October 2014

Burnley sexual predator jailed after attacking teen at party

A SEXUAL predator who attacked a 16-year-old girl has been put behind bars.

Foyzul Hoque, of Fifth Avenue, Burnley, pleaded guilty to attacking the teenager at a party.

The 21-year-old had already been placed on the sex offenders register in 2009 after he assaulted a prostitute who refused to take a cheque as payment.

He was sentenced to three years imprisonment at Burnley Crown Court for sexual assault by penetration.

Speaking after the hearing, officers said Hoque was a ‘high risk’ offender’. Det Const Lee Eckersley, from the public protection unit, said: “It is a good job Hoque is behind bars.

“He is a dangerous man and without a doubt, a sexual predator.”

The attack happened after Hoque picked up the youngster, who had been drinking, at a local takeaway.

He took the teen, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, to a house in Burnley, where she decided to go upstairs to sleep, officers said.

She woke up to find Hoque behind her and pulling at her clothes.

Det Con Eckersley said the girl was struggling and managed to fight her attacker off.

He said: “He met the girl at a takeaway. Alcohol was involved. At the house, she went upstairs and fell asleep.

“The girl was very, very distressed.

“She gave a lengthy victim impact statement and it was quite clear it had a considerable impact on her.

“Hoque was already on the sex offenders register. He is a repeat attacker and a high risk offender.”

October 2014

Fenton pervert spared jail after downloading indecent images of children

PERVERT Daniel Kavanagh downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children on his laptop.

The 38-year-old searched for ‘pre-teens’ on the internet and viewed sexual images of children aged seven to 14.

Now Kavanagh has been handed a three-year community order and placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

Prosecutor Neil Ahuja yesterday told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court police raided the defendant’s home on the afternoon of July 22 last year.

Mr Ahuja said: “Police recovered a laptop in the living room.

“Examination of that computer revealed the presence of indecent images of children.”

The laptop was found to have 14 category A images – the most serious.

There was also 136 category B images, 99 category C images; one category B moving image; and two movies at category C.

The images were of children aged seven to 14 and Kavanagh accepted responsibility for them.

He admitted that he did view pornography and that he did make searches on the internet for indecent images of children.

Kavanagh added he had been off work with stress and viewed images through boredom to help bring him out of his depression.

Kavanagh, of Hines Street, Fenton, pleaded guilty to five offences of making indecent images of a child between May 2010 and July 2013.

Kevin Mortlock, mitigating, said the majority of the images were inaccessible and Kavanagh did not share them with others.

“He was not building a collection of images to be viewed at a later date,” said Mr Mortlock.

“The images were viewed and deleted. He has never shared images or uploaded images from the internet.”

Judge Paul Glenn said the offences merited custody but because of Kavanagh’s guilty plea and the small number of images, they would attract a sentence of about four months.

That would mean him serving about four weeks, which the judge said would be ‘pointless’.

Instead, he said the public interest was better served by preventing Kavanagh re-offending and he sentenced him to a three year community order with a requirement to participate in an internet sex offender programme.

Judge Glenn said: “It is quite plain from the images found on your computer you were in a very dark place. You made a number of searches for such material. You said they were there through curiosity and you were inquisitive. You claimed it assisted you with your depression, which is fairly ludicrous.

“You claimed you got no gratification from looking at the images. You now admit that you were seeking some gratification from viewing them.

“It is an aggravating feature that you were viewing the images over a significant period of time.”

Kavanagh, who will be barred from activities involving children and vulnerable adults, must pay £535 costs.

October 2014

Christian Brother jailed for sexually abusing four schoolboys as young as 10

A Christian Brother has been jailed for sexually abusing young schoolboys in his classroom.

Brother Thomas McCarry (66) had admitted a series of sample charges of indecently assaulting four boys as young as 10 at a national school in the midlands between 1984 and 1987.

His jailing at Mullingar Circuit Court sitting in Tullamoretoday brought a conclusion to a ten-year investigation by detectives in the midlands town where the school is based.

The court had earlier been told that Brother McCarry, of Clareville, Finglas Road, Glasnevin, Dublin had deep shame and sorrow for his victims.

The assaults all took place during school hours while the boys were aged 10-11 and in fifth and sixth class.

In statements to the gardai, four of his victims outlined how the Belfast native would approach from behind and lean over as if to help with schoolwork.

Instead, he pulled up the jumper and shirt of each victim and rubbed either his lower stomach or flicked his nipples in a sexual way.

In some instances, he put his hand inside his victims’ trousers and felt their private parts.

In harrowing victim impact statements, two of his former pupils revealed that they had tried to take their own lives.

