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Anthony Leaver – Aylesbury/High Wycombe,

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October 2014

‘Vile’ child abuse images addiction of landlord of Aylesbury’s White Swan pub

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A pub landlord with a ‘thoroughly evil addiction’ to child abuse images downloaded 20,000 vile images of kids as young as six and seven.

Anthony Leaver, 54, who ran the White Swan pub in Walton Street, Aylesbury with his wife Terri, pleaded guilty at the first opportunity saying ‘it was me, I admit it’ when police raided his flat above the establishment.

Judge Karen Holt, sitting at Amersham for Aylesbury Crown Court, heard that as a result his wife has left him, and has given up the license at the pub – which is currently closed – to go and live in Norfolk.

Secretive Leaver, who also worked at Oxford University, used a laptop to access the images and videos, some of which were of children as young as six or seven and classed as Category A – the most serious type.

The majority found were Category C.

The landlord, who helped to run of one of Aylesbury’s only alternative music pubs, used the Frostwire file sharing system to get hold of the sick pictures.

Leaver, who has two adult sons, then made attempts to stop the programme from allowing other users access to the folder he kept the material in, by saving them to USB sticks and a computer hard drive to avoid the more serious crime of distributing indecent images of children.

But the tactic was not altogether succesful, because 42 files were still available for others to download when the laptop was seized by police.

Supported by his son, bearded Leaver listened intently as the court heard students at Oxford University had found about his crimes. The revelations led to him leaving his job as a telephone engineer.

Leaver’s defence told how when he was arrested he ‘expressed some relief that he was finally being stopped from this activity, because it had not only become unhealthy, but was a thoroughly evil addiction’.

The court also heard that Lever has sought help from the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, which offers an intensive course to help paedophiles overcome their addiction.

During police questioning Leaver described his actions as a ‘sick fascination’ and the court heard that he had led the life of a hoarder, with his flat crammed full of possessions.

His defence said ‘he was a man who lead a blameless life, but he sat in his room looking at this monstrous material.’

It was also heard that Leaver had told police that files containing even more images were in his car without being prompted, in an effort to be as co-operative as possible.

Paedophile Leaver, who is now living in High Wycombe, was sentenced to eight months in 
prison, suspended for two years.

He is also the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and must attend a rehabilitation course to help him understand the nature and impact of his crimes.


Paul Murphy – Rotherhithe

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November 2014

Paedophile boasted of raping a six-year-old to an on-line investigator while indulging in a four day cocaine binge

A paedophile who boasted of raping a six-year-old to an on-line investigator while indulging in a four day cocaine binge is facing years behind bars.

Paul Murphy, 41, was snared by a covert online investigator when he was trawling an adult website and using SKYPE chat.

Hiding behind names Hybrid30 and Midnight Black,

Murphy boasted of raping a six year old girl.

Murphy’s sickening claims also included that he had sexually assaulted three girls and sexually assaulted a nine year old boy. 

Stuart Mortimer – Bracknell/Chertsey

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November 2014

Serial paedophile is jailed

A man who raped two girls and a woman in Surrey has been jailed for 15 years.

Stuart Mortimer, 48, of no fixed abode, but formerly of Bracknell, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Friday after admitting raping a girl when she was 11 and then 13 in the 1990’s; raping a 13-year-old between 2004 and 2005, and the rape of a 28-year-old woman in 2003.

He also admitted sexual assault by touching of a 10-year-old girl in 2006.

PC Kate Hyder of the Surrey Police Public Protection Investigation Unit said: “This sentence reflects the severity of the offences committed by this dangerous paedophile who preyed on vulnerable young children and a young woman.”

December 2013

Man wanted for questioning over sexual assaults

Detectives are trying to trace a man in connection with alleged historic sexual assaults in Chertsey.

Stuart Mortimer, 47, from Bracknell, is wanted for questioning in over the serious sex assaults said to have been carried out in 2004 and 2005.

He is known to have links to Addlestone, Chertsey and Bracknell.

Paul Jones – Abergavenny

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November 2014

Child sex abuser jailed for 15 years – but he shows no remorse for offending

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A sex abuser has been jailed for 15 years – while still denying doing anything wrong.

Paedophile Paul Jones, 48, of Old Barn Way, Abergavenny  was said to have shown a complete lack of remorse for his offending.

Cardiff Crown Court judge, Recorder Ian Murphy QC said he considered him a future risk to the public and to children in particular and told him for that reason another six years would be added to his licence period following his eventual release.

The extended sentence means Jones will serve two thirds of the 15-year term behind bars before being released, rather than the more usual half.

He would normally, on release, be on licence for the remainder of the sentence but in his case that period will now run 21 years from his court appearance today.

One of his two victims, who was raped and sexually assaulted by him as a child was said to still be struggling to form loving relationships as an adult.

Prosecutor James Wilson said a victim impact statement made by that victim had been “dignified and restrained” but the effect of Jones’ crimes was evident.

The second, who Jones had tried to incite into sexual activity years after committing the first offences, had declined to make a statement for the court.

But both had been vulnerable when targeted, Recorder Murphy said.

He told Jones, who was convicted by a jury following a trial, having pleaded not guilty: “There has been a complete lack of remorse and the continual denial does not help your cause.”

Defence barrister Tim Evans said character references for Jones showed another side to him, but admitted those writing on his behalf had not known the man who committed offences of the kind for which there were no witnesses.

