March 2015

Conwy businessman jailed for sexual assault of schoolgirl

A businessman has been jailed after becoming so obsessed with a young school girl that he sexually assaulted her.

Defendant Kenneth Charnley, 65, collapsed in the dock and repeatedly said “I didn’t do it” as he was jailed for two years and 10 months at Mold Crown Court.

Charnley, of The Plas Hall Hotel at Dolwyddelan, denied a charge of indecently assaulting the girl in 2013, which the prosecution alleged occurred after a period of grooming.

He also denied taking and possessing indecent photographs of her but was convicted on both charges by the jury.

The court heard how he told the girl who was aged less than 12 that he had contacts in the media and in television and took hundreds of photographs of her to help her became an actress or model, some of which were indecent.

Charnley said that was not deliberate – and that he had simply been trying to get photographs of her kicking her legs in the air.

As well as jailing Charnley, Judge Niclas Parry ordered him to register with the police as a sex offender indefinitely.

The judge said the defendant, despite the age gap, had befriended the girl and preyed on her dream of becoming an actress or a model.

He told the girl that he could help her make that dream come true by submitting photographs of her to agencies.

“You had no such intentions,” the judge told him and Charnley had never even prepared a portfolio.

Then on one occasion he went further and “tested the water” and tried to get her to lie on a bed. When she refused, he pulled her on to his knee and indecently assaulted her.

But for the fact that the girl was resolute and brave, it would have gone further, the judge said.

“It was a short incident but that is thanks to her, not you,” the judge told him.

Judge Parry said it was “planned grooming”.

The defendant trembled in the dock as he was sentenced and at one stage collapsed, before being taken down the steps to the cell area.

He repeatedly said: “I didn’t do it”.

Prosecuting barrister Mark Connor said the defendant had clearly developed an unhealthy sexual interest in the child.

He took “indecent and inappropriate” photographs of her, showered her with gifts, and groomed her for his own sexual purposes.

The defendant denied the claims.

Defending barrister Maria Massellis, after the verdicts, asked the judge to take into account her client’s age and previous good character.

She said that the convictions and prison sentence would have a devastating effect upon him.

March 2015

Former Jamaican Defence Force officer jailed for having sex with a child in Bristol

HE was a head boy and rose through the ranks to become an army officer trained by the Royal Marines

But now Glenroy Forknor is a prisoner serving a five-year sentence for having sex with a child.

Forknor came to the UK from his native Jamaica, Bristol Crown Court heard.

After finding work in the security business he went on to sexually abuse a 14-year-old girl.

Forknor, 32, who was living in Brislington, pleaded guilty to three charges of having sexual activity with a child.

Judge Euan Ambrose told him: “You are 32, you are of previous good character and you have no convictions or cautions.

“You are well educated, you have served in the military in Jamaica and you have worked.

“You have expressed considerable remorse for what you have done and you were anxious to avoid (the girl) having to give evidence.”

The judge said Forknor would be deported at the end of his custodial term. He told him to sign as sex offender for life and barred him from working with children.

Anna Vigars, prosecuting, said Forknor met the youngster and, on multiple occasions, had sexual activity with her. The girl was curious but wasn’t really sure why she let Forknor do things to her, the court heard.

Mrs Vigars said the girl’s family found out Forknor was abusing and it was reported to police.

A statement from the child’s mother confirmed the victim’s education had suffered as a result.

Rosaleen Collins, defending, said physical contact between her client and the youngster had been minimal, which was backed up by medical evidence.

She said Forknor gained seven GCSEs at school in Jamaica and attained the status of head boy before serving in the Jamaican Defence Force.

Miss Collins said his rise through the officer ranks to adjutant saw him come to the UK for training with the Royal Marines.

Miss Collins told the court Forknor left the Army, came to the UK and turned to the girl after becoming depressed.

She said: “He would say that the consensual relationship started by accident.

“He accidentally touched her, she said she liked it and he accepts wholeheartedly he should never have allowed this to happen.

“He bitterly regrets is conduct. He wants to go back to Jamaica and he will be deported even if he doesn’t want to go back.

“He was at a low ebb at the time.”

March 2015

Suffolk Mechanic, 56, admits string of brutal rapes and attempted kidnaps in 28 year reign of terror 

A mechanic who lived a calm, quiet life with his elderly parents was all the time living a secret double life as a sex attacker.

Clive Howard, 56, of Suffolk, has admitted carrying out a string of rapes and kidnaps of women during a 28 year period.

