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John Bellamy – Leicester

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September 2014

Child molester choirmaster may have other victims, say police

John Bellamy

Police believe a former choirmaster who was convicted of sexually assaulting boys 40 years ago may have targeted other victims.

Officers spoke after John Bellamy, 72, was convicted of offences against five boys aged nine to 14 in the 1970s. He was jailed for two years yesterday.

Worcester Crown Court heard he carried out the offences while he held the position of choirmaster at St James the Greater Church in London Road in the city.

Today, the officer who led the investigation which nailed Bellamy, said it was possible he had committed further offences while working in ‘various educational establishments’ in the city and county until he retired in 1995.

Detective Constable Jamie Carr said: “We would like to take this opportunity to ask the public to contact us if they believe that they may have been a victim of Bellamy’s crimes.

“If you recognise his photograph or have any concerns please contact the police.

“It’s not always easy to come forward and report such crimes especially when the incidents may have occurred a number of years ago.

“Please be assured that your concerns will be taken seriously.

“We have specialist officers and access to a number of agencies who can guide and support you throughout the process.”

Jailing Bellamy yesterday, Judge Michael Cullum told him his crimes had “gravely affected many lives.”

Det Con Carr added: “Bellamy abused his position of trust and to this day has denied any involvement in these incidents.

“Because of his denial the victims have had to relive what happened to them more than 40 years ago in the court room.

“We are pleased that Bellamy has been found guilty of these offences and the conviction will hopefully help the victims, who showed immense bravery and dignity throughout the investigation and subsequent court proceedings, to move on with their lives and attempt to put those dreadful incidents behind them.”

Police began investigating Bellamy in 2013 when a former member of the choir came forward and said he believed Bellamy had acted inappropriately toward him and others when they were choir boys in the mid to late 1970s.

The investigation identified further victims who gave evidence against him.

Bellamy, of Kingsmead Road, Knighton, Leicester was found guilty of six counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child at Worcester Crown Court yesterday.

He was sentenced to two years in prison for each count of indecent assault and 12 months in prison for each count of indecency with a child.

The sentences are to run concurrently and he was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

Contact Leicestershire Police on 101.


Adrian Mills – Corfe

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September 2014

Jailed: school taxi driver who raped girl sentenced to 13 years behind bars

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A TAXI driver trusted by the county council to take children to school has been jailed for a string of historic sex offences against a young girl.

Adrian Mills, who ran a taxi company in Corfe Castle, was sentenced to serve 13 years behind bars after a jury unanimously found him to be guilty of three counts of rape against a female under the age of 16, and two of indecent assault against the same victim.

The attacks took place between 1989 and 1992.

Mills, of Halves Cottages, made his victim relive her ordeal during the four-day trial after denying all the charges against him.

But jurors took just hours to convict him on all charges.

The 59-year-old headed up family-owned business Valley Taxis, responsible for taking scores of local children to their schools.

Following the case, the firm said that Mills had not been associated with the firm since October 2013.

Drivers must be CRB checked before beginning to work for the firm.

On the website, Mills had posted testimonials from customers – including a child who thanks him for the “chats and debates” they have shared.

A spokesperson for Dorset County Council said: “The safety of children is paramount to us.

“All of our taxi providers must go through rigorous disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks and quality assessments before they are allowed to drive children to and from schools.

“As soon as we were notified in September 2013 by the Police and Safeguarding Children’s Board of the allegations made against Adrian Mills, we withdrew authorisation for him to drive on any county council contracts and he has not worked for us since.”

A former acquaintance of Mills, who doesn’t want to be named, said he fears that there may be other victims still to come forward.

“Because of the nature of his job, it’s so worrying to think there could be other youngsters out there who might have been hurt,” he said.

“He committed these offences so long ago that you wonder what else he could have done to other children in that time.”

Christopher Sayer – Brackley

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September 2014

A MAN has been found guilty of a series of historical sexual attacks against two young boys.

A jury at Reading Crown Court found Christopher Sayer, of Egerton Close, Brackley, guilty of seven counts of indecent assault on a boy under 16 at Reading Crown Court yesterday.

The court heard assaults were committed against two boys aged 10 and 13 between 1994 and 1998. The 49-year-old was cleared of one further charge of indecent assault on a boy under 16.

Detective Constable Victoria Hunt, from Thames Valley Police’s Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “I would like to commend the victims for their courage in coming forward and giving evidence against Sayer to enable his conviction.

“The emotional impact upon the victims and their families has been significant and I hope the conviction goes some way to providing them with a resolution.”

Sayer was released on conditional bail to appear at the same court on Monday, October 27, when he will be sentenced.

William Richardson – Cleator Moor

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September 2014

Cleator Moor child rapist, 76, jailed

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A 76-year-old man described as a “sexual predator” has been jailed for 16 years.

William Richardson, of Cleator Moor, Cumbria, was jailed at Carlisle Crown Court having last month been found guilty of rape and indecency charges.

Richardson, known as Jack, committed the offences between 1976 and 1999. His five victims were aged between five and 13 years old.

His crimes came to light when one victim spoke to police in April 2013.

Katie Nicolson, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West, said: “William Richardson is a sexual predator who got away with abusing young girls for many years.

“He has shown no remorse for his actions. He made partial admissions to the police after he was arrested, playing down the level of abuse to minimise his culpability.

“He then put his victims through the ordeal of having to relive the abuse he inflicted upon them at a trial.

“The jury saw through his half-truths and outright lies and found him guilty on all counts.”

Christopher Clarke – Swindon

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September 2014

Brother of policeman walks free from court after inciting a 13 yr old boy to engage in sexual activity

A MAN who encouraged a 13-year-old boy to carry out a sex act on himself after contacting him on-line has walked free from court.

Christopher Clarke, whose brother-in-law is a policeman, was communicating with the child via the on-line video call system, Skype, when he told him to carry out the act on himself.

And the 48-year-old also had thousands of indecent images of children on his computer when he was arrested two years ago.

But after saying any jail term he passed would be too short for him to get any help for his problems, a judge at Swindon Crown Court imposed a suspended sentence

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, said police raided the defendant’s home in June 2012 following a tip off from the Child Exploitation and On-line Protection Centre.

She said they arrested him and spoke to him about the downloading of images from his address of child abuse.