In court today, Judge Tony Hunt described the effects on his victims as “very serious”.

He acknowledged that Brother McCarry had joined the Christian Brothers at a young age (14), a time when he would not have been able to make a lifelong commitment. But, he said that he could have withdrawn from his “difficult regime” if he had found his situation too onerous, as others had done.

He added: “There was a considerable breach of trust by him—a teacher in the religious profession…the offences were committed in the classroom in the presence of other children, some of whom noticed untoward events occurring”.

November 2013

Paedo who raped me only served 6 years and now he’s out

It’s only been four weeks since Patrick Kavanagh walked out the gate of Arbour Hill prison.

He was jailed in 2007 for raping a little girl from the age of eight until she was 12, when by chance his phone and text messages to her were discovered.

That little girl is now a 20-year-old woman who decided this week to tell her story to the Sunday World out of her fear that he could turn up at her doorstep.

“It’s just the fact that he can get out and move to Dublin where nobody knows him and be normal… probably go and meet someone and do it again,” she said.

There has been no official contact from any State service to let her know that the man who stole her childhood is free and back on the streets.

“If it had come up in a couple of months or a year that he did it again and I had done nothing about it, it would just kill me,” she said.

Now in his forties, Kavanagh put on a dramatic show of remorse in 2007 after pleading guilty to 53 charges, including raping the girl.

He said that he would “gladly take” the death penalty if that had been an option to the judge. Instead, the judge sentenced him to eight years and last month, after serving six years, the paedophile was released from prison.

Kavanagh’s remorseful claims from the witness box that he hoped whatever sentence he got would bring closure to the victim and her family doesn’t cut any ice with her.

“I just don’t believe him,” she said.

Over four years, Kavanagh, originally from Bunclody, Co. Wexford, had manipulated the young girl and carried out multiple sex attacks on her.

The abuse was discovered when she was 12 after her mother by chance discovered messages and texts Kavanagh had sent to her.

“My auntie came in and took me that night to her house. My ma just couldn’t take what had actually happened. We sat up for hours, she asked me what had happened and all the details,” she said.

“The next morning, she brought me down to the Garda station. I was so nervous. I was so young then, I didn’t understand. I almost felt like I was after doing something wrong.”

Her mother had to be there when she gave her statement to the Gardaí, giving the exact details of the rapes.

“That was the first time I had to tell everything in front of her and that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” she said.

Since Kavanagh was jailed, she admits she “bottled up” everything, but when she heard through her aunt that Kavanagh was due for release, she became deeply upset.

Although she had been offered counselling, she had never taken it up because she had thought everything would be said back to her mother.

“Only a couple of months ago I just got so depressed, I was so down all the time – I spoke to my auntie and she put me through to someone,” she said.

The fear that she could suddenly be confronted by Kavanagh is something that troubles the young woman. 

“If I was to see him, I don’t know what I’d do. He could approach me, try to talk to me, I don’t know. I think it’s not knowing that’s getting to me,” she told the Sunday World.

His release has left her depressed and her excitement about starting a new college course has faded away.

“To me what he got was not nearly enough, but everyone I’ve spoken to, including my counsellor, are saying I’m so lucky to have got that. Some only get a year or two,” she said.

At the Central Criminal Court in 2007, Patrick Kavanagh pleaded guilty to eight sample charges of rape and anal rape of the victim from 2002 to 2006.

A detective told the court that Kavanagh had gone to the Gardaí voluntarily when he heard the allegations had been made against him.

He repeatedly replied “I’m guilty” during interviews and said that the victim’s claims were true.

Judge Paul Carney directed that Kavanagh be registered as a sex offender and that he undergo five years of post-release supervision.

A victim impact statement prepared by a psychiatrist at the time said his victim was still suffering mentally. It also predicted, correctly, that she might continue to suffer psychologically in the future.

Like so many victims of sex abuse, the young woman faces an uncertain future. That uncertainty has not been eased by not knowing where Kavanagh has gone or whether he’ll be able to offend again.

October 2014

Paedophile jailed for abusing six-year-old boy and downloading child abuse images

A vile paedophile who only admitted sexually abusing a six-year-old boy after he was arrested for downloading child abuse images has been jailed.

Diosdado Manalo, 52, was arrested when police raided his Hythe Road home in July 2013 after suspecting indecent images of children were being accessed through the Internet at that address. 

Initially Manalo refused to answer any questions when he was interviewed by officers and he was released on bail while they made further inquiries.

But when interviewed again in January this year, Manalo confessed to downloading the child abuse images, claiming he had done it because of a “burden” he had been living with for years.