The serial rapist confessed to the crimes after he was caught after raping a woman at a car park in Norwich when his number plate was recorded on CCTV. 

But police fear he may have carried out even more attacks across three different counties and have appealed for any victims to come forward.

Detective Sergeant Chris Burgess, of Norfolk Police rape investigation unit said: ‘Cases like this don’t come up very often – we’re talking about a serial rapist.

‘We want to give people the chance to come forward.’

Howard, who lived a double life with his parents, had initially denied the rape in Norwich but changed his plea on the day of his trial.

At a hearing at Norwich Crown Court he admitted seven counts of rape, three charges of attempted kidnap and one count of attempted rape, between 1986 and 2014.  

Howard, of Battisford, near Stowmarket, Suffolk, was caught by police after he attacked a woman in St Helens Wharf car park, Norwich, on May 30 2014.

The victim, in her 20s, was walking home after a night out when she was given a lift by Howard, who then raped her. 

She tried to take a picture of the car’s registration number but Howard grabbed her phone and hurled it into a bush before he sped off.  The woman found it before dialling 999.

Police were able to get part of the car’s number plate from CCTV – and that led them straight to Howard, the registered owner. He was arrested and charged a few days later.

Det Sgt Burgess said Howard had done ‘two to three loops’ around the city ‘before he managed to pick his victim’.

After he was charged Howard’s DNA was put into the national police database which raised an unsolved case in Cambridgeshire in 2013.

Detectives found ‘striking similarities’ to the Norwich assault.

Howard’s DNA matched a profile obtained during an investigation into the attempted kidnap of a woman in her 20s on May 5, 2013 in Cambridge park Christ’s Pieces. The woman managed to fend off Howard, scratching him in the process, and DNA was later retrieved from underneath her fingernail.

He was linked to three other attempted kidnappings in Cambridge, one of which happened just 30 minutes before he struck in Christ’s Pieces. Howard also tried to abduct two women in the city on February 15, 2014, during the night.

Det Sgt Burgess said: ‘All were in the early hours of the morning.

‘Each of the women were approached by a man who had got out of a car and attempted to get them into it.’

He added: ‘I’m concerned there are other victims out there either in Norfolk, Suffolk or Cambridge and would urge other women to come forward.

‘It’s very rare.’ 

As well as the rape in Norwich, Howard also admitted six counts of rape against a woman between November 1986 and March 1993.

Howard, who is understood to have had an 82-year-old girlfriend, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at the court on April 20.

Judge Stephen Holt told him: ‘You’ve pleaded guilty and the one thing that can be said is your victim has been spared the ordeal of giving evidence.

‘I’m sure you will understand I need to have a full pre-sentence report and the whole issue of whether you need to be sentenced as a dangerous offender will be made.’

Det Sgt Burgess said: ‘Reliving an experience such as this is never easy for a victim of sexual assault.

‘I recognise the bravery shown by all victims in this case who would have been prepared to give evidence, had the case gone to trial.

‘Howard’s guilty plea demonstrates the strong case police had against him and I believe women are safer with this dangerous man off the streets,’ he said.

‘A striking similarity between the cases is that Howard would prey on women walking alone at night.

‘I hope his guilty plea goes some way to helping his victims move forward from this terrible experience.’

Howard was a respectable garage mechanic who didn’t have a criminal record and lived an extraordinary double life with his elderly parents in Battisford. He also had his own house in nearby Stowmarket.

He is thought to have had an 82-year-old girlfriend but was ‘actively seeking sexual partners’ on internet dating sites.

November 2013

Whitminster man sexting fictitious teenage girls

A pervert thought he was exchanging text messages with a schoolgirl, but it turned out to be a 53-year-old man, a court heard.

Nicholas Ford was sexting what he thought was a 13-year-old called Rachel and her friend Amy, but was being conned by the middle-aged man.

Gloucester Crown Court heard Ford, 45, turned down a meeting with the girls because he had a model aeroplane race, but admitted getting sexual gratification from the exchanges.

The court was told the pair had met through a television dating site, when the 53-year-old, who was not an undercover officer or part of a sting, first text Ford.

The contact continued between fictitious Rachel, who later said she was in fact only 10, before her imaginary friend, Amy, also sent sexual messages to Ford of Bristol Road, Whitminster.

Prosecutor Julian Kesner said 88 explicit texts were found on his phone.

