March 2015

Facebook child groomer tried to get 14-year-old to send him explicit pictures

A married man from Cambridgeshire who tried to get a schoolgirl to send him sexually explicit pictures of herself on Facebook has been handed a suspended sentence. 

Jason Storm told the 14-year-old he wanted to marry her and have her baby and described in lurid detail the sex acts he would perform on her.

The 24-year-old, who spent several months pursuing the girl on Facebook, was also found with 12 indecent images, and an internet history including incest websites, on his phone and laptop.

Storm, whose pregnant wife was at Cambridge Crown Court to support him, was given an 18-month prison sentence, but it was suspended for two years so he could go on a sex offenders’ treatment programme.

Marti Blair, prosecuting, said police recovered 66 pages of Facebook communication between the defendant and the victim, who was in foster care, from between March and July 2013.

The prosecutor said Storm, who has 18 previous convictions for 27 offences, asked her questions about her virginity, told her in graphic terms the sex acts they should perform together and asked her to take explicit pictures of herself and send them to him. He also repeatedly expressed his desire to meet up with her and invited her over when his wife was out.

Ms Blair said: “She said [to police] she didn’t think he was serious at first and she thought it was a joke. She explained how she got more frightened as it persisted.

“He told her he wished she was his wife and that he wanted to marry her and have a baby with her.”

Storm, of Ailwine Road, Upwood, admitted causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, which relates to him trying to get the girl to send him explicit pictures, and making indecent images of a child, which were not of his victim but pictures accessed on the internet.

He broke down in tears as he told the judge: “I really understand the seriousness of the offences that I have committed and I’m extremely sickened and disgusted by what I have done. I’m just looking for one last chance to get the help that I need so I can be a law-abiding member of society.”

Kevin Barry, mitigating, said his client’s guilt plea is a “reflection of the fact he is genuinely remorseful for committing these offences and wants to help reduce the possiblity of him commiting any similar offences in the future”.

He said Storm, who has mental health issues and is taking anti-psychotic drugs, had been in care as a child and was himself subjected to abuse.

Judge Mark Lucraft QC, sentencing, agreed with Mr Barry that the public interest would be best served by Storm being treated rather than immediately jailed.

He told Storm, who had his hands clasped in praying position during sentencing: “You are not in a position to offer any explanation for what you did, but you make clear through your counsel that you are sickened and disgusted by your actions, and you echoed that to me today.”

As well as the suspended sentence, Judge Lucraft ordered him to attend the Thames Valley sex offender programme and made him subject to a sexual offences prevention and supervision orders.

March 2015

Stockton child rapist jailed for 17-and-a-half years

A child rapist has been jailed for 17-and-a-half years for offences against young girls.

Anthony Thomas shook his head as the sentence was passed upon him at Teesside Crown Court.

The 40-year-old had been found guilty of nine sexual offences against children following a trial in January this year.

These included three rapes, four sexual assaults and one indecent assault – all against pre-teenage girls.

The jury could not come to a decision on another count Thomas faced – an indecent assault – and at court, it was decided the charge could lie on his file.

Thomas, of Del Strother Avenue, Stockton, was also sentenced for a bail act offence after he has absconded mid-way through his trial and was missing for a total of three days. He pleaded guilty to this offence and claimed he had been in a “distressed state”.

Teesside Crown Court heard on Friday how the sexual offences took place years ago and involved three female victims – all of which have been affected by his actions, said prosecutor Paul Cleasby.

Reading out one of the victim’s impact statements, he said she had been left “an emotional mess”.

Describing the impact it had had on another victim, he added: “As a child, she tried her hardest to put it out of her mind but was unable to. She felt it was something she wore or did, or if she had looked at him the wrong way.

“It was always something she couldn’t forget and she ended up feeling really depressed.

“It affected her confidence, she didn’t feel comfortable in her own skin, and she said she was left feeling unclean.”

Glenn Carrasco, defending, said: “Accepting the extreme gravity of these offences, there is a limited amount that can be said.

“The most important point I can make is that the offending had stopped prior to any complaint and prior to his arrest.