And he can not be put on a treatment programme while he still denies the offences took place.

“Despite ‘brushes with the law’ in his youth, this will be his first long prison sentence,” Mr Evans said

The judge told Jones, who appeared before him on a live video link from Parc Prison, Bridgend: “You were domineering and a big, powerful-looking man.

“Society trusted you and you broke that trust”.

He also told him that at just 48 years old, he was likely to come out, form relationships and have contact with children in the future and a Sexual Offences Prevention Order would be imposed to stop him having contact with young people under 16.

He will also be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

Recorder Murphy said: “All this is necessary to punish you and to protect the public.”

Daniel Gribbin – Margate

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November 2014

Pervert posed as woman in chatroom to persuade teenage girl, to have sex for money

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A pervert has been jailed for six years after he duped a vulnerable teenage girl into becoming a prostitute.

Daniel Gribbin, 43, posed as a female teen in an internet chatroom to persuade the 16-year-old victim to have sex with him for money.

She twice agreed because her mother was seriously ill and she wanted to help out with household bill

Gribbin drove almost 46 miles in his BMW car from Margate to Maidstone and paid the teenager £50 to have intercourse with him.

A judge told him when he appeared for sentence on Monday: “The impact on this young lady was considerable. She was ashamed. She lost her self-esteem and lost some of her friends.

“She feels degraded and manipulated by you because you took advantage of her and how vulnerable she was.”

Maidstone Crown Court heard that no protection was used on one occasion and the condom split on the other. The girl took the morning after pill both times.

Shaven-haired Gribbin, of Westmarsh Drive, Margate, pretended to be a girl, aged 17, in the chatroom in 2012 and sent the victim a message asking if she wanted to earn some money having sex with men for money.

She then had a phone call from Gribbin, calling himself Dean, and agreed to meet hi

He drove to Maidstone in July 2012 in his “sporty” BMW with front red leather seats. The rear seats had been removed.

They went to a park and Gribbin gave her £50 before they had sex. He gave her an extra £20 to get the morning after pill.

He asked to see her again and she agreed. They met four days later and again had intercourse in the park. They met a third time but nothing sexual happened.

Gribbin denied causing or inciting child prostitution with a girl under the age of 18 and two charges of paying for the sexual services of a child, but was convicted.

He claimed he did not pay the girl for sex but declined to give evidence at his trial.

A sexual offences prevention order was made and his name will appear on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

The jury heard after conviction that Gribbin had a caution in March 2012 for phoning and texting “sex workers” asking them if they wanted to have intercourse with him.

Judge Martin Joy said he agreed with an assessment that Gribbin presented a danger to the public but he decided not impose an extended sentence.

Peter McLaughlin – Carlisle/Stanley

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November 2014

Former coach driver has admitted indecently assaulting a schoolboy

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Peter McLaughlin, 61, entered his guilty pleas on the day that he was due to start a trial at Carlisle Crown Court over 15 similar allegations of abusing the boy.

Until today, he had denied any wrongdoing, but he finally admitted twice indecently assaulting the boy when his victim was just 15.

An earlier hearing had heard how McLaughlin committed the offences in the 1990s when he lived in the Greystone Road area of Carlisle.

The prosecution claimed the abuse started when the victim was just 13, but the defendant continues to deny this.

Earlier, the court heard that the defendant deliberately befriended his victim at a time when he worked as a driver for Redcrest Holidays, travelling all over Britain and Europe.

In court today, prosecutor Kim Whittlestone outlined how the allegations have already been scrutinised during two trials.

After the first, the jury were unable to reach a verdict while in the most recent trial the illness of a juror led to the case being abandoned.

The decision to accept the two guilty please offered was reached after detailed consultation with the victim, who otherwise would have faced the prospect of testifying for a third time.

The victim acknowledged that McLaughlin’s pleas reflected his admission “of a continuous course of conduct” when he was 15, said Miss Whittlestone.

As a result of the guilty pleas, Judge Peter Hughes QC ordered that McLaughlin, now living Murray Park, Stanley, County Durham, should sign the Sex Offenders’ Register. The period of time he will be on the register will be determined by the sentence that is ultimately imposed.

The judge also made the defendant subject to an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order, which severely restricts his future contact with any child.

Referring to the victim’s decision to accept the guilty pleas, Miss Whittlestone added: “He wants to ensure that this doesn’t happen again – hence the Sexual Offences Prevention Order.”

She added that the 13 unresolved allegations of indecent assault, relating to when the victim was 13 and 14, are likely to be left to lie on file.

Judge Hughes granted McLaughlin bail until the sentencing hearing on January 2 so that background reports can be prepared. He added that he will be considering all sentencing options.

Since leaving Cumbria, McLaughlin has become actively involved in local politics in Durham and served as a chairman of Stanley Town Council. It is understood that he has now resigned from that position and also from the Labour Party.

He is also a former chairman of the Stanley Area Action Partnership and stood unsuccessfully as a Labour candidate for Tanfield ward in the last Durham County Council local election.

In court today, he showed little emotion, speaking only to confirm his name and to enter his pleas.

David Allen – Lawley Village

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November 2014

Telford man pleads guilty over child sex images

David Allen, 39, of Farm House Road, Lawley Village, pleaded guilty to six counts of making indecent images of a child and one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child.