When they examined his computer they found 2,452 indecent photographs and movies of children.

Miss Marlow said officers also found a number of chat profiles and hotmail accounts which Clarke had used.

“He was in contact with a user, whose name I’ll not give, but that user states he is 13 years of age. There is a conversation between them,” she said.

The court heard he asked the boy about how developed he was and then told him to touch himself inappropriately on camera.

Clarke, of Pheasant Close, Dorcan, admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, 10 counts of making and one possessing indecent images of a child.

Robin Shellard, defending, said his client had worked in IT and as a result of the convictions was now ‘unemployable’.

He said his client was a very fragile man who had shown a great degree of self-loathing over what he had done.

Since he was found out he said Clarke had been treated in a hospital mental health unit.

Giving evidence, his younger sister, Gillian, told the court her brother had been very isolated and would not talk about what he had done.

She said after her husband, a police officer, told her he had been arrested she went to see him but he would not let her in.

“He was sectioned a few months ago as he was seriously thinking of harming himself. He had a rope in his attic, he was looking to hang himself.”

Passing sentence, Recorder Ian Lawrie QC, said: “The report displays a rather tortured soul, shows social inadequacies. Indeed you have had serious issues over relationships with women.”

He imposed an 18-month jail term suspended for two years and told him to complete a sex offenders programme.

The judge also imposed a ten-year sexual offences prevention and ordered that he be registered as a sex offender.

Paul Bielby – Willerby

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September 2014

Pervert exposed by on-line vigilantes who posed as ‘Laura’, 14 is jailed

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A MAN who tried to groom a “teenage girl” was exposed as a pervert by on-line vigilantes, Hull Crown Court heard.

Paul Bielby, 50, thought he was talking to a 14-year-old girl called “Laura” during online chats over almost three months.

But when he travelled across Yorkshire to meet her in a public park, his date turned out to be a man from the child protection group Online Paedophile Investigations.

The man filmed him and questioned him before passing his findings onto police.

The next message Bielby, of Aston Road, Willerby, sent “Laura” said: “You’ve ruined my life.”

When Bielby was confronted in Manor Heath Park, Halifax, on August 13 last year, he was already on bail for possessing indecent images of children.

These were found on his mobile phone and computer, and he was arrested after the Child Exploitation and Protection Centre reported him to Humberside Police.

Hull Crown Court heard that when Bielby was chatting to “Laura”, he inquired about her school uniform and her dress size, saying he “liked skinny girls” and wanted to “snog her face off”.

Bielby also talked about “tickling her”.

Arranging to meet her in the park, he told her: “We meet, we get on, we hug, I kiss you. Then I drop you off down your street.”

Another girl Bielby was found chatting to told him she had lost her virginity at the age of 13.

He replied: “That’s hot. Lucky guy.”

Search terms he had used on the internet included “pre-teen pic” and “Lolita gallery”.

Bielby sent one of the images to a man called Phil.

When interviewed by police and asked if he recalled sending the image, he said: “I honestly don’t know.”

Asked about his online conversations about sex, he said: “It was just something to talk about.”

He denied having a sexual interest in children.

Bielby admitted two counts of making indecent photographs of children, one of distributing indecent photographs of children, and one of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

There were ten images in total, with two at the most serious level, Category A. One of the Category A images was of a naked five-year-old girl being sexually abused.

Bielby was described as a “family man” in court. He has no previous convictions.

Anil Murray, defending Bielby, said: “This defendant has for some reason, for a fairly short time, gone off the rails and got himself involved in chat rooms and said despicable things. He’s thoroughly ashamed of himself.”

Mr Murray said Bielby was under “massive pressure” at work at the time, but had later been sacked.

Sentencing Bielby to a total of 20 months in jail, Recorder Bryan Cox QC said his activity in the chat rooms showed “a clear interest in young girls and an interest in intercourse with young girls”.

He said: “It’s an aggravating feature of the grooming, that there was grooming with a view to exploring that interest.”

David Lazarescu – Edinburgh

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September 2014

Sex predator targeted pregnant woman and schoolgirl in campaign of sex abuse on city buses

David Lazarescu

Seedy David Lazarescu, 50, preyed on female commuters by groping their legs and rubbing against them as they travelled on Lothian Buses in morning rush-hour.

Victims told how Lazarescu ignored empty rows of seats to perch next to them and casually touch their legs with his hand before forcing his body against theirs until they were sandwiched between him and the bus window.

One traumatised woman said she will never forget the smirk on his face as she got up to leave.

Lazarescu was convicted of sexually abusing six women – including a 14-year-old girl – on board Capital buses and may have committed the deviant acts for up to six years.

Lazarescu, who lives in Northfield, went on trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last week facing eight sexual assault charges – including one dating back to December 2007 that was later dropped – and was convicted of six.

His victims include a woman who was five months pregnant and a 14-year-old girl travelling between Edinburgh and Musselburgh.

The methods of attack all follow a similar pattern. Lazarescu sits next to the women and presses his legs, hands or body against them in busy carriages. On several occasions, he pinned his victims to their seat by thrusting an elbow into their body before fondling their leg.

Lazarescu was convicted following a two-day hearing that featured CCTV footage of the incidents.

A not guilty plea to a complaint dating back to December 2007 was accepted by the court, while another charge relating to an assault in September last year was found not proven.

David Young – Dundee

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September 2014

Dundee man who downloaded videos of child rape was told he did not have enough material to warrant prison sentence

At Dundee Sheriff Court on Thursday, Sheriff Alastair Brown told David Alexander Young he would not go to jail.

Sheriff Brown had previously told Young, 49, of Baffin Street, Dundee, he did not want him to be labelled a ‘beast’ after he downloaded child sexual abuse videos of between 15 to 20 minutes duration.

Young had pleaded guilty to possessing as well as taking or permitting to be taken indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children at his home address between December 15 2012 and August 6 2013.

He also pleaded guilty to distributing such images on December 19 2012.

Young had fewer than 10 child abuse videos and Sheriff Brown said this made him a “wholly exceptional case”.

He said: “Cases of this sort normally result in prison sentences.

“The making of this material where it involves penetration is the rape of children. It cannot be put more accurately than that.

“For that reason, people who seek out and enjoy the watching of this material have to be dealt with very seriously.”