He said: “Many were of a sexual nature and he was topping up the phone for her, but unbeknown to the defendant he was not talking to a child, but rather he was communicating with a 53-year-old man.

“The man at the other end pretending to be Rachel and Amy is clearly egging him on enormously. He fools for it.

“Rachel from Newport asks him if he wants to meet up, but the defendant, who flies model planes, says he has got a race and they don’t meet up.

Ford pleaded guilty to inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Defending Sarah Jenkins said Ford had no previous convictions.

She told the court: “This is a case that is out of the ordinary because we have not got a young victim.

“He suffers from elements of depression and he is a man that has had no real adult relationship and this is a feature that led him to this sort of fantasies.

“He said he would have been scared to go through with any meeting because the pleasure he derived was because it was a fantasy and escapism from everyday life.”

Judge Jamie Tabor QC said he accepted that if Rachel and Amy had have existed he would never have done anything about it.

He said it was quite easy to imagine the kind of socially isolated life Ford had led with little friends.

He told him: “It is in that content that you came to exchange the lurid text messages with someone you though was under age.

“Anyone that starts engaging in talks of sexual activity with a child under age commits a serious offence.

“There is no victim here, but you were undoubtedly egged on.

“What you need is help and you need some serious help so you know why on earth you were doing it.”

Ford was given a 12 month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, with 18 months supervision.

He was ordered to pay £300 cost and will have to sign the Sexual Offenders Register for the next 10 years.

January 2008

Photographer says he ‘did not think indecent photos of girls were illegal’

A FORMER teacher who downloaded pornographic images of young girls was slammed by a judge on Friday after claiming he did not think it was illegal.

Nicholas Ford was arrested after thousands of indecent photographs were discovered by police when his computer was seized following a raid by officers.

He later said he did not believe any of the youngsters were under 18 – even though experts said more than 3,000 of the photos showed girls aged 13-17.

Judge Michael Heath told Ford: “I have read a troubling pre-sentence report that indicates you still feel you have not done anything wrong.

“It is difficult to believe someone with your experience was unable to make a judgement about a child’s development and whether the child was pubescent.”

Lincoln Crown Court was told Ford taught at secondary schools in Lincolnshire and Norfolk before retiring after suffering a nervous breakdown.

The 54-year-old ex-alcoholic, formerly of Skegness, pleaded guilty to two offences of possessing indecent photographs on August 22, 2006.

Ford, now a freelance photographer, also admitted six charges of making indecent photographs between August 22, 2005, and August 21, 2006.

He was made the subject of a three-year community order, including a condition that he attend an internet sex-offenders’ treatment programme.

Ford, now of Bailey Gate, Castle Acre, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, was also told to register as a sex-offender for 10 years and banned from working with children.

He was arrested after officers, who raided a flat in Drummond Road, Skegness, seized his computer and a number of CDs and floppy discs.

Stephen Lowne, prosecuting, said more than 3,000 images of naked and semi-naked girls were found, though none featured any sexual activity.

March 2015

Jail for pervert who threatened young girls so they would send him explicit pictures

A man who encouraged girls to send him explicit pictures and then threatened them has been sent to prison for over five years.

Police received information suggesting that Jordan Towers, 22, formerly of Northdown Road in Broadstairs, had been contacting girls via various social media sites.

Having engaged them in conversation he would encourage them to take intimate pictures of themselves and then send them to him.

He would perform sexual acts via a webcam and then encourage them to do the same, and threaten them that if they didn’t he would contact their friends and family with the messages and pictures the girls had previously sent.

Towers targeted schoolgirls as young as 14 years-old.

Having been identified by detectives from the paedophile online investigation team, Towers was arrested in June 2013 and later charged with six offences.

• He later pleaded guilty on January 15 to five offences;

• inciting a child to engage in a penetrative sex act,

• inciting a child to engage in a non-penetrative sex act,

• sexual activity in the presence of a child,

• possessing indecent images of children and

• inciting a child to be involved in pornography

He was sentenced on March 10 to five years and two months years in prison. An indefinite sexual offences prevention order was also granted.

Detective constable Dave Taft said: “Jordan Towers systematically set out to humiliate and threaten girls for his own sexual purposes.

“I would like to pay tribute to those who were brave enough to contact the police, and say to all children that if you are concerned about the way someone is behaving towards you online, please tell someone.

“It may be that the offender is offending against others as well, and your piece of information could be the final part of a jigsaw that helps to protect other people.

“Finally, we can’t emphasise enough how important it is for parents to understand how the internet works, to know how social networking works and to know what their children can access online, and who can access them.