“He handed himself in to the police to be arrested when the allegations were made and he has no similar previous convictions.”

Mr Carrasco went to on say that Thomas is under the care of a mental health team and is on anti-depressants.

“He is a 40-year-old man who is going to be spending many years in custody, and he knows this.”

Sentencing judge, Howard Crowson, also gave Thomas a Sexual Offences Prevention Orders (SOPO) and a lifetime notification requirement.

Detective Sergeant Andy Richmond, of Cleveland Police, said: “I would like to pay tribute to the victims’ tremendous bravery. This has been a very long and difficult journey for them and their courage is humbling.

“The sentence handed today reflects the terrible and despicable nature of the crimes and I welcome it wholeheartedly.”

March 2015

York man jailed for sexually abusing two under-age girls

A YORK man who brought two under-age girls to the city so he could ply them with alcohol and sexually abuse them has been jailed for three and a half years.

One of Gary Smithies’ victims later told police she had had two litres of cider, four cans of lager and a vodka mix during five hours of drinking on the riverbank in York, before he went off with her alone and tried to have sex with her, said Alex Semple, prosecuting.

In a victim statement, she said since the abuse, she had nightmares, would start crying for no reason, didn’t go to school at times and had difficulty trusting people.

Smithies returned with her to the other girl, whom he had already sexually assaulted, and took them to the railway station, where police spotted the trio.

Realising the girls were drunk and under age, officers intervened and sent them home in a taxi.

But neither revealed the sexual abuse until Smithies’ girlfriend at the time read the sexual messages and photo he had sent to one of the girls on his mobile and contacted police.

Smithies, 25, formerly of Wilton Rise, Holgate, pleaded guilty to two sexual acts with a child and one attempted sexual act with a child.

He was jailed for three and a half years, put on the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject to a sexual offences prevention order banning him indefinitely from unsupervised contact with girls under 16 and restricting his use of the internet.

After looking at the messages Smithies sent the girls before the York trip, the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, told him: “You had sex in mind, that is obvious from the texts.”

For Smithies, Michael Greenhalgh said he had had a difficult background and had recently been released from a sentence for wounding.

He had been hoping to make a new start in York.

August 2010

Pervert jailed 30 years after sex crimes

A PERVERT is starting an eight-year jail term 30 years after committing sickening sex attacks on a young girl.

John Hartley, 59, was jailed for eight years at Teesside Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty of the abuse which dated back to 1980.

Hartley preyed on the youngster and had sex with her countless times over two years 

The victim waited years until her mother died before telling her husband and later the police about the abuse.

Hartley denied there had been any sexual relationship, but was found guilty of two specimen counts of sex with a child after a trial.

The trial heard Hartley, who was in his late 20s at the time, told the victim he loved her.

Some of the abuse took place at a secluded nature reserve.

Tim Gittins, prosecuting, said: “She told her husband years later and only plucked up the courage to say what happened to police once her mother had passed away.

Peter Johnson, mitigating, said: “The defendant has, save for the one matter, led a productive, good life.

“This has already cost him a great deal, financially, emotionally and in many other ways and I ask the court to take that into account.”

Hartley, of Dunelm Road, Thornley, must serve at least two thirds of his eight-year sentence before being released on licence.

On his release he will have to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register and will remain on it for the rest of his life.

Judge Les Spittle said: “What you did was to trade on that infatuation in order to satisfy your sexual desires upon her.

“I know from what she told me the effect it had upon her.

“She kept this thing to herself, year after year and it will continue to have an effect on her.”

He added: “You may be able to put it behind you and live your life to the full. She can not.

“It is inevitable offences of this nature cross the custody threshold.

“That must be the case and it must be substantial.

“This child’s innocence was lost and until this day had lost her peace of mind.”

January 2015

Ex-primary school teacher jailed for possession indecent images of children

A disgraced ex-primary school teacher from Chiswick who stashed naked pictures of children in a shopping bag behind his conservatory has been jailed for a year.

Peter Monks, 63, tried to hide more than 400 indecent images of young children from police in a Marks and Spencer carrier bag in his garden.

He initially denied having the child abuse images at all, then claimed to detectives that he had cut up the images and thrown them away.