Manalo’s guilty secret was that in 2008, while living in Cambridgeshire, he had sexually abused a six-year-old boy before returning to his native home the Philippines.

Manalo was charged with five counts of possessing indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and sexual assault on a boy.

He pleaded guilty to all charges and yesterday at Canterbury Crown Court he was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.

Detective Constable Mark Bennett, of the Kent Police paedophile and online investigation team, said: “I’m glad that through our investigations, the sexual abuse carried out by Manalo has come to light.

“We are very aware of how difficult it can be for victims to come forward so we will continue to do all we can to identify and protect children through our online investigations, wherever they may be.

“While we are grateful for the honesty eventually provided by Manalo, it is important to reflect that the real suffering with regards to this type of abuse is that of the victims.

“I would urge anyone who has been a victim of such a crime to talk to someone who can provide you with support. I promise you that when you tell police, we will do everything in our power to bring the offender to justice.”

October 2014

Carlisle man had over 4,000 indecent images of children – Supervision order given

A CARLISLE man has been placed on the sex offenders’ register for life, after being caught in possession of more than 4,000 indecent images of children.

Phillip Davis, 62, pleaded guilty to nine charges when he appeared before a judge at the city’s crown court in August.

Being sentenced yesterday, Davis, of Lazonby Terrace, Harraby, was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and was placed under a three-year supervision order by the court.

The first five charges were committed between December 2012 and June last year and were all classified as category C images.

The sixth charge was committed last September and included 4,174 images, which were also classed as category C.

Charges seven and eight included 36 category B images from May and September last year.

The final charge was a category A image – the most serious – from last September.

Detective Constable Ellie Rushton said: “This case shows that Cumbria Police will prosecute those who exploit children by engaging in this sort of behaviour.

“We take any intelligence of child exploitation, including possessing or making indecent images, very seriously.

“Our priority is to keep children in Cumbria safe, and we are committed to thorough and professional investigations.”

October 2014

Man admits to child and animal abuse tapes found in his Hartlepool home

A SELF-CONFESSED pornography addict downloaded indecent images of children being sexually abused by adults and images of adults having sex with animals.

Aaron Dixon became ‘desensitised’ over the years and searched for ever more extreme pornography, Durham Crown Court heard.

Dixon, 32, of Bowline House, Harbour Walk, Hartlepool, admitted three charges of making indecent images of children, and one charge of possessing extreme pornographic images.

“In August of last year police executed a search warrant at a business address where this defendant worked,” said Shaun Dodds, prosecuting.

“Three computer towers and a thumb drive were seized.

“These were found to contain 219 indecent images of children, and 34 extreme pornographic images.

“Of the child images, 26 were in the most serious category A.”

Anne Richardson, defending, said in mitigation: “This case is a salutary lesson for anyone who says legal pornography is harmless.

“Mr Dixon started off with that, became desensitised and started to look for ever more extreme images.

“He admits to an addiction, but he only began downloading child pornography in April of last year, and stopped when he was arrested in August.

“While he could not complain if he was sent to prison, he would lose his job and his father would lose the money he has invested in the business.

“Mr Dixon has told his wife and family of his problems, which was an incredibly hard thing for him to do.”

Judge Robert Adams sentenced Dixon to a three-year supervision order.

The judge told him: “A short period of custody would see you released within a couple of months.

“It is more in the public interest, and more in your interest, for you to undergo a lengthy sex offender treatment programme as part of the supervision order.”

Dixon was made the subject of an indefinite sexual offences prevention order restricting his internet use.

He must register as a sex offender for five years.

The seized computer equipment will be confiscated and destroyed.

October 2014

Cleethorpes sex offender back in court after release from prison

A SEX offender failed to tell police of his whereabouts in defiance of regulations after his release from prison, a court heard.

Gary Tombs, 35, of Sandringham Road, Cleethorpes, admitted two offences of breaching his registration requirements.

Carl Fitch, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that Tombs had been jailed for two-and-a-half years in January 2012 for sexually assaulting boys under 13.

He was released in May last year but failed to notify to police proper details of where he was living in July and August this year.

Andrew Bailey, mitigating, said Tombs had been trying to obtain work and had sought help from voluntary units.

Tombs was given a one-year supervision order.

April 2011

Man ‘confessed’ to sex offences on young boys

A CHILD abuser was caught after he confessed to his psychiatrist he had sexually assaulted two young boys more than 13 years ago.

Bolton Crown Court heard how police were informed and Ian Torkington pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually assaulting one boy twice in the early 1990s, when the child was aged between eight and 13.

The first time happened in a caravan and the second occasion was when the boy was camping.

Zoe Salter, prosecuting, told how Torkington then repeated the offence with a second boy some time between 1994 and 1998 on a living room sofa when the boy was aged between 11 and 15.