He appeared at Telford Magistrates Court yesterday.

The counts relate to a time frame between March 1, 2013, and March 14, 2014.

The images range from Category A to Category C, with 99 Category A images, 141 Category B and 660 Category C images.

Allen, who was represented by Paul Nicholas, has been added to the Sex Offenders’ Register and will next appear before Shrewsbury Crown Court.

Ian Wright – Leeds

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November 2014

Leeds milkman had 3,000 child abuse pictures

A milkman had more than 3,000 indecent images of children on computers at his home after it was searched by police, a court heard.

Ian Wright was arrested at his home in Leeds in April last year following an investigation by police in Gloucester after a legitimate website had been hacked into and illegal images were made available to download.

Officers were able to identify Wright as one of those who had accessed the website.

Police searched his home on Burr Tree Drive, Colton, and seized two computers.

Analysis showed they contained 3,567 indecent images of children.

A total of 181 were at category A – the most serious level of offending.

Stephanie Hancock, prosecuting, said most of the images featured girls of primary school age but one was of a seven-week old baby being abused.

Other images featured animals being abused sexually.

The investigation also showed Wright had made specific internet searches for illegal images.

Some of the images had been accessed as far back as 2007.

Wright, 48, was interviewed and made full admissions about his offending.

He told officers he lived alone and had searched for the images as he had an “addictive personality”.

He also admitted that he had gained sexual gratification from the images.

Wright pleaded guilty to 20 offences of making indecent images of a child. Phillip Goldberg, mitigating, said his client had co-operated with the police investigation as soon as he was arrested and pleaded guilty to the offences at an early opportunity.

Mr Goldberg said Wright lived a solitary live and worked as a milk man.

The lawyer urged judge Sally Cahill, QC, to impose a community-based punishment so Wright could received treatment for his offending.

Wright was made the subject of a three-year order, during which he must attend a sex offenders treatment programme.

He was also ordered to go on the sex offenders register for five years. Judge Cahill said: “The children involved in these activities – one shudders to think how they must feel.

“They are of an age where they should not be exposed to the kind of activities that they were exposed to.

“You must accept responsibility for that.”

“What concerns me however, is not simply punishing you, but also seeking to protect society in the long term.

“There is only one way I can do that and that is to ensure you seek the appropriate work to ensure you no not engage in this behaviour again.”

 


Andrew Faulds – Greenford/Southall

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November 2014

Youth worker who filmed himself raping severely disabled 13-year-old girl is jailed for 15 years

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A former youth worker who filmed himself raping a severely disabled 13-year-old girl was today jailed for 15 years.

Andrew Faulds was caught by cops after a video of a child being raped was seized during an arrest in Canada.

Detectives established that the video had been recorded on a mobile phone on an estate in Southall, west London.

Metropolitan Police officers then identified the victim in the video as a girl with severe learning difficulties.

Further inquiries then led to the identification of Faulds, 40, who was arrested on suspicion of rape at his home in Greenford, west London.

Police matched the living room in the video – which was recorded on Saturday, March 26, 2011 – to Faulds’ previous address.

He later pleaded guilty to two counts of oral rape at Harrow Crown Court but further investigations revealed Faulds owned hundreds of indecent images of children, including one that showed him performing a sex act in the same room as a young girl, recorded on his laptop and mobile phone.

Faulds was charged with further offences of possessing and distributing indecent images and sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13.

He admitted these offences today and was sentenced to a total of 15 years in jail.

Detectives believe Faulds, who previously worked as a learning mentor for the Ealing tuition service in Southall, as a youth worker at Brentford FC Community Sports Trust and for Ealing council’s play service, may have committed even more offences and are urging anyone with information to come forward.

Detective Constable Emma Macdonald said: “Faulds has proven himself to be a predatory paedophile who took advantage in the most despicable way of a young girl with learning difficulties.

“He has an unnatural interest in children that he fuelled by accessing hundreds of indecent images and interacting with other paedophiles online.

“This case demonstrates the world-wide commitment to tackling child abuse and paedophilia and I am pleased this process has led to Faulds’ conviction. He has been sentenced to a substantial jail term, thankfully putting him out of reach of other children.

“We believe these offences were not his first and would appeal for any other victims to approach us in confidence.”

Christopher Davies – Cwmbran

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November 2014

Pervert cries in court as he is jailed for grooming and sexually assaulting an underage girl

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A Pervert broke down in tears as he was jailed for sexually assaulting an underage girl in a Pontypool hotel room.

Christopher Davies, 24, sent the “vulnerable” girl an indecent image of himself then “groomed” her by offering her some cash, a court heard.

Davies offered to give her £20 then doubled the amount to £40, Newport Crown Court was told.

The girl refused the cash but he met her in Newport City Centre, prosecutor Sarah Waters told the court.

He then took her to the Premier Inn in Pontypool.

He had pre-booked a room there, the court heard on Monday [November 3].

There, he sexually assaulted the girl “apparently in a drunken state”, Ms Waters told the court.

Davies, of The Twinings, Cwmbran, later pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault and a further charge of meeting a child following sexual grooming.

A judge jailed him for two years for the grooming offence and eight months for the sexual assault, to run concurrently.

Records showed he had 22 offences recorded against him including harassment.