But he was forced to admit he had lodged them in between his conservatory and the garden fence.

He had taught at Chatsworth Primary School for nearly 30 years.

He was arrested on 21 September, and was immediately suspended from his post whilst the investigation was under way. Following his guilty plea in early March, he is no longer employed by the school.

December 2010

Scotland’s Fritzl jailed after keeping daughter hostage for 16 years and making her pregnant six times

INCEST victim Anne-Marie Wilson had a slavemaster and a rapist instead of a father.

Monster dad John Thompson, dubbed Scotland’s Josef Fritzl, raped his daughter repeatedly and made her pregnant SIX times over 16 years of merciless abuse.

But now, just days after seeing her tormentor caged for 12 years, Anne-Marie feels she finally has some justice.

She said: “I do not regard John Thompson as my father. I do not believe he has any right to be thought of as one.

“He made me a prisoner from a very young age and for much of my life. His abuse and cruelty took away my childhood and teenage years.”

But she added: “Knowing that the extent of what he did has been recognised by the court means I can move on and close the door on what happened to me.”

Dad-of-eight Thompson, now 65, brutalised his daughter in a calculated campaign to have more children and claim more benefits. He would force her to watch hardcore pornography before raping her.

He got three years and nine months in jail in 2007 for making Anne-Marie pregnant at their Glasgow home in 1995.

After that case, Anne-Marie’s story helped drive a major new police investigation.

And the probe by detectives in West Yorkshire, where Thompson and his family lived in the 1980s, ended last week in three rape convictions and a far longer sentence.

Detective Superintendent Colin Prime, of the West Yorkshire force, said: “This was the worst case of sexual abuse I have seen in 30 years’ policing.

“I can only hope Anne-Marie can now find some closure and get on with her life. I hope Thompson is never released.”

Anne-Marie, now 40, bravely agreed to make a complaint against her father and saw him jailed at Leeds Crown Court. It was the end of an ordeal that began nearly 30 years ago.

The abuse started in 1981, when the family were living in the Yorkshire city of Bradford.

Thompson, also known as John McMillan, first raped Anne-Marie when she was 11 and made her pregnant at 15. She had the first of four miscarriages she would suffer in her years as her father’s sex slave.

In 1988, she had a son, Benjamin, but he was stillborn.

Thompson’s abuse of Anne-Marie continued after the family returned to Scotland in the 1990s and she had a daughter, Jennifer, in 1996.

The little girl lived only eight months before dying of a brain condition and Anne-Marie finally broke free of Thompson after the agony of losing her child.

Detectives eventually obtained a DNA sample from Jennifer’s post mortem which proved Thompson was her father. It was the key piece of evidence that led to his 2007 conviction and sentence.

But the police had not finished with Thompson. West Yorkshire detectives had suspected for years that he had fathered baby Benjamin and they began to focus on him again as part of a review of unsolved sex crimes.

Mr Prime said: “We became aware of the police investigation in Glasgow and newspaper reports of the case.

“At the time of the original offence in Bradford, Anne-Marie said she did not want to make a complaint. But we always suspected Thompson was the father.”

Last year, police proved Thompson’s guilt, using DNA from Benjamin’s post mortem.

And this time, Anne-Marie was determined to help bring him to justice.

Mr Prime said: “The fact she was now willing to make a complaint, and had spoken openly about her ordeal, was crucial to securing a conviction.”

Anne-Marie said: “When West Yorkshire Police told me they had forensic evidence linking Thompson to one of his crimes, I had no hesitation in supporting them during their investigation.”

Thompson pled guilty to three counts of raping his daughter and one charge of indecent assault.

He will start serving his new 12-year term after he completes his 2007 sentence. Like Fritzl, he faces the real possibility of dying behind bars.

Fritzl kept his daughter Elisabeth as a sex slave for 24 years in a dungeon under the family home in Austria.

He forced her to give birth to seven of his children and killed one of the babies by refusing to get medical help for him after he was born.

March 2015

Teenager who raped ‘very young girl’ locked up for 11 years after being branded a risk

A teenager who raped a very young girl has today been locked up for 11 years as a judge branded him a ‘risk to young girls’.