Philip Parry, defending Torkington, told how he was suffering from a recurring depressive disorder, had confessed to what he had done and wanted to be punished.

The Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Judge William Morris described the confession as “highly unusual”.

“It is very unusual, in my experience, that an offender of this sort volunteers this information,”

he said, adding that Torkington certainly feels remorse.

Torkington, aged 46, of Kirkebrok Road, Deane, was sentenced to a three-year community sentence with supervision and Judge Morris ordered he should attend sex offenders’ treatment programmes.

Torkington was also placed on the sex offenders register for seven years.

October 2014

A Newmarket man with a history of childhood problems has been handed a suspended prison sentence after admitting child abuse images offences.

Dylan Dior, 31, told police where to find images stored at his home in Noel Murless Drive when officers with a search warrant arrived at his door.

On Friday, Ipswich Crown Court heard that while 16 actual indecent photos of children and one movie were uncovered, more than 4,000 computer-generated drawings were also found.

Dior pleaded guilty to eight offences of making indecent images of children, one of possession of indecent images of children and one of distributing images.

Prosecuting, Christopher Youell said that Dior had made full admissions and without him volunteering that he had sent images to someone he met through an online chat site, the offence of distribution would never have been uncovered.

When interviewed, Dior told police that he had suffered abuse on a single occasion when he was a young child and having the images made him feel “safe and warm”, said Mr Youell.

Mitigating, Steven Dyble said Dior, was immature and had suffered from considerable health-related problems in his earlier life, leading to a stroke which had left him physically disabled, suffering from epilepsy and depression.

Sentencing him, Judge John Devaux said: “I am satisfied that you lack maturity. You had a number of childhood experiences which are spared most children. You have suffered from various lifelong health issues.”

Judge Devaux said he considered Dior to be at low risk of reoffending and sentencing him to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months.

Dior was also ordered to remain under Probation Service supervision for 24 months and to participate in the Internet Sex Offenders Treatment Programme.

Judge Devaux, who ordered the confiscation of Dior’s computer and two storage devices, told Dior he would remain on the Sexual Offences Register for 10 years.

October 2014

Dalry sex beast jailed for attempted rape of schoolboy 

A SEX beast from Dalry who attempted to rape a 15-year-old boy has been jailed for four years

Stephen Cannon, 26, from James Street pulled down the victim’s underwear and pinned him down on a bed during the rape bid in an East Ayrshire village.

Cannon was earlier found guilty of the sex attack committed on April 27 last year.

Lady Scott told him at the High Court in Edinburgh last week: “You have been convicted of the attempted rape of a 15-year-old boy. “I consider custody is inevitable and you recognise that.” She told the first-time offender that a background report prepared on him suggested that he was ‘socially isolated’.

Cannon’s counsel Susan Duff said: “When the offence came to light he required to leave his local community.” She said: “He accepts a custodial sentence is inevitable and is anxious about the future.”

The defence counsel added: “He tends to spend most of his time alone.” Cannon was told that he would be placed on the sex offenders’ register and would remain there indefinitely. 

Admin note: Although the victim in this report is 16 years old, we have decided to add this offender because of the future risk he poses to young girls.

October 2014

Middlesbrough rapist jailed for six years after he forced himself on girl, 16, while she slept

A rapist who forced himself on a 16-year-old girl while she slept has been jailed for six years.

Wayne Elwick, 29, reacted to the vulnerable teenager screaming and fighting him off by insulting her.

Then he told a jury she not only consented but was “up for having a threesome”.

Jurors did not believe him and found him guilty of rape.

The girl and others were drinking at Elwick’s Middlesbrough flat on the night of June 15 to 16 last year.

She said she was tired and thinking of going home at about 4.30am.

Another man invited her to a bedroom and had consensual sex with her.

She fell asleep, and opened her eyes to find Elwick undressing her, Teesside Crown Court heard.

She slapped him twice and said “get off me, please get off me”, said prosecutor Ian Mullarkey. He said no and raped her.

When the girl screamed, drawing someone else into the room, he jumped up and verbally abused her.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, left the room shaking and crying, went home and immediately told her father she had been raped. Mr Mullarkey said the victim was vulnerable because she was asleep and affected by alcohol.

Elwick, of Central Mews, central Middlesbrough, told a series of changing stories after his arrest.

First he claimed nothing happened and he did not have sex with her – a lie disproved by forensic evidence.

Then he said he could not remember, then suggested there might have been some contact, then said the sex was consensual.

At trial, he claimed the girl mocked his sexual performance and had said she was happy to have sex with him with another man earlier that night.