He said, however, there are degrees of severity and sheriffs have guidance about quantities of material which classifies fewer than 100 images as ‘small’.

Sheriff Brown said, even allowing for the fact Young’s material was in video format, the case was unusual as it was far less than he had seen in other cases.

The court heard Young had seen his GP and was judged by social workers to be at low risk of re-offending Sheriff Brown said: “Without in any way seeking to diminish the serious nature of this material, I am satisfied the recommendation is correct and you will not be going to prison.”

He warned Young if he ever accessed such material again, he would be dealt with very seriously.

Young was placed on a community payback order requiring him to complete 180 hours of unpaid work within nine months, with a nine-month supervision period.


Darren Goodwin – Mountmellick

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September 2014

Jailed for life as teen for hammering schoolboy to death will be released in less than two years

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Darren Goodwin pictured outside court in 2003

A 26-year-old Laois man jailed for life as a teenager for hammering a boy to death will be released in less than two years, after his trial judge reviewed his sentence.

Darren Goodwin, formerly of Graigue, Mountmellick, was 16 when he was sentenced to life in prison for the 2003 murder of 14-year-old Darragh Conroy.

Due to his age, the life sentence was not mandatory. However, Mr Justice Barry White used his discretion in imposing it, after hearing all the details, including that Goodwin had ‘wanted to kill someone’.

A jury had found Goodwin guilty of the crime following a trial at the Central Criminal court in July 2004. He had pleaded not guilty to the murder at Briar Lane Moutmellick on 11 November 2003.

Darragh Conroy’s mother had told the court that she had been searching for her only child for hours that night, ringing the phone she had bought him just weeks earlier so that they could stay in touch.

His body was found on waste ground in Smithsfield, Mountmellick shortly before midnight. He had suffered six separate blows to his head, five of which were inflicted in rapid succession with considerable force while he was lying on the ground.

State Pathologist Marie Cassidy said the schoolboy’s skull “had been broken up and was like a jigsaw with some of the pieces fallen out of the wounds”.

The prosecution case rested on the evidence of several friends and acquaintances of the accused who testified that he had been talking about killing someone the week beforehand and had admitted to the murder on the night in question.

One classmate testified that Goodwin had said: “Jesus, I’d love to kill someone, someone that no one would care about, like Darragh Conory”.

Another witness testified that the accused admitted to the murder the evening of the killing, saying that he had hit the deceased in the head with a hammer.

Goodwin’s grandmother testified that her grandson had asked her for a hammer that evening but that she couldn’t find one to give him.

The trial heard that Goodwin had met his father for the first time shortly before he moved in with him, about six months before the attack. The teenager had attempted suicide in September 2003.

When passing sentence ten years ago, Mr Justice White said that Goodwin’s psychological reports showed that he was a danger to society and certainly a danger to his father.

He had said the correct sentence for the ‘pre-meditated, brutal, callous murder’ was life imprisonment, but said that he would review it in a decade.

That unusual review took place today, despite the DPP asking for an adjournment to acquire more reports.

Goodwin’s father, David Horan, testified that he and his wife had moved to another town so that members of the Conroy family would not have to face seeing their son if he was released to live with them.

He said that they had rented a house with a separate apartment for their son as he was no-longer 15, the age he was when he went into custody. Mr Horan said his boss had agreed to offer his son an apprenticeship in his workplace.

Highres

He said that he had previously approached the prison authorities with the concern that his son wasn’t receiving the psychological services he needed, but that he had got nowhere.

Clinical Psychologist Dr Kevin Lamb testified that it was difficult to assess Goodwin as he had committed the crime at the age of 15, before his mind had fully developed.

He said he determined that his risk for future violence would be low, but with a significant caveat. A big part of this was his need for forensic psychotherapy twice a week, he said.

He told Mr Justice White that he would need about two years of treatment. He said that he was not confident that such services would be provided in his current situation, but said that it might be of benefit were the judge to direct it.

This is what Mr Justice White did, fixing a release date of July 1st 2016, but directing that Goodwin receive the services of a forensic psychotherapist twice a week while in prison.

He said he was not satisfied that the issue of remorse had been fully addressed.

Dressed in a black jacket and blue jeans, Goodwin stepped into the witness box to enter a bond to be of good behaviour and fulfil other conditions on his release.

He spoke to his parents before and after proceedings.

Darragh Conroy’s parents were also present in court but were not asked to testify.

November 2004

Vicious killer shocks court with stark lack of remorse 

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TEARS seemed to be about to well up in Judge Barry White’s eyes as he told weeping mother Patricia Conroy: “I am not a man with a heart of stone, I too have young children, I know how I would feel in your situation.”

After his emotion-filled sentencing speech he made a fairly abrupt admission that he had been wrong in a small ruling at the end of the trial and then he fled from the judges’ seat in Court No 4 of the Four Courts in Dublin.

Sitting between two women friends in the front row of the public gallery Patricia Conroy dressed in black wept for her murdered son, Darragh. Her husband Jack Conroy, a balding man with a beard, massaged her shoulders as he too cried for their lost child.

The murderer Darren Goodwin, now 15, dressed in a short-sleeved T-shirt of the Laois colours of light and dark blue and wearing track suit bottoms and trainers sat, or stood, impassively through the emotion-filled drama that unfolded in the court. He didn’t show an ounce of feeling as the judge called him a “brutal, vicious, callous killer” who brought shame and disgrace on his own family.

Darren Goodwin didn’t seem to realise the enormity of it all. It didn’t seem to matter to him. As Darragh Conroy’s mother said, the whole thing seemed like a film he was watching with complete detachment.

Later, after he was sentenced to life in prison, he was brought back into the courtroom to wait a further ruling by the judge. He didn’t seem bothered. He sat between two prison officers. Across from him on another bench, sitting together, were his father Eamon and his mother Olive. Their eyes didn’t seem to meet those of their son. Olive Goodwin twirled her dark black hair nervously around her finger. At one stage Eamon Horan got up and went over to his son, he said something but got no reply.

Thin-faced, the parents seemed too young to have a child that old. But Darren Goodwin was born when they were 15-year-old lovers, and although he looks “the spit” of his father, he didn’t know who his father was until shortly before Darren murdered Darragh Conroy in Smithfield, Mountmellick, Co Laois on the night of November 11, 2003

He also stole Darragh’s mobile phone – and so it became a mobile phone murder. But as we heard on Friday themobile phone was incidental. Darren Goodwin wanted to murder his father, but either he hadn’t the courage or the murder of young Darragh was “a dry run” for the real killing he planned.

