June 2015

Pervert jailed for stalking young woman who he abused as a child

A CHILD sex abuser stalked his victim after she contacted him in an attempt to come to terms with her past.

Bolton Crown Court heard how Steven Harper, from Horwich, was jailed for 54 months in 2000 after committing a series of sex offences against two girls as young as six in the 1990s.

But Guy Mathieson, prosecuting, told how one of his victims, now a young woman, struggled to deal with the aftermath of the crime despite counselling and treatment for anxiety — so she contacted him in order to set up a meeting.

“She believed he would be able to give her, in the American term, some closure,” said Mr Mathieson.

However, he said the two-hour meeting in October 2013 did not go as she hoped.

“She did not get the answers she wanted or felt entitled to,” said Mr Mathieson.

Instead Harper began bombarding her with text messages, changing his mobile phone when she blocked his number and did not respond and even set up a Facebook account under a false name to keep in contact with her.

But by May 2014 the harassment became more sinister, with Harper hand delivering sexually explicit and disturbing letters and poems to her home in the middle of the night.

In one letter he even told her he would have liked to have raped her at their meeting.

His frightened victim contacted police and handed them his correspondence.

Mr Mathieson said after his arrest 53-year-old Harper immediately sent her another letter “full of bile and vitriol”.

He added that the victim deeply regretted having contacted Harper.

In a statement she told the court: “If I had known this was going to happen I would never, in a million years, have met up with him.”

David Bentley said Harper, of no fixed address, had become fixated with the woman and his marriage had broken up as a result.

The woman had not met him face to face after the October 2013 meeting, but Mr Bentley said Harper had hoped to pursue a relationship with her.

However, he accepted that the contact had “developed towards a crescendo of vile language”.

Harper pleaded guilty to stalking and perverting the course of justice.

Sentencing him to 29 months in prison Judge Graeme Smith described the offending as “highly unusual and disturbing”.

Judge Smith expressed sympathy with Harper’s victim and granted a restraining order banning the abuser from contacting her in future.

“For the best of motives she took a step which resulted in terrible consequences she could not have envisaged,” he added.

June 2015

Anglican vicar jailed for abusing altar boy

A former Anglican vicar has been found guilty of six counts of indecent assault including abusing an altar boy at a Church in Chiswick.

John Charles Hibberd, aged 77, was found guilty of six counts of indecent assault, the oldest offence dating back to 1967.

He has been jailed for a total of seven years and two months at Kingston Crown Court.

Hibberd worked for the Church of England in West London for many years. On 20 February 2013, one of his victims contacted the police to make aa allegation of sexual abuse by Hibberd dating back decades.

When he was younger he had lived in Chiswick with his family and was taken to a local church; St James, Gunnersbury by his mother from the ages of seven to eight years and attended until he was 12.

He became an altar boy and Hibberd targeted him for abuse. During the investigation, two other victims were identified and contacted by the police.

St. James was incorporated into the Parish of Brentford in 1987.

Hibberd retired to the Isle of Wight over 15 years ago and worked in churches and voluntary organisations on the island.

Another male victim disclosed that he attended the choir at St Martin’s Church, in West Drayton in 1967 as a child and then went on to attend the school partnered with the church.

He used to attend confirmation classes, and went around six or seven times where Hibberd sexually assaulted him.

Another male victim came forward and disclosed that he attended the Church choir at the same Church and went on to attend the school partnered with the Church between 1969 and 1970 where Hibberd attempted to sexually assault him.

Hibberd was arrested for all the allegations made to police and interviewed in the Isle of Wight.

He categorically denied all the offences put to him – and refused to admit any wrongdoing against the victims.

June 2015

‘Terrifying’ Rapist Who Preyed On Teenagers Jailed For Life

A RAPIST who raped and sexually assaulted a number of teenage girls and young women in parks across south London just months after leaving prison for the same offence has today been jailed for life.

Daniel Elliott, 24, of Bromley, southeast London, is responsible for a terrifying spate of attacks in the Carshalton and Wallington area between August and November last year.

In 2010, he was convicted of raping a Japanese exchange student who had only been in the UK for two days and sentenced to five years at a Young Offenders Institute (YOI). He was only 19 years old at the time.

Within months of being released, he was preying on fresh victims.

The judge at Croydon Crown Court sentenced Elliott to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of eight years before he can be considered for parole.