The judge, Recorder Martin Bethel QC, said these claims made matters worse for the rapist. “He gratuitously made additional allegations about her attitude to sexual activity,” said the judge.

“The jury plainly rejected that evidence and so do I. It seems to me that aggravates the case. She was plainly vulnerable because of the drink she had had and the circumstances she was in.”

He said Elwick raped the girl knowing she was drunk, tired and “unable to refuse you”, after he drank over a long period and took drugs.

He added the girl made it “abundantly clear” she did not expect or want Elwick’s sexual advances. Elwick denied rape and stood two trials. Jurors could not reach a verdict after the first trial, and he was convicted after the second. A disturbance erupted in the public gallery after the guilty verdict was announced.

Two women were since refused entry to the court building and apologised as they were “overcome with emotion”, the court heard.

Elwick had previous convictions for throwing punches in domestic violence assaults. This was his first sexual offence.

Katy Rafter, defending, argued Elwick should not be penalised with an “artificially excessive” sentence for putting forward his account of events.

She said there was no evidence that he knew the girl’s exact age. She added that his prison sentence would also punish Elwick’s long-term partner and his two children, and he was concerned he would not see his two ill grandmothers again.

Elwick was given a restraining order banning him from contacting the girl or going within 500m of her or her home, and he will be on the sex offenders’ register, both indefinitely.

October 2014

Sex attacker forced teenager to put hand down trousers in broad daylight

A SEX attacker who assaulted a teenage girl in broad daylight has been jailed for a year.

George Dowse, 29, forced the victim’s hand down his trousers and tried to kiss her after he approached her in Peterlee.

He was found guilty of one count of sexual assault after a trial at Teesside Crown Court in August.

The victim told in a statement she still does not feel comfortable when out alone and is always looking over her shoulder.

Judge Howard Crowson said he could not suspend the 12-month jail term so as to encourage victims in other cases to come forward.

Dowse, of Sledmere Close, Peterlee, was also slapped with a restraining order and will be on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

August 2014

Peterlee father-of-two faces jail after sex assault conviction

A FATHER of two faces jail after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl in broad daylight.

The jury in the trial of George Dowse at Teesside Crown Court took more than five hours to return a guilty verdict.

They had previously been given a majority direction by Judge Howard Crowson, the trial judge.

Dowse, 29, of Sledmere Close, Peterlee, was accused of cycling up to the teenager as she ran an errand to the bank for her father.

He was said to have grabbed her hand, thrust it down her trousers and tried to kiss her.

The nightshift worker denied sexual assault on September 18 2012. He was found not guilty of a second charge of attempted sexual assault involving the same victim on October 6 2012.

Dowse’s partner, who gave evidence during his trial, sobbed at the verdict and was comforted by relatives and friends who accompanied her in the public gallery.

Judge Crowson told Dowse: “A prison sentence is often what follows for this type of offending.”

The judge agreed to a request from William Davison, for Dowse, for a pre-sentence report. He will be sentenced on September 18 and was granted bail in the meantime.

October 2014

Maths teacher at a £15,000-a-year private school faces jail for having sex with 15 year-old girl

John Wunderle, 35, groomed the teenager over a five month period before he was caught with her in the back of his car.

Wunderle, who earns £40,000 a year as a teacher at Bancroft’s School in Woodford Green, Essex, was spotted with the victim on 1 August.

He has appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court by video link to plead guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of penetrative sexual activity with a child

August 2014

Private school maths teacher, 34, appears in court charged with grooming and having sex with 15-year-old girl

A private school maths teacher accused of grooming and having sex with a 15-year-old girl appeared in court today.

John Wunderle, 34, taught at the £15,000-a-year Bancroft’s School in Woodford Green, Essex, and had been on bail for grooming a girl when she was seen in the back of his car, it was said.

The £40,000-a-year teacher, who is said to weight 20 stone, was arrested after allegedly trying to drive off with a teenager in Woodford Green on August 1.

Wunderle was remanded in custody by magistrates and appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court in north-east London via video link from HMP Pentonville in north London this morning.

He faces two charges of engaging in sexual activity with a minor and two of inciting a minor into sexual activity.

October 2014

81-year-old paedophile jailed for 16 years for raping girl aged under 13 four times

AN 81-year-old paedophile has been jailed for 16 years for raping a young girl.

Pensioner Lawrence Pritchard was told he would die in jail after sexually assaulting the child.

Pritchard denied a string of sex assaults on the girl who was under 13 when he first attacked her.

But he faces a lengthy prison term after being found guilty of four counts of rape.

Judge Daniel Williams said:”Pritchard is a controlling, aggressive and a domineering bully.

