Feb 2007

Wife swap Lizzie in child abuse prison let off

WIFE Swap star Lizzy Bardsley yesterday admitted she needs professional help for her foul mouthed tantrums as she escaped jail for child cruelty offences.

The mum-of-eight was also called “pigheaded” by a judge for refusing to see a psychologist.

Bardsley was given an eight-month suspended sentence and two-year supervision order by Manchester crown court for beating a teenage boy.

The 33-year-old, was found guilty of three charges of wilful assault of a child under 16 and one of wilful ill-treatment. All the offences relate to one child, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Judge Hernandez said: “One of your major faults is lack of humility. You are unable to stand back and accept your actions may have been wrong.”

Her barrister Wayne Jackson said of the psychologist: “She was happy to see him but was not sure it would help with the child-care issues.”

He also claimed she could not do community service because she could not take public transport and walk 25 minutes to a local centre.

Judge Hernandez said: “The impression I’m left with is of a pigheaded woman lacking in empathy.”

But after consulting her lawyer Bardsley said she would seek expert help for her explosive temper.

Her trial in January heard that Bardsley, from Rochdale, repeatedly slapped the boy – who cannot be named for legal reasons – punched him in the face, bit him, tried to knee him in the genitals and subjected him to a torrent of obscene names. He later made three suicide attempts.

On Channel 4′s Wife Swap Bardsley bragged that she and her then husband Mark got £37,500 a year in benefits.

In 2005 she was ordered to repay £5,000 after she failed to declare earnings on the back of her TV appearance.

April 2003

Baby murderer jailed for life

A man who killed a baby girl after mounting a campaign of “physical and sexual torture” has been jailed for life.

Ross Hammond, 23, inflicted 117 injuries on 13-month-old Jade Hart, the daughter of his teenage girlfriend.

The jury heard the toddler was so frightened of Hammond, from Ramsgate in Kent, she began to scream if he even looked at her in the weeks leading up to her death on 31 July last year.

Two jurors at Middlesex Guildhall Crown Court wept as the guilty verdict was returned.

Hammond, a labourer from Manston Road, Ramsgate, left the girl’s body covered in bruises and bite marks, the trial heard.

She suffered a series of other injuries including a brain haemorrhage, a broken shin bone, nine fractured ribs, a ruptured liver, a burnt foot and a black eye.

The jury was also told Jade’s fractured ribs had been caused by “severe squeezing or compression” or possibly a punch.

The girl’s mother, Sarah Hart, 19, of Royal Road, Ramsgate, has admitted child cruelty by neglect. She was sentenced to a year in a young offenders institution

The court heard Hart had failed to call the emergency services or get medical treatment for her daughter Jade after Hammond injured the baby.

The court heard Hart, from Canterbury Road East in Ramsgate, had left Jade in the care of 23-year-old Hammond at his flat on 31 July last year.

When she returned to the flat in Staner Court, she found the baby with head injuries and vomit on her, but did not call for an ambulance.

She was eventually convinced to get help but Jade died within 45 minutes of the ambulance arriving.

She was a former girlfriend of Hammond, and met up with him again shortly before the baby’s first birthday, when she returned to Ramsgate after separating from Jade’s father, from Barking, Essex.

Jurors were told Hammond regularly babysat for the little girl after getting back with her mother, but within six weeks Jade had been murdered.

Hart first noticed a large bruise on her daughter’s thigh on 16 July, later discovered to be caused by a human bite.

After more bruises appeared in the next few days she was urged by relatives to take Jade to a doctor, who found marks on her legs and bruises and lumps on her head.

But Hart believed her boyfriend’s story the girl had fallen and hurt herself.

The court heard he inflicted a fresh set of injuries on Jade while babysitting on 31 July, after which her mother found her “floppy” and continually falling asleep and vomiting.

She died in hospital later that day.

Judge Fabyan Evans told Hammond: “I have to take into account your victim was a very young child and in my view she was sexually abused.”

Members of the public cheered and clapped as Hammond, who had denied murder, was led away to start his life sentence.

January 2008

No prison for sex abuse soldier

An Army officer who sexually abused young girls has walked free from court.

The sheriff at Perth Sheriff Court said it was not in the public interest to jail Christopher Orr, who needs help for his “complex problems”.

Orr, 38, had previously admitted tricking the youngsters into touching him, by getting them to hunt for coins in his pocket, which had a hole in it.