Judge PK Lewis said he was not satisfied Davies had demonstrated genuine remorse.

Judge Lewis said: “There appears to have been some considerable planning in what you did.

“You had already rented a hotel room in order to meet her.”

Davies was remanded in custody after his arrest.

James Lewis, for Davies said his client had suffered from “mental health difficulties” and been prescribed medication to deal with it.

Davies became emotional several times during the sentencing hearing and cried as he was sent down.

Mr Lewis stressed Davies had entered early guilty pleas to his offences and said that he had worked as a carer for his family.

Davies will have to serve half his custodial sentence before he is released.

Judge Lewis also ordered him to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

He also imposed a sexual offences’ prevention order which will restrict his contacts with children under 16 for 10 years.

Adam Hathaway – Earswick/York

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November 2014

Prolific pervert posed as talent scout to lure children to fake auditions for West End show Matilda

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A convicted paedophile who has changed his name several times to avoid being exposed posed as a talent scout to lure children to fake auditions for West End show Matilda and secured a job at a top London theatre to be nearer to kids, a court heard.

Adam Hathaway, 22, who was jailed for three years in 2011 for sexually assaulting young girls, invited children to a dance studio for ‘fake auditions’ despite being prohibited from being in contact with anyone under the age of 18.

He also got a front of house job at the Phoenix Theatre on Charing Cross Road, London, and would greet youngsters as they arrived for rehearsals despite being the subject of the ten year sexual offences prevention order which prohibits him from contact with children.

The prolific paedophile pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching the order, which was imposed in May 2011, at Southwark Crown Court yesterday.

Adam Hathaway is also known as Adam Barraclough or Adam Bentley

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The court heard how Hathaway, who is also known as Adam Barraclough, was first convicted of sexually assaulting young girls in 2011 after setting up bogus photo shoots.

He claimed he worked for a fake company called Jungle International and used a string of aliases to fool modelling agencies into sending him children for shoots in Manchester, London and Bolton.

He then assaulted the youngsters while pretending to take their body measurements.

Hathaway was jailed for 10 months for the offences to run concurrent to a three year sentence imposed at the same time for sexual attacks on two girls, then aged seven and eight, in North Yorkshire. 

He also made the subject of the ten year sexual offences prevention order at Manchester Crown Court.

However, a year later he breached the order after being caught travelling in a car with a woman and her 20-month-old son. 

Despite not being allowed near children, Hathaway – who was at that time known as Adam Bentley – told the woman he was a professional dancer and she had no idea about his past criminal behaviour.

The truth was revealed after the car was involved in a crash and police arrested Hathaway for breaching the order. He was jailed for a further 12 months for being in close proximity to the baby.

Today, he appeared at Southwark Crown Court charged with four further breaches of the order.

Prosecutor Peter Zinner said: ‘Your honour knows that Mr Hathaway is a convicted sex offender. 

‘In relation to count one, the prosecution’s case is that he rather audaciously held auditions at a dance studio.’

The court heard how Hathaway invited young girls to the premises, including one of around nine years old, with the promise of appearing on stage in the highly acclaimed musical.

Mr Zinner added: ‘Again, the Crown say rather audacious behaviour in bearing in mind Mr Hathaway, or his other identity as Mr Adam Barraclough, obtained employment at the Phoenix Theatre.

‘That employment was as an operations person who, during the course of his employment as a front of house performer, would have come into contact regularly with young children who were attending various musical adaptations.’

Hathaway pleaded guilty to those two charges but denied two others which the judge accepted.

The two he pleaded not guilty to related to the unauthorised ownership of a mobile phone which had the capacity to store videos.

Forensic analysis revealed there were no indecent images of children on the phone and the charges were ordered to lie on file after the prosecution accepted his guilty pleas for the more serious ‘contact’ offences.

It is understood he will be sentenced on November 24 when he appears at York Crown Court for a mention hearing after he admitted further breaches of the order.

Hathaway first hit the headlines five years ago when he was convicted of tricking aviation bosses into thinking he was an airline tycoon.

In an escapade likened to the plot of Hollywood Blockbuster ‘Catch Me if you Can,’ the then 17-year-old boasted his company had a £4.5billion turnover and owned chains such as Next and Topshop.

He created fictitious fellow executives of his ‘airline’ and set up fake websites before he was stopped by police while trying to board a plane in Southend, Essex.

October 2012

Sex offender Adam Bentley sent back to prison

A SEX offender from York who once conned aviation bosses into thinking he was an industry tycoon – in a scam likened to the plot of hit film Catch Me If You Can – has been sent back to jail.

Adam Bentley, formerly Adam Barraclough, was seen by police in a car with a mother and her young child, York Crown Court was told.

Alan Mitcheson, prosecuting, said Bentley was banned from being with the family because he had not told the mother about his sex crimes. She believed he was a professional dancer appearing in a London production, who also taught dancing.

In reality, the 20-year-old conman and child abuser was on parole from a sentence of nearly four years for offences including child abuse, financial crimes, and passing himself off as a model agency so he could sexually assault under-age girls when pretending to measure them.

“She found you a charming and engaging young man, but I am satisfied you are something of a chameleon and therefore a danger because beneath the surface of what appears to be an articulate man lies a very complex sexual history with a number of unresolved problems,” the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, told Bentley.

“This was not a trivial breach. There are some worrying aspects to it. You remain a high-risk offender.”

