September 2014

Paedophile banned from having contact with children under 16 jailed for approaching children

A pervert pensioner was jailed yesterday after he approached boys fishing on the Tees.

Anthony Harrison, 69, from Stockton, had served a seven year prison sentence for child sex abuse and he was banned from having contact with children under 16.

He was caught on CCTV as he went up to the two young anglers near the Millennium Bridge, Stockton, at 5pm on Saturday July 27.

Prosecutor Emma Atkinson told Teesside Crown Court that police responded to the CCTV sighting of Harrison, who was on a cycle, and he was searched and arrested.

Miss Atkinson said that a 12 year old boy said that he had seen Harrison in the vicinity on a couple of occasions.

He asked them how long they had been fishing and if they had caught anything, and then he gave one boy a roll-up cigarette.

He then produced a pack of biscuits and a can of pop and he told them to share them among themselves.

He said he was surprised that none of them had a top off because it was a warm day, and he asked after one of their friends by name.

Miss Atkinson said that a Police Support officer who searched Harrison’s pockets found a packet of mints and a bag of Blue Riband biscuits.

When he was interviewed he constantly referred to being absentminded about his actions, and he said that he could not tell how old the boys were, but eventually he accepted that he had communicated with them.

She said that Harrison had been jailed for seven years in December 1998 for sexual offences against young boys, and he was given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning contact with children under 16.

He failed to comply with a restraining order in 2007, and he had breached the SOPO in July 2012 when he befriended a single mother with a two year old child.

John Nixon, defending, said that Harrison was a loner, an isolated individual, and his reasons for approaching the boys were not clear.

Mr Nixon said: “One cannot say what might have happened had the police not intervened.”

He urged the judge to allow the Probation Service to work with Harrison rather than impose a prison sentence.

The judge said that the SOPO was there to protect Harrison as well as children, and he had breached it on a number of occasions.

The Recorder of Middlesbrough Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC said: “This is a serious case because you went quite plainly and deliberately up to these boys.

“The worrying aspect of the case is the provision by you of cigarettes and biscuits and the observing by you that they had their tops on.”

The judge added: “I note, and I am concerned, that in your pre-sentence report that you are described as being manipulative and not fully ready to engage with the Probation Service, and you have in the past made a number of verbal threats against the Probation Service, police and members of the judiciary, making it unlikely that you would co-operate.”

Harrison, of Ashbourne Road, Stockton, was jailed for 12 months after he pleaded guilty to a breach of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

September 2014

Three years in jail for two attempted child abductions and sexual assault

A Kurdish national who tried to abduct two 15 year old girls from the streets of Haverfordwest has been jailed for three years today.

Saman Osmanzadeh, 25, carried out almost identical attacks three days apart and twice sexually assaulted his second victim.

Judge Paul Thomas, at Swansea crown court, said he found it “very worrying” that Osmanzadeh refused to accept the jury’s verdicts or sign the sexual offenders’ register.

But he would sign it, added the judge, and abide by the conditions attached or he would receive an additional sentence.

Judge Thomas also heard that a member of Osmanzadeh’s family had approached the sister of one of his victims and “tried to persuade her to go back to the police.”

Judge Thomas said he wanted to make it clear that “serious and very unpleasant consequences” would follow if it happened again.

Osmanzadeh, of Goshawk Road, Haverfordwest, had been convicted unanimously after a trial at Swansea crown court of two offences of attempted abduction and two of sexual assault.

He tried to force the girls into his car on the pretext of giving them a lift home for their own safety.

The first girl had been approached as she walked home near Crundale Park on November 26, 2013. Osmanzadeh put an arm around her and tried to walk her to his car but she resisted.

The second girl had been waiting for her then boyfriend in Swan Square, Haverfordwest, when Osmanzadeh began talking to her. He told her she was beautiful and twice kissed her on the cheek.

She began shaking with fear as Osmanzadeh tried to get her into his car, and when that failed tried to walk her around the back of a Chinese restaurant.

Osmanzadeh, a father of two with a third child due next month, gave up when her boyfriend arrived.

Osmanzadeh’s barrister, Frank Phillips, said he had been remanded in jail since his conviction two months ago and had found the experience very difficult, isolated as he was because of the nature of his offending and language difficulties.

Judge Thomas said he was in no doubt that Osmanzadeh had found young girls of that age attractive and that his intentions had been sexual.

But he accepted that he had been in a position to use more force than he had done.

However, it was “very worrying behaviour” and Osmanzadeh’s continued refusal to admit to himself and his partner what he had done was “a factor that raises concern for the future.”