He has been placed on probation and the Sex Offenders Register and will carry out 180 hours of community service.

Sheriff Robert McCreadie expressed sympathy for Orr and told him it “would be difficult for him” to come to terms with being a paedophile.

The sheriff said: “I am quite clear that it is not in the public interest simply to put him in prison for a short period of what would be a few days.

‘Explore issues’

Orr, formerly of Inchture, Perthshire, and now of Gilmore Place, Bruntsfield, Edinburgh, admitted the offence in Inchture in 2002.

“Work should be done with him to address his complex problems. I am not considering custody.

“This may be extremely difficult for him because he may need to explore issues he would prefer not to explore.”

The court was told that Orr – who serves with the 4th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland – was due to return to Redford Barracks in Edinburgh shortly.

He is currently on sick leave, and is scheduled to be discharged from the Army next year.

However, the court heard that he faces a court martial in England next month, relating to a military conduct matter.

Orr, from Edinburgh, previously admitted committing the indecency offence against the seven and eight year olds in Inchture in Perthshire during 2002.

The court had been told that Orr made the girls continue playing his “hunt the coin” game even after they became upset.

The soldier then rewarded the children with cash to go and buy sweets.

His crime came to light five years later when one of the girls told her parents what had happened.

May 2010

Pervert is sent to prison for sex with 13-year-old girl

A pervert who had sex with a schoolgirl he met on the internet after plying her with booze has been jailed for three years.

Jailing 36-year-old Kenneth McMurray at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Gemma Loughran said she was “singularly unimpressed” with his continued claims the 13-year-old girl led him on by sending him flirtatious texts.

“A duty of the system of justice must be to protect young people including teenagers who do not wish or seek to protect themselves and deliberately place themselves in a vulnerable position,” said the judge, adding it was McMurray’s responsibility as an adult “not to respond”.

Earlier she had heard how married father-of-two McMurray, from Silvio Street in Belfast, initially encountered the schoolgirl on the internet around Christmas 2008 and asked her for her mobile number “on a daily basis”.

Prosecuting QC David Hunter told the court there was then a “very large number of text messages” sent between the two. This included McMurray sending what the girl described as “dirty texts” and professing his love for her before persuading her to send a photo of herself.

The lawyer said McMurray picked the girl up from school a couple of times but that nothing untoward happened until March 24 when McMurray took the girl back to his house where he gave her two large bottles of alcopop and had sex with her in the marital bed. Afterwards McMurray warned her not to tell anyone because if his wife found out she would “call the peelers” but the teenager told her mother what had happened and McMurray was arrested.

McMurray later pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child involving unlawful sex on dates between March 20 and 26 last year.

November 2005

Pervert Sir and pupil caught canoodling behind a tool shed

A TEACHER caught kissing a girl of 14 at a train station was seen with her less than an hour later behind a tool shed. 

Alan Russell, 37, shared a passionate clinch with the pupil in Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens. 

Earlier, he had been cautioned by staff at the city’s Haymarket station after he was spotted kissing the girl, who was in her school uniform. 

But Russell, a married father-of-one, then boarded a train with the pupil and travelled to nearby Waverley station. Moments later, a shocked council worker discovered them canoodling again.

Gardener Kenny Miller, 44, said: “I went to the hut at the back of the gardens and they were leaning against it. 

“He had her in his arms and they were kissing. The age difference between them struck me immediately. 

“She saw me and her mouth fell open in shock. He turned his face away. 

“I was stunned. They weren’t even in a very private place. 

“It took me a few minutes to pull myself together. When I looked back at them, they had gone.” 

Kenny, of Edinburgh’s Northfield area, recognised Russell because the teacher had been a guest at his wedding. 

He said: “He came to my wedding in 2002 as a guest of my wife’s. I would have recognised his long, curly hair anywhere. I was horrified he could do something like this.” 

Kenny reported the incident to his line manager, who called police Evidence Lothian and Borders officers handed the details to the British Transport Police (BTP), who were already investigating the train station incident. 

But the Crown Office decided to drop the case. 

A spokesman for the BTP said yesterday: “We investigated an incident at Haymarket Station on September 16. 

“Allegations were also made about an incident at another location. But there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.” 