He was found guilty of two counts of rape, assault by penetration, attempted rape and sexual assault.

Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS London, Baljit Ubhey OBE, welcomed the sentence, praising Elliott’s victims for showing bravery in bringing him to justice.

Ubhey said: “Elliott preyed on the three women at night, attacking them in parks across the area. He used a combination of fear and intimidation, threatening his victims with either a knife or pepper spray before subjecting them to terrifying attacks.

“I would like to thank the victims for their strength and bravery in supporting this prosecution. Their evidence has helped bring Elliott to justice.”

He added that tackling rape and serious sexual assaults was a key priority for CPS London.

During his trial, which ended on May 21, jurors heard that around 10.30pm on August 3, 2014, a 28-year-old woman was walking home from work along a footpath in Mellows Park, Wallington, when she was grabbed round the neck from behind by Elliott.

He threatened to stab her before sexually assaulting her and making off.

A month later, on September 5, at around 2am, a 16-year-old girl was with her boyfriend, also aged 16.

As they walked down Church Path, Beddington, a Elliott approached them. He forced them both onto the ground, saying he had pepper spray.

He held a tin can to the victim’s eyes and then sexually assaulted and raped her.

In November, a 17-year-boy and a 15-year-old girl were in a fenced off children’s playground at Grove Park, in Carshalton, around 8.30pm.

They were approached by Elliott who punched the boy in the face and dragged him to the ground.

He threatened to stab him and called over the girl. He then digitally penetrated her and tried to rape her. When she resisted he threatened to stab the boy again.

He then orally raped her before making off.

The boy and girl immediately called police. DNA samples at the scene matched that of Elliott, a registered sex offender who had been released on licence.

He was arrested on November 20.

A search of an address connected to him revealed the distinctive dark hoody seen on CCTV during the first attack. Mobile phone analysis put him at the scene of two of the sexual assaults at the relevant times.

Detective Inspector Keith Ward, the senior investigating officer from the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: 

”Elliott is a predatory and dangerous man who despite having just been released from jail, carried out three brutal attacks in a matter of months.

“He didn’t care that two of his young victims were with their male friends at the time such was his determination to carry out these offences. The attacks have had a devastating and long-lasting impact on all his victims and I am glad that he will now spend a long time behind bars.

June 2015

Sinister paedophile groomed girl, 12, over Facebook

A man who discussed “extreme” graphic and violent sexual encounters with a 12-year-old girl over Facebook has been jailed.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard how “sinister” Jamie Chance had handed himself in to the police after the messages were discovered by his victim’s mother.

Chance had previously been allowed to cut short a sex offenders’ programme imposed for possessing indecent images of children three years ago – because he had convinced his supervisors it had been successful, the court was told.

But he then went on to target the girl online, asking her if she wanted to have sex with him and suggested extreme and violent sexual activities.

The court heard that Chance had also met up with the girl and kissed her on March 1.

The 27-year-old, of New Street, in Oakengates, Telford, admitted charges of sexual assault on a child under 13, and three counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity at an earlier hearing.

He appeared at court yesterday for sentencing.

Chance was jailed for 32 months and will be required to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life upon his release. He can only be released after he has served at least half of his sentence and would remain on licence.

Mr Robert Edwards, prosecuting, described some of the messages to the court and said one of the conversations continued with “increasingly violent suggestions towards the victim”.

Judge Jonathan Gosling also revealed how Chance had previously been convicted of 10 counts of possessing indecent images of children in 2012 and was given a community order – but had his sex offenders’ programme cut short.

Judge Gosling said: “This is a difficult case. There is a deep dark side to you, very sinister, over which you do not have complete control. I have had to ask if you are a dangerous offender. In the past you viewed revolting images of children and managed to convince people your community sex offenders’ programme was such a success that it finished early, and then you turned your attentions to this 12-year-old girl.”

Judge Gosling told Chance: “You openly accept you were sexually attracted to her and moved from photos to grooming her in a calculated way with the intention of putting your distorted thoughts into actions.

“The messages are extreme and very distressing to read and there is a huge disparity between you and her.”

Mr Edwards said Chance had told police the messages made him feel “happy”, although he said he had no intention of acting upon them.

Danny Smith, for Chance, said: “Albeit he has these very dark, vile thoughts, they are ones he recognises are worrying and not ones he tries to normalise in any way.”

