September 2014

Man who went into hiding after sexually abusing schoolgirl at Bracklesham Bay in 2005 found and jailed

A 59-year-old man who sexually abused a schoolgirl and then went into hiding has been jailed after police tracked him down.

Michael McCarthy was seen by children assaulting his vulnerable 13-year-old victim in Bracklesham Bay, near Selsey, in November 2005. But after he was challenged about the incident he disappeared.

For nine years McCarthy managed to conceal his identity by only taking cash-in-hand jobs and not claiming benefits so officers could not track where he was living.

But his picture was shown on Crimewatch in March and people who recognised him as a pub DJ and professional dog walker called police.

Officers traced him to an address in Chingford, East London.

Police raided his home in Longfield Avenue and McCarthy was arrested and later charged.

The 59-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with child and was jailed for 18 months at Lewes Crown Court on September 4.

PC Stephen Reed, of Sussex Police, said: “It has taken a long time to apprehend McCarthy but finally justice has been done for his victim and McCarthy’s family. His actions have had a devastating effect on their lives.

“McCarthy knew he was wanted by police but deliberately tried to keep a low profile which allowed him to stay out of prison for as long as he did.

“The fact that he is now in prison shows that we will not give up looking for someone just because they have been missing for a period of time.

“If you are wanted, you should keep looking over your shoulder as we will not give up the chase until we have arrested

September 2014

Calne child rapist jailed for 20 years for abusing Reading girls as young as four

A paedophile from Wiltshire has been jailed for conducting a sick 14-year ordeal against two girls which began when the youngest was just four years old.

Police have praised the ‘great courage’ of the victims of James Philips, after their evidence saw him jailed for 20 years.

Philips was sentenced after being found guilty last month of seven child sex offence charges which took place between 1997, when he was 15, and lasted until just three years ago in 2011.

The 32-year-old, from Springfield Drive in Calne, was found guilty of three counts of inciting a girl under 14 to commit an act of gross indecency, which related to victims aged between eight and 11 years old, two counts of rape of a girl under 16, one count of sexual assault of a girl between the age of four and six, and a seventh charge of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity when the victim was aged between seven and ten.

Philips was sentenced to 15 years in prison for each count of rape, to run concurrently, and five years in prison for the other offences, to be served consecutively. He was found not guilty of another three charges of indecent assault, which related to another victim.

All the offences happened in Reading between 1997 and 2011, and relate to two victims, who were praised by detectives who brought the case to court.

Det Con Lisa Flitter, from Milton Keynes CID, said: “This was an historic case which happened in the Reading area and although the offences date back to 1997, this sentence shows that Philips has not been able to escape justice.

“The victims have shown great courage in coming forward to tell police about the horrific acts that Philips carried out, and I am pleased that he has today received a strong punishment. I hope that the knowledge that Philips will be behind bars for a long time will help the victims to move on from their ordeal,” she added.

September 2014

Telford man, 48, admits child abuse images charges

A 48-year-old man from Telford has admitted having indecent images of children and being in possession of extreme pornography.

Derek Morris pleaded guilty to four offences when he appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday.

He admitted to two charges involving 17 images and a charge of having a moving image of a child and another offence of possessing explicit material showing adults involved in sexual activity with animals.

Sentence was adjourned until October 13 for reports and Morris, of Brookfield, Stirchley, was granted bail.

September 2014

Former Christian Brother at Liverpool De La Salle School pleads guilty to indecent assaults on boy

A former Christian Brother at De La Salle school in Croxteth pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a young boy.

Paul Davey, 58, admitted two counts of indecent assault on a boy under 16 when he appeared for trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

Davey admitted touching the boy indecently around 1987 or 1988 when his victim was auditioning for a school performance at the Carr Lane East institution.

He also admitted pinning him down in his bed and abusing him while the pair were on a trip to London at one of De La Salle’s other properties.

The ECHO understands Davey, of Bentinck Street, St Helens, has already served a 30 month prison sentence for offences against a separate victim at around the same time.

Davey was allowed bail ahead of a sentence hearing on October 9 as the judge ordered a pre-sentence report.

Judge Thomas Teague, QC, said: “I have been very careful not to give any indication of what the ultimate outcome of this case will be for you.

“I think I need to have as much information as I can get about this case.”