Judge Thomas said Osmanzadeh was, in most senses, a good family man but he had a wider duty to protect young girls and to mark public disapproval of his conduct.

Osmanzadeh was ordered to register with the police as a sex offender indefinitely and banned from working with children or vulnerable people.

September 2014

Cirencester man jailed for grooming young girl

September 2014

Galashiels man groomed a 13-year-old girl

A Galashiels man was this week placed on the Sex Offenders Register following a secret two-year relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

Twenty-seven-year-old first offender Iain McCracken, of Roxburgh Street, appeared on indictment at Selkirk Sheriff Court and admitted sexual activity with a girl under 16 years, between February 2011 and February 2013.

The accused was aged 24 when the relationship began, and the girl, who he was conversing with on a social networking site, aged 13.

They split up two years later in February 2013, when she was 15. Following the break-up, the girl discovered she was pregnant and later suffered a miscarriage.

McCracken also pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting another 13-year-old in August last year. He had asked her for a “wee cuddle” before pulling her on top of him, kissing her on the mouth and rubbing her buttocks. The frightened teenager went to the bathroom where she crawled through a window and cycled barefoot to her grandmother’s house “in a state of distress”.

When the other girl found out what had happened, she told police of her two-year relationship with the accused.

McCracken made full admissions about his sexual activity, and confirmed he was aware the girl was just 13 when the relationship began.

Defence solicitor Ross Dow said his client, who was suffering from depression and testicular cancer at the time, accepted the seriousness of the charges.

Sentence was deferred until October 13 for reports.

September 2014

Paedophile blames Gary Glitter for interest in child abuse images

A 56-YEAR-old man who tried to blame his interest in child abuse images on paedophile pop star Gary Glitter was told by a judge his claims were “ludicrous”.

Following a raid at John Sumner’s home in 2012 police discovered that as well as downloading the images he had also been involved in distribution.

Sumner was given a 12 month prison sentence suspended for two years after pleading guilty to nine offences involving making indecent images and two of distribution.

Passing sentence at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Andrew Hatton said that he took into account that Sumner had a 26 month wait since his arrest and sentence

Graham Pickavance prosecuting said that police found a total of 248 images on Sumner’s computer in June 2012 

Investigations showed that he also distributed two images via Skype.

The court heard how Sumner, from The Pastures in Bold, claimed he developed an “inappropriate fascination” with such images after being intrigued by Glitter’s offences.

Judge Hatton told him: “It is clear you have an unhealthy interest in pre-pubescent children. Not only did you view images you also distributed to others with similar interests.

“Significant numbers of children suffer abuse to provide sexual gratification for people such as you. Distribution to other paedophiles, for that is what you are, compounds that abuse.

“The explanations you have advanced to the police and probation are frankly ludicrous.”

He ordered Sumner to attend the Northumbria sex offenders treatment programme and carry out 50 hours unpaid work.

Sumner must also sign the Sex Offenders register for seven years and a Sexual Offences Prevention Order restricting his internet use for ten years.

September 2014

Pervert jailed for making schoolgirl sex tape in Sunderland home

A PERVERT was forced to confess to making a sex tape when the schoolgirl he secretly videoed accused him of rape.

George Farrell used a hidden mobile phone to covertly capture what happened between him and the 15-year-old, who he had known for only a day, at a house in Sunderland.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Farrell was forced to hand over the footage to detectives when the teenager accused him of rape.

The court heard the recording showed the girl had consented to what went on and led to Farrell, 20, facing no charge for rape – but put behind bars for taking an indecent photograph of a child.

Farrell has a previous conviction for harassment of a former girlfriend, whom he also videoed having sex and sent a copy of the tape to her parents.

He pleaded guilty to making an indecent photograph of a child last November and an unrelated charge of arson being reckless to life endangered after he started a blaze in his room at a hostel in February.

Judge John Evans jailed him for a total of three years.

The judge told him: “You recorded what was meant to have been a private act of intimacy involving you and a 15-year-old girl. Little did she know that the act was being recorded.”

Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw told the court the tape came to light when the girl made an “allegation of serious sexual offence” against Farrell.

Mr Wardlaw said: “The footage, which he recorded on his mobile phone, shows he has consensual sex with the 15-year-old girl.”

Judge Evans viewed the footage, which lasts for around 11 minutes, before the start of the case.

Andrew Finlay, defending, said: “The existence of the video became known when the allegation was made of rape and the defendant was forced to rely on the video to demonstrate that is not what had happened.

“She said he forced himself on her. He clearly had not.”

Farrell, of no fixed address, had initially claimed to have watched the recording with a friend the day after it was made, which he now denies.