June 2015

Child abuse images man secretly filmed men undressing and urinating in Aberdeen gym

A north-east man – who carried out a string of child abuse images charges, as well as secretly filming men undress in a gym – has avoided jail.

Robert Stewart, 35, appeared for sentencing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday, after admitting the offences at an earlier hearing.

The court heard Stewart, who lives at Elmbank Road in Aberdeen, downloaded 11 indecent videos of children between December 18, 2013, and March 2, 2014, at his home and another unknown address.

The footage amounted to two hours and 40 minutes in length.

Six of the videos were categorised as level two, three were level three and two were level four, with level one being the most explicit.

He also distributed a video of children on a file sharing website at his home address, between February 26, 2014, and March 2, 2014.

In addition, Stewart previously admitted filming the occupants of the men’s changing room in the city’s DW Sports Fitness Club, Beach Boulevard Retail Park, while they were urinating and undressing – between August 21 and November 21, 2012.

Solicitor David Sutherland told the court his client accepted responsibility for the offences, but insisted the video had been taken from his computer by someone else using the peer-to-peer network.

Mr Sutherland argued that Stewart had shown a willingness to reform and had voluntarily sought support to address his problems.

He also stressed his client had been given a positive report by the social work department and had shown remorse for his actions, and asked that the court consider an alternative to a custodial sentence.

Sentencing Stewart to 200 hours of unpaid work and placing him on the sex offenders register for three years, Sheriff Graham Buchanan said: “People who appear before this court charged with offences of this kind very often go to prison and obviously I have had to give regard to whether imprisonment is an appropriate disposal in this case.

“You have no previous conviction, and the social work report appears to be impressed by your apparent determination to address and resolve the problems which are detailed in the report, not only that you have taken steps by your own initiative to address these problems.”

Sheriff Buchanan also placed Stewart under a supervision order of three years and ordered him to complete the Moving Forward, Making Changes programme.

June 2015

Racist paedophile dad watched children as young as four being raped

A sick paedophile dad of two is set to be jailed after being caught with more than 56,000 images of children being abused, including kids as young as four being raped.

Police found Colin Green’s images on five different electronic devices within his home, with him then being arrested after a raid on his home in Galashiels, Selkirkshire, last July.

The pervert – also a convicted racist – appeared in court last week where he admitted possessing the pictures and videos.

The court heard how Green had “an addiction to pornography” which had escalated into watching filth involving children, the Daily Record reports. 

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard forensic computer experts recovered 56,165 child porn images.

More than 1,300 involved kids aged between four and 15 being raped by men.

There were 84 child abuse videos. Almost half showed young victims being raped.

Green admitted possessing the images between July 2010 and last July. He will be sentenced on July 16.

In 2002, the paedophile appeared in court for a race hate protest in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks in the US.

Green, who was working as a graphic designer at the time, sprayed the words “Support the USA in its hour of need – kill an Arab today” on a window of his Mazda car.

He later pleaded guilty to acting in a racially aggravated manner.

Green said he had been shocked and upset at the events of September 11 and saw his action as a gesture of support for America.

He told the court: “When I put up the sign, I did not think it was racist. I never gave it any thought.

“It was not against all Arabs, just those who had carried out the attacks.”

At the time, a sheriff deferred sentence on Green for six months for him to be of good behaviour.

In court on Tuesday, his solicitor Edward Hulme said Green had engaged with the Stop it Now programme, aimed at combating child sex abuse, in a bid to tackle his behaviour.

June 2015

Paedophile boasts suspended sentence had ‘no effect’ – Re-offender

A paedophile who was caught with dozens of indecent photographs of young girls less than a year after he was convicted of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity said a suspended jail sentence had ‘no effect’ on his behaviour.

Christopher English, aged 25, of Church Hall Road, Rushden, appeared at Northampton Crown Court charged with possessing 61 indecent images of young girls, some as young as 13 years old.

The court heard that in October 2013 English was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, after he admitted blackmailing a young girl he met on Facebook to send a photograph of herself in her underwear.

English was also given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) that banned him from using the internet to contact anyone under the age of 16 or taking any photographs of children.

But, less than a year later, a car being driven by English in the early hours of the morning was stopped by a Northants Police officer and his passenger was a teenage girl.

English admitted that he was not allowed to be alone in the company of anyone under the age of 16 but claimed the girl had told him she was 17 years old.