De La Salle, originally a grammar school, would have been a comprehensive at the time of the offences.

September 2014

Pervert groomed schoolgirl and sexually abused her

A BRITISH Legion standard bearer who sexually abused a vulnerable young girl has been jailed for 12 years for what a judge called “acts of gross depravity and wicked exploitation”.

Martin Gardiner, who was also on the committee at the Stratton branch of the legion, groomed the youngster when she was 14 or 15, and took advantage of her low intelligence.

The 55-year-old, who denied any wrongdoing, sent her sordid text and Facebook messages then took her out in his car and had sex with the child at Coate Water.

And Gardiner, who is married with a grown up son, even got his family away from his home in a bid to further abuse the youngster. But the girl’s dad became suspicious about what was going on with his daughter and after seeing the messages, alerted the authorities.

As he struggled to avoid the truth coming out Gardiner deleted text messages which the police managed to recover as they built a case against him.

Gardiner, of Abington Way, Stratton St Margaret, pleaded not guilty to seven counts of sexually abusing a child with a mental disorder.

Following a two-week trial at Swindon Crown Court, a jury of five men and seven women found him guilty of the charges, which took place in the summer of 2012

Robin Shellard, defending, said although there had clearly been grooming, the offending was not protracted, taking place over just a few weeks in July and August.

He said over the years Gardiner had tried to be a good father to his son, who suffered from epileps,y and a good husband to his wife, who has Crohn’s disease.

Mr Shellard said: “He has not only good character but also positive good character. At the legion club he served on the committee for many years, acting as standard bearer.”

The court was told that a victim impact statement showed the offending was now beginning to have a serious affect on the girl.

Jailing him, Judge Tim Mousley QC, said: “You have now been convicted of seven offences of serious sexual abuse on a young girl whose mental disabilities mean she had a mental age many years below her actual age.

“I regard it as a very serious feature of this case that she was young and in reality very young and very immature and you took terrible advantage of that.

“This was pre-meditated, it was planned and it was coercive. You were prepared to lie to anyone in order to get what you wanted.”

As well as serving a 12 year sentence Gardiner must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

June 2007

Pervert lucky to dodge jail

A MAN who groomed an under-age girl for sexual activity has breached a community order by moving from his Solihull home without informing his probation officer.

And at Warwick Crown Court Recorder Barry Berlin warned Stephen Lancett that he had been lucky not to have been jailed for the original offence – and will not get another chance.

Lancett, 37, previously of Heath Road, Elmdon Heath, Solihull, admitted being in breach of a community order imposed in March.

The order, for three years’ supervision and a sex offenders’ group work programme, had been made at Wolverhampton Crown Court after Lancett had admitted sexual grooming of a 15-year-old girl.

He breached the order by moving to Chelwood Close, Chippenham, Wilts, without informing his offender manager and by missing a probation appointment.

Robert Hodgkinson, prosecuting, said the case had been adjourned for the probation services in Solihull and Chippenham to liaise and report back to court.

Laura Kasasian, defending, said the recommendation was for a specified activities programme to be added to the order and for Lancett to be supervised under the Thames Valley sex offenders’ programme.

Amending the order, Recorder Barry Berlin told Lancett: “You were very lucky to be given a chance to fulfil a community order rather than going to prison. If you had been in front of me, things may have been different.

“The point of such an order is to protect young children. You knew that, but you moved without informing your supervising officer.”

June 2006

Child rapist jailed for eight years

A 41-year-old lorry driver was jailed for eight years yesterday for raping two teenage girls.

Mark Hugman, of Northgate, Lowestoft, drove a 13-year-old girl to a piece of wasteland behind a rubbish dump and told her he liked her before kissing her and raping her. He also raped a 15-year-old in the cab of his lorry, as well as indecently assaulting her.

At Ipswich Crown Court yesterday, a jury found Hugman guilty of five counts of rape between October, 1987, and December, 1995. It found him not guilty on the direction of the judge of another count of raping one of the two girls.

He had denied all the charges.

At the four-day trial, jurors were told that Hugman, who has four children and two stepchildren, offered to walk the 15-year-old girl to her home after kissing her.

But during the journey, Hugman, who denied having sex with either of the girls, stopped off at his lorry. After getting the girl inside, he pounced on her, grabbing her wrists and holding on to her while he raped her.