Amaan Ghafoor is still “in denial” after he was found guilty of rape unanimously by a jury following a trial last month, the court heard.

The 18-year-old was brought to justice after the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told of his “disgusting” and “horrible” actions when he was 17.

But Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, told Ghafoor at Teesside Crown Court: “She was too young, too naive to have fabricated that account.

“The fact that she was able to describe the event in such detail in my judgment convinced the jury that she could not have imagined it or fabricated it.

“There was certainly no reason for her to have lied.

“As to what made you carry out this dreadful act, only you know because you are still in complete denial as to having carried out that act.”

The judge said Ghafoor, in his “arrogance”, did not believe she would tell of what he did, or that she would be believed.

He said Ghafoor failed to recognise the effects of his behaviour on “a bubbly, lovely, normal child” who was too young to know it was a sexual act.

“You have no insight into the impact of your offending upon her, and the terrible consequences of your offending upon her,” added the judge.

“It may be that you carried out this offence by way of sexual experimentation.

“It is clear to me that you at present pose a risk to young girls.

“It may be that as you grow older and become more mature, you will recognise the enormity of that which you have done.

“This is still a very serious offence and only a significant sentence can follow it.”

He locked up Ghafoor, who had no previous convictions, for 11 years.

Ghafoor was given a sexual offences prevention order and will be on the sex offenders’ register, both indefinitely.

Anne Richardson, defending, said college student Ghafoor was immature and insular, and he expected custody.

She added that the normal, loving and caring people who knew him “could not believe that he committed such an offence”.

Ms Richardson added the victim did not have to endure cross-examination in the trial and those around her made efforts to minimise the long-term effects on her.

“They have acted in a way that means that she is not constantly reminded of this,” she added.

“It is hoped in the passage of time that wounds will be healed.”

The judge said: “It may be, because of her extreme youth and her naivety, she will actually forget about this. I don’t know.”

In the trial, Ghafoor denied that he did nothing improper.

He could not think why she would make up the allegation and said nothing could have been misconstrued by her.

We have not detailed the age of his victim for ‘legal reasons’

March 2015

Married woman admits sexual activity with 15-year-old schoolboy

A married woman who bedded a schoolboy less than half her age has been told she could face jail.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard that Kelly Jane Richards had full sex with the 15-year-old in 2012.

The 36-year-old had originally denied seducing the teenager but today pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity with a child.

Richards, of Mountain Ash, broke down in tears as the single charge was put to her.

The court heard the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to pursue another charge against the defendant and that it would “remain on file”.

Despite being told Richards had no previous convictions, Judge Richard Twomlow said the offence was a “serious matter”.

He added: “I will reserve judgment on the matter for myself and I will take into account all the facts.

“All sentencing options remain open.”

Richards will be sentenced on March 23.

March 2015

Pensioner who admitted a string of child abuse images charges has avoided jail

Carlisle man Andrew Mathews appeared at the city’s crown court to be sentenced for 15 different counts of either making or possessing illegal images.

Mathews, 66, of Cumrew Close, Durranhill, downloaded dozens of illegal images. Children and animals featured in many of them.

Judge Peter Hughes QC said there was a “conflict” in dealing with Mathews between punishment and preventing him from carrying out similar crimes in the future.

Mathews visited a counsellor in November 2013 because he was feeling depressed and during his time there he had admitted his use of child pornography. This was reported to police and officers carried out a search at his home.

They took away computer equipment and after searching found 94 still images of child pornography, of which 37 were in category A, the most serious class.

David Birrell, prosecuting, said they also located 4,000 “prohibited images” including drawings showing sexual activity with children.

At a previous hearing Mathews pleaded guilty to seven charges of making indecent photographs of a child, four of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving an animal and four of possessing a prohibited image of child.

Keith Thomas, defending, told the court Mathews cared for his disabled wife and pointed out that he had admitted his offences.

“He brought this prosecution on himself,” he added.

Judge Hughes said: “It is quite plain that over recent years you have developed an obsessive and deeply unattractive interest in sexual activity with young children.”