Andrew Howarth, prosecuting, said English was arrested and a laptop in the vehicle was seized for analysis.

Five months later, in February this year, English was charged with possessing 76 indecent photographs and videos of children.

Mr Howarth said 59 folders were found with different girls’ names which had been saved from the Snapchat photo sharing site.

English subsequently pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing indecent images of children and breaching the terms of his SOPO.

Maxine Krone, mitigating, said English had been “very frank” in his views of his previous sentence.

Ms Krone said: “He viewed it as a get out of jail free card and it did not deter him from offending in any way.

“He has now spent a spell in custody and that is going to deter him. He does not like that at all.”

Recorder Adrienne Lucking QC described English as a “predatory paedophile”.

She said: “You were given a suspended sentence order in the expectation you would comply with that order.

“You would have been told in no uncertain terms that if you breached the terms you would be sent to prison.

“The purpose of that order was to prevent you from committing sexual offences against children but, in under a year, that is exactly what you did.

“Whatever you were a year ago, you clearly are now a predatory paedophile.

“You very frankly said to the court you viewed your suspended sentence as a ‘get out of jail free card’. I will tell you now that was not the spirit in which it was imposed.”

English was sentenced to 12 months in prison for possession of the indecent photographs and 20 months for breaching the SOPO. He must also serve his eight-month suspended sentence so the total sentence was one of three years and four months in jail.

He must also pay £120 victim surcharge.

June 2015

Pensioner jailed for sexually abusing girl in the 1980s

A PENSIONER who subjected a young girl to sexual abuse in the 1980s while he was living in the St Austell area has been jailed.

At Truro Crown Court last Friday, David Webb admitted three sexual offences against the then underage girl, now an adult, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

David Evans, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the woman reported Webb to the police in 2013.

She described how the 65-year-old had made her touch him sexually on a number of occasions.

Mr Evans said: “She feels that she herself was the disgusting one.”

Mr Evans said Webb, who lived in Tywardreath at the time of the offences, admitted the offences to police officers in interview and said that whatever happened to him he deserved.

“[He said] ‘I am so sorry for what I have done and I accept whatever happens next’,” said Mr Evans.

Webb, whose address was listed as of no formal abode, pleaded guilty to three counts of indecency with a child on dates between 1985 and 1987.

Chris Spencer, for the defence, said Webb regretted committing the offences but accepted that there had been at least four occasions of the abuse.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Carr, said the case involved serious offences against a very young child.

He said: “What you did over those few months was to destroy a significant amount of her happiness and life forever.

“She accepts it is not a nightmare that had ended as yet for her.

“You on the other hand have been able to get on untroubled.”

Judge Carr accepted that when Webb was finally arrested he showed remorse.

Webb was jailed for three and a half years.

June 2015

Newport dad who groomed girls jailed

A REGISTERED sex offender from Newport who groomed two girls under the age of 16 for sex has been sentenced to more than six years in prison.

Robert Davies, aged 31, of no fixed abode, previously pleaded guilty to the offence at Newport Crown Court on February 12, 2015.

The father-of-two had been on remand.

June 2015

Blackburn child rapist jailed for 22 years

A PREDATORY paedophile has been jailed for 22 years for grooming and abusing two young girls after befriending their mother.

Over a period of seven years grandfather Femi Rotimi, 66, won the trust of their mother, a devout churchgoer, abusing that trust to carry out a sickening catalogue of abuse against the young girls.

Handing down the sentence, which will see Rotimi spending most of his life behind bars, Judge Graham Knowles, sentencing, described the predator as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” after hearing how both girls had been left feeling depressed and suicidal.

Rotimi, of Blackburn, was convicted of 17 counts of rape and sexual assault against the girls, after a trial at Preston Crown Court.

For more on this case please click this link

January 2005

Jail for child torture pervert

A VILE pervert who possessed more than 4,000 sick images of children – some being sadistically tortured – has been jailed.

Darren Jeffrey Brown, of Shannon Street, central Blackpool, was sentenced to more than three years in prison by Judge Peter Smith, who said the images made him feel “anger, revulsion and distress”.

Brown, 36, was snared by police after a tip off from Dutch colleagues conducting an international investigation into the distribution of child porn.

Preston Crown Court heard how officers found that a computer in the UK had files containing sickening images of extremely young children and infants being sexually abused.