Charles Myatt, prosecuting, also said the 13-year-old was crying and trying to push Hugman away while he raped her

Next day, Hugman encouraged her to miss school so he could take her out in his cab, and he gave her a joint of cannabis before raping her again, he said.

Mr Myatt said both girls were virgins when Hugman raped them.

After the verdict was announced, Hugman’s defence lawyer, Simon Spence, conceded that the case constituted a breach of trust and added: “Submission cannot be confused with consent.”

But he stressed that Hugman “still has a young family”.

Sentencing Hugman to eight years in jail for the five rapes and three years for the indecent assault, the terms to run consecutively, Judge John Devaux said: “There was no use of a weapon and no gratuitous violence. In each case there was a serious breach of trust.”

The sentence means Hugman will qualify for release after serving four years in prison but will never be able to work with children.

July 2010

Peeping Tom who viewed child abuse images, is jailed at Leicester Crown Court

A peeping Tom who secretly filmed his neighbour as she was getting ready for a shower has been jailed for 18 months.

Tony Osborne also took indecent pictures of a 15-year-old girl and downloaded child abuse images from the internet.

Leicester Crown Court was told the neighbour, in her 20s, was “devastated” when police told her Osborne had covertly filmed her getting changed – adding a commentary including sexual remarks – on five occasions.

Osborne (50), of Andrew MacDonald Close, Market Harborough, admitted two counts of voyeurism, between March and October last year.

He also pleaded guilty to eight counts of possessing indecent images of children, involving 56 pictures at level one – the least serious on a scale up to five – five at level two, eight at level three and five at level four.

Caroline Bray, prosecuting, said 15 of the level one images were pictures from a mobile phone of a 15-year-old girl he knew, which were downloaded to his computer.

Osborne also kept a notebook detailing child pornography websites.

Ms Bray said: “The examination of his camcorder revealed he’d secretly been filming a neighbour.

“He recorded her through her window and partially closed Venetian blinds.

“She was using that room as a dressing room before or after taking a shower.

“She was in shock, had sleepless nights and is nervous when she goes out. Her partner was also angry and upset.”

Ms Bray said the images downloaded by the defendant mostly involved girls aged between 12 and 15 but some were pre-teen and others up to about 17.

She said: “In interview he admitted having the images, saying he was curious, and denied knowing the girls were under 18.

“One of the images he was using as wallpaper on his computer was of three female children performing sex acts.”

James Thomas, mitigating, said: “He was not distributing or showing the images of his neighbour to anyone else.

“He’s embarrassed and ashamed.”

The court heard the father of three became lonely and isolated after the break-up of his 15-year marriage.

He told a probation officer, who prepared a pre-sentence report on him, that he was not sexually aroused by the images.

The report described him as being a “high risk of future sex offences.”

Judge Simon Hammond said he must bear in mind the “devastating” effect on the neighbour.

He said any right-minded person would find the child pornography on his computer “disgusting”.

Judge Hammond said: “It means somewhere in this country, or elsewhere, under-aged girls have been grossly sexually abused.”

Osborne was placed on a sexual offences prevention order, enabling the police to check his computers, and banning unsupervised contact with children.

September 2014

Shoreham man jailed for sexually assaulting a boy

A MOTHER has called for more CCTV cameras on Worthing Pier after her 14-year-old son was sexually assaulted while fishing.

Reginald Collins, 62, of Freehold Street, Shoreham, was jailed on Monday for four years.

He pleaded guilty at Chichester Crown Court to one count of sexual assault and one count of meeting a child following sexual grooming.

The offences took place between April 1 and May 22 this year, while the boy, and Collins, were fishing.

Collins had befriended the boy, who was fishing on the pier, kept contacting him afterwards, and carried out a sexual assault on him in May.

The boy’s mother was alerted to what was happening after she checked his phone following what she believed to be strange behaviour from her son.

September 2014

A man has today been jailed for nearly seven years for having under-age sex with a schoolgirl in Ipswich.

Written by Colin Adwent

Geoffrey Harris was living in Ipswich when he was arrested in June and charged with five offences relating to the girl between 2005 and 2008.