Mr Finlay said Farrell’s life was on a “downward spiral” at the time of the offences after he was made homeless and was struggling to deal with the effects of his traumatic childhood.

The court heard Farrell was drunk when he started the fire in the early hours of the morning at the Centrepoint hostel in Sunderland, where 15 other residents were asleep.

Judge Evans said: “A very large number of people could have been seriously injured, if not killed.”

September 2014

Orange Dot’s son is a convicted paedophile

THE son of new Benefits Street star Orange Dot is a convicted paedophile.

Dad Kevin Taylor, 30 was jailed for three years for indecently assaulting a girl of nine.

It happened between 2002 and 2004 but he was locked up only two years ago when she broke her silence after his girlfriend had a daughter.

The victim said “He started abusing me when he was babysitting

“He’d always wait until it was time for bed and that’s when I knew he’d start doing degrading and disgusting things to me. It was frightening and confusing.

“After a while he began doing it during the day as well.”

During his trial, 4ft 11in Dot was in court to back her son, who was released earlier this year.

The gran, 48 — who says she wants fame like Deirdre ‘White Dee’ Kelly from the Channel 4 show’s first series — insisted he was innocent.

Dot, of Stockton, Teesside, who with husband Kevin has not worked for 20 years, said yesterday: “Someone’s trying to stir up trouble.”

But a source said: “His young victim has been ruined by what happened to her and is scared to leave the house. Meanwhile he continues to go out in town like nothing happened.”

Engaged father-of-one Taylor, who was cleared of two sexual offences, was ordered to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely.

An official Benefits Street spokesperson insisted Taylor will not appear on the show adding that he no longer lives in the area where the second series of the controversial documentary is currently being filmed.

September 2014

Predatory sex beast gets six years for Bradford grooming

A PREDATORY sex offender has been jailed for six years after grooming a schoolgirl online and sexually assaulting her.

Repeat offender Akif Ali, 24, targeted his 15-year-old victim over a period of months before meeting up with her and sexually assaulting her at a location in Bradford.

Ali, who is already a registered sex offender, was also convicted of exposing himself to a 16-year-old Asian girl in Horton Park, in the city, when he appeared at Bradford Crown Court.

Following his sentence on Tuesday, Detective Inspector Vanessa Smith, of the Bradford District Safeguarding Unit, said: “I would like to thank the victims and their families for coming forward and reporting Ali’s crimes to the police.

“We are pleased with the sentence he has received and hope it will bring them some comfort.

“West Yorkshire Police is committed to investigating all reports of sexual abuse, including online grooming, and we hope that this conviction will encourage other victims to come foward.

“All reports will be investigated sensitively and thoroughly by specially trained officers, with the aim of securing a conviction against offenders.”

Ali, of Bradford, was also given four years extended licence and a comprehensive Sex Offender Prevention Order after pleading guilty to four sexual offences.

September 2014

Police found 6,000 images of child abuse on computer

A MAN blamed his ex-girlfriend’s son after his stash of indecent images of children was found on her computer.

Robert Trafford’s former partner took her computer to Cash Generator in Oxford last year to unlock the password Trafford had left on it.

But staff found sexual photographs of children and went to the police who found more than 6,000 indecent images.

Trafford admitted nine counts of possessing indecent images of children between March 2012 and March last year and was jailed for 18 months at Oxford Crown Court last Wednesday.

The 35-year-old, formerly of Nightingale Avenue in Greater Leys, had blamed the images on his partner’s son before he came clean to police, the court heard.

William Eaglestone, prosecuting, said Trafford had more than 6,000 indecent images organised into different folders — 225 of which were in the highest category.

Lucy Tapper, defending, said Trafford had accepted he had a problem and wanted help.

Judge Peter Ross, sentencing, told Trafford: “At this very moment – in order to feed the perverted sexual desires of people like you – there are children around the world being abused in the manner depicted in the images you sought.”

Trafford was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register and banned from accessing the internet on devices without restrictive software installed.

For more on: Sydenham church paedophile ring members jailed – Click this link

September 2014

Mark Jales funeral director in child abuse scandal

A FORMER Wells funeral director was a member of a paedophile ring jailed on Friday for sexually abusing four young boy choristers who were “groomed” with alcohol, pornography and other lures.

Mark Jales, 51, of Lower Godney, Wells, was sent down for 12 months after being convicted of one count of indecent assault, committed in the late 1970s and 1980s when he was a hearse driver for a firm of undertakers in Sydenham, south east London.

The families of the boys were unaware the youngsters, all aged from seven to 14 years-old, were being preyed upon until decades later when one of them reported the abuse.