Russell was fired as physics and PE master from private St Serf’s School in Edinburgh after he sent a red rose to the girl, with a note saying: “Sorry, I love you.” 

The Scout leader used a mobile phone to contact the pupil. 

It was programmed to play Sweet Child Of Mine, by Guns ‘n’ Roses, when it rang, and to flash up a photo of the girl. 

Russell has dumped his wife of 10 years, Jacqui, 48, and is staying with a friend in South Queensferry, near Edinburgh. He is working as a barman. 

It is believed Russell, who has an 11year-old son, began a relationship with the girl, now 15, at least 18 months ago. 

He was caught out in September last year when he had the rose sent to her in school and it was traced to him Two weeks later, staff at Haymarket station called police after Russell was captured on CCTV kissing the girl. 

He was charged with indecent behaviour towards an under-age girl. 

But the case was dropped after Russell denied having a sexual relationship with the pupil and claimed he was hugging her because she was upset. 

Russell was however sacked after he was found guilty from St Serf’s last March after a disciplinary hearing 

September 2007

Pervert is jailed for 12 years after molesting three young children

A pervert who raped two boys, including a 11 year old boy twice in a night, and sexually molested a third was yesterday jailed for 12 years and banned from ever having unsupervised contact with children again.

After agreeing to spend a further three years on probation to complete the community sex offenders programme, 33-year-old Daniel Patrick Blaney was told by Craigavon Crown Court Judge Patrick Markey QC that the “extreme indignities” he forced upon his young victims meant that he faced ” severe punishment”.

Earlier he heard that Blaney, who was also ordered to remain on the police sex offenders register for the rest of his life, raped his first victim, an 11-year-old boy in October 2005, an attack later described by the boy as ” like a knife to the heart”.

He also heard that Blaney, with an address at Charles Street in Portadown, sexually molested a nine-year-old boy in the same month and raped another 11-year-old boy twice in one night in November 2005, threatening to ” kill him” if he told anyone.

However, nothing was said in mitigation for Blaney, who pleaded guilty to three counts of rape and two of indecent assault because he claimed innocence to probation officers and his legal team felt professionally obliged to “come off record”.

Prosecuting lawyer David McDowell said that when the offences came to light, the first victim told police he thought Blaney had planned the rape as he told him he intended to do it to the other two boys as well.

Turning to Blaney’s second victim, a nine-year-old boy whom he molested, the lawyer said that later in the same month the boy told his mother that Blaney had thrown him on the bed and after covering his face, sexually assaulted him and threatened to beat him if he told anyone.

In relation to Blaney’s second rape victim, Mr McDowell said Blaney grabbed the 11-year-old boy and dragged him to his bedroom where he punched him in the face, ordered the boy to strip and raped him.

The lawyer revealed that during the attack, the boy tried to scream but was again hit in the mouth and further revealed that later the same evening, woke the boy up and raped him again.

“At one point during the incident, Mr Blaney threatened that if he told anyone, he would kill him and hit him,” said Mr McDowell.

Blaney was arrested and interviewed but denied the boys’ allegations, instead claiming two other people he named had abused them.

Concluding his opening, Mr McDowell told the court of a previous conviction for indecent assault dating back to when Blaney was a teenager and molested another boy with the judge commenting it showed a “longstanding propensity”.

Handing down the terms, Judge Markey said he hoped that if completed, the probation element would mean Blaney “will not be a danger to young children and adolescents”.

Feb 2012

Pervert fled after being confronted by girl’s mother

A sex offender who organised to meet a 15-year-old girl after grooming her for sex fled the scene when confronted by the girl’s mother, a court heard.

Bernard Hassard (46), a former shop assistant from Irvinestown Road in Enniskillen, ran away when the girl turned up at their arranged meeting point with her mother.

Omagh Crown Court heard that Hassard had also invited a 13-year-old girl on a “blind date” after telling her that he loved her.

Hassard had contacted both girls by mobile phone and sent them several texts between October 15 and 26, 2010.

When he was arrested, police found him to be in possession of 48 mobile phones.

Hassard pleaded guilty earlier this week to sexually grooming the two girls with the intention of committing a sex offence.

He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, but due to time spent on remand it is understood that he could be released within days. He will then spend 12 months on licence.

A prosecution barrister told the court that the 15-year-old girl received a text message on October 15, 2010 that stated: ‘What are you doing? Are you going out tonight?’