The 53-year-old unemployed man of no fixed address, but originally from Stevenage in Hertfordshire, pleaded guilty to the charges at Ipswich Crown Court in August and was remanded in custody prior to his appearance at the same court.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Sergeant Darren Bruce, said: “The girl involved in this sexual abuse has been honest and very courageous during this difficult and lengthy investigation. We have had to conduct an extremely intrusive examination of her life in order to demonstrate that the evidence against Geoffrey Harris was undisputable.

“She has had outstanding support from her family and friends who have not only had to support their loved one, but also to deal with the ordeal of knowing their child has been subjected to this awful offence.”

Harris, who was sentenced to six years and nine months’ imprisonment, was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and a previously-issued Sex Offences Prevention Order from an earlier conviction remains in place.

September 2014

Enrico Thor Korsche jailed after sex abuse of two victims, partly in Swanscombe

A pervert who sexually abused a child as young as three has been jailed for 19 years.

Enrico Thor Korsche was told by a judge: “It was the most extreme and gross behaviour one can imagine.”

The 57-year-old denied sexual abuse of two victims, some of which happened in Swanscombe and dated back 13 years

Korsche, said to have a nomadic lifestyle, was last known to live in Springfield Road, Blackpool.

He was convicted of three offences of oral rape, six of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child.

His crimes only came to light in 2011 when one of the victims confided in her teaching assistant that she thought she had been abused when she was younger.

During the police investigation, the second victim came forward and said she  was also abused by Korsche.

By this time, Korsche had fled the county and police forces around the UK were put on alert.

He was eventually arrested in Aberdeenshire in October last year, after local police were alerted to a man walking along a dual carriageway.

When he gave his name to officers, it triggered an alert on the national database that he was wanted for serious sexual offences.

John Fitzgerald, defending, said Korsche was arrested some 10 years after the offending. He had no previous convictions of a similar kind.

Judge Michael Carroll spoke of the serious effect the abuse had on the victims.

But there was not enough material, he said, to impose an extended sentence for public protection.

Korsche was sentenced to 16 years for the rape offences, three years consecutive for the indecent assaults and one year concurrent for indecency with a child.

September 2014

Cumbrian man pleads guilty to possession of child abuse images

Liam Carl Morris, of Bleaswood Road, in Oxenholme, appeared in court in Kendal this morning charged with the offences committed between November 2007 and September last year.

The 28-year-old was found to posses both indecent photographs and moving images of children aged between two and 16 years old on his home computer.

Police had classified four of the offences as Level A – the most serious – with a further four as Level B and the remaining four as Level C.

Morris was ordered to appear at Carlisle Crown Court on October 13 for sentencing.

He was released on bail on condition he does not come into contact with children under the age of 16 years old.

September 2014

‘Vile’ Littlehampton man, 71, guilty of sexually abusing two young boys

A PAEDOPHILE who sexually abused two vulnerable boys – one aged only eight at the time of the offences – has been found guilty of his crimes.

Last Monday (September 8), John Clawson, 71, of Highdown Drive, Littlehampton, was convicted of a range of historic sex offences against the two boys, aged eight and 15 at the times their ordeals began.

Now, one of his victims has spoke of his relief after Clawson was convicted, following a hearing at Amersham Law Courts, in Buckinghamshire.

The 37-year-old man, who for legal reasons cannot be identified, branded the pensioner as ‘vile’ and ‘sick’.

In a telephone interview he said: “He is the lowest of the low. To do this in the first place is wrong but to do it to two children that were so obviously vulnerable really is disgusting.”

Clawson was convicted after pleading not guilty to seven different counts of indecent assault.

The offences against the two victims took place between July 1, 1988, and March 23, 1993, at different locations in Middlesex and Amersham.

He was found guilty of six charges but was acquitted of one of the indecent assaults.

The victims, who do not live locally, plucked up the courage to report Clawson to the authorities after seeing a series of photos on Facebook of the man with a number of youngsters.

The victim said: “It was seeing this that made me think to myself that ‘no, this is not right’.

“I didn’t want this to happen to anyone else so then was the right time.”

Clawson’s abuse was reported initially to the Metropolitan Police in 2012.

The incident was then passed on to Thames Valley Police.

Detective Sergeant Malcolm Wheeler, of the Buckinghamshire Child Abuse Investigation Unit, was leading the investigation.