He jailed Bentley for 12 months for breaking a sexual offences prevention order passed in May 2011 that prevents him being unsupervised with any child and only being in the presence of a child with an adult if that adult knows about his sex crimes.

Bentley, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to breaking the order, which lasts indefinitely. He is also on the sexual offences register for ten years. The mother has broken off the relationship. Mr Mitcheson said the couple got to know each other when the mother was working at Scunthorpe Railway Station, which Bentley used regularly.

They began going out together, including with the mother’s 20-month-old son. But police became aware of the relationship when Bentley crashed a car during a journey with the woman. He initially refused to give his details, but police managed to identify him and realised he was in breach of the order.

For Bentley, Taryn Turner said the mother had told police Bentley had always been a “perfect gentleman” towards her and never given her cause for alarm about the way he behaved with her child. Bentley had been unaware she had a child at first and had wanted to build their relationship before telling her about his past.

• Bentley’s convictions include an eight-year career of fraud during which he duped aviation bosses into believing he owned his own airline company.

May 2011

Fake photo shoot teenager jailed for sexual assault

A TEENAGER from York has been jailed after he lured unwitting children to bogus photoshoots, then sexually assaulted them.

Adam Barraclough, 19, previously hit the headlines when he conned aviation bosses into thinking he was an industry tycoon, in a scam likened to the plot of hit film Catch Me If You Can.

Barraclough, of Earswick Close, Earswick, had been commiting fraud since he was 12, and a judge has now jailed him for three years and ten months, warning that he is and will remain a sexual danger to other people.

Barraclough admitted setting up the fake modelling company Jungle International and using it and two other companies, plus a string of aliases, to sexually assault girls under the pretence of taking body measurements during photo shoots.

Manchester Crown Court heard police were also investigating allegations that he sexually assaulted two fellow inmates in the showers of a young offenders’ institition. Barraclough denies those allegations.

Prosecuting, Neil Usher said Barraclough used different names as he portrayed Jungle International as a modelling agency with major international clients.

He contacted modelling agencies who sent dozens of children to his fake photo shoots in Manchester, London and Bolton. He claimed children were safe with him because he was homosexual.

He rented accommodation in Oxford Street, London, and elsewhere, and hired photographers to support his lies but when he failed to pay his bills, two photographers called in police.

One of the fake names was Dominic Evans, similar to one he used when, still under 18, he almost persuaded air executives he was setting up his own airline.

He has not been charged in relation to that, but was given a supervision order for theft for a con committed in Telford, Shropshire, when he was 12. On that occasion, he got a close relative of a road crash victim to hand him money that she wanted to give to an air ambulance charity.

Judge Martin Steiger said Barraclough displayed “considerable ability and talent” in his latest crimes and said he demonstrated what a doctor had called “a Walter Mitty lifestyle”.

He said Barraclough’s “only rational motive” could have been to touch the young girls and said there was “no doubt whatsoever” that he would continue to represent a significant sexual risk.

He jailed Barraclough for ten months, on top of a three-year sentence imposed last July for sexual offences against two girls aged seven and eight in North Yorkshire. The earlier case could not be reported until now for legal reasons.

Barraclough pleaded guilty to two charges of defrauding photographers out of pay, two of sexually assaulting girls aged 15 and 16 by measuring parts of their body, four of taking indecent photographs of one of the North Yorkshire girls, three of taking indecent photos of his then girlfriend with her consent and four of sexual activity with young children.

He was placed on the sex offenders’ register for ten years, banned from being a company director for four, and made subject to a sexual offences prevention order indefinitely.

For Barraclough, Glenn Parsons said the sexual assaults were not as serious as some and did not distress the children involved. The oldest girl spent a weekend with Barraclough in London, sleeping in the same bed when nothing happened to her. He said his client regretted his crimes and needed to grow up.

The airline con made headlines around the country in 2009, after Barraclough, then 17, convinced aviation bosses he was a tycoon.

He created fictitious fellow executives of his “airline” and set up fake websites before he was stopped by police while trying to board a plane in Southend.

His exploits drew parallels with those of Frank Abagnale Jr, who convinced Pan Am that he was a pilot while still a teenager, and whose exploits featured in the Leonardo Di Caprio film Catch Me If You Can

Ronald Wotton – Seaham

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November 2014

Schoolchildren made themselves sick with washing up liquid to avoid lessons with sex attack teacher

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Primary school pupils made themselves sick with washing up liquid in a bid to avoid lessons with a teacher who sexually abused them in front of the whole class, a court has heard.

When one child complained about vile Ronald Wotton, the headteacher at the Roman Catholic school did not believe the allegation and made the pupil apologise to the abuser.

Judge Howard Crowson, sitting at Teesside Crown Court, jailed the terminally-ill 73-year-old for five years.

Wotton, who uses a wheelchair, admitted 17 counts of indecent assault, three counts of indecency with a male and one of indecency with a child over a 12-year period from the late 1960s.

He was allowed to retire in 1980 when a new head, who could not ignore the mounting allegations against the teacher, took over.

Judge Crowson told Wotton, of Park Lane, Murton, Seaham, County Durham: “You were sadly operating at a time when, to most of the adult public, it was inconceivable for this type of offending to be committed by a teacher.”