Darren Goodwin lived with his mother and her parents in the town and attended the local community college. He had never been violent in his life, according to his mother. But for some reason in the autumn of 2003 he started to go off the rails. He seemed to go so far out of control that it was frightening for everybody.

Other kids, even adults, would cross the street in Mountmellick, Co Laois, rather than encounter him. If you did happen to bump into him you could get a shoulder, or a box in the face. The biggest problem is that there was no sense to it. There didn’t have to be a reason. That was just the way Darren had become.

He was 15 and he and his victim Darragh Conroy, 14, attended the same school. All his life he’d lived with his mother Olive, and her parents, his grandparents, in the town. But as he began to spiral out of control they could no longer deal with his pent up emotions and they sent him to live with his father, Eamon in Graigh, outside Mountmellick.

“We were trying to put him on the right track,” said his mother. They hoped that some sort of male influence might calm him down. Instead he tried to commit suicide. After the suicide attempt he was brought to St Fintan’s Hospital in Portlaoise, but within a short time, he was released by the hospital and sent back to school. “They told us there was nothing wrong with him,” his mother told the court. But that day, November 11, 2003, his father knew there was something decidedly wrong with him. At about six o’clock in the evening he brought Darren to a local nun for counselling. But by then Darragh was probably dead, his body lying in Smithfield in the winter dark.

He was hit on the head with a hammer from the metalwork class, seven times, six in rapid succession, according to the State pathologist, until his skull was like a jigsaw puzzle.

Darren Goodwin had chillingly told schoolmates in the days before the murder: “I want to murder someone, someone like Darragh, who no one would care about.”It was this taunt that enraged the victim’s mother Patricia Conroy. If that was his intention he certainly picked the wrong victim. Because it was a mother’s love, as articulated by Patricia Conroy, which has made this modern Irish tragedy into more than just another court case, more than just another tragic story of rural Ireland.

Patricia Conroy doesn’t have spin doctors or a political or social axe to grind. All she has is a dead son. A son who was lying in Smithfield in Mountmellick all through the night and she couldn’t hold him because of the crime scene tape; a son who’s birthdays she can now only celebrate in the graveyard where he lies; a son who will never have the career she imagined for him, or have a girlfriend, or get married.

She can’t live in the town any more, its streets and fields hold too much tragedy. The sight of the other kids in their school uniforms moving around the town is too much for her. She moved away to live with her sister and now only returns to visit her son’s grave.

Mountmellick is a small town that seems to have lost its self-confidence, and the tragedy that has befallen its sons and mothers can only add to the gloom. John Betjeman commemorated such towns with the lines, “O my small town of Ireland, the raindrops caress you, the sun sparkles bright on your field and your square, as here on your bridge I salute you and bless you your murmuring waters and turf-scented air.”

But now its long winding main street is clogged with trucks and lorries going from somewhere to somewhere else. Most of the many pubs lining the streets remain closed until nightfall. A plaque by the square commemorates Noel Dempsey’s streets renewal plan. But right beside it stands a fine Georgian house with a broken front window and plaster falling off the walls. Once the centre of Quaker gentility, with what Lord Killanin described as “a few good houses”, it is a place that appears to have fallen on hard times.

If there is a bright spot, it is the well painted traditional name plates over the doors of pubs, chemists and shops. Most of them are the work of Seanie Goodwin, grandfather of the boy who so cold-bloodedly killed Darragh Conroy.

“Nobody talks about it in my bar,” said one publican, “there are too many people involved – these were two young lads, both with young parents and even young grandparents, you just don’t know who you’re talking to so you’re better saying nothing at all.” Anyway what can be said about such a senseless killing, apart from the words of the victim’s mother?

Mountmellick is not some “valley of the squinting windows”, or, as one said, “like Granard”, a reference to the Ann Lovett case which obsessed the media because of the apparent secrecy that surrounded her death, when local people refused to discuss it. But Patricia Conroy’s heartfelt statement commemorating her son has certainly meant that the same could never be said about Mountmellick.

The sight of a stony-faced Darren Goodwin sitting through the murder trial where her son was the victim not only chilled her, but all those who sat through it as well. “How could you sit there and you killed my son,” she said. “The loss of an only child is indescribable, it will never make sense.”

Judge Barry White said he believed from evidence which was not presented to the jury, that Darragh Conroy’s murder could have been a dry run for killing his father, or a member of An Garda Siochana.

“You killed an innocent 14-year-old in a brutal, vicious and callous manner. Not only did you deprive him of his life, you also devastated the life of his mother who will grieve for the rest of her life. You have also brought shame and disgrace on your family – wrong and all as it may be – they will find themselves branded for the rest of their lives as the parents of a murderer. And you have ruined your own life.” Judge White said that during the trial he had been observing Darren Goodwin’s attitude and foundit one of “total indifference”. “You have treated withabsolute scorn and contempt these proceedings in particular and society in general.”

Although a murder conviction normally carries a mandatory life sentence, in the case of a minor a judge has discretion to impose a lesser sentence. “Having regard to the fact that this was a premeditated murder, and having regard to the viciousness with which you beat to death an innocent young man without any form of provocation or justification, I am affirming a sentence, that of Life.”

Judge White called him Mr Goodwin throughout and said one of his duties was to take mitigating circumstances into account. “Apart from your age I cannot see any,” he said.

“It has been urged on me that you are remorseful. I would have to say if you were truly remorseful that would have commenced before the trial. Having read various reports I find it hard to brlieve it is real or genuine. From the reports that are before me it is clear you are an intelligent young man. It is clear that you harbour feelings of anger and resentment, in particular towards your father and it is clear from reports before me that you are a danger to society, you are certainly a danger to your father.”

Senior clinical psychologist Andrew Conway had discussed the murder of Darragh Conroy with Darren Goodwin, who told him Darragh was killed “because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time”. If Darragh Conroy hadn’t been there he would have killed his father instead.

‘ His good- looking dark-eyed face carried the same blank expression, as if it all had involved somebody else’

The judge told the court that asked if “with the click of a finger” he could change things which would he kill, Darragh Conroy or his father, he answered, “my father”.