Dutch police contacted their UK counterparts who quickly tracked Brown down to his flat, in which every wall was covered with pictures of young children.

A computer, three hard drives and a number of CDs were seized in the raid and police found thousands of images on each.

The images were made up of a collection of still photographs and moving video, some of which contained shots considered most vile by the law.

When interviewed, Brown admitted having the images and, David Temkin, prosecuting, told the court, he told officers he himself had been abused and filmed as a child.

Using his knowledge of computers, Brown said he was looking for the images of himself, hoping to spike them with a virus to stop them being passed on.

Chris Hudson, defending, said his client was not “punting” the images around the internet, but had merely left them in a folder on his computer that was accessible by others using a file-swapping programme.

Mr Hudson said: “The defendant concedes that these are very serious offences. I put forward that he is a very damaged individual.

“He went into care at an early age and was discharged at 16 and left to fend for himself

“The defendant was bored, had computer skills and was looking for images of himself. Once the police came in he was frank and fully co-operative.”

Brown, originally from Bedford, pleaded guilty to 20 counts of making indecent images and three counts of distributing indecent images of a child.

He sat in the dock wearing a cream bubble jacket and grey striped sweater and was later led away in silence.

Sentencing Brown to three years four months for each count of distributing the images and two years for each count of making images, all to run concurrently, Judge Smith said: “No normal person can view the images and feel anything except anger, revulsion and distress.

“The young children in these horrible images were the victims of a sadistic torture and often it is said that those who enter the market place for such material encourage others to produce it.”

After the hearing DC Steve Fulton, of Preston Police, said “This is an excellent result which follows a multi-agency policing investigation which started in Holland.

“The images that were found on Brown’s computer were of the worst possible kind and the fact that he is now behind bars sends a clear message that this type of offence will be dealt with firmly by the criminal justice system.”

June 2015

Sex pest targeted girls and young women in Coventry city centre

A ‘sexual nuisance’ who targeted girls and a young woman in Coventry city centre, has been ordered to take part in a sex offender’s treatment programme.

Meron Girmay had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to charges of sexual assault and affray, and also admitted an offence of stalking.

Girmay, 36, who was living at the Salvation Army hostel in Coventry at the time, was given a three-year community order with three years supervision.

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC also ordered him to take part in a three-year sex offender programme and to live where directed by the probation service.

Prosecutor Simon Worlock had told the court at an earlier hearing that Girmay had been ‘‘making a nuisance of himself in Coventry city centre for a number of months and making comments and suggestions towards young women’’.

In July last year a 27-year-old woman was on her way to work in the city centre at 8.30am, and noticed Girmay behind her when she stopped to use the Coventry Building Society cash machine in High Street.

She did not think anything of it at first, but when she then walked along Broadgate and into the precinct, she became concerned because he was following so close behind her.

So she went into the Boots store in Lower Precinct, and Girmay followed her up the escalator to the first floor where she spoke to the pharmacist, who thought they must be together because they were so close to each-other.

When she then went back down, he was so close that she said it was ‘like shopping with a friend,’ and she told him to ‘**** off’ as he kept telling her ‘I want you.’

The woman returned to the pharmacist, and Girmay left as the manager assisted her and escorted her out of the store.

But he was waiting for her in the precinct and, despite her pleas for him to leave her alone, followed her along Spon Street to a car park where she saw a man she knew.

The distressed woman asked him for help, and Girmay left when the man told him in blunt terms to go away.

In early August a woman and her partner were talking to members of her family on a Sunday afternoon when she turned and saw Girmay blatantly lifting her ten-year-old daughter’s dress up above her waist from behind.

The horrified mother told him to get off her, but Girmay just looked at her with a grin on his face and continued to hold the girl’s dress up.

After being told again to stop, he staggered back a few steps – only to begin following the mother as she took the girl’s hand and quickly walked away.

A few days later the woman happened to be in a McDonalds in the city centre when three 13-year-old girls came running in.

They had been there with friends when one of them had gone outside to check the bus times, and as she did so she was approached by Girmay who had asked her: “Do you want sex.”

Scared he was going to attack her, she rushed back inside and two of her friends then went out with her to check the times – only for Girmay to repeat his comment to her.

After they ran back in, one of them called the police – and the mother, who had recognised Girmay, told officers who arrested him what had happened to her daughter.