“The internet is an incredible tool, but there are people who use it for bad purposes. Parents should talk with their children, open up those lines of communication and learn together to ensure children use the internet safely. The “stranger danger” concept is as relevant to the internet as it is to meeting strangers in real life.”

March 2015

Anglesey man had 2,700 indecent child images and 30,600 showing ‘interest’ in children

AN Anglesey man found to have more than 2,700 indecent child images also had 30,600 other photographs showing an interest in youngsters, a court heard. 

Tomos Bennett, aged 34, of Bwlch, Benllech, admitted distributing and downloading indecent images after his home was searched in April 2013. 

Defence barrister Elen Owen at Caernarfon crown court said he had no previous convictions. 

Bennett claimed he couldn’t remember what kind of images he distributed. 

Judge David Hale said the prosecution needed to go back to the police for more information.

But he said it was an “inevitable” prison term and he remanded Bennett in custody until a trial of issue at Mold crown court on April 2. 

March 2015

CONVICTED paedophile serving a 17-year prison sentence for child sex crimes is on trial facing further allegations

 denies four charges of attempted rape, one of sexual activity with a child, and two of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

It is alleged that the 45-year-old, from County Durham, systematically abused a boy while showering him with gifts and threatening him to stay quiet about it.

Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday that Pennock was jailed in 2011 for offences against another child – although he still denies doing anything wrong.

His barrister, Jeremy Hill-Baker, QC, accused the latest alleged victim of chasing money after hearing the first accuser got a £22,000 compensation payout.

Asked by Mr Hill-Baker of any of the abuse really happened, he replied over a live video-link to the courtroom: “Yeah, it did . . . I would not make it up.”

The lawyer highlighted a number of discrepancies in the complainant’s various accounts, and asked why he had waited years before reporting matters to police.

He answered: “Do you know how hard it is for somebody to come out with stuff like this? I wanted to tell the police but I didn’t want to put myself through what I am today.

“I didn’t think I was up to that.

“I thought I would not be able to hack people knowing about what he has done, and coming to court and stuff . . . I didn’t want people knowing about what’s been going on.”

Mr Hill-Baker suggested the complainant made the allegations only after learning of the payout from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority – which he denied.

“Do you think I would make up lies just for compensation? I don’t think so – not in a million years,” he told the jury of six men and six women.

Asked what it was that made him eventually speak to the police, he added: “Why should it be me who suffers and why should it be him who gets away with it?

“I don’t see why he should get away with what he has done to me. I don’t want him to get to other people like he got to me. I don’t think the public is safe around him.

“I thought why should he get away with what he has done. I want justice.”

Pennock, whose address on the court papers is HMP Durham, but is formerly from Shotton Colliery, near Peterlee, denies all the charges against him.

The trial, due to last five days, is expected to continue today

March 1998

Former professional boxer was jailed for two years for a sex attack on a teenage girl at a Lake District camp site

Gordon Stobie (36) was found guilty by a jury at Carlisle Crown Court of indecently assaulting the 16-year-old girl as he was chatting to her in her tent in the middle of one night last July on the Park Foot camp site, near Pooley Bridge.

He had earlier told his 12-year-old son to go away and look at the lake for 10 minutes so he could be alone with the girl, who had never had a boyfriend.

Stobie, who lives with his wife and four children in Greenwell Street, Darlington, was cleared of a more serious charge of attempted rape, but Judge Robert Brown told him he had to go to prison for ignoring the girl’s pleas for him to stop.

“Your attitude was that you hoped that if you persisted for long enough she would change her mind,” he said. “It was despicable behaviour.”

The judge ordered Stobie to register with the police as a sex offender for 10 years.

At the time of the attack Stobie was staying at the camp site while working as a roofing contractor in the Kirkby Thore area. The girl, who was enjoying a holiday before going into hospital for an operation, told the court she met him after she befriended his children there.

Late one night, after they had all been dancing to a band in the site’s club room, Stobie insisted on cooking her a late-night omelette in her tent.

He quickly started making suggestive comments and questioning her about her sex life, she said. Then, after discovering she had never even had a boyfriend, he asked her if she would sleep with him.

He pushed her back on the airbed, pinned her arms above her head and started kissing her, she said. She managed to escape after knocking him backwards by punching him in the ribs.

In evidence, Stobie claimed the girl had made the running. She put her arm round him and kissed him, so he responded, he said.