Wotton’s wife left him when he was forced to retire and he has lived in miserable isolation for 30 years, fearful that one day he would be prosecuted, the court heard.

The police began investigating last year when one of his victims was inspired to speak out amid the publicity surrounding the Jimmy Savile scandal, the judge heard.

Detectives went to the school, which is not being identified to protect the anonymity of complainants, and traced Wotton’s pupils, kicking off an extensive investigation.

Joanne Kidd, prosecuting, said 27 made formal statements and 20 of them were represented on the indictment.

One victim, now middle-aged, said Wotton was an authoritarian, strict and a bully who set his classroom out so he was behind a “huge desk” in front of the children.

He would catch a child’s eye, ask them to come forward and while hidden behind the desk, he would sexually abuse them over their clothes while he asked in a low and sinister voice if their parents spanked them, the court heard. Wotton would rub his groin as he did so. Some complainants recalled almost daily abuse.

He would make children bend over in PE classes and stare at them and watch them get changed for swimming.

It made for an “extremely abnormal” atmosphere in lessons, as children would keep their heads down to avoid making eye-contact with him.

When one pupil “took the brave step” of informing the headteacher what was happening to her, the adult called her a “bold girl” and remonstrated with her, saying: “Mr Wotton would not do such things.”

Miss Kidd said: “She forced her to go back to the classroom and apologise to Mr Wotton in front of the whole class.”

Children would rarely tell their parents, but on occasions furious adults would go in to school and confront Wotton. But nothing was done and he carried on.

Miss Kidd said: “Many of the complainants began to feign illnesses and in some cases swallow washing up liquid in order to vomit and avoid having to go to school.”

Ronald Wotton

Craig Wilson – Ingleby Barwick

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November 2014

Child abuse films and illegal extreme pornography were found by police in Thornaby home of a burglary suspect

Officers were investigating a burglary when they searched Craig Michael Wilson’s Thornaby flat.

They found a DVD, created in 2008, containing seven child abuse “movies” involving girls aged 12 to 16.

They also discovered two discs containing 14 images of extreme pornography involving adults, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The material was found next to his television.

No computers were seized in the search on February 3, and Wilson said he did not own one.

When he was interviewed, the 29-year-old said he had bought a sleeve of DVDs for £5 two months earlier expecting them to contain legal pornography.

He said he put the extreme pornography discs away intending to destroy them, and denied seeing any images of underage girls.

Wilson, who gave his current bail address as Emmetts Gardens, Ingleby Barwick, was in custody at the time for his first crimes – two offences of burglary and one of cannabis possession.

He was jailed for 15 months in April this year for the drunken burglaries, both at the same home.

A woman woke up to find the intruder in her room, and Wilson said he panicked and put his hand on her trying to “quieten her down”.

Alex Bousfield, defending, said Wilson had been released from that prison sentence and was now complying well with his licence.

He added: “He doesn’t see himself as somebody who is a particular problem in respect of risk to other people.

“He doesn’t see that he is a dangerous person in terms of his behaviour, but he does see that people have concerns and he would want to address those concerns and make sure there is no problem.”

Judge Peter Armstrong told Wilson: “There is now an opportunity for you to be placed on a sex offenders’ programme for treatment.

“Therefore I’m not minded to lock you up immediately today.”

He passed a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years with supervision and a sex offender treatment programme.

The judge gave Wilson a five-year sexual offences prevention order banning him from refusing police requests to examine devices or media.

Wilson will be on the sex offenders’ register for seven years.

Kevin Fox – Westbury

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November 2014

Jailed: Man whose partner shopped him for having horde of child abuse pictures and video

FOX, Kevin

A 49-year-old man who downloaded pictures and a movie of sickening child abuse from the internet has been jailed for ten months.

Kevin Fox had searched for the depraved images and then stored them on his computer so he could watch them again.

Colin Meeke, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that Fox’s partner found his horde when she logged on to his computer in October 2012.

“She logged on under his profile and when she went to a picture folder she found a number of indecent images of children,” he said.

“She called the police. They arrived straight away. She called him and the computers were seized.”

He insisted that the machines had been inspected in the past by Avon and Somerset Police and found to have nothing untoward on them.

But when inquiries were made with the neighbouring force Wiltshire officers found the computers had different serial numbers.

They also found the search histories littered with references to someone looking for the type of material they found.

As well as the pictures and movie, officers also uncovered sick montages of a child aged four or five years old.

Fox, of Warminster Road, Westbury, had pleaded not guilty to possessing indecent images of children but changed his pleas before a trial could take place.

Tristan Harwood, defending, said his client had denied what he had done for so long ‘because he was thoroughly ashamed and he wants to distance himself from what he has done’.

He said that if Fox were jailed he would lose his job and may be at risk of losing his home as well.

Jailing him, Recorder Maria Lamb said his offending was aggravated by the age and vulnerability of the children depicted.

She said: “You had them for one year, that makes it worse. There were systematic searches here for images of young girls. All of these are aggravating features.

“You are someone who finds it hard to accept what you have done.”

Fox must also register as a sex offender.

Andrew Smart – Arbroath

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November 2014

English police helped to trace Arbroath man who had indecent images on laptops

An Angus man has been put on the sex offenders register after being found with hundreds of indecent images of young girls.

Andrew Smart will be sentenced next month after being caught following a tip-off from police south of the border.