The person sending the text said his name was Bernard and he was from St Joseph’s College in Enniskillen.

The girl was in a car with her mother when Hassard texted her to ask her to meet him at the Fire Station in Enniskillen.

Her mother drove her to the station and confronted Hassard.

She told him that he had been texting a 15-year-old girl and he then fled the scene.

The court was told Hassard had also texted a 13-year-old girl and had claimed that he was 15.

He told her that he loved her and wanted to be with her, and asked if they could meet up.

The girl agreed to meet him, but when she arrived at an arranged location she saw an older man.

She ran away and police were informed. Police discovered that the phone used to contact the girl was registered to Hassard.

Judge Melody McReynolds banned Hassard from having contact with the two girls or unsupervised contact with any child.

He was also prohibited from loitering within 50 metres of a “child-centred location”.

He is further banned from having more than one mobile phone and must sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.

April 2003

Sex abuse pool attendant jailed

A former school swimming pool attendant has been jailed for six years for sexually abusing two young girls.

Clive Hunt, 58, from Livingston, was found guilty of three charges of indecent behaviour committed 20 years ago.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how one of his victims, who was only five-years-old when the abuse started, reported him to the authorities when she was 13-years-old.

It then took 16 years for the case to be brought to court after a former childhood friend of the girl also made a complaint against Hunt.

One victim, now aged 29, told an earlier trial how Hunt went into the showers and asked her to take off her swimming costume.

Victim threatened

She said he also abused her on nature walks, threatening to kill her pet dog if she told anyone what was happening.

The crimes were committed at houses in West Lothian and at schools where Hunt used to work.

Judge Lady Cosgrove had called for background reports after a jury found Hunt guilty of three charges of indecent behaviour.

He returned to court on Wednesday and was sentenced to six years in prison.

One victim told the court: “I used to be interested in wildlife. He used to show me frogs and wee animals and things like that. He would sort of use these things.

“He threatened to kill my mum and my dog if I told my mum.”

The second victim was abused by Hunt at houses in Livingston over a period of nearly five years from when she was aged seven.

December 2006

Pervert who took indecent photos jailed

A SEX offender banned from talking to children was today jailed for five years after taking indecent photos of three schoolgirls he befriended in a park

James McKerrell, 63, invited six youngsters into his flat at Granton Crescent at different times between July and September this year. One of the children was aged just six.

McKerrell made indecent remarks to three of them, aged between ten and 13, ordered them to strip off or lift their tops and then took the photographs. He gave the three girls cigarettes and cash and offered them alcohol.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told at an earlier hearing that McKerrell has past sex offences and was banned from “forming an association” with children in October last year.

But he ignored the court order and began to chat to local schoolgirls at Granton Park near his home. Over a period of two months he invited six children back to his flat and took the mobile phone numbers of several. He later texted them messages.

His first victim was a ten-year-old girl who he called by name when he spotted her in the park

A few days later he asked her to his flat with a friend, also aged 10. He offered them alcohol and cigarettes. They returned again and he asked both the girls to pull up their tops so he could take pictures of their naked torsos. with a Polaroid camera.

He then asked one of the youngsters to wear a bikini top he took out of a cupboard. As they left he gave them each 3.

McKerrell pleaded guilty to two charges of lewd behaviour, a breach of the peace, possessing indecent photographs and breaching a sexual offences prevention order.

Sheriff Mhairi Stephen today jailed McKerrell for a total of five years with an extended sentence of one year to run from his release. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

February 2010

Pervert faces return to jail for abusing two girls over three decades

A PERVERT released early from a jail sentence for child porn crimes has admitted subjecting two girls aged as young as 11 to years of sexual abuse spanning three decades.

Douglas Ashall, 57, began abusing one girl in 1974, while a second girl was his victim from 1987 until 1991.

Both girls were aged between 11 and 16 at the time of the abuse and the offences only came to light when they told health-care professionals years after the incidents.

Ashall was interviewed by police and admitted what he had done before being arrested in May last year.

The father of three was initially jailed for 18 months in June last year after being caught with hundreds of child abuse pictures.

After an appeal, this was reduced to 12 months and he served just six months in custody before being released on a tag, but yesterday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court he pleaded guilty to four charges of lewd and libidinous behaviour and faces being returned to jail.