Judge White sentenced him to life in detention, but said that his sentence should be reviewed in 10 years, in the year 2014.

The judge then went on to praise the young people of Mountmellick who came forward to help solve this case.

“Society owes them a great debt of gratitude, and but for them there would have been no conviction in this case.

“These young people, out of a misguided sense of loyalty to Mr Goodwin, might have failed to co-operate, but they didn’t and their assistance undoubtedly was responsible for this particu-larly conviction.

Afterwards none of the families wanted to add further to the grief that unfolded in Court No 4 of the High Court in Dublin. Patricia Conroy left through one entrance and Jack Conroy through another. “I’d just like to be left alone,” he said quietly as he walked through the marble hallway of the Four Courts now an anonymous figure making his way through the throng. Darren Goodwin’s mother and father left together. They had nothing to add to the human tragedy that has befallen them and the townof Mountmellick.

Darren Goodwin was brought out in handcuffs to begin his life sentence. His good-looking dark-eyed face carried the same blank expression, as if it all had involved somebody else and he, like his victim Darragh Conroy, wasn’t there at all.

Harvey Simukonda/Jesse Edokpayi – Dublin/Athlone

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September 2014

Teens plied Junior Cert sex attack victim (15) with vodka until she was ‘paralytic’

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Two men have been have been jailed for just 18 months each over the sex attack on a 15-year-old Junior Cert student, after a court heard how they plied her with vodka until she was in a “paralytic state”.

The shocking details emerged in court yesterday of how then 17-year-olds Harvey Simukonda and Jesse Edokpayi subjected their victim to the horrific ordeal, the Irish Daily Star reports.

The Galway Circuit Court also heard how some of the incident was recorded on a mobile phone.

Harvey Simukonda (19), originally from Malawi but living in Athlone, pleaded guilty to the defilement, or statutory rape, of the young girl two years ago.

Jesse Edokpayi (19), from Dublin, pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of the girl on the same date.

Sergeant Paudie O’Shea said the 15-year-old girl first met Simukonda during the Volvo Ocean Race festivities in Galway in 2012.

The court heard how three weeks later on August 1, 2012, during the Galway Races, the young victim and a friend accompanied Simukonda to an apartment, where she was given vodka and was in an intoxicated state.

She was later brought to a toilet by Simukonda where they had sex twice. The court heard that the schoolgirl’s trouser buttons had been ripped off and zipper damaged.

Later that evening, the victim was brought to a bedroom where she was sexually assaulted by Edokpayi as the incident was recorded on a mobile phone.

Video footage was played to the court of the schoolgirl lying in an almost comatose state on a bedroom floor as Edokpayi attempted to coax her into having sex. He admitted to digitally penetrating the girl.

For most of her recorded ordeal the schoolgirl lay on her side with her arms wrapped around her. Three men were in the room at the time, including the two defendants.

The victim was not in the court yesterday due to illness but her mother was present.

In a victim impact statement she said: “I’m suffering from depression and have been suicidal.

“I have suffered loss of self-esteem and have low self-respect. People found out in school and were making comments about me and I felt humiliated in school.

“I felt very isolated at the time.”

Both defendants apologised to their victim and her family during proceedings.

Justice Barry White imposed three-year sentences on both men, with the final 18 months of both sentences suspended.

Their names were added to the sexual offenders list.

Darren Hawkes – Stockton

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January 2009

Eight years for rapist

A TEESSIDE man who raped and sexually abused three young girls throughout his teenage years has been jailed.

Darren James Hawkes, 24, of Mowbray Grove, Stockton, committed the offences from 1996 when he was 12 until 2004 aged 20, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Following a trial, Hawkes was found guilty by a jury of three rapes, 12 indecent assaults, five charges of indecency with a child, one charge of assault by penetration and one of inciting a child under the age of 13 into sexual activity.

During the abuse, his three victims were aged between five and 12.

The public gallery in the courtroom was packed with Hawkes’ family members, including his parents and wife.

The dad-of-one’s defence barrister Robin Denny said: “Obviously this has been a complete tragedy.

“We are talking about a process of abuse that has started as early as the time when the defendant was 12 or 13 years of age. That is a fact that should have some significance.”

Judge Peter Bowers said the case had “extraordinary circumstances”.

He jailed Hawkes for eight years and banned him from living with a child under the age of 16 without prior approval of the local authority or working with children for five years.

Outside court, Detective Inspector Jason Dickson said: “Darren Hawkes has refused to admit his guilt throughout this investigation and subsequent trial.

“His lack of admissions meant that his victims had to give evidence against him in court which they did with great courage and dignity.

“The sentence reflects the serious nature of this offending and particularly the fact that Hawkes preyed on his victims from a very young age and over a prolonged period of time.”

Shahzad Masood/Mohammed Suleman – Oldham

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April 2010

TWO men have been jailed for abducting a schoolgirl

They took the girl from outside her home in Oldham and she was later found walking home at 3am. She refused to tell police what had happened to her.

Shahzad Masood, 33, of Melford Avenue, New Moston, and Mohammed Suleman, 39, of Derby Court’ Werneth, pleaded guilty to abduction.

They were jailed for a year and given indefinite Asbos at Manchester Crown Court.

They claimed they believed the girl was 16. But Det Chief Insp Mary Doyle, from Oldham CID, said: “There is little doubt that these men were aware that this child was under 16.

“The difficulty we have in cases like this is that children who are targeted by these men are generally vulnerable and will often go with the offenders willingly, not recognising the potential risk to their safety.

“I hope this prosecution will act as a warning to any men who think it is acceptable to take children like this.

“This behaviour will not be tolerated and we will take all possible action to make sure the people responsible are brought to justice.”

December 2006

Oldham at centre of child sex storm

MORE than 20 under-age girls are alleged to have been groomed and abused by predatory paedophiles operating in Oldham.

Detectives – who have now set up a permanent unit with Oldham Council to deal with growing concerns about paedophilia in the borough – claimed this week that children as young as 12 years of age have been targeted.

Five men have already been charged with serious offences against minors and have appeared, or are due to appear, before the courts. It is understood that a “substantial” number more have been interviewed and arrested.

Investigations began after four girls came forward with criminal allegations in the summer. The police and council have been working together since, alongside other agencies involved in child welfare.