Appearing before Sheriff Pino Di Emidio at Forfar on Tuesday, Smart, 33, of Grimsby Place, Arbroath, admitted an indictment alleging the possession of indecent images or pseudo images of children between December 2010 and August this year.

Depute fiscal Donna Brown said Smart had initially appeared at Arbroath Sheriff Court in relation to the matter.

“As a result of intelligence received from Wiltshire police, officers sought a search warrant for two properties in Arbroath,” she told the court.

The searches took place on August 27 and a number of items were recovered, including two laptops.

The court heard that around 750 indecent images of children were found on the computers, the majority of them deleted files of young girls.

A number of videos were part of the material, which ranged from the lowest level one categorisation to a very limited number at level four.

“The majority depicted children within naturist communities,” added the fiscal.

She told the court search terms on the computer history were indicative of Smart searching for pictures of teenage females.

When interviewed by police in relation to the offence, the accused made no comment.

Solicitor Nick Whelan said his client is in full-time employment and reserved mitigation for Smart’s return to court.

Sheriff Di Emidio continued the case until December 11 for reports. The court also ordered forfeiture of the two laptops.

Smart was also made the subject of notification under the terms of the sex offenders register, the exact period of notification to be determined when he returns for sentence next month.


Trevor Hulse – West Felton

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November 2014

Oswestry man admits making indecent images of children

Trevor Hulse looked close to tears as he stood in the dock to plead guilty to the charges at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

The 50-year-old admitted making 187 indecent photographs of children between April 2006 and September last year.

Eleven of the pictures were in the most serious Category A range, with the great majority – 167 – in the least serious Category C, the court heard.

Hulse, of Nursery Close, West Felton, admitted three charges of making indecent pictures of children. Judge Peter Barrie adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report and Hulse was bailed.

Keith Cavendish-Coulson – Crookham

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November 2014

Former teacher has been jailed for sexually abusing 24 pupils at an independent boys school in Cheshire

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Keith Cavendish-Coulson, 71, pleaded guilty to 42 counts of indecent assault on boys aged eight to 13 at Terra Nova School near Holmes Chapel.

The abuse took place in dormitories, his private quarters and in classrooms during lessons between 1973 and 1975.

Cavendish-Coulson, of Crookham Common, Berkshire, was jailed for six years and nine months at Chester Crown Court.

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Described in court as a serial paedophile, Cavendish-Coulson, a former French teacher, also pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a 12-year-old boy he privately tutored in the late 1980s.

The court heard he would befriend his victims at the boarding school and then molest them, sometimes in the presence of other children, and his activities were an open secret among the boys.

Sentencing him, Judge Roger Dutton said: “It is a sad reflection on the attitudes of that time that even when complaints were made by parents no proper action was taken to investigate these grave allegations.”

Terra Nova School

The abuse took place at the school between 1973 and 1975

He said it “amounted to shameful and abject failure” to deal with serious sexual abuse.

“One cannot help but conclude that the reputation of the school meant more to those in authority than the exposure of wholesale sexual abuse by a member of staff on their premises.”

Chester Crown Court heard that Cavendish-Coulson had “favourites” who he would invite to his room for extra tuition. There he would abuse them.

On other occasions the teacher targeted his victims in their dormitories.

One boy described how the teacher would come and sit on his bed after lights out and abuse him while other boys were in the room.

The authors of two victim impact statements said they had trouble forming relationships, suffered bouts of depression and continued to feel lingering resentment towards their parents who had left them in the care of a man who breached their trust and exploited their vulnerability.

Two separate police investigations into Cavendish-Coulson in 1998 and 2005 had stalled, the court heard, but he was eventually arrested in August 2013.

Cheshire Police later set up a dedicated hotline for victims to come forward.

Det Insp Steve Beddows said: “Cavendish-Coulson showed a blatant disregard for the pupils he was teaching − abusing his position of trust for his own sexual gratification.”

He praised the victims for their bravery which had helped put a “prolific and predatory paedophile behind bars”.

Martin Hallam, chairman of governors at Terra Nova School, said he offered a sincere and heartfelt apology to all of Cavendish-Coulson’s victims and described his offences as “abhorrent and deplorable”.

The school now operated a clear safeguarding policy “to help ensure that such behaviour cannot be repeated in this day and age”, he said.

One victim told the court that he was seven when he joined Terra Nova and described it as being “like a prison” where corporal punishment was common.

He said he felt abandoned and lonely and Cavendish-Coulson took advantage of him.

“I was completely unable to stop him,” he said. “I felt frozen and horrified.”

The man described the devastating impact of the abuse on his life and relationships, telling the court he is still receiving counselling and has suffered from depression.

“I am left with a sense that I am worthless. I think of myself as useless, unloveable,” he said.

The court heard that the school was contacted in 1975 by the parents of at least two of the victims after they had been told about the abuse by their sons.

One father wrote: “Mr Coulson has been engaging in criminal sexual acts with minors.

“I am sure that Mr Coulson, by his actions has caused distress to many boys and that it is imperative he be stopped immediately and also that he be prevented from coming into contact with small boys in the future.”

However, when initially questioned by then headmaster Andrew Keith, Cavendish-Coulson denied the allegations.

After further claims were made he was allowed to resign.

Anne Whyte QC told the court that at the time there was a “collective silence”, adding that victims “were let down by the operating professional and social temperature”.