The other men involved were:

IT company director and former funeral director Phillip Tuffill, 55, of Redhill, who received 14 years.

Timothy Fuller, 53, of Stoke-on-Trent, who received six years.

Robert Lawty, 55, of Woking, who received five years in his absence after being rushed to hospital with a suspected overdose when convicted the day before.

Ian Coulthart, 62, of Brighton, who received three-and-a-half years.

A sixth defendant, Gerald Heather, of Swindon, was cleared of three counts involving two of the boys.

The victims were pupils at St Bartholemew’s Primary School, Sydenham, and sang in the St Bartholemew’s Church choir, which was run by convicted paedophile Tony Brockhurst, a funeral director who killed himself about five years ago, aged 80.

As he passed sentence, Croydon Crown Court Judge Jeremy Gold QC told defendants : “I don’t know if you know or care of the damage you have done, but it’s been long-lasting. This was a gross and cynical abuse of power.”

Tuffill, who shared a house with Fuller in Gowland Place, Beckenham, was an employee of the undertakers where Brockhurst had been a funeral director – H Copeland & Sons – and Jales was one of their drivers. Tuffill, Heather and Coulthart were all members of the choir.

The jury was told of one former choirboy who was initially groomed by Brockhurst when aged only 11 and then abused by some of the defendants.

“He was a lonely little boy looking for warmth and attention and was groomed, including being given alcohol, and abused for three years,” explained Miss Rosina Cottage QC.

“Tuffill began to abuse him a year after he joined the choir,” she added, informing the jury the defendant had sex with the boy after inviting him to his home where he was given alcohol and treated to a Chinese meal.

Miss Cottage continued : “The boy thought it was his purpose and the way of his relationships with these men.

“They were men trusted by the parents, they were connected to the church and the choir and there was no question about their integrity. They learned how to choose their victims and groom them so they would not say: ‘no’.”

One of the victims had described churchgoer Jales as a “hanger-on.”

He was said to have laid out pornography on a bed before undressing the youngster and abusing him.

“It was furtive and it was squalid,” recalled the complainant.

The offences by all the defendants were said to have spanned the period from January 14, 1977 to October 27, 1986.

Jales had pleaded not guilty.

In recent years Jales ran a funeral directors on Priory Road in Wells.

The business went bust in October 2013 leaving a string of unpaid bills, after the Diocese of Bath and Wells and other funeral directors raised doubts about his business practices.

He also ran a counselling business as well as an alcohol treatment programme in Wells an Castle Cary.

Sydenham paedophile ring linked to church choir jailed for years of sex abuse

Ian Coulthart pictured above

Robert Lawty pictured above

Philip Tuffill pictured above

Timothy Fuller pictured above

Mark Jales pictured above

September 2014

35-year-old jailed for six months for possessing extreme indecent images of children and animals

A ‘LONELY’ 35-year-old caught with more than 3,500 indecent or extreme illegal pornographic images on his computer system has been jailed for six months.

Graham Turner, of Tewkesbury road, Longford, was also ordered to sign the sex offender register for the next seven years and had a four year sexual offences order imposed at Gloucester Crown Court.

He had pleaded guilty to six charges of making indecent photographs of children between March 2008 and January 2014.

He also admitted a charge of possessing 126 Class A indecent images of children, 50 class B, and 85 class C on January 9 this year.

And he pleaded guilty to two offences of possessing extreme pornography showing acts of sexual intercourse between a person and a horse.

Prosecutor Mark Hollier said that in May 2013 police were told Turner’s computer IP address had been linked with a site concerned with child abuse images.

A search warrant was executed at his home on January 9 this year and his computers were seized.

He was bailed and when he returned to be interviewed by police on April 9 he accepted he was responsible for all the images found.

There were 261 child porn photos, 3,010 cartoon images of children in indecent poses and 254 animal-related images.

Turner was a man of previous good character, he said

Sarah Jenkins, defending, said Turner had sought help from his GP following his arrest and had been referred to various mental health professionals. He was also being treated for depression and anxiety.

Turner had led a socially isolated life, describing himself as lonely and socially inadequate, she said.

He had never had a sexual relationship and was unsure of his own sexual preferences.

He had become more and more entrenched, sitting at home in front of his computer, she said.

Judge Michael Harington told Turner the offences were too serious to justify anything other than immediate imprisonment.

September 2014

Norwich man found with nearly 30,000 indecent images of children

A Norwich man found with nearly 30,000 indecent images of children has been given a suspended jail sentence and ordered to attend a treatment programme to reduce his risk of re-offending.