He added that the programme to treat people who use child pornography lasted for three years, longer than the maximum of two years that a prison sentence can be suspended for.

As a result Mathews was given a three-year community order and ordered to complete this programme.

He also had to sign on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period, was made subject of a sexual offences prevention order and ordered to pay £500 in costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

February 2015

Man who repeatedly had sex with a 13-year-old girl in Malmesbury has been told he is facing a jail term

Ross Lancaster slept with the youngster in the town on three occasions over a long weekend in May last year.

The 24-year-old, of Evesham, Worcestershire, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child when he appeared at Swindon Crown Court.

Mathew Scott, defending, said that his client had received a text message from the girl saying she was 16 before the first incident on May 16.

“He learned subsequently she was 13 in further texts but he continued with the activity. He is aware a custodial sentence is all but inevitable,” he said.

Mr Scott said his client was currently a serving prisoner, having been jailed for burglary late last year, but still asked for a presentence report.

Adjourning the hearing to March 26 Recorder Maria Lamb said “Your case can’t be dealt with today.

“I am willing to accede to the application for you to have a presentence report but you probably will have gleaned from what I have said and what your counsel has said the almost inevitable outcome here is a sentence of immediate custody.”

March 2015

Pervert jailed for abusing three boys aged 13 or under when they were on courses at an island activity centre he ran

A businessman who abused his position of trust to prey on vulnerable young boys in the 1980s has been jailed for 18 months.

Torquil Johnson-Ferguson, 65, attacked three boys aged 13 or under when they were on courses at an island activity centre he ran.

He was jailed at Oban Sheriff Court today and placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years after being convicted of three charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour.

Details of the outcome of today’s hearing were confirmed by the Crown Office.

Johnson-Ferguson, of Canonbie in Dumfries and Galloway, owns Rua Fiola Island in the Firth of Lorn and until recently operated an activity centre on the island.

From 1976, the centre ran week-long courses during the summer months, offering kayaking, rock climbing and survival skills targeted at nine to 14-year-old boys from private schools throughout the UK.

It was during those courses that on three separate occasions, between 1981 and 1986, Johnson-Ferguson carried out the sexual assaults on the boys, prosecutors said.

The court heard during the trial that Johnson-Ferguson had tried to change his appearance by cutting his long hair before an identity parade. 

He was asked by Fiscal Eoin McGinty today: “Why was it that you changed your appearance just prior to your video identity parade?”

He replied: “It wasn’t linked, I get a hair cut every four months.”

The prosecutor asked: “Why for the first time in all the time your wife has known you, did you sport a fringe?”

Johnson-Ferguson said: “I don’t understand the fringe. It was nothing devious. I might have cut it if my hair was getting in my eyes.”

Speaking after the sentencing, Fraser Gibson, procurator fiscal, sheriff and jury for the West of Scotland, said: “Torquil Johnson-Ferguson was in a position of trust and abused that to prey on vulnerable young boys.

“For nearly 30 years he may well have thought that he had escaped justice but he was wrong and is now paying the consequences for his actions.

“I would urge any victims of sexual crimes, even ones which occurred decades ago, to come forward and report them. They will be treated with the utmost professionalism and sensitivity by the police and our expert prosecutors and we will do all we can to deliver justice.”

March 2015

Pervert caught possessing indecent images of children avoids prison

A man who has links to Northamptonshire has avoided a prison sentence after he was convicted of possessing more than 200 indecent images of children.

Paul Sewell, aged 41, appeared at Northampton Crown Court charged with possessing the indecent images, including some in the most serious category.

The charges relate to a period from March 2009 to October 2013. All the images were found on an electronic device in Northamptonshire.

Sewell, of Berrall Way, Billingshurst, West Sussex, was given a three-year community order. He was also handed a four-month curfew from 9pm to 6am, which will be monitored by an electronic tag.

He will also be on the sex offenders’ register for the next five years.

March 2015

Pervert caught sending indecent images of youngsters in police sting

A REDDITCH father of two who kept images of a baby being engaged in sexual activity has been caught sending indecent images of youngsters in police sting

Steven Cook, who had a “fascination with porn”, was found to have indecent images of children – including a baby – on his computer after being lured into sending a police officer pictures of teenage girls in bikinis, Worcester Crown court heard.