“He was and remains sexually amoral.”

Pritchard’s victim – who is now an adult – reported him to the police more than 10 years after the attacks.

He was convicted of four counts of rape and one count of indecent assault following trial.

Prithcard, of Caldicot, didn’t appear in court because he is suffering with “ill health”.

Cardiff Crown Court heard he was currently refusing treatment for kidney problems.

But Judge Williams said this was “no mitigation”.

Pritchard was given 15 years imprisonment for four counts of rape, and 18 months imprisonment for indecent assault, to run consecutively.

October 2014

Police still hunting for convicted sex offender Stuart Smith who has links to Grimsby area

West Yorkshire Police are still looking for convicted sex offender Stuart Smith, 66, who has links to the Grimsby area.

As reported, Smith appeared on BBCs Crimewatch on Thursday night, resulting in dozens of calls from members of the public.

He is wanted by police after failing to tell officers where he is living.

He is one of Crimewatch’s ‘Wanted Faces’ for October and is also said to have links to Pontefract and Folkestone.

However, it is known that he travels all over the country especially via train, although he may well be driving a red Ford KA with the registration number YL07 NKK.

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police confirmed that a warrant for his arrest was still active.

Smith is considered to be dangerous and a risk to children, so call police straight away if you see him.

Anyone with any information should contact West Yorkshire Police on 01924 878368 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

October 2014

Fan of Japanese anime makes British legal history after conviction for having pictures of cartoon children

A jobless fan of Japanese anime has become the first in Britain to be convicted of having illegal pictures of cartoon children.

Robul Hoque, 39, made legal history after he was dragged before the courts after police discovered a stash of of explicit Manga-style pictures on his computer.

Hoque, of Hardwick Road, South Bank, Middlesbrough, became a ‘test case’ after officers seized his computer from his home on June 13, 2012.

On the hard drive they found 288 still and 99 moving images – none of which were of real people.

Despite being cartoons, they were classified as prohibited images as they depicted young girls, some in school uniforms, some exposing themselves or taking part in sexual activity.

Teeside Crown Court heard how experts also discovered Hoque had been searching for cartoon images of young girls on the internet.

He denied 20 charges of possessing prohibited images of children and was due to stand trial this week.

But he pleaded guilty to 10 specimen charges. The other 10 were left to lie on the court file.

Defending him, his barrister Richard Bennett said the case should send a warning to “thousands” of other Anime fans across the UK.

He said: “This case should serve as a warning to every Manga and Anime fan to be careful. It seems there are many thousands of people in this country, if they are less then careful, who may find themselves in that position too.”

Hoque denied a separate charge of failing to notify police of a string of online usernames, but he was cleared of this as prosecutors offered no evidence.

The Evening Gazette reported that six years ago he was prosecuted for having “Tomb Raider-style” computer-generated pictures of fictional children.

They were so realistic, a jury convicted him on six counts of making “indecent pseudo-photographs” of children, which he had denied.

That too was the first case of its kind in the country. At the time, a judge told him he “crossed the line as to what is illegal” and those pictures could be “a door into a very murky and distasteful world”.

He was given a community order and completed a sex offender treatment programme after the 2008 conviction.

The former student and office worker had hundreds of “Manga Japanese style” pictures at that time, but they were not made illegal until 2010.

Mr Bennett said: “On two occasions now he’s been a test case. This is a test case because he’s the only person as far as I’m aware who has appeared for possession singly of these sorts of images.”

Despite claiming some of the images appeared on a legitimate website, Hoque, who lived with and cared for his mother, was given a nine month suspended sentence.

On issuing the suspended sentence, Judge Tony Briggs warned Hoque that if the images had depicted real people, a jail sentence “measured in years” would have been appropriate.

He said: “This is material that clearly society and the public can well do without. Its danger is that it obviously portrays sexual activity with children, and the more it’s portrayed, the more the ill-disposed may think it’s acceptable.”

October 2014

Former teacher admits indecently assaulting boys at private school in Devon

A man has admitted indecently assaulting boys at a private school where he used to work as a teacher.

Simon Harris, appearing today at Birmingham Crown Court pleaded guilty to sex offences committed against three pupils, all aged between 13 and 14, while he was employed at Shebbear College in Devon in the 1980s.

Harris, appearing in custody but formerly of Pudleston near Leominster in Herefordshire, is set to stand trial tomorrow on 27 further sexual offences involving young boys in Kenya.

The 55-year-old has entered not guilty pleas to those charges, which include allegations he raped boys as young as seven while in the west African country.

On those charges, Harris is facing four allegations that he raped boys under the age of 13 and another who was under the age of 16, with three counts of attempted rape also on the indictment.