Their investigations have provided shocking results, with more than 20 girls from vulnerable backgrounds – some of whom are in council care – understood to have come forward.

The girls are said to be aged between 12 and 17 years and from mixed cultural backgrounds.

The men arrested so far, who the Advertiser has been told are not operating as part of a ‘sex ring’, have also been described as being from different racial backgrounds. Most are said to be local residents.

Shahzad Masood (date of birth 02/02/74) of Melford Avenue in New Moston and Suleman Mohammed (01/02/74) of Derby Court in Werneth were both charged with section 2 abduction on 23 August 2006. Sarwar Ali (11/3/75) of Chester Street, Werneth was charged with rape on 2 November 2006. All three men were bailed by Oldham Magistrates Court.

Kadir Hussain (28/6/83) of Princess Street, Ashton-under-Lyne was charged with rape on 12 November 2006. Shakil Chowdhury (1/1/67) of Attock Close, Chadderton was charged with rape on 2 November 2006. Both men were remanded into custody

Click this link for July 2014 – Men wanted over sex offences could be in Coventry

Ruth Baldwin, executive director for young people and families, said: “Unless you scratch below the surface you do not realise the enormity of the problem. We are not talking about teenage relationships. These are men in their 20s, 30s and beyond.”

She said that a small project had looked at the issue of sexual exploitation of young girls in 2004 and, as a result, one or two girls had come forward with allegations. However, the investigation was stepped up after another group of girls came forward in 2005 with claims of offences against them and more spoke up in the summer of this year.

Ruth Baldwin said: “Each time there has been activity in these areas by ourselves the problem appears to go away. As we get better we realise how big the issue is.”

Now the council, police, Primary Care Trust and charity Barnardo’s have established a team, based in Chadderton, to target child sex offenders.

The new unit has three permanently deployed officers, with a view to getting one more, as well as a social worker, support staff and a part-time project manager.

One big problem, it is claimed, is that many girls do not see themselves as victims and believe the men are their boyfriends.

Head of Oldham Police, Chief Supt Caroline Ball, said: “Unfortunately, the affection these victims can often mistakenly feel can mean they feel a loyalty to protect them.

“We need to make these girls aware that this is not the case, that they need to stand up and show that they do not deserve to be treated with so little respect.”

The council has declined to confirm the number of children in council care who have alleged that they have been preyed upon, but said it was confident current safeguards were adequate.

Janet Donaldson, chairman of Oldham’s Local Safeguarding Board, said: “We are not doing anything in terms of changing practices. We already have in place everything we need to have in place. We have a high standard of care.

“We can’t lock people in, but where children have been identified as being ‘high risk’ we have taken action.”

She added that had included moving children to secure accommodation or out of the borough.

Teachers at all the borough’s high schools have also been briefed to look out for signs that might mean a young person is in danger.

Shane Blackmore – Sunderland

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September 2014

Man had sex with 14-year-old Sunderland girl after grooming her on Facebook

A MAN who had sex with an under-age girl after grooming her on Facebook has been jailed for four years.

Shane Blackmore, who was 20, exchanged explicit messages with the 14-year-old over the social networking site.

He then invited her to his shared flat, where he convinced her to have sex in a room where his friends were sleeping.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the girl, who had told her mother she was staying over at a friend’s house, had been “reluctant” to engage in sex acts, but Blackmore had become angry when she refused.

Prosecutor Julian Smith, said: “He was asking her to have sex with him, as she had put him in that state, of arousal, and she ought to get him out of it.”

Blackmore, now 22, who was living in a bedsit at the Cloisters in Sunderland when the offences took place, admitted grooming and sexual activity with a child.

The court heard the girl told a friend she “hated herself” for what she had agreed to that night, and has been deeply affected by her ordeal.

Judge Deborah Sherwin said Blackmore must abide by the terms of a sexual offences prevention order, and sign the Sex Offenders’ register for life.

The judge said: “I have read the victim impact statement which sets out what has happened to her. She comes over as an intelligent young lady.

“She shows all the immaturity one might expect of a young girl her age. These matters have clearly effected her and her family greatly.”

Andrew Finlay, defending, said Blackmore had a troubled childhood and suffered bullying in the past.

Mr Finlay said: “He genuinely regrets what has happened.”

The court heard Blackmore is immature for his age and had met his victim through friends.

Mr Smith said: “They did not have a great deal of time with each other, but that changed when contact on Facebook became much more common between them.

“During the exchanges on Facebook he told her he found her attractive and that he had done for some time.”

The court hear Blackmore had pestered the girl to send him indecent pictures of herself, and had sent her images of his private parts before the night at his bedsit.

Stephen Leyden – Borehamwood

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September 2014

Man to attend sex offenders programme after being found with 36,000 indecent images of children

A Borehamwood man has been ordered to attend a sex offenders treatment programme after police found more than 36,000 indecent images of children on his computer.

Officers discovered the images after going to Stephen Leyden’s home in June, 2013 with a search warrant.

Police already suspected he had been accessing the images and when detectives reached his home in Crown Road, Borehamwood and asked him directly if he had, he replied “Yes, I have.”

The 53-year-old appeared at St Albans crown court, where he admitted possessing the indecent images.

The court was told that, in the main, the photos stored on his computer were of young girls aged eight to 12.

Judge Steven Warner, hearing the case, was told Leyden had amassed the collection of photos over a number of years and had become “addicted” to them.

The court was told Leyden had himself taken steps to deal with his problems while awaiting sentence and had cut down on his drinking.

Leyden was given a three-year community order with supervision on the understanding he attends the sex offenders treatment programme.

He was made the subject of a sexual offences prevention programme for an indefinite period and his name will be on the sex offenders register for the next five years.

Leyden was ordered to pay costs of £85 and a statutory surcharge of £60.

The judge ordered his computer to be forfeited and destroyed

 

Djemal Faris – Milton Keynes

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September 2014

OAP given 12-month jail term over indecent images of children

A pensioner has been handed a one-year prison sentence after being convicted of eight charges relating to indecent images of children.

Djemal Faris, 65, of Holborn Crescent, appeared at Amersham Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday, September 11. He had been found guilty of having 93 indecent images of children aged from “very young” to 16.

He was also found guilty of seven counts of distributing indecent photographs of a child.

