Sean’s moods. We’d been married less than a year when he first slapped me. I learned when he was about to I explode, and would run from the pub.

“Janey, I’m so sorry,” he’d say sadly when I dared to return.

My world came crashing down in 1982 when my mum disappeared after going on a trip with her boyfriend. A few days later, her body was found in the River Clyde. The police said it was an accident. I remembered my words to her: “He’ll kill you one day…”

I had no doubt her death wasn’t an accident. I was devastated. She hadn’t shown me much love,but I loved her.

When our daughter Ashley was born in April 1986, we both adored her. Sean was more confident with her than me. She seemed so tiny and I was terrified something would happen to her. She was a real daddy’s girl. I knew he’d never lay a finger on her, but that didn’t stop him attacking me. When he slapped me I’d promise myself I’d leave him.

But, as I watched Ashley grow, I realised I could never take her away from Sean. I found myself wishing away her childhood. ‘Hurry up and get to 16, then I can leave,’ I thought.

Despite our problems,Sean and I made a success of the pub. I loved working behind the bar, cracking jokes and telling funny stories.

But the nightmares I’d been having since childhood continued to plague me, and I knew I had to come to terms with what had happened. But I couldn’t do it without Ann. We were close, but neither of us had talked about Uncle David’s abuse since that day when she was 12 and I was just seven years old.

One day I picked up the phone and dialled her number. She became hysterical when I started talking about our past but,eventually, we talked about everything.

“We’ll have to tell Dad,” I said. He had given up drink by then, and we’d forged a close relationship.

Sean,despite his faults,wanted to help me deal with what had happened all those years ago. He asked Dad to come over to the pub. As we sat upstairs I forced myself to tell him what had happened, but I couldn’t look him in the eyes I was terrified that he’d think I’d made it up. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. He was heartbroken.

“I’m so sorry. I wish I could go back and fix it,” he said time after time when I’d finished talking.

It took a long time but, as I faced my uncle, then 47, in court in 1996, I realised he no longer had any power over me, and I pitied him. He denied the truth,but he was found guilty of sexually assaulting us and sentenced to two years in jail.

“What’s important is that everyone knows what he did,” I said to Ann.

Sean’s dad died that year and we both decided it was the right time for a new start. We knew that to find peace~we had to leave the pub, and the arguments that blew up all the time with his brothers We bought a two-bedroom flat in Glasgow’s West End.

Overnight, Sean seemed to change as we left the stresses of the pub behind. Then one of my old customers suggested I audition at a local comedy night.

“Go on, Janey, you were always entertaining us when you were behind the bar,”he said.

The first time I looked out at the sea of faces looking back at me from the stage, I felt like I’d escaped into another world. I even laughed about some of the awful things that had happened to me. By making a joke out of them, I was taking control. Since winning that audition, my career’s gone from strength to strength. I changed my name to Janey Godley, too. It was a symbolic way of shrugging off the old, abused Janey. I’ve done some acting,written a play and a book, too, Handstands In The Dark about my experiences. I was so excited when I saw a copy of it in a bookshop that I took a photo of it using my mobile phone!

Sean and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in September. We’ve never been closer. Sean is tormented by the violence he subjected me to and we talk about it openly. We even discuss it with Ashley,who’s 19 now and at university. “I’m so ashamed of what I’ve done,” Sean says

Looking back, I made my decisions based on my circumstances at the time. If we hadn’t had Ashley, I wouldn’t have tolerated his behaviour. But he was a great dad We’re lucky we’ve had a happy ending – I’ve known many women who lost their lives at the hands of their bullying husbands.

My life’s had more than its fair share of ups and downs,but as I stand onstage and hear the laughter, I know I’ve dealt with the ghosts of the past.

Who’d have thought that Janey Currie from the slums would become a successful playwright and actor, an award-winning stand-up comedian and have a book published?