It was only after he had been remanded in custody that he was questioned about the first incident, and when he was shown a CCTV recording he accepted it was him but denied wanted to cause the woman any harm.

Referring to a pre-sentence report recommendation for Girmay to be ordered to take part in a sex offenders’ treatment programme, his barrister Laura Culley said: “He needs a greater understanding of acceptable sexual behaviour.”

June 2015

Teacher jailed for having sexual relationship with schoolboy

A former teacher at a Renfrewshire school has been jailed for having a sexual relationship with a teenage boy.

Craig Walker struck up a relationship with the youngster and groomed him from the age of 14.

The 41-year-old began tutoring him outside of school hours, taking him for drives in his car, and telling him about his sexuality and his sexual experiences.

Paisley Sheriff Court heard how Walker took the teenager to his home in the town, getting him drunk and engaging him in sexual activity.

Walker performed sex acts on and in front of the minor, who was 15 at the time, while he was still tutoring him.

He also repeatedly performed sex acts on another young man without his consent between 2006 and 2012.

The court heard he preyed on the second male, who was aged between 17 and 24 and can’t be named for legal reasons, after getting him drunk.

Walker met the man who was working as a befriender with the social work department.

The teacher claimed all sexual conduct with the man was consensual and told the court he often paid the man for what he was doing to him,

The victim said they had been sexually active together on a consensual level and admitted he’d accepted money for what they did.

However he said he had also been abused by Walker as he had not consented to the reported occasions because he was drunk or sleeping.

A jury accepted the man’s version of events last month and found Walker guilty of abusing him over the six-year-period.

Sheriff Seith Ireland called for Walker to be assessed by social workers and an organisation that deals with sex offenders in the area.

Defence solicitor Terry Gallanagh told the court Walker had “lost everything” and suffered a “Shakespearean” fall from grace.

Mr Gallanagh said: “He stands before you with his whole life in absolute ruin.

“It is almost Shakespearean in the extent of tragedy in this incident whereby, frankly, he has lost everything he has worked for over the years.”

The solicitor also said Walker had suffered a difficult upbringing and was left suffering “deep personal scars” as he had been abused as a child and then subjected to homophobic abuse growing up because of his sexuality.

He added: “He has accepted that his conduct is extremely unacceptable and is about as gross a breach of trust as could, in the circumstances, occur.

“He has responsibility towards those persons and he failed them and hurt them and that gives him deep personal trauma.

“He has described himself and the conduct perpetrated towards him as having ‘messed him up’ and he accepts and realises that what he did may subsequently have the same effect on the person it was perpetrated upon by him.

“He has asked me to openly and publicly apologise.

“This has had a catastrophic effect on Mr Walker. He is sorry, not just for himself, but sorry for those he has harmed.”

Mr Gallanagh asked for leniency on Walker, saying he had lost his job as a teacher and his husband because of the offences and his conviction.

The lawyer said a direct alternative to a custodial sentence could be imposed, with Walker being placed on probation and carrying out unpaid work in the community.

He added a structured punishment would allow Walker to address his “cognitive deficiencies and consequential thinking”.

But the sheriff jailed him for two years and imposed a supervision order for two years upon his release from custody.

The sheriff said: “There is no other disposal available.

“The younger boy had been a pupil of yours at the school and you built up a relationship with him there.

“He then went to one of the colleges in the area and you were still involved with him in a helpful role.

“As a result of that you had continued contact with him and the young man and, whilst he was attending college, had an inappropriate relationship with him.

“That is a substantial breach of trust.”

May 2015

ex beast teacher facing prison

A DISGRACED teacher is facing a prison sentence after preying on two teenage boys.

Craig Walker, 41, previously admitted engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old boy on four occasions in May last year while he was his tutor.

And yesterday, the former teacher at Paisley’s St Andrew’s Academy was convicted of indecently assaulting another youth who he “befriended” as part of a social work department programme to bring stability into the lives of troubled teens.

He was found guilty by a majority verdict on two separate charges relating to that victim, who is
now 26.

Walker faces a lengthy spell behind bars, with Sheriff Seith Ireland telling him: “These are extremely serious matters and custody is a very likely outcome.”

Giving evidence against him at Paisley Sheriff Court, one of his victims – who is now aged 16 – told the court Walker had taken him for occasional drives in his car and would talk about his own sex life, discussing his activity openly with him.