David Falgate, 55, was found to have downloaded indecent images of children, including babies, when he was helping police with an unconnected inquiry and allowed them access to his mobile phone, Norwich Crown Court heard.

Rachel Cushing, prosecuting, said that after finding the images on his phone, police carried out a further search of his home and items including memory sticks were seized.

Ms Cushing said that as well as images featuring children including babies, there were video files and in total there were 29,250 indecent images of children.

When interviewed, she said Falgate admitted that he had deleted some of the images himself as he thought they were “evil.”

Falgate of Paragon Place, Norwich, admitted four counts of making indecent images of children in the magistrates, and was committed to the crown court for sentence.

Rob New, for Falgate, said he made full admissions to police and said he had deleted many of the images himself.

He said the images were something of a “cancer” as Falgate had started by looking at adult porn but ended up accessing indecent images of children.

“He would like to take up some help.”

Judge Stephen Holt said the public would best be protected if Falgate had some sort of treatment to stop him re-offending.

He accepted Falgate had already spent some time of remand and had mental health issues and ordered that he attend the Internet sex offenders treatment programme.

He also imposed an eight month jail sentence suspended for two years and made him subject to a sex offender’s prevention order, which monitors his use of the internet.

Falgate was also was placed on the sex offender’s register for 10 years.

September 2014

Pervert filmed up the skirts of 660 women and had child abuse images is jailed

A smartphone voyeur has been jailed after he attacked his pregnant girlfriend during an argument at their home.

Kristoffer Roberts, 20, from Newton Abbot was on a suspended sentence and was supposed to have been attending a sex offenders’ course when he attacked victim Lisa Barker.

Roberts, aged 20, of Drum Way, Heathfield, near Newton Abbot, denied battery but was convicted at a trial at Torbay Magistrates and the case was sent to Exeter Crown Court for sentence.

He was jailed for a total of six and a half months and the judge made a restraining order banning him from contacting Miss Barker.

When Roberts was 19 and living in Torquay, he admitted secretly filming up the skirts of 660 women and having a collection of child abuse images.

He would use his smartphone to film up the skirts of women when they bent down in shops.

He compiled a huge library of still and moving images of the underwear of unsuspecting victims who had no idea they had been filmed, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Police also recovered indecent images of children and extreme pornography.

Roberts, formerly of All Saints Road, Torquay, admitted two offences of outraging public decency by ‘committing a series of acts which were lewd and obscene and consisted of secretly recording women’s buttocks and underwear’.

In all he is alleged to have taken 314 still and 174 moving images between April and December 2011 and 143 still and 29 moving images between February and April this year.

He also admitted five offences of making or possessing a total of 60 indecent images of children, including some showing adults having sexual activity with children. He pleaded guilty to a further charge of possessing extreme pornography. 

June 2014

Pervert failed to attend sex offenders’ programme

A mobile phone voyeur has been warned he faces jail after failing to keep appointments with probation officers who were helping him treat his bizarre obsession.

Kristoffer Roberts was ordered to take part in a sex offenders’ course and do unpaid work in the community after he admitted taking 660 secret photos of unsuspecting women shoppers.

His technique was to use his phone to film up the skirts of shoppers, schoolgirls or female college students without them knowing and police found the images on his computer after he was investigated for accessing child abuse images.

Roberts escaped with a five month suspended sentence when he admitted outraging public decency last September and returned to Exeter Crown Court because he breached the terms of a supervision order.

His sentence included 70 hours of unpaid work, two years supervision, and attending the Thames Valley Sex Offenders’ Programme.

Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, adjourned his case to allow him to get legal representation after telling him:”You are at high risk of the suspended sentence being activated unless something is very strongly put in your case.

“You have a bad record of compliance with these orders and of failing to comply with the sex offenders’ register.”

Miss Eleanor Purkis, prosecuting, said Roberts failed to attend for either supervision meetings or unpaid work on December 22, February 25, and April 22 and 30.

Roberts said he missed the appointments because a domestic dispute led to him being banned from going to Torbay, where the meetings were held.

In the original case Roberts, aged 19, of All Saints Road, Torquay, admitted two offences of outraging public decency and an unrelated burglary in which he stole a friend’s laptop.

He admitted taking 314 still and 174 moving images between April and December 2011 and 143 still and 29 moving images between February and April this year.

He also admitted five offences of making or possessing a total of 60 indecent images of children, including some showing adults having sexual activity with children, and one of possessing extreme pornography.

Roberts was arrested after his phones were seized and examined by police when his behaviour aroused suspicion. The images were found three mobiles and the child abuse images on his computer.

He had previously been cautioned in 2008 when he was just 14 for identical behaviour after being caught snapping women shoppers as they bent over supermarket freezers.