“Those who were in a position to talk to suspected/disclosed victims or to make contact with the police failed to do so,” she said.

“The real reason for the defendant’s dismissal was covered up and parents, staff and pupils alike were told he had left for health reasons.”

David Fanning – Shrewsbury

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November 2014

Shrewsbury man found guilty of abusing young schoolgirl

A 51-year-old Shrewsbury man has been found guilty of 11 counts of indecent assault on a young girl over a ten-year period

But David Fanning, of Wingfield Close, was cleared by a jury  at the town’s crown court of six counts of raping the same victim.

He had been accused of carrying out the abuse between 1999 and 2009 when the girl, now 19 and who cannot be named for legal reasons, was aged between four and 13.

Fanning had denied 11 charges of indecent assault and six of rape.

The court heard that police began their investigation last year after the girl reported the abuse.

Judge Peter Barrie adjourned the case for probation to carry out a pre-sentence report.

Fanning, who kept his head bowed and barely moved while the verdicts were read out by the foreman of the jury, was bailed to appear back for sentence at the same court on a date to be fixed after December 8

Hugh McGrogan – Edinburgh

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 November 2014

Child rapist faces jail after violent sex attacks against multiple victims

A vicious bully who preyed on women and children during more than a decade of abuse was warned he faced a lengthy jail sentence today.

Hugh McGrogan perpetrated a catalogue of rape, sexual assault and physical violence against victims in Edinburgh.

One child victim of McGrogan’s told his trial that he would arrive drunk at her home and rape her.

She was subjected to an ordeal of sexual abuse by McGrogan, who she described as “a bully”, from the age of seven at houses in the city’s Craigmiller and Liberton areas. The girl was raped and made to carry out sex acts on him.

Unemployed McGrogan, 56, formerly of Upper Kessock Street, Inverness, was found guilty of a total of 10 charges of rape, attempted rape, indecent assault and assault, at the High Court in Edinburgh today.

A judge told him: “You have been convicted or a series of extremely serious offences.”

Lady Scott said: “It is inevitable that you are facing a substantial term of imprisonment.”

McGrogan, known as Shug, raped and assaulted two women and tried to rape a third at a primary school. He also raped the schoolgirl and sexually abused a boy during his catalogue of offending between 1982 and 1995.

One woman told the court that McGrogan had stayed at her home for a period and that it was alright in the beginning.

But she said it changed and he began hitting her and sexually assaulting her. She said: “He was violent with drink in him. There was a point where he tried to strangle me.”

She said: “He just spoke to me like a piece of dirt.” She said she had black eyes “a couple of times”.

The 50-year-old said that on one occasion McGrogan had been out drinking and threw her onto a bed on his return. She added: “He forced himself on me”

“I tried to struggle to get away,” she said.

“I told him to stop it and to get off and he wouldn’t. I tried to push him off,” the woman told jurors.

She was asked what McGrogan did after he finished having sex with her and she replied: “He just laughed in my face.”

The woman said she had bruising after the incident but said she did not go to the doctor and added: “I was frightened to because of him.”

Another woman who was punched, kicked and slapped by McGrogan suffered a burst mouth. She said: “He didn’t need a drink before he hit me.”

She told the court that he had sex with her when she did not want to do it.

On one occasion he demanded sex from the woman and grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to a bed.

Advocate depute Alan Mackay accused McGrogan of targeting vulnerable people for abuse and sexual assault.

The court heard that McGrogan has been held in custody since May this year when he made an initial appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and bid to secure his release on bail was rejected.

Lady Scott deferred sentence on the sex offender and called for a background report to be prepared with an assessment of any risk he may pose to the public.

McGrogan was remanded in custody and placed on the sex offenders’ register.

Andrew Roberts – Cromer

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November 2014

Cromer man admits possessing indecent images of children

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A man admitted downloading 582 indecent images of children and claimed it was out of “curiosity” a court heard.

Police found the images on a computer when they searched the Cromer address of Andrew Roberts, 50, and found the images saved in a folder.

Chris Youell, prosecuting, at Norwich Crown Court, said the majority of images were in the less serious category as Roberts said his main interest was in “naturist pictures” of underage people, and he admitted viewing the images over a five year period..

“He said he did it out of curiousity. He did not think it was illegal because it was so easy to get the images.”

Roberts said he had downloaded the images over a five year period.

Mr Youell added:“He said he did not do it for sexual gratification but out of curiosity.”

He said Roberts said he did not know why he had done it.

Roberts of Salisbury Road, Cromer, admitted possession of the images and was given a four month jail sentence suspended for two years.

He was also placed on the sex offender’s register for seven years and made subject of a sexual offences prevention order, under which he must allow police to monitor his internet use.

Recorder Guy Ayers told Roberts he accepted that his main interest was in naturist pictures of underage people but said he also had a few more graphic images which he had kept in the file,

Recorder Ayers also ordered Roberts to attend an internet sex offender’s treatment programme as part of his supervision order and said: “I hope this helps make sure this never happens again.”

Andrew Oliver, for Roberts, said the majority of the images were in the lowest category and said Roberts had been candid with police.

“He has been accessing this on a regular basis. He has a curiosity in that area.”

He said Roberts had not distributed any images and said: “He has not sought to pass them on to anyone else. It is purely for his own self interest.”

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