He further denies 10 offences of sexual assault, four of indecent assault and five charges of possession of indecent pictures.

Throughout the hearing, Harris sat composed in the dock, sporting thinning grey hair and wearing a dark suit and tie, speaking only to confirm his name and his pleas as the charges were read out.

In all, there are more than 10 complainants from Kenya, with the jury set to hear evidence from those individuals over a live video link system in a trial scheduled to last until Christmas.

The case has been adjourned until tomorrow when 12 jurors will be sworn in and the prosecution is set to open its case.

October 2014

69 yr old Paedophile bus driver jailed for 20 years for multiple sex attacks on young boys

A SERIAL child-abusing bus driver has been told he will probably die in prison after being jailed for 20 years for attacks on four different boys in Barnstaple.

Ex-soldier Edward Owens, 69, raped two of the boys and remained undetected for more than 20 years because police did not act on their complaints.

The wheelchair bound 69-year-old was only prosecuted after he went on to molest a 12-year-old boy who was lured to his home to play computer games last year.

Retired bus driver Owens plied the vulnerable boy with wine but the child had the presence of mind to escape his assault and lock himself in a bathroom where he texted his mother to raise the alarm.

Owens’ history of abuse then unravelled as police discovered that serious complaints had been made about him in the 1980s and 1990s but not acted on because there was no corroboration.

The abuse has had long lasting effects on the two victims, who were both raped repeatedly. They suffer problems with controlling anger and one is suffering post-traumatic stress disorder with flashbacks and depression.

The boys were both abused at a time when Owens had moved to Devon and lived at Tedburn St Mary, Barnstaple, and Exeter while working as a bus driver on routes all around the county, including the Teign Valley service to Christow.

He had succeeded in hiding his interest in boys for much of his life and had been married with two children of his own despite having been thrown out of the army for ‘disgraceful conduct’ with a young soldier in 1976.

The jury at Exeter Crown Court heard he used this as a cover for his grooming and sexual abuse of two different boys in the 1980s and 1990s.

He went on to abuse the 12-year-old and a 16-year-old after his marriage broke up and he was living alone in a flat in Exeter.

Owens was jailed for 20 years after being brought straight to court from the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital where he was being treated for breathing problems.

He appeared in court in a wheelchair and carrying an oxygen cylinder linked to breathing tubes in his nose. His own barrister said the length of his sentence meant he would probably die in jail.

Owens, of Charnley Avenue, Exeter, was found guilty of eleven serious sexual assaults which would now be called male rapes. These offences were against two different boys aged 12 to 16 in the 1980s and 1990s.

He was also convicted of sexual assaults on two boys, one aged 16 in 2010 and one aged 12 in 2013 and he admitted five indecent assaults on one of the earlier victims.

He was jailed for a total of 20 years by Judge Graham Cottle, who described Owens’ claims that the boys had initiated sexual contact as “monstrous”.

He told him: “The jury heard from two men who talked about the abuse they suffered many years ago as children. For both of them it was humiliating, degrading and embarrassing to have to relive and recount their experiences.

“They have been left with dreadful memories which have had impacts on them.

“Your case was that they initiated the sexual activity. That is a monstrous suggestion without a shred of truth.

“There was clearly an element of grooming and gifts in the form of cigarettes and some alcohol as well as ever present threats of dreadful consequences if they did not submit to what you required.”

Kelly Scrivener, for the defence, said: “The length of any sentence is such that in all likelihood he will pass his days out in prison and he is aware of that. He knows he is unlikely to be in the community again.”

Richard Crabb, for the prosecution, said that in the light of Owens’ ill health and lengthy sentence it was not necessary to apply for a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

October 2014

Exeter wheelchair user is facing jail after being found guilty of abusing four different boys over more than 30 years

Edward Owens was in hospital being treated for breathing difficulties when a jury at Exeter Crown Court returned unanimous verdicts on all the charges he faced.

The former bus driver had admitted molesting two of the boys but insisted both had seduced him when they were aged only 11 and he was in his 30s.

Owens is a former bus driver who has lived in Exeter, Tedburn St Mary and Barnstaple and has driven hundreds of thousands of passengers, including schoolchildren, on routes all around Devon.

He committed his most serious offences after moving to Devon from Essex in the 1980s and starting to work for the Red Bus company on routes in the Teign Valley, serving Bridford and Christow.

Owens was a former soldier who was dismissed from the army in disgrace in 1976 for committing acts of gross indecency with another soldier.

He hid his interest in boys and young men for decades during which he posed as a happily married family man.

During a week-long trial Exeter Crown Court heard how his catalogue of abuse remained hidden until he molested a 12-year-old boy last year.