November 2007

Jailed for abusing three sisters in their own home

A FAMILY last night told how a North Wales man abused three young sisters in their own home.

Relatives spoke out as John Leach was beginning a three-year sentence for indecently assaulting the girls when they were aged between nine and 13.

The 64-year-old, of Cherry Tree Close, Upper Colwyn Bay, was found guilty of 10 offences, including seven of sexual assault and two of sexual activity with a child, by a jury at Hove Crown Court.

The attacks, which happened in Abergele and Sussex between 2004 and 2006, came to light when the eldest of three sisters told her parents.

Leach, who had other properties in Colwyn Bay and Abergele, was also ordered by judge David Rennie to be put on a sex offenders licence for a further 18 months after his release.

Last night the girls’ relatives welcomed the sentence. One, who cannot be named, said: “He was placed in a position of trust and he abused that.

“When he was one-to-one or alone with the girls he would touch them.

“The eldest girl came forward and said what was going on and when the other girls were questioned it came out.

“The eldest girl had started having behavioural problems which were tell-tale signs in hindsight. She’d been having problems at school and at home.”

The family member added: “He has been found guilty and the justice system has dealt with him in an appropriate way.”

The girls, who gave evidence by video link, were praised for their bravery.

Detective Constable Chris Menson said: “We are very pleased with the outcome and it is a good sentence. The girls did really well giving their evidence. They were put through a traumatic experience.”

Leach, originally from north east England, who had previously worked in personnel at East Sussex Council, was arrested and charged with 10 offences.

Another relative said: “He was the most plausible man you could meet. We always thought he was great. After this I don’t trust anybody.”

Leach was found guilty following a five-day trial at Hove Crown Court last month.

He was found guilty of seven counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, two of sexual activity with a child and one of exposing himself.

Leach was jailed for a total of three years for one count of sexual assault of a child under 13.

For the nine remaining counts he was given two-year sentences to run concurrently.

He was also given a sexual offenders prevention order stopping him from communicating either directly or indirectly with any female under 16.

He is also banned from living, or staying temporarily or permanently in any house with a girl under 16, or inviting any young girl to his home.

He must not work voluntarily or otherwise with a young girl, or be within 30 metres of any premises like schools, youth clubs, or scout group.

He also has to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for an indefinite period.

September 2-14

Daubhill pervert lured young girls to his home for sex after meeting them in Great Lever park

A Pervert had sex with under-age schoolgirls after meeting them in a Bolton park and luring them back to his home.

Sulman Dar, who enticed the girls into his home with offers of alcohol last summer, had no remorse for what he had done, Bolton Crown Court heard.

He was yesterday jailed for six-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to sexual activity with two 15-year-old girls.

Judge Peter Davies told Dar the girls were vulnerable and the offences had a profound effect on them.

The judge said: “They were crying out for help — they were not crying out for sexual exploitation.

“I do take note that you lack remorse and contrition for what you have done.”

Sarah Johnston, prosecuting, told the court Dar had previously received an official warning from police under the Child Abduction Act after they discovered a 14-year-old girl who was visiting his house in 2010.

But Miss Johnston told how last year Dar, hiding beind the pseudonym Mohamed Ali, met the first of his 15-year-old victims and her friend in Bobby Heywood Park, Great Lever.

They later accepted an invitation to visit his home in Auburn Street, Daubhill, but he ordered the girls to enter the property through a back gate and stay away from windows.

“The prosecution says that was an attempt by the defendant to conceal there were young girls visiting his home,” said Miss Johnston.

Two days later the victim visited the house again with two friends, where Dar gave them alcohol and then had sex with her in his upstairs bedroom.

Dar’s second victim also met him in the same park and was invited back to his home with her friends, girls aged 12 and 14.

They were given so much drink that they were physically sick and Dar had sex with the 15-year-old in his bedroom.

When police arrested Dar in January this year they found photographs of teenage girls on his phone, WhatsApp messages to teenagers and sexually explicit texts to a third girl.

In statements the two 15-year-old girls told the court how the crimes had a significant impact on them emotionally and on their schoolwork.

Kathryn Johnson, defending, said Dar had been isolated in Bolton, without family support, but stressed that he had not set out to get the girls drunk in order to have sex with them.

Sentencing 25-year-old Dar, Judge Davies said his victims were vulnerable and lacked judgement or wisdom.

He said: “You took a gamble that they would not be believed. You believed you could behave with impunity.”

Judge Davies also gave Dar a sexual offences prevention order for 10 years and he will be on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Sgt Pete Astbury, from Bolton’s child exploitation unit, praised the bravery of the girls in coming forward.