The first girl, now 47, was abused at a home in the Broomhouse area of Edinburgh from January 1974 to December 1978. The second was subjected to attacks between January 1987 and January 1991 in Gilmerton.

Ashall also admitted one charge of sexual assault over attacks on the second girl while she was 16, during 1991. In each offence, Ashall admitted touching the girls’ private areas and making them touch his.

Speaking about Ashall’s first victim, fiscal depute John Kirk said: “It was when Ashall was within the house, when nobody else was in the premises, that these incidents of abuse took place.

“At the time she did not tell anyone about it out of fear and confusion.”

Sheriff Elizabeth Jarvie, QC, deferred sentence until next month.

Ashall, of Broughton Place, Edinburgh, was put on the sex offenders register and bailed until the next hearing.

February 2003

April 1982

Nurse guilty of child abuse is spared prison sentence

A nurse who ill treated children escaped a prison sentence after a judge said it would offend his sense of justice

The woman admitted 8 charges of ill treating mentally handicapped children who were in her care. She was given a six month prison sentence, suspended for a year

Ten of the charges, which she denied will be left on file. Judge Malcolm Ward said most of the eight offences were committed three years ago (1979)

He told Susan Wilkes, 30, of Brownhills, near Walsall, West Midlands that he had considered a immediate prison sentence

Wilkes was the superintendent nurse at a handicap centre in Walsall until she resigned after a private inquiry by a barrister

The eight charges of ill treatment she admitted took place between 1976 and 1981. They included forcing a girl to drink salt and vinegar, making a girl stand for a long period in the rain, pulling a boys hair, hitting a girl in the face and kicking her in the stomach, and forcing a boy into a red plastic play barrel

Wilkes who is now a district nurse in Walsall would not comment after the case

Mr Ian Morris, defending told the court his client felt she was a “scapegoat” for the failure of the Megan Du Boisson home for the mentally handicapped

September 2013

Chester-le-Street gym boss jailed for raping teenage girl

A BUSINESSMAN has been jailed for raping a teenage schoolgirl after attempting to ply her with alcohol.

Eiraj Zarezadeh, 48, who ran a gym and takeaway in the Chester-le-Street area, was given a nine year sentence for the attack in the early hours of Christmas Eve in 2011.

Newcastle Crown Court heard he collected the girl and an older woman and presented them with a bottle of Champagne to drink in the car on the way over to his house.

Once at his house he suggested they play drinking games where the loser had to drink a shot of mixed spirits.

The teenager later got changed into pyjamas and slept on a double bed next to the older woman, who had passed out in her clothes.

The girl awoke to find her attacker raping her and texted her mother before fleeing the house.

Ian Brook, prosecuting, said: “It is tantamount to an abuse of trust.”

The girl’s family called the police and when officers went to Zarezadeh’s home on Front Street, Grange Villa, they found a cannabis farm with £5,000 worth of equipment and £11,000 worth of drugs.

Recorder Ian Atherton also jailed him for six months to run consecutively for the production of the drug and the abstraction of electricity to the value of over £3,800 to run the operation.

He admitted those charges at magistrates sitting in north Durham on December 26, 2011 but was convicted of the rape following a second trial at Durham Crown Court on September 2 this year. A jury had previously failed to reach a verdict.

The court heard Zarezadeh, who was jailed for two years for indecently assaulting a girl under 16 in 1997, had been coerced by drug dealers to use his home for cannabis production after they said they knew about his past and would blacken his name unless he co-operated.

Zarezadeh will be required to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

Mitigating, Jamie Adams said: “What happened occurred because of temptation and not because of any unseemly or sinister planning of any kind.”

September 2013

Man who sent lewd messages to teenage boy is sentenced

A man who used a pseudonym online and sent lewd messages to a teenage boy has been sentenced. 

Michael James Lacey, 26, of Avril Close, Reddish pleaded guilty at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court to a inciting a boy to engage in sexual activity. 

He has been sentenced to a three-year community order and three-year supervision order.

He has also been issued a Sexual Offender’s Prevention Order and ordered to sign the Sex Offender’s Register for five years. 

The victim, a 15 year-old boy, started receiving messages on Facebook from someone who appeared to be friends with someone the victim knew. 

The friendship request was accepted, and Lacey started to send messages of a sexual nature. 

He then asked for the victim’s BlackBerry messenger details and the messages became increasingly lewd and explicit. 