He said: “This was an historic case which happened in the Amersham area and although the offences date back to the 1980s, this conviction shows that Clawson has not been able to escape justice.

“The victims have shown great courage in coming forward to tell police about the horrific acts that Clawson carried out, and I hope that the knowledge that Clawson has been found guilty of these offences and will be punished for his crimes will help the victims to move on from their ordeals.”

Clawson will be sentenced on October 10.

The 37-year-old victim said that he cried when he heard of Clawson’s conviction.

“But the most over-whelming feeling was vindication,” he added. “We had to wait 22 years for this.”

September 2014

Brechin man caught with indecent child images after international operation

A Brechin man snared in an international child abuse clampdown was found to have four videos of abuse on his laptop when police raided his home.

Justinas Kamenevas was caught after experts monitoring the web saw he had typed in search terms that indicated an interest in incest and the rape of children.

Kamenevas, 28, of Middleton Park, admitted an indictment alleging he distributed or showed indecent photos or pseudo-photos of children at an address in Brechin between January 27 and February 21 last year.

Depute fiscal Hannah Kennedy said police obtained a search warrant for the accused’s home and seized laptops, a computer, camera and mobile phone.

Investigation of the laptop uncovered four videos of serious child abuse, categorised at level four out of five.

“He fully admitted being the person who downloaded the material and, when asked why he was searching those terms, said ‘probably curiosity’,” continued the fiscal.

“He said that he had deleted the images as soon as he found out what they were,” adding that Kamenevas admitted he knew his actions were illegal.

Sheriff Gregor Murray deferred sentence until October 16 for reports.

Kamenevas was also made the subject of notification requirements for the sex offenders register, the period to be determined when he returns to court for sentence.

September 2014

British Naturist director and Northfield swim club chief admits possession of 120,000 child abuse images

A British Naturism director and Birmingham swim club chairman has admitted downloading more than 120,000 indecent images of children

Brian Taylor, of Tamworth, was head of public relations for the UK’s leading naturist group and was a leading figure with the Spectrum Swimming Club in Northfield, which hosts regular events for naked swimmers.

But the 59-year-old has now been forced to quit both roles after being convicted of child abuse images offences.

He was sentenced to a three-year community order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years after pleading guilty to six counts of making indecent images of children.

Taylor had previously written in one online blog: “Young children love to be naked themselves and seldom even notice the nakedness of others.”

He had also written about naked images of children, claiming in one his blogs: “Remember nudity does not equal pornography, it is perfectly possible for a non-naked image of a child to be pornographic, just as it is possible for a naked image to not be pornographic – take for instance the pictures that many parents take of their children having fun in the bath…”

Taylor, from Wiggington Road, Tamworth, pleaded guilty to six counts of making indecent images of children during a hearing at Stafford Crown Court on July 21.

They included 95 category A images, 431 category B, and more than 128,000 category C.

He was sentenced to a three-year community order consisting of a ‘supervision-intensive sex offender treatment course’ at the same court on August 26.

Taylor was also ordered to pay £400 costs and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.

He resigned from his unpaid director role at British Naturism and as chairman of Spectrum Club on September 2 after both learned of the conviction.

British Naturism is the UK’s officially recognised naturist organisation which has a membership of around 10,500 people.

Taylor had been a naturist for over 30 years and previously stated: “Naturism is about body acceptance and countering the body shame born of being constantly told to cover our bodies and then presented with air-brushed models in the media.”

A British Naturism spokesman said: “It’s difficult for us, we knew him well and had known him for many years.

“We are very surprised and stunned by the news. As with all members, when news of this nature reaches us, membership is terminated.”

The Spectrum Club confirmed Taylor had resigned on September 2 after the club learned of his conviction. He had not informed them. He had been a member since 2006 and chairman since 2013.

September 2014

Feltham man due to be sentenced after he admits making child abuse images

A man from Feltham is due to be sentenced next month after he admitted making and distributing child abuse images.

Phillip Gasson, of Rochester Avenue, today appeared at Kingston Crown Court, where he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photos of a child.

The Crown offered no evidence on three further counts of possessing indecent photos of a child, which Gasson denied.

The 32-year-old, whose home was searched in February, had already admitted in July one count of making indecent photos of a child and two of distributing them.

He is due to be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on October 16 for all six charges he has admitted.