The 35-year-old, of Pine Tree Close in Redditch, admitted one allegation of distributing an indecent image of a child and six of making images.

Judge Robert Juckes QC put him under the supervision of the probation service for three years, during which time he must attend a community sex offenders group.

Cook was also placed on the Sex Offender Log for five years, given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, and ordered to pay £750 court costs and a £60 victim impact surcharge.

The judge told him: “It’s as well the police moved as quickly as they did.

“I may have real suspicions about where you were heading.”

The judge added that the material Cook had emailed out showed girls aged about 14 in bikinis and there was no suggestion he had been a “bad father” to his own children.

Michael Conry, prosecuting, said officers from a police child exploitation engaged Cook in an email discussion and he sent eight images to an officer.

Police went to his then address in Burns Close, Redditch, where they found 406 indecent images on his mobile phone and more than 500 on his laptop.

Mr Conry said the images included children from as young as a baby to five to seven-year-olds and teenagers being engaged in sexual activity.

When he was interviewed, Cook told police his wife had no knowledge of the images and his “fascination with porn” had got out of hand.

He said he had no sexual interest in children himself but got a “buzz” out of knowing other people did.

Peter Fortune, defending, said Cook had paid for himself to attend sessions with a foundation aimed at tackling his fascination with child abuse images.

March 2015

Married man, 32, jailed for having sex up to 50 times with under-age schoolgirl

A 32-YEAR-OLD married man who had sex up to 50 times with a damaged and vulnerable Keighley schoolgirl has been jailed for more than four years.

Naieem Khan, a father-of-two, persisted with the “jealous, controlling and manipulative” relationship with the 15-year-old despite being twice warned off by the police, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Khan, of Hillcote Drive, West Bowling, Bradford, began seeing the girl after she shouted “sexy” as he drove past in 2012.

Their “inappropriate and illegal” sexual relationship continued into the spring of 2013, with the girl moving in with Khan for a time.

On December 18, 2012, he was pursued by the police around Keighley when he had the girl with him in the car.

The high speed chase on roads including Parkwood Street, Halifax Road andOakworth Road, saw him rip the bumper of his vehicle when he hit a wall and then collide with the back of a taxi.

The girl fled from the car in Fell Lane and Khan sped off with the passenger door hanging open.

He drove at double the 30mph speed limit before screeching to a halt.

He was pursued by officers on foot and arrested.

Khan pleaded guilty to three offences of sexual activity with a child, dangerous driving and child abduction.

His barrister, Ian Howard, said he was paying a heavy price for his involvement with the girl.

“They were both equally keen for contact to take place. He should have realised it was inappropriate and he should not have succumbed to his desire to form a relationship,” Mr Howard said.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said the girl, who has now left the area, had also been sexually abused by other men and was “very damaged and vulnerable”.

The girl’s mother was powerless to stop the relationship. Her daughter self-harmed and had been wanted to continue seeing Khan.

The girl said she and Khan had sex up to 50 times, despite the police intervening to warn him off in October and December, 2012.

Jailing Khan for four-and-a-half years, Judge Durham Hall said: “This is a very vulnerable young woman who incited the contact in 2012 and lied about her age.

“She was very anxious to continue in this relationship and she did not know you were married. When she discovered that, she took an overdose.”

He made Khan the subject of an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order and ordered Khan to sign on the sex offenders’ register and banned him from driving for three years.

March 2015

Man jailed for photographing himself abusing a girl who was aged under 10 years old

A MAN who photographed himself sexual abusing a youngster has been jailed for five years.

Robin Jones got a girl aged under ten to touch him intimately and took the sick snap as she did do, Bristol Crown Court heard.

After admitting wrongdoing and signing as a sex offender for five years he told police he had lost his passport, but then jetted off to Casablanca before returning of his own volition.

Jones, 33, of Sandy Park Road, Bristol, pleaded guilty to enticing a girl aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity and taking an indecent photograph of a child.