There are three categories of indecent images of children – A, B and C. Faris had one accessible category A image, the most serious level, and 12 inaccessible category A images.

He also had 12 accessible and 35 inaccessible category B images, and 11 accessible category C images along with 28 inaccessible.

Faris maintained his innocence at the sentencing hearing, having claimed at the trial that he had been framed.

His defence barrister told the court that it is possible for images to have got onto Faris’ hard drive without his being aware of them, because of the nature of certain websites he had visited.

He said: “My only concern relates to the inaccessible images. The evidence was that Mr Faris probably had never seen any of these images because of the nature of how they appear.

“The evidence of the expert was that she couldn’t be sure because of the manner by which they were on the hard drive.

“She couldn’t say they had got onto the computer while being seen by Mr Faris.”

Recorder Persuad told Faris: “You were convicted on the clearest possible evidence. There are a number of features of this case which are worrying and are capable of being aggravating features.

“The chat that accompanied some of these images indicated an interest in hardcore images of children. It’s also an aggravating feature that the website account you had was capable of and did facilitate the sharing of images.”


Myles Bradbury – Cambridge

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September 2014

Perverted children’s doctor admits string of sex attacks on young cancer patients

Myles-Bradbury

A perverted children’s doctor has admitted carrying out a string of sex attacks on young cancer sufferers.

Dr Myles Bradbury carried out examinations on young boys “purely for his own sexual gratification” and with no medical justification whatsoever, Cambridge Crown Court heard today.

Appearing at Cambridge Crown Court today, Bradbury pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual assault and 13 counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child. He also pleaded guilty to three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Bradbury, wearing a dark suit and blue tie, also pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism and two counts of making indecent images of a child.

Police said that more than 16,000 indecent images of children were also found on a disk in Bradbury’s Suffolk home.

Bradbury, 41, a paediatric haematologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge, also admitted three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The offences involved 18 victims aged from eight to 17 and between 2009 and last year.

Bradbury was bailed and told he would have to sign the sex offenders register.

Crimes: Bradbury worked at Addensbrooke’s Hospital

He pleaded not guilty to a count of sexual activity with a child and a count of sexual assault. Judge Gareth Hawkesworth said these two offences will probably remain on file.

A sentencing date was not given but the judge said Bradbury could expect a “substantial” custodial sentence.

Detective Sergeant Shane Fasey said Bradbury had been interviewed three times but refused to say anything.

He said: “Bradbury’s offences were an appalling breach of trust committed against vulnerable victims who had been placed in his care.

“The families believed the boys were in his safe hands but they were actually being abused by Bradbury, who carried out examinations purely for his own sexual gratification and with no medical justification whatsoever.

“I would like to praise the victims and their families who have shown the bravery to come forward and help bring Bradbury to account.

“This has been a complex and challenging investigation, which involved working closely with Cambridge University Hospitals to gather the evidence to bring a case to court.”

Dr Keith McNeil, chief executive of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Addenbrooke’s, said: “It is hard to put into words just how saddened we are that this situation has occurred, and our most abject and sincere apologies go out to any and all of our patients and their families who are affected by this in any way.

“As chief executive of the trust, I am so deeply sorry these incidents have happened and I am also deeply saddened, as a doctor, that one of my own profession has placed himself and his patients in this position. There is a very ancient and sacred trust that exists between a doctor and his patients and, quite frankly, it sickens me to think that trust has been breached.”

Ann-Marie Ingle, the trust’s chief nurse said: “I cannot begin to express how sorry I and all of my colleagues are for the distress that Myles Bradbury’s abuse caused to patients and their families. Our thoughts, and ongoing support, are with the families and children who are affected by these charges.”

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Ashley Bowerman – Houghton Regis

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September 2014

Man from Houghton Regis jailed for 10 years for raping a 12-year-old girl

A PAEDOPHILE who took a 12-year-old girl to a hotel where he raped her three times was jailed today (Monday) for 10 years.

Supermarket worker Ashley Bowerman, 22, booked into a Premier Inn with the girl, who wore make-up and false eyelashes to make herself look older.

Bowerman, who has Aspergers syndrome, of Farrier Way, Houghton Regis, pleaded guilty to three charges of rape of a child under 13.

After viewing images of the girl, watching her police interview and reading statements from people who saw her on the night, Judge Barbara Mensah said Bowerman could not have reasonably believed she was 16.

Prosecutor Neil King told Luton Crown Court that the girl was 12 years and 2 months at the time. He had been in contact with her since December 2012 when she was aged 11 years and 11 months. Then on March 23, 2013 he took her to the Premier Inn, Luton where they checked in as Mr and Mrs Bowerman.

She got drunk, and at one point was carried back inside the hotel by Bowerman.

He took explicit pictures of her when she was unconscious or asleep.

The police were called by the girl’s concerned parents and they tracked them to the hotel. When officers arrived they found the girl drunk and a nearly empty bottle of Jack Daniels.

Henry Day, defending, said Bowerman was 20 at the time of the offence and had no previous convictions. He said he had difficulties in his life with his Aspergers condition and had suffered bullying in the past. He said he would find custody “traumatic and difficult.” He handed the court letters from people who spoke highly of him.

Judge Barbara Mensah said aggravating features were the fact that he did not stop the girl drinking, had to carry her back into the hotel drunk and that he had taken “two intimate, explicit photos.”

The judge told him: “She was drunk and incapable. She was particularly vulnerable. She was under-age, you knew she was underage.

“The offence has had a massive effect on her. It has reflected her relationship with her family. You totally took advantage of her.”

Bowerman cried in the dock as the sentence was passed. He must register as a Sex Offender indefinitely.

After considering the case over lunch, Judge Barbara Mensah reduced the sentence passed on Bowerman from 12 years to 10 years. 

She informed his barrister Henry Day this afternoon at Luton Crown Court.

Lawrence Waldock/John Seabrook – Letchworth

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September 2014

Man jailed for aiding sexual assault on girl, 12, in Letchworth alleyway

John Seabrook

Pervert John Seabrook pictured above

A man has been jailed after aiding the sexual assault of a 12-year-old schoolgirl and assaulting his former girlfriend.

Lawrence Waldock, of no fixed address, was handed a 22-week prison sentence at Stevenage Magistrates’ Court yesterday, Wednesday, for the two offences which both happened in Letchworth.