He added: “Dar displayed all the classic hallmarks of a sexual predator and perpetrator of child sexual exploitation.”

September 2014: Now living in Peterborough

December 2010

Child abuser jailed

A “SEXUAL predator” who abused young children over several years has been jailed

Gordon Saunders was originally arrested because of his access to internet pornography and restricted websites.

But police analysis unearthed evidence that the 56-year-old may have taken some of the 8,500 indecent images stored on the computer at his home in Warboys himself.

Officers later traced several victims, with the youngest just nine years old.

Saunders, currently of Othello Close, Hartford, Huntingdon, is now subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order which bans him from working with children and accessing internet sites after he pleaded guilty to nine charges of sexual assault on a child, one count of gross indecency with a child and eight counts of making and possessing indecent images.

Other counts relating to the taking of the images were ordered to remain on file after Saunders admitted possessing thousands of images of children, with 54 judged to be at the most serious Level Five on the Copine Scale.

He was sentenced to a four year jail term at Peterborough Crown Court on Wednesday (December 1).

Detective Constable Tony Cox, who led the investigation, said: “Saunders is a sexual predator who took advantage of several young children over a long period of time.

“This case started out as an investigation into online child pornography but we uncovered abuse going back many years.

“It shows the importance of targeting people who use the internet to trade indecent images and how this type of crime has very real victims.”

September 2014

Man who abused victim over 16-year period sent to prison

A 44-year old loyalist paramilitary from Co Down was today handed a 16-year prison sentence for a campaign of sexual abuse that spanned from his victim’s childhood until her mid-20s.

Jackie Johnston, who is orginally from Holywood but whose address is now HMP Maghaberry, began abusing the woman in 1989 when she was aged around ten.

The last incident occurred in 2005 when Johnston called at her home and raped her.

Johnston, who the court heard had loyalist paramilitary connections, will serve eight years of his sentence in custody with the remaining eight years spent on supervised licence upon his release.

Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, heard the victim was “sordidly sexually abused” by Johnston, who exerted his dominance over her for years.

Prosecutor Richard Weir QC said Johnston treated his victim “almost as his plaything”, and said the “level of persistence in this accused’s conduct belies his attitute towards her – that he could do with her what he pleased.”

As a result of the sexual abuse, the woman now suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Earlier this year Johnston stood trial at Downpatrick Crown Court on a number of sexual offences, including rape and indecent assault. He consistently denied the charges – and continues to do so – but the jury convicted him on six counts.

The jury heard the abuse began when the victim was a child and was raped by Johnston. Other examples of the abuse carried out included the then child being “scooped up” and thrown in a hedge where she was indecently assaulted, abused in his car in a local park and being forced to perform oral sex on him.

The jury was also told that in December 2005, Johnston called at his victim’s home with two other men who were armed with baseball bats. Johnston told the woman they needed somewhere to stay for a short time, before Johnston dismissed the other two men then raped her. After the act, Johnston asked if she was on the pill, telling her if this wasn’t the case, she should take the ‘morning after pill.’

The woman at first only disclosed what had happened to close family members, before contacting Nexus in 2012.

Johnston was arrested last July when he “emphatically denied” the woman’s claims. These denials continued throughout the trial, and Johnston still maintains his innocence.

Defence barrister Richard Green said Johnston had problems with alcohol in the past, adding his client “has been making the best use of his time in custody.”

Sentencing Johnston, Judge Geoffery Miller QC spoke of the lasting effect the abuse has had on Johnston’s victim, adding: “I have little doubt that he used his perceived status and position to intimidate and control” her. The judge also said: “The defendant’s level of control over the complainant was such that he felt he could do is he pleased, whenever he pleased and with complete impunity.”

Judge Miller also spoke of Johnston’s “directionless and feckless existance” which includes a criminal record of 49 convictions including charges of making petrol bombs and dressing like a member of a paramilitary organisation.

Before handing Johnston a 16 year sentence, he was told by Judge Miller that he should “rethink his attitude towards women”.

The PSNI have released a statement welcoming the sentence.

Detective Inspector Richard Graham from the PSNI’s Public Protection Unit said: “I am pleased with today’s outcome and with the sentence handed down.

“The term of 16 years reflects the seriousness of the abuse endured by the victim, both as a child and as an adult.

“It also sends out a strong message to those involved in the abuse of children that we are determined to make them amenable for their crimes.

“I would offer encouragement to anyone who has experienced abuse to come forward and report it to police.

“This case proves that even after a substantial period of time has passed it is still possible for a full investigation to be carried out, for a case to be placed before the courts and for justice to prevail.”