In an unrelated case from earlier today, a school caretaker was arrested on suspicion of sexual activity with an under-age girl.

September 2014

Hitchin man, 82, found guilty of rape and other historic sex offences

An 82-year-old man has been found guilty of a series of historic sexual offences, including rape

Vincent Mitchell, of Lodge Farm in Kings Walden, appeared before Cambridge Crown Court on Friday charged with nine counts of varying sexual offences.

He was found guilty of raping a girl aged 14 in May 1976 through to May 1978, as well as indecent assault on a female and committing an act outraging public decency by behaving in an indecent manner during the same period.

Mitchell was also found guilty of gross indecency with a girl and a boy, both under 14, in separate incidents which both took place between May 1982 to October 1983.

The jury could not reach a verdict on other counts of gross indecency with a girl and boy under 14 and found him not guilty on one count of rape on a female and indecent assault on a female.

Mitchell will be sentenced in the week commencing October 13.

September 2014

Trowbridge man who made girl, 13, pregnant spared jail

A Ministry of Defence worker from Trowbridge who got a 13-year-old girl pregnant has been spared a jail term.

Ryan Tiley, 20, was unaware of the girl’s age when they first met through a mutual friend and at first thought she was 16.

But even after finding out the truth the IT worker continued so see her and eventually got her pregnant.

Tessa Hingston, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court yesterday that the pair got together in January 2013.

After a while Tiley realised the truth and cooled the relationship, but soon after it started up again and within a few months they were having sex.

In the autumn of last year the girl became pregnant and the matter was reported to the authorities by the midwifery service.

In a victim personal statement the girl said: “If I could rewind time I would never have had sex with Ryan.”

Tiley, of Cock Hill, Trowbridge, pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child.

Emily Evans, defending, said: “The relationship began in January 2013 the defendant having met the victim through a mutual friend.

“Late April or May last year he realised her true age after hearing a conversation between her parents. He said he was quite shocked.”

She said he had been working at the MoD as an IT consultant and had been in the job for almost two years.

“What Mr Tiley says is he was a complete idiot, in his terms. He made a mistake. He has accepted responsibility all the way through,” said Ms Evans.

Judge Tim Mousley QC imposed an 18-month community order with supervision, told Tilley to pay a £60 victim surcharge, and register as a sex offender for five years.

The judge said: “You were 18 when this all happened. She was 13. You are described as immature.

“You initially thought she was 16 but very soon after became aware she was not. This case came to light when she was four months pregnant.

“There was no grooming or other aggravating features. There is absolutely no suggestion any other young girl will be at risk from you and I take that into view.”

September 2014

Grassington businessman sentenced for indecent images

GRASSINGTON businessman Joe Azzopardi will have to move house after admitting the making of indecent images, Skipton magistrates were told.

So great was the impact on his and his wife Elizabeth’s business that he felt he could no longer continue living in the place where he had lived for ten years, the court heard on Friday.

Azzopardi, 65, last month admitted three charges of making indecent photographs of a child at his home in Summers Fold in 2004 and in 2013, and one of possessing extreme pornographic image involving an animal in 2013.

On Friday, he was given a two-year community order with supervision including taking part in a sex offenders group programme. He will also go on the sex offenders register for five years and be subject to a sexual offenders prevention order, also for five years.

The court heard that the four images, varying in nature, had been found on electrical devices owned by Azzopardi by police as a result of receiving information.

Azzopardi, a man of previous good character, who was accompanied to court by his wife, was deeply ashamed, the court heard.

In mitigation, Scott Mclaughlin said the fallout from the court case had been devastating on the business with a massive financial impact not only on him but also his wife.

“He feels deep shame not only for himself, but for what he has put his wife through,” he said.

“He has been a person of impeccable character and the loss of that character is quite a thing, especially with this type of conviction.

“He feels he can no longer live here and will have to move.”

Mr Mclauglin, who repeated his argument that it was a simple case of possessing indecent images, asked that the magistrates to show mercy.

He said it had been a temporary ‘medical condition’ that had led his client to offend and pointed out that he had pleaded guilty at his first appearance in court.

Azzopardi will also have to pay a victims surcharge of £60 and costs of £85. Magistrates also agreed to the confiscation of computer equipment, including an Apple i-pad and two laptops.