The first, on April 7, involves a girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons. She was walking home down an alleyway when Waldock, along with John Seabrook cornered her.

Seabrook, 58, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison in April, grabbed the girl’s right arm and kissed it while Waldock blocked her from going any further down the path.

In a statement by the girl read out in court by prosecutor Rafia Khatun, she said: “Johnny grabbed my arm then tried to kiss it and the other man blocked me from getting any further. Johnny then said ‘you’re beautiful aren’t you. I bet I can guess your age, you’re 15.’”

She said Waldock, 38, was laughing while Seabrook sexually assaulted her and that they “looked at her like a piece of meat” and thought she was going to be raped.

The girl managed to break free and ran home while the pair wolf whistled and jeered her.

Waldock pleaded not guilty to aiding a sexual assault but was found guilty at the court after a trial on August 1.

Magistrate Leah Bretton said: “This was an extremely serious offence that was carried out by two grown men on a young girl. For this we are going to sentence you to 18 weeks in prison.”

Waldock was also given a four-week prison sentence to run consecutively for assaulting his ex-partner Claire Elliott in Letchworth on June 1.

Mrs Bretton ordered Waldock to sign the sex offenders register for seven years, placed an indefinite restraining order on him contacting the 12-year-old and a six-month restraining order on contacting Ms Elliott.

June 2012

Letchworth GC man given ASBO

An Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO) has been imposed on a resident following a history of offensive and threatening behaviour.

John Seabrook, 56, of Campers Avenue, Letchworth was given the order after numerous incidents of anti-social behaviour in his neighbourhood and in Letchworth town centre. Magistrates at Hertford Magistrates Court took the decision to impose the ASBO on June 20 following an application by North Herts District Council (NHDC).

The court heard that 20 people had come forward to give evidence to the council including local residents, town centre workers and police officers.

The two year ASBO prohibits Mr Seabrook from using abusive, offensive, threatening or intimidating language or behaviour which can be heard or seen by anyone in Campers Avenue, Letchworth, and prohibits him from consuming alcohol or being in possession of any open or opened vessel containing alcohol in a public place. The ASBO also places specific conditions on Mr Seabrook visiting Letchworth town centre.

Any breach of the ASBO could result in Mr Seabrook being fined and/or a prison sentence of up to five years.

Councillor Tricia Cowley, NHDC’s portfolio holder for community engagement, said: “Working together with the police, we have a responsibility to protect law-abiding citizens from such unacceptable behaviour.

“Our Community Safety team have contacted Mr Seabrook on numerous occasions in an attempt to stop things from escalating to this stage, but he has failed to curb his actions. Ultimately we are pleased that the court has imposed these restrictions.”

North Herts Police Anti Social Behaviour Officer, Elizabeth Fountain, said: “Members of the public and local businesses have the right to be protected from this kind of conduct in public places. Letchworth police work closely with North Herts District Council to deal robustly with individuals who act in a drunken or anti social manner.”

Gary Pearce – Sidcup

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September 2014

Former teacher jailed for sexually abusing 14-year-old boy he met on Grindr

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A former teacher has been jailed for five years for child sex offences involving a 14-year-old boy he met on a gay dating app.

Gary Pearce, 40, of Ellenborough Road, Sidcup, was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on Friday, September 12 after being found guilty on August 11 of grooming and sexual activity with a child.

The prosecution follows an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service’s Sapphire Command – part of the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command.

Police were contacted by the parents of the victim, a boy then aged 14, after they found messages of a sexual nature on his phone.

Officers were told that in the summer of 2012 the victim had been in contact with Pearce through the social networking app ‘Grindr’, and despite the victim informing Pearce of his age, Pearce agreed to meet him.

They met in a supermarket car park and Pearce took the young boy back to his home and carried out sexual acts on him.

Afterwards Pearce took his victim back to the car park. They never met again.

After police being informed, Pearce was arrested at his home on 11 December 2012.

Under interview Pearce claimed his victim had told him that he was of the age of consent but made no comment to all other questions put to him.

Pearce was subsequently charged on July 24, 2013.

DC Chris Hammond, the officer in the case for the Sapphire Command, said: “Despite being in a position of trust as a teacher Gary Pearce met the 14-year-old victim through the internet, then arranged and proceeded to meet him in person.

“The Met is dedicated to protecting young and vulnerable people and encourage victims to come forward where they will be fully supported by specially trained officers.”

Detective Inspector Neal Burton from the Sapphire Command said: “Pearce utilised the internet to manipulate the child into meeting him.

“This crime again shows the vulnerability of the internet and social media, which is used by paedophiles to meet their victims.

“This conviction will provide reassurance that we will relentlessly pursue those who commit these dreadful crimes against children.”

Norton Dowthwaite – Llanrwst

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July 2008

Llanrwst sex offender jailed

A 33-YEAR-OLD man was locked up for nine years yesterday for sexually abusing a young girl.

Norton Jefferson Dowthwaite, of Glanrafon, Llanrwst, admitted he sexually assaulted the girl, aged under 13, regularly over a period of two-and-a-half years.

Jailing him, Judge Merfyn Hughes QC, sitting at Caernarfon Crown Court, said: “The fact she is under 13 years of age makes these offences very serious indeed. These were not isolated incidents.”

Dowthwaite’s name will be placed on the sex offenders’ register after his release from prison and the judge banned him from working with children indefinitely.

Flanked by three security guards in the dock, Dowthwaite stood with his head bowed as the judge passed sentence.

The judge said he gave Dowthwaite full credit for his early guilty plea and expressions of remorse. Had Dowthwaite denied the offences and a trial held after which a trial had found him guilty, he could have expected a prison sentence of 14 years to be handed down.

Richard Edwards, prosecuting, said the matters came to light earlier this year when the girl told her mother that Dowthwaite had sexually assaulted her.

The court heard that the mother took the girl to the police and during a video-taped interview she made further allegations of sexual assaults over a period of 18 months between November 2005 and May this year.

“The defendant was arrested and during his interview made full admissions but gave no explanation as to why the offences took place,” said Mr Edwards.

Mr Huw Edwards, defending, said Dowthwaite was realistic about the likely sentence.

“He understands he can expect a substantial custodial sentence.

“He has expressed a degree of remorse and is now gaining an insight into his offending,” Mr Edwards said.

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