He said he had been married for 18 years and would Do nothing to hurt his wife. “I love her to bits,” he said.

March 2015

Portadown man admits 11 sexual charges against children

A Portadown man who pleaded guilty to 11 sexual charges against children has been placed on probation for three years.

David Ernest Forde, of Alexandra Avenue, was sentenced at Craigavon Crown Court last Friday.

The 51-year-old married man admitted seven charges of causing/inciting sexual activity with a child aged 13-16 and four charges of sexual activity with a child aged 13-16.

The court heard that the incidents involved two 14-year-old girls and two 15-year-old girls. They took place between June and August 2013 at a house in Birchdale Manor in Lurgan where the defendant was living at the time.

A barrister for the prosecution outlined how Forde contacted the girls by text and invited them to his house, paying for taxis for them. Once there, he gave them alcohol and cigarettes.

He said the girls recognised the inappropriateness of the relationship and rejected the advances, but used the house as somewhere to meet and, in some cases, drink.

He outlined how Forde would go up to the bath and then ask the girls to go up and scrub his back. Another time he asked one of the girls to lie on the bed with him. He also sent suggestive texts.

The more serious offences included grabbing the girls’ breasts and bottoms over their clothing and attempting to kiss one of them.

On one occasion he asked two of the girls to touch an intimate part of his body.

Defence barrister Greg Berry QC said his client had no previous convictions and that at the time of the offences he had separated from his wife, was drinking to excess and did not seem to remember all the incidents.

Judge Patrick Lynch QC said the girls had regarded Forde as a “dirty old man” – a view he too shared – but there was no sign they had suffered any harm. He ordered him to be the subject of a number of sexual prevention orders.

The activities came to light when one of the mothers confronted Forde and told her daughter to record what was happening.

March 2015

Sex offender who molested schoolgirl fails in legal bid to reduce lengthy rehabilitation

A SEX offender who molested a schoolgirl more than eight years ago has failed in a legal bid to reduce his lengthy rehabilitation.

Gareth Taylor, then 21, was initially jailed for 18 months in May 2007 at Burnley Crown Court after he admitted to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, who had cried for him to stop during the attack.

He was already under a sexual offences prevention order, imposed for previous misconduct, and Judge Christopher Cornwall jailed him indefinitely for public protection, with a minimum term of 18 months recommended.

Taylor, of Empress Street, Accrington, saw this stretch officially end in November 2008, but the Home Office, after a Parole Board recommendation, told him he should remain in detention.

Lawyers representing Taylor lodged a claim with the European Court of Human Rights concerning the alleged unavailability of an appropriate sex offenders treatment programme for their client, which may have accelerated his release.

The court heard that while at HMP Preston he had been the subject of several “adjudications”, punishing him seven times for failing to comply with prison rules and once for destroying property.

Taylor eventually ended up in HMP Bure, and again failed to convince the authorities that he should be released in a March 2011 ruling, following another Parole Board hearing.

In July that year Taylor successfully applied to be transferred to HMP Wymott, in Lancashire, on compassionate grounds, as his father was unwell.

His legal team indicated, the following November, that they were contemplating judicial review proceedings over the continuing failure to place him on a sex offenders treatment programme, the court was told.

But governors at Wymott told Taylor that as he had not elected to return to Bure, this was a factor in the delay and he would be offered a place on a suitable course, starting in August or September 2012.

Before then a third Parole Board hearing, which was told he still posed a risk, recommended he remain in custody, the court heard. He completed the sex offenders programme in February 2013.

The case for Taylor was that his sentence now bore little relation to his original punishment and the Prison Service had failed to provide an appropriate course to promote his release.

Government lawyers stressed that Taylor had elected to remain at Wymott, knowing there would be a potential delay in accessing a course, and any subsequent detention was not “arbitrary”.

Ruling against Taylor, court president Nona Tsotsoria said: “The delay of around one year from July 2011 to August 2012 was in order to accommodate his wishes and occurred with his agreement.

“In these circumstances tThe court is satisfied that a real opportunity for rehabilitation was provided to the applicant and that there was no unreasonable delay in providing him access to courses.”

The court heard that a fourth Parole Board hearing, staged in February 2014, had also not recommended his release but allowed his transfer to an open prison.

November 2005

Pervert jailed for offences against girls

A SERIAL pervert has been jailed for more than two years for sex offences against two young girls.

Roderick Tilbury, 41, of Leith Walk, served an 18-month jail term for assaulting a woman with intent to rape in 1991.