July 2010

Ormesby teenager locked up for abuse on girl

A TEENAGE rapist was locked up for eight years after he first targeted his victim when she was only nine.

Daniel Salter, 19, pictured, from Middlesbrough, was still denying he was guilty when he was locked up at Teesside Crown Court yesterday after also being ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

He claimed the girl, who is now 14, was lying at his trial in June when a jury convicted him of all 15 sex charges. Some of them were only specimens because of the number of acts.

Salter wore rosary beads around his neck when he was sentenced as his mother wept in the public gallery.

He sexually abused the girl for five years, ending in the rape last year.

Prosecutor Rupert Doswell said the girl told police she had been too scared to tell her mother and she did not think that she would be believed.

Salter often subjected the girl to sexual assaults even through her screams, and when she was 12 he was abusing her every week.

Paul Cleasby, defending, said Salter was a juvenile when the offences were committed, and he was only 15 at one stage. He had tried to join the Army but he failed the medical.

Mr Cleasby added: “The rape itself lasted a couple of seconds. His family are supportive, and once he is released he will be back in the arms of the family. This will be his first custodial sentence.

“At the time these offences were committed he was a child – it must in my submission reduce the sentence by a number of years, but I am realistic, he has to go away and the sentence will be pretty long.”

Judge Les Spittle told Salter: “The picture that is painted is that it started in 2004 when you were 14 and she was about nine years of age, and you commenced upon a course of sexual behaviour towards her.

“You have repeated it over ensuing years to obtain your sexual gratification to the disadvantage of this girl.

“When she got older and began to realise what was happening she began to resist.”

The judge added: “There is an inevitable substantial sentence. You have not accepted any responsibility for your behaviour, you did not do that at your trial and you did not do it during the pre-sentence report.”

Salter, of Farmbank Road, Ormesby, was sent to a young offenders’ institution for eight years, ordered to register as a sex offender for life and given a life ban on unsupervised contact with children under 16 in a sexual offences prevention order after he was found guilty of rape, attempted rape, six offences of sexual activity with a child, five of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and two of sexual assault on a female.

Det Con Ged Swash, of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, praised witnesses for their bravery.

He said: “I commend the witnesses in this case for the courage shown in giving evidence, particularly the victim.

“The sentence given reflects the seriousness of the offences and the impact it had on his victim.”

September 2014

‘Cunning, corrupting’ Hull paedophile jailed for total of 7 years for grooming girl from age of 12

A “CUNNING, corrupting paedophile” has been jailed for seven years for grooming a young girl for sex.

The victim was 12 when Ian Strachan met her by chance four years ago at her relative’s home and he quickly cultivated their relationship.

Strachan, 43, used to brush her hair, massage her feet, and hold her hand on walks, Hull Crown Court heard.

They also kissed before he began having sex with her five days after her thirteenth birthday.

Judge Mark Bury said if it had happened when the girl was 12 he would have been charged with rape.

For full story on this case please follow this link 

July 2010

Child abuse images collector’s jail term is slashed

A CHILD abuse images collector jailed for hoarding a “gigantic” cache of sick material had his prison sentence slashed by a third by top judges in London.

John Fox, 46, of no fixed address, was living with his elderly mother, near Fakenham, when police raided and found the stash, stacked almost to the ceiling.

In February, after admitting numerous counts of making indecent photos of children and possessing such pictures, he was jailed for three years

But on Friday, after an appeal at London’s Court of Appeal, three top judges slashed his sentence to two years.

Fox was caught out when police, investigating the sale of child pornography on eBay, raided the house in 2007.

Stephen Spence, prosecuting, said Fox was completely co-operative when police searched his bedroom in his mother’s home Barsham, near Fakenham, after an investigation by Cheshire officers which involved the sale of DVDs on the web site E-bay

They found videos, DVDs and magazines, many of them containing often horrific images of child abuse. Some of the material was of the worst kind, involving sex between children and adults, bestiality and sadism.

Fox was cooperative with police and frank when quizzed, admitting that he had been amassing his collection since the mid-1980s, sometimes paying £200 for a single magazine.

Giving the appeal judgment on Friday, Justice Christopher Clarke, sitting with Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Mr Justice Cranston, said the amount of material found was “gigantic” and much of it of “extreme seriousness”.

But he continued: “Despite the volume of material which he amassed, there was no evidence of distribution. He made the images only in the sense that he had downloaded them or printed them from the internet.”

Fox had made immediate admissions, pleaded guilty and knew that what he was doing was wrong.

He concluded: “We regard the sentence of three years as manifestly excessive.

“We propose to substitute for it a sentence of two years.”