The victim tried to defriend and ignore Lacey, but the abuse continued. 

Eventually the boy told one of his teachers about what was happening, and the police were called. 

Following a thorough police investigation, Lacey was later identified and arrested. 

Detective Sergeant Graham Lynn said: “This campaign of abuse included often lewd and disgusting messages which distressed the victim. 

“Thankfully, the boy did the right thing and spoke to someone.” 

Anyone who has been a victim of online child abuse can call police, the independent charity Crimestoppers (0800 555 111), the NSPCC (www.nspcc.org.uk/reportconcern) or the Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre (www.ceop.police.uk).

September 2013

Dad of four jailed for 15 years for campaign of sex abuse against young girl

A father of four has been jailed for 15 years for carrying out a sickening campaign of sexual abuse on a young girl which a judge said “defies belief”.

Matthew James Troakes, 33, denied 10 counts of the continued sexual abuse of a young girl, but a jury of five men and seven women took just 31 minutes to deliver unanimous guilty verdicts on each count.

They included sexual assault of a child under 13, rape of a child under 13, rape and attempted rape.

The jury at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court was told that the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was repeatedly sexually abused by Troakes over several years.

After Troakes, of College Street, Aberdare, was jailed for 15 years by Judge Thomas Crowther QC, the teenager’s parents said: “We just wanted justice and we have had it. We think it should be more but it is never going to be enough.”

The victim’s  mum spoke of the horror she felt in October last year when her daughter revealed what Troakes had done, but said that now he had been found guilty and jailed, her daughter could get the help she needs.

Ieuan Morris, prosecuting, told the court: “(Troakes) seized upon every opportunity to be alone with her in order to gain pleasure from sexually interfering with her.”

The jury heard that the girl had continually rebuffed Troakes and the day after the initial incident she felt he had offered her an apology by asking her not to say anything for fear of him losing his family.

But his behaviour not only continued, but escalated, and he would pester her for sexual favours and for intercourse.

He insulted her when she refused, making inappropriate sexual remarks, they heard.

The court heard that Troakes would abuse her in secluded areas, including around his father’s Robertstown business, and his behaviour involved more and more risk taking.

At one point, he abused her as he cradled his own baby daughter in his arms.

Judge Crowther told him: “It defies belief that you could express that love for your baby daughter at the moment you were defiling somebody else’s.”

“At the start of this, she was living in a stable and happy home. She was bright, engaging, sporty and on the verge of adolescence.

“You blackmailed her in saying that you would lose your wife and baby daughters if she said anything. She thought that was an apology of sorts but you escalated your behaviour.

“You became so confident in her silence that you became more brazen and risk taking in your behaviour. You tried to cajole her into having full sex.

“She felt dirty, and naughty, and guilty, and ashamed. You continued to rape her and use her sexually.

He added: “This was a campaign of sexual violence against a child. Her courage in confronting you and her mother’s dignity in the way she gave evidence were each profoundly moving.”

John Ryan, defending Troakes, father to two daughters and two stepsons, who had no previous convictions, said: “He has lost his good character. More importantly and to his eternal shame he has significantly affected his parents, who he dearly cares for.”

Troakes will have to pay a £120 victim surcharge and register as a sex offender for life.

August 2013

Preston paedophile jailed

A Preston man has been jailed for seven years for sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl over a 10 month period. between November 2011 and September 2012

Michael Edward Waring, of Tomlinson Road in Ashton, Preston, denied the offences against the youngster, who lives in the city.

But he was convicted on July 4 after a trial at Preston Crown Court.

The offences against the little girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, took place over a period between November 2011 and September 2012, the court heard.

The 59-year-old was convicted of two counts of sexually assaulting her.

However, he was cleared of two counts of causing or inciting a child into sexual activity.

Wareing was ordered to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely, and is banned from working with children under 16 years old

Det Chief Insp Jo Edwards, of Preston Police, said: “His offending was over a significant period within this child’s short lifetime and his conviction will has enabled the courts to impose a number of conditions upon him and allow the relevant professionals to robustly monitor his movements in order to minimise the risk of him offending again.

“This case demonstrates our continued commitment to bring dangerous offenders to justice.”

June 2012

Sex offender who targeted 15-year-old is jailed

A 39-year-old man has been jailed for a year for sexual offences against a teenager.