He would ply him with alcohol from time to time and touched him on his private parts on top of his clothing.

In May last year, when Walker lived in the town’s Don Drive, the level of sexual activity became more serious and took place on four different occasions.

“He approached me,” said the teenager, giving his evidence to the jury from behind protective screens.

“I trusted him and thought he was there to help me.”

After the boy had given his account, defence agent Gordon Ritchie revealed his client would be pleading guilty to the charge of engaging in sexual activity with the youngster.

The other male, who had been befriended by the accused when he was a vulnerable teenager in care, told how he had been indecently assaulted by Walker after he was released from care between 2006 and 2012.

Walker indecently assaulted him at first when he was 17 years old and, on several occasions over later years, by touching him while he lay asleep in an intoxicated state, removing his clothing and performing a sexual act on him, spanning a period between 2006 and 2012.

That victim said he had come from a difficult background and been placed in care and that social workers had started a scheme for him to meet up with someone who would “be there for me.”

That person was Walker.

Walker, he said, had touched his private parts and that had shocked him so much he ended up in a confused state.

Walker, recently of Blythwood Drive, Paisley, and who now lives in Lochwinnoch with his parents, told the court he had been suicidal when police first quizzed him about the accusations.

Sheriff Seith Ireland deferred sentence until June 22 and called for background reports to be prepared.

He told the accused: “These are extremely serious matters and custody is a very likely outcome.”

June 2015

Wife reports child abuse images husband to police

A Shrewsbury woman reported her husband to the police after discovering a picture of a naked young girl on his mobile phone.

Iain James Lewis, 47, of Waincott, , admitted two charges of making indecent images of children when he appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

Judge Peter Barrie heard that Lewis’s phone had been found to contain 42 deleted images in category B, and 3,180 in category C.

Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said the images had contained children who were eight years old at the youngest and 13 at the oldest.

Mr Jones said: “The circumstances of the offences are somewhat unusual because his wife reported the matters to the police.

“She first noticed some images on his computer about three years ago and challenged him about them. Nothing came of that and then in November 2014 she again saw images on his mobile telephone.

“On December 2, 2014, when borrowing his telephone to make a call she noticed there was a naked picture of what she described as a little girl.”

Mr Jones said the woman then reported Lewis to the police. When they arrived, police heard Lewis say: “Why have you done this? I have not done anything wrong for ages.”

Mr Jones added: “The children in those images are from eight at the youngest to 13 at the oldest.”

The court heard that Lewis first gave a no comment interview to the police but then in a second interview accepted he was responsible for the images but believed there were “only 2,000”.

Lewis told the police he had gained sexual gratification from the images.

He also told police that he had been searching for “teen girls” and because of a content block on his phone it meant he could not access adult pornography sites.

Sentencing Lewis, Judge Peter Barrie said he would go along with recommendations from the probation service to impose a community order.

He said: “I have come to the conclusion that the best way to deal with this matter, the best way to protect children who might in future become victims of the making of images of these kind, is to follow the recommendation of the probation service that I should couple a supervision requirement with a requirement to complete the Community Sex Offenders’ Programme.”

Lewis was given a three-year community order with a requirement to sign a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years and to complete a Community Sex Offenders’ Programme.

June 2015

Jailed: Man, 30, who had sex with 15-year-old he used to babysit

A 30-year-old man who repeatedly had sex with an underage girl he babysat for ten years earlier has been jailed.

Shane Welch and the 15-year-old victim, who he knew when she was just six, got back on touch over Facebook after she started to see her dad again.

And over the following months the defendant, who has children of his own, repeatedly had sex with the child at the flat of one of her schoolmates.

Now he has been jailed for two-and-a-half years and told he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that the girl’s parents knew Welch through his family when their daughter was still a young child and he used to babysit her with his sister’s children while she was six.

But in the following years she lost contact with him because her parents split up and she lived with her mum.

Miss Marlow said: “18 months before these offences she started to see her father, started to become reacquainted with the defendant’s sister.

“She said on August 16 this year she saw the Facebook account with a picture of him and sent him a text commenting on it.

“The relationship started from there, before it went on to become a sexual relationship.”

Miss Marlow said that the girl insisted that she had been the instigator of the flirting and then the kissing before they went on to have sex in October.

“She had made it plain that he had never made her do anything she didn’t want to and he had never given her anything for it,” she said.