He also admitted failing to notify authorities when he travelled abroad.

Judge Graham Hume Jones conceded Jones has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

He told him to register as a sex offender for life and banned him from working with children.

Jones told the judge: “Thank you your honour.”

Neil Treharne, prosecuting, said that the girl told her mother that Jones had abused her and how the photograph had been taken at the time.

She told police he took a photo of her and made her take a photo of him.

Initially Jones denied wrongdoing but then pleaded guilty.

After claiming his passport was lost, and being told he had to inform police before travelling abroad, in November last year the UK Border Agency reported that he had flown from Gatwick Airport to Casablanca.

Some two weeks later, however, Jones returned to the UK and he admitted failing to notify police of his movements, saying that he had gone on holiday to have the energy to face court and he simply forgot to notify them.

Farah Rashid, defending, said her client had tried to arrange counselling.

She told the judge: “He was suffering from severe depression having lost his father and mother.

“He was seeing doctors relating to it.

“But there is no excuse. He knows it was very wrong and he knows he is facing an immediate custodial sentence.

“He comes across as a man who does have an enormous amount of remorse.”

The court heard Jones has a wife in Morocco and was allowed to visit there following his undisclosed trip to Casablanca.

Miss Rashid said: “He was always going to come back.”

March 2015

Paedophile jailed for sexually abusing five-year-old boy in Brent

A paedophile who sexually assaulted a young boy in Brent has been jailed after escaping justice for almost 40 years.

David Mark James, from Abercanaid in Glamorgan, interfered with the five-year-old during the 1970s.

The 66-year-old was arrested after his victim reported him to the police in 2013.

He was convicted of one count of indecent assault at Harrow Court Crown Court and jailed for three-and-a half years.

The jury acquitted him of two further offences relating to the same victim.

Det Con Luke Williams, investigating officer, fears James may have targeted other victims who have yet to come forward.

He said: “James sexually abused the victim and betrayed the trust placed in him by so many. I commend the bravery of the victim for showing great courage in coming forward and giving evidence.

“I believe James may have abused other children and appeal to those people to come forward. The Metropolitan Police Service will do everything within our power to keep the children of London safe from those intent on doing harm.”

On his release, James will have to sign the sex offenders register for life.

March 2015

Abuser used football tickets to buy victim’s silence

A court has heard that a man took a schoolboy he abused to football matches in a bid to buy his silence.

Vincent Hill from Paisley abused the boy for four years, beginning when the victim was aged 12.

The 60-year-old, who pled guilty at the High Court in Glasgow to sexually and indecently assaulting the boy between 1998 and 2002, will be sentenced next month.

The abuse stayed hidden for 13 years, until the boy told police in 2013.

It was only in 2012 that the victim told his wife he had been sexually abused as a child, and it was a year later before he revealed Hill was the man responsible.

The offences were carried out at various addresses in Paisley, Inchinnan and Erskine in Renfrewshire.

The court heard that the victim first got to know Hill in 1997, when Hill worked as a market trader, selling computer games and consoles at a car boot market in Glasgow.

Prosecutor Shirley McKenna told how, in an attempt to keep the boy quiet, Hill would often take the boy to watch his favourite football team, Rangers.

The court also heard that the child lived a “chaotic life” – a factor Hill took advantage of.

Miss McKenna said the abuse had a “profound effect” on the victim, and had led to him attempting suicide and requiring counselling. It was said that this had led to an “impoverished” life.

The court heard Hill later sent a text to the victim claiming he wanted to “cut a deal” and that he would plead “guilty”. Hill also claimed he was “sorry” and asked for the man to “forgive” him.

Judge Lady Scott remanded Hill in custody and deferred sentencing until 30 March at the High Court in Edinburgh.

March 2015

Unpaid work for Aberdeen man caught with indecent images of children

A MAN has been ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work after being caught with indecent images of children.

Kai Wing Chan, 42, appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for sentencing.

He had previously admitted being in possession of the images between August 27, 2011 and 25 October, 2013 at an address in the city.

Chan also admitted downloading indecent photos or pseudo photos of children. The court previously heard that a laptop and computer tower were examined after a police search and 98 indecent images and 10 videos were found.