Ten years later the father-of-six was jailed again for kissing and touching a 14-year-old girl.

Today’s 30-month sentence at the High Court in Edinburgh was for offences dating back to the early 1990s.

A jury heard cleaner Tilbury was supposed to be looking after the girls – then aged seven and nine – during overnight stays at his then home in the Muirhouse area.

One girl told how he pulled off her bed covers and exposed himself to her. The older girl described how Tilbury had touched her.

Tilbury was found guilty of two charges of indecent behaviour but he was cleared of six other charges involving other girls.

December 2001

Drink party pervert gets 30 months

A 37-YEAR-OLD man who “took advantage” of a 13-year-old girl and indecently assaulted her while she was drunk has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Roderick Tilbury, in custody, pleaded guilty to the indecency charge last month and sentence was deferred for reports.

The incident took place on September 16 last year in a house then occupied by Tilbury in Muirhouse Way, Edinburgh.

Fiscal Gillian More said a number of young people had been drinking heavily in Tilbury’s house.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that the girl collapsed as she left and Tilbury carried her back into the house where he committed the offence.

The girl, said Mrs More, had been shouting for him to stop and was crying.

Defence agent Nigel Bruce said that drinking parties involving young people were “unfortunately” a regular occurrence in the house.

In many cases of this kind, he added, the accused blamed the victim, but Tilbury had not done so

Sheriff Elisabeth Jarvie QC told Tilbury he had taken advantage of the girl while she was in a very vulnerable state.

“You were in a position of trust with this girl alone,” she said.

The offence, she added, had been committed against the girl’s will and had caused her considerable distress.

The Sheriff also pointed out that Tilbury had a previous conviction for a similar offence at yesterday’s hearing.

As well as jailing Tilbury for 30 months, Sheriff Jarvie ordered his name be placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for three years.

November 2013

Sex assault victim’s plea after attacker is locked up

A 22-year-old man from Timsbury has been sentenced to 21 months behind bars after pleading guilty to sexual activity with an underage girl.

Benjamin Maggs appeared before Bristol Crown Court on Monday after admitting he had sex with the teenager when she was 15.

He also pleaded guilty to groping the same girl in a sexual manner after chasing her down an alleyway.

His victim, who is now 17, and her mother have added their voices to demands to keep the existing age of consent at 16 in light of calls for it to be lowered to 15.

Judge Michael Roach described sexual activity with a person under the legal age of consent as a ‘serious offence’ adding that in the case of Maggs it was made all the more serious because he had already been warned by both police and the girl’s mother to put an end to the relationship with the girl five years his junior.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was in court with her mother to watch Maggs get sentenced and now hopes to be able to finally get on with her life and education

Professor John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, told the Sunday Times this week that lowering the age of consent would make it easier for 15-year-olds to get sexual health advice from teachers and health workers.

But the teenager said: “When it first started I thought I had found a man with a car and ID who thought I was attractive and special, but when I think about it now I wonder why he would find a child attractive and appealing. It makes me feel sick. Looking back I think that at 15 you are too immature to consent.”

Her mother described the suggestion as “ridiculous”.

The victim said the abuse she had faced on social media for reporting the matter had been upsetting.

Maggs was ordered to be put on the sex offenders register for the next ten years.

March 2015

Sex offender back in jail again as judge admits process is “taking longer than it should”

A 74-YEAR-OLD Cam man who has become a sexual danger to women as a result of the brain damage he suffered from a stroke may be released from prison soon with an order to protect the public, a court heard today.

Michael Webber, of Draycott, Cam, has pleaded guilty to a string of sexual assaults that took place last year, involving a 14-year-old girl on April 5, a woman on June 18 and another woman on two occasions between May 14 and June 15.

He was due to be sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court on Tuesday, March 10, but ‘crossed wires’ between the defence and the court’s liaison psychiatric nurse meant that arrangements for his future had not been finalised.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC expressed his frustration at another delay in the long-running case.

“This is now a question of considerable urgency. The judge’s principal task in this case is not punishment but protection of females from Mr Webber if he were to have a recurrence of his illness.”

The psychiatric nurse, Andy Webb, told the judge “His condition is ongoing. Unfortunately because of his vascular damage it will stabilise but it will continue.”

He said he would speak to Webber’s psychiatrist to arrange an assessment of the interventions necessary in his case but thought that would have to take place in Webber’s home, which would mean him having to be released from custody on bail.