The child had been staying with neighbours and went to his house to play computer games. He plied the boy with wine, sat him on his knee and then began undoing his trousers.

The terrified victim told him he was going to be sick, locked himself in the bathroom, and texted his mother to ask for help.

She did not get the message until the next day but the Owens did not assault the boy again and was arrested after the victim told his mother, who called the police.

Inquiries into Owens’ background then uncovered the much more serious abuse he carried out in completely separate series of assaults in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In each case he started grooming the boys through lesser acts and progressed to offences which would now be described as male rape.

The fourth victim was a 15-year-old who Owens assaulted at his flat four years ago. He got drunk and awoke to find Owens touching him.

Owens, aged 69, of Charnley Road, Exeter, claimed the boys initiated the sexual behaviour but it took a jury just an hour to find him guilty on all counts.

He was found guilty of sexual assaults on the 12 and 15-year-old in 2010 and 2013 and a total of 11 counts of a serious sexual offence (buggery) on the other two boys in the 1980s and 1990s when they were aged 11 to 16.

He admitted five counts of indecent assault.

Judge Graham Cottle adjourned sentence after being told Owens in still in hospital but could be released soon.

He said:”Ordinarily I would proceed to sentence immediately but the circumstances of this case are anything but normal as he is still in hospital.

“It is a most unsatisfactory state of affairs with no official statement from the hospital about when he will be discharged. It seems extraordinary we cannot get chapter and verse on his situation.

“The hospital knew he was admitted in the middle of a Crown Court trial and facing exceptionally serious allegations but they have not moved to help us.”

Owens sat in a wheelchair at the back of the court with tubes up his nose and an oxygen tank to help his breathing. He also took puffs of oxygen while giving evidence.

Despite suffering from shortness of breath, he is a chain smoker who was seen on the steps of the court during breaks in his case with a cigarette in one hand and an oxygen mask in the other.

He denied the serious allegations against him and said the final two incidents in 2010 and 2013 had not happened.

October 2014

14 year old Schoolgirl found hiding in paedophile’s loft after he had been grooming her for months

A paedophile has been jailed after police swooped on his home following a tip-off and found a 14 year old schoolgirl hiding in the loft.

Rory Beswick, 23, was repeatedly told by officers not to have any contact with the underage girl after her parents raised concerns.

She had been going missing from home and her concerned parents suspected she was seeing an older man.

Although she didn’t make any complaints until Beswick, of Heywood, Manchester, was arrested, it soon became clear she had been being ‘flattered’ and groomed for sex for at least four months.

In January, a month after Beswick was served with a police warning notice telling him not to have any contact with the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, her family tipped off police saying the two planned to meet at his house.

Officers knocked at the door and saw two people run from the back of the house up the stairs.

Beswick answered the door and said there wasn’t anybody else in the house when asked by the officer.

However following a quick search, cops found the girl hiding in the loft and Beswick was arrested for child abduction.

He later pleaded guilty to eight counts of making indecent images of children, seven counts of sexual activity with a child and child abduction and was locked up for six years and three months at Manchester Crown Court today.

His offending first came to light in August last year when the girl’s parents contacted the police Sunrise Team – an agency dealing with child sexual exploitation – to say she was going missing regularly.

It soon became clear that she was visiting the much older Beswick for sex, the court heard, so he was served with a warning notice under section 2 of the Child Abduction Act which said he must not have any further contact with her.

But after consulting with her family, the team established Beswick was planning to meet the girl and swooped on his house.

A search of the property found the girl hiding in the loft as well as a number of indecent photographs and videos. She later disclosed a number of serious sexual offences to Greater Manchester Police.

Detective Constable Ben Harris, of The Sunrise Team, Rochdale’s multi-agency child sexual exploitation team, said: “Beswick groomed this child over a number of months, she was flattered by his advances and thought he was being kind and affectionate towards her and did not realise he was abusing her.

“The parents of the girl and the Sunrise Team believed she was at risk of sexual exploitation, although she had not made any disclosures to the team.

“We will work closely with children and parents of children who we believe are at risk and where we have reason to believe an individual, in this case Beswick was taking or keeping the child from their parents, we will issue the perpetrator with an abduction notice.

“In issuing this notice we told Beswick he is liable to arrest and prosecution if he is caught with this particular girl.

“When officers visited his house, he was there with the girl and was subsequently arrested.

“The abuse has had a terrible effect on the girl and her family, who are only now starting to rebuild their lives.

“I hope that today the girl can try to put her past behind her knowing justice has been done and I want to pay tribute to her strength of character as she looks to move forward with her life.”