The majority of the images were at level one – the least severe category.

Sheriff Graham Buchanan ordered Chan, whose address was given in court papers as 47 King Robert’s Way, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work within a year.

He was also placed under supervision for three years.

March 2015

Former teacher pleads guilty over indecent images of children

A former teacher and Belfast City Council election candidate has been ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register after admitting making indecent images of children.

Standing in the dock of Downpatrick Crown Court, 60-year-old Peter Prendiville, from Craigdarragh Park in Holywood, entered guilty pleas to a total of 14 counts of making indecent images of children.

The charges dated back to between February 2007 and July 2010.

Prendiville, a former maths teacher at BIFHE and one time SDLP council election candidate, denied nine similar offences – including one charge which alleged he had 1,921 indecent images of children, and another which alleged that he had a video of child sexual abuse lasting just over 15 minutes.

Following the arraignment, defence lawyer Conan Wray said that while there had been “mixed pleas” by Prendiville, his culpability is “by and large admitted”.

The defence lawyer further revealed that there are “ongoing discussions” between the prosecution and defence regarding the “proper charges and categorisation” of the images.

No facts of the case were opened on Tuesday.

But Judge Piers Grant said, given Prendiville’s guilty pleas to some of the charges, he was ordering him to sign the police sex offenders’ register before being released on continuing bail.

March 2015

Jail warning to sex offender caught with prohibited images of children

A CHILD rapist has again been caught with prohibited images of children he had downloaded from the internet.

And Matthew Burren, 22, who has served time for a sickening sex attack on a five-year-old, was also found to be contacting children online, which he is banned from doing.

Now Burren could find himself back behind bars after a judge at Swindon Crown Court warned him a jail term was possible for his latest bout of offending.

Burren pleaded guilty to possessing prohibited images of children in the form of Japanese cartoons and twice breaching a sexual offence prevention order.

He was made subject to the order in November 2011 after he was convicted having prohibited images of children.

On that occasion, when he was on extended licence for a child rape committed when he was 12, he had sexualised line drawings of children he had downloaded.

The sexual offences prevention order banned him from viewing pornography or contacting anyone under 16 years of age.

But in January last year it was found he had been doing both, as well as possessing the prohibited images between August 2013 and February last year.

After entering his pleas Burrow, who has a severe stammer, said: “But may I say one thing: this case is very technical.”

Claire Marlow, prosecuting said: “He was in contact with somebody under 16 and he admitted being in contact with someone under the age of 16.”

Ronan McCann, defending, said about 45 images had been recovered from a remote hard drive showing images of Japanese animation.

He said his client had pleaded guilty on the basis that only five of the pictures represented indecent images of children.

The breach of the sexual offences prevention order was brought about by him contacting other people playing a computer game.

“He lives completely sheltered from all other forms of outside society. Present in court today is a council outreach worker who has worked with him for six months,” said Mr McCann.

“His day is rising in mid afternoon, immediately engaging in activities on the computer, then not going to sleep until the early morning.

“All of the contact that is alleged is chat room based contact centred around a very specific game Mr Burren in involved in.

“The pornography searched for is in effect mainstream pornography but it remains in breach of the sexual offences prevention order.”

He asked for the case to be put back for a psychiatric report as well as a presentence report prepared by a probation officers.

Recorder Maria Lamb said: “Mr Burren, you are going to come back to this court on April 24 for your sentencing hearing to take place.

“In the meantime there are going to be some reports carried out upon you. I can’t make you co-operate with the psychiatrist but you ought to.

“I am also going to order there is a presentence report as well. It doesn’t give any promise as to what the judge will do when he deals with you at the sentencing hearing.”

She released Burren, of Willowherb Close, Haydon Wick, on unconditional bail until the next hearing.

In 2011 he was put on a two-year community order with supervision and ordered he live at the hostel with 24-hour monitoring and support and to attend a special school.

On that occasion the judge heard that as well as probation intervention since his release he had also been subject to multi-agency public protection arrangements. He was told although the defendant did not suffer from any mental illness, he had a ‘pervasive development disorder’.