Mr Webb said it would be possible, in view of the length of time Webber has already been in custody, to pass a Guardianship Order under the Mental Health Act so he could live at home but with controls and safeguards.

Remanding Webber back into custody till April 7 the judge told him: “What I am trying to do is to see that you are released and that there are people around you to help. It is taking a little longer than it should.”

March 2015

Paedophile jailed for 13-and-a-half years for abusing 10-year-old girl

A man who sexually abused a 10-year-old girl has been jailed for 13-and-a-half years.

Alan Clarke, 31, of Pier Road, Gravesend, assaulted the child on numerous occasions over a period of a year.

He was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing or inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity at Maidstone Crown Court.

He denied the allegations throughout a trial at Maidstone Crown Court, but was found guilty by a jury. He was sentenced at the same court on 6 March

As well as his jail sentence, Clarke was given a sexual offences prevention order, and will have to register as a sex offender when he is released.

Investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Jayne Thomas of Kent Police’s public protection unit, said: ‘I respect the judge’s sentencing in this particular matter, as well as the duty carried out by the jury – such trials are wholly unpleasant to have to be a part of.

‘The sentence reflects the seriousness of his crimes. He will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his eventual release, providing further reassurances to the community.

‘Kent Police’s absolute focus is the victim in such matters, as well as providing them with the justice they so rightly deserve in order to have some closure and move forward with their lives. I wish this brave young victim and family the very best for the future.

‘I would urge those who have experienced abuse to report it to police, you will be treated with respect and dignity at all times.’

March 2015

Jail for man who masturbated in front of young girls at Wakefield station

A 30-year-old man has been jailed for 32 months for masturbating in front of two young girls at Wakefield Kirkgate station.

Samuel Robert Frost, of Talbot Road, Normanton, appeared for sentencing at Leeds Crown Court on 6 March after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

The court heard details of the offence, which took place at around 11.30am on 18 May 2014 at the station.

Frost had seen the two girls, who were aged 12 and 13 and both from the Wakefield area, and began touching himself.

He then followed them through the station subway and onto platform 1. He then fully exposed himself to his two young victims and masturbated in their direction.

“This was repulsive behavior by a sex offender”

Sergeant Jackie Wilson said: “Frost was already the subject of a lifetime Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) at the time of the offence.

“Both girls showed extreme bravery and managed to take a photo of Frost. It was their quick thinking actions during what must have been an extremely frightening and distressing situation that helped us identify Frost and bring him to justice.

“This was repulsive behavior by a sex offender who sought out the girls at the station for his own gratification.”

March 2015

Paedophile who molested an 11-year-old girl for over 2 years told he may not face prison

A MAN who repeatedly molested a young girl when he ‘felt unloved in his marital relationship’ has been told he may not be sent to prison.

Mehboob Hassan, who indecently touched the girl on numerous occasions and also got her to touch him, has been told he may be allowed to keep his liberty.

Recorder John Trevaskis put off passing sentence to get an extra probation report saying the case is ‘on the cusp for immediate custody or an alternative disposal’.

The 38-year-old started groping the youngster when she was just 11 years old, and continued to abuse her for almost two years, Swindon Crown Court heard

And when he was questioned by police he said he was having difficulties in his marriage and felt unloved, and asked why he was getting all the blame.

Tessa Hingston, prosecuting, told the court how in October last year the youngster told her mum that Hassan had been abusing her.

She said he had been repeatedly molesting her since August 2012 and also getting her to touch him, telling her not to tell anyone what was going on.

When questioned, he initially denied any wrongdoing but eventually admitted the girl was telling the truth.

“He said she reciprocated: it was unfair that he was getting the blame for it,” Miss Hingston said,

“In interview he said he was having difficulties in the relationship with his wife and he felt unloved.”

A victim impact statement from the girl’s family told how the youngster had developed body image issues and didn’t like to see herself in the mirror.

She also now feels dirty all the time and is obsessed with washing her hands, none of which occurred before she revealed the abuse took place.

Hassan, of Trent Road, pleaded to guilty to two multi-incident counts of sexual activity with a child.

He had been due to face eight counts under a different section of the Sexual Offence Act but the indictment was changed before being put to him

Rob Ross, defending, said it was ‘a terrible case’ for the girl and her family and also for his client, who had suffered problems since being arrested.

“I have spoken, through him, to his mother, indicating he has always been a happy go lucky hard working family man,” he said.

He added: “This behaviour he finds hard to comprehend. It is thankful in the scale of sexual offences it is lower down the scale than we often see.”