Shaun Waring, of Highfields, Peak Dale in Buxton was charged with sexual offences involving a 15-year-old girl and possession of indecent images.

He is to remain on the sex offender’s register for 10 years.

The offences took place in Dove Holes during September and October 2011. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Derby Crown Court.

September 2013

‘Dangerous’ child rapist from Blackburn sentenced to 16 years

A FORMER driver has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after being convicted of child sex offences.

Preston Crown Court heard how Frederick Roskell, of Oban Drive, Blackburn, committed the crimes in the 1990s against a boy, who was aged under 11 at the time, and a girl, who was under eight.

A police investigation, which lasted two years, was launched when one of the victims came forward. Six months after starting their inquiries, the second victim also decided to tell deectives about what had happened to them.

Roskell, 56, was finally convicted of one count of rape and six counts of sexual assault.

Officers praised the victims for having the courage to come forward, and said the result meant a ‘dangerous man’ had been taken off the streets.

Det Sgt Jamie Lillystone, from the public protection unit, said the investigation had been so complex because the allegations had dated back several years.

He said: “Although these offences were committed a long time ago, the victims have had to live with the effects ever since.

“This was a particularly complex case because of the historic nature of the offences, the fact that there were multiple victims, and the fact that they were so young at the time.

“That led to difficulties in obtaining detailed, and accurate, acounts from the victims.

“But the result is a testament to the courage, and strength, of the two victims, and many witnesses.

“It has undoubtedly removed a very dangerous man from the streets of Lancashire,” he added.

November 2013

Paedophile pensioner sexually abused a young boy

A paedophile who sexually abused a young boy has been jailed for two years and eight months.

David Utting (71) admitted four counts of indecency with a boy under 13 and four counts of gross indecency with a child under 16, between 2000 and 2003.

Leicester Crown Court was told that the abuse had happened when the child visited Utting and on one occasion at a hotel.

Victoria Rose, prosecuting, said Utting, of Gainsborough Road, Clarendon Park, Leicester, began by behaving lewdly in front of the boy and encouraged him to do the same.

“The boy was reluctant,” she said.

The victim later said he “felt scared” at the hotel because he thought if he tried to run away he would get lost.

“The defendant would provide him with anything he wanted and gave him money when he requested it,” said Miss Rose.

The boy then began avoiding Utting and the offending stopped.

Sentencing, Judge Michael Pert QC said: “It’s clear your offending had a profound and long-lasting effect on him.

“Your victim has lived with memories and problems for many years before he was in a position to come forward.

“It’s a consequence of your offending that it’s taken so long for him to come forward.”

Carl Gaskell, mitigating, said: “He wishes me to express how genuinely sorry he is and for the effect on the complainant.

“He has no previous convictions and he’s plainly able to contain his inappropriate sexual thoughts about children, in particular boys, because it stopped in 2003 and there’s been no further offending.”

He said the pre-sentence report had indicated there were concerns expressed by parents and those attending churches and schools in the past, about his inappropriate behaviour in relation to children, such as “attending and offering bike rides,” which was seen as “odd behaviour”, but no offences were committed.

Utting was made the subject of a 10-year sexual offences prevention order banning unsupervised contact with boys under 16 and preventing him from living with males under 18.

November 2013

Blackmail complaint lands paedophile in court

A PAEDOPHILE who was caught after he told police he was being blackmailed over the internet has pleaded guilty to child sex crimes.

Phillip Dawson, of Springfield Road, Wantage, admitted one count of inciting or causing a child to engage in sexual activity, as well as two counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. He also admitted one count of possessing indecent images of children and two counts of making indecent images of children.

The 39-year-old entered the pleas yesterday at Oxford Crown Court and his case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

Nigel Ogborne, prosecuting, said the crimes came to light after Dawson went to Wantage police station with his mother to report a blackmail allegation.

The defendant told officers he was in an online chat room when someone who said they were “cleaning up the internet from paedophiles” demanded he pay £1,400.

Mr Ogborne said Dawson then left the police station, but shortly afterwards police visited his home and found more than 1,400 indecent images of children had been downloaded on his computer between 2006 and last year.

Chat logs showed Dawson had contacted a girl aged between 15 and 16 and a 14-year-old boy between 2009 and 2011 and invited them to engage in sexual activity, he added.

Dawson was released on bail to be sentenced on December 19.