He urged the court to consider suspended the jail term to allow his client to keep his liberty.

Recorder John Trevaskis said: “I think I am of the mind that this matter does need some further consideration by the probation service.”

He told Mr Ross: “Bearing in mind this case is a case that is very much on the cusp for immediate custody or an alternative disposal, in fairness to the probation service it may be necessary for the author of the report to address these issues in the light of the counts to which your client has pleaded.

But he told Hassan: “I am not in any sense giving you any sort of promises as to what sort of sentence you will receive.

“I am not reserving this to myself, it will be a different judge who hears the case along with your mitigation.”

He adjourned the case to March 27 and released him on conditional bail until then and told him he must register as a sex offender.

March 2015

Pervert admits downloading graphic images of children being abused

Andrew Mackay also told officers who raided his home: “It was my morbid curiosity that made me do it.”

The 35-year-old appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday and admitted two charges of possessing pornographic images and videos involving children, adults and animals.

Sentence was deferred until April 17 for reports and he was placed on the sex offenders register.

Fiscal depute Karen Smith told the court that police had received information that the internet provider address linked to Mackay and his address at 14 MacLennan Crescent, Inverness, had been used to access indecent images of children.

She added: “A search warrant was obtained and two laptops were seized.

“Upon analysis, both contained illegal material.

“One laptop contained 57 thumbnail images which had been deleted and five videos, all created between August, 2012 and April 2014.

“On the second laptop, 414 thumbnails and nine video fragments were found.

“In total, there were 471 images and 14 videos, all created between August 2012 and April 2014. Sharing software was also found on his computer.”

Of the images, 142 pictures and seven videos were regarded as the two most graphic kind.

When officers searched his home, he admitted that he had indecent images, saying: “I have looked at the images and they made me physically sick.”

He added that some of the videos he had downloaded but had not viewed and his partner was unaware of the password to his computer.

March 2015

Repairmen found child abuse images on Lochalsh man’s computer

A LOCHALSH man was snared for possessing child pornography when he put his computer in for repair and the images were found in a folder entitled “kiddies”.

The discovery was reported to the police and it led to them uncovering 65 images and nine videos on Allan Macleod’s computer which depicted children as young as five and others involved sexual activity between women and animals.

Macleod (26) of Balmacara was placed on the Sex Offenders Register at Inverness Sheriff Court on Tuesday and his sentence was deferred until April 15.

The court heard Macleod made a call to someone to repair his computer in March 2012.

Depute fiscal Karen Smith said within minutes the computer expert observed a folder named “kiddies” on the monitor.

“It was a reference to children as young as six and three,” said the fiscal.

“He stopped what he was doing immediately. He didn’t want to look at any of the files and requested someone else to come and confirm what he had found.”

The fiscal said upon opening one of the files they found an indecent picture of a female child aged nine.

“Both were disgusted at what they saw and took the computer to the police in Kyle where it was handed into officers,” she said.

Mrs Smith said police searched Macleod’s address on March 10 of that year and found no further computers.

She said he denied looking at any indecent images of children.

In total 65 images and nine videos were found.

“He stated he was unaware of any indecent images on his computer and said they must have got there by a computer virus,” she said.

The fiscal said there were folders for ‘kiddies’, ‘rape’ and an ‘animal’ folder featuring women and dogs.

Some of the indecent videos of boys and girls involved children aged between 5 and 12 and there were pictures of boys and girls aged between 8 and 12 posing naked.

Macleod admitted on Tuesday taking photographs or pseudo-photographs of children between August 20, 2009 and September 3, 2012 at Phoenix House, Croft 7, Hamilton Road, Balmacara.

He also admitted between March 28 2011 and March 7, 2012 at the same address having possession of extreme pornographic images depicting sexual activity between women and animals.

Solicitor Pauline Chapman said she would reserve her mitigation until criminal justice social work reports were before the court.

March 2015

Pervert jailed over string of child sex abuse offences

A 45-year-old Conwy man has been jailed for four years for a string of child sex abuse offences.

Paul Oakley, of Grove Park, Colwyn Bay, carried out the abuse over a four-year period, Caernarfon Crown Court was told.

A jury had found him guilty of eleven charges of sexual assault.

Judge Michael Burr said the assaults had led to “very serious consequences” for the victim.

Oakley was also handed a Sexual Offences Prevention Order to last 10 years. He was convicted of eleven offences at a previous hearing.