The couple would meet up at the bedsit of one of her school friends, she said, and at about 10pm the pal would go out so they could have sex.

Miss Marlow told the court that the girl said it happened three or four times before her father found out on November 5 and put a stop to it.

Welch, of Welcombe Avenue, Park South, pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a child.

Mark Sharman, defending, said: “The girl has been very frank in terms of how this relationship developed.”

Shortly before they got together he said his client had just split from his partner of eight years.

“That perhaps made him vulnerable in some way to the advances of the girl but I repeat, he does not put that forwards as an excuse,” he said.

“He accepts even if she was 16, there would be no criminal liability but the disparity in years and life experience, the disparity in age would still not be appropriate.”

Since he was arrested he said he had struggled to have contact with his children as unsurprisingly his former partner is reluctant for him to have contact with them.

Jailing him Recorder David Bartlett said: “It is clear she was entirely consenting in that activity. She may have encouraged you but you should have resisted.

“She was still 15, you were 30 at the time. I have to consider the fact that you have committed these serious offences. They attract imprisonment without any doubt.”

As a result of jailing him for 30 months he must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

June 2015

Two men sentenced for catalogue of sexual abuse

A man who was found guilty of a string of historical sex offences against a young girl has been jailed for four and half years.

Robert Norman, 33, (pictured above) was sentenced in Jersey’s Royal Court on Monday along with a second man, Derren Le Corre, 32, who was given 12 months probation.

Norman, from Jersey, was between 13 and 17 years old when he committed the offences.

His victim was aged between 10 and 13 at the time of the abuse.

Norman’s offences included nine counts of indecent assault, two of procuring an act of gross indecency and two other sexual offences.

The second man, Le Corre, was sentenced for three counts of historical indecent assault against the same victim when she was between 10 and 11 years old and he was aged between 12 and a half and 13.

He was also bound over for a separate offence of possessing indecent photographs of a girl under the age of 14.

Judge Sir Christopher Pitchers described Norman’s actions as “an appalling series of regular sexual abuse” which had led to extremely serious consequences for the victim.

He described Le Corre’s involvement as much less and told the court “Le Corre had pleaded guilty in cases when many other men would have tried to brazen it out”.

He also said Le Corre had told the truth when he appeared as a witness in the case against Norman.

Acting Detective Inspector Manny De Freitas said: “We want to assure victims that there is help available from a number of agencies who are in a position to offer support and guidance through all stages of the criminal justice process.”

Norman will be a registered sex offender for six years and Le Corre for two years.

June 2015

Former international show-jumper jailed after being labelled a “sexual predator”

He was a top show-jumper competing across Europe.

But now Carl Heywood is behind bars labelled a “sexual predator” by a judge.

The pervert from Golcar flirted with young girls at a riding school and persuaded one of them to send him sexual photos.

Now Heywood has been jailed for five years after a judge described him as a “sexual predator” seeking young girls through his work.

Leeds Crown Court heard Heywood flirted with pupils on Facebook before eventually grooming one schoolgirl until she sent him sexual images of herself.

He would begin by paying personal compliments via the social network to young clients at the Huddersfield riding school, telling one she was “cute” and calling another “a little charmer”.

Jailing the 38-year-old, Judge Guy Kearl QC said in all he contacted five girls aged around 15 in 2013 saying they were sexy and pretty, sending some of them photos of his torso.

He asked one girl if she wanted to see more of him but she declined. His criminal offences began when his messages to one of the girls became more explicit.

He sent her sexual pictures of himself and of adults having sex and then talked her into taking pictures of her sexually abusing herself with objects.

“These were photographs by her and sent to you at your instigations on Facebook, you praised her when she did. She sent something like 30 photos.”

The judge said Heywood told the girl in messages how he wanted to have sex with her and twice touched her when she went for lessons, once on her buttocks over her clothing and on another he kissed her.

“You knew perfectly well what her age was and you lied about your own age.”

She was vulnerable and began to feel abused after looking on Childline and told him to stop messaging but within a few days he began again.

It was only when she found out his true age, 10 years older than he had told her, she confided in a friend and the truth eventually came out.

By then he had sent the 15-year-old 2000 Facebook messages in three weeks.

Judge Kearl told Heywood his behaviour had a devastating psychological impact on his young victim who had suffered nightmares and flashbacks since about what he had made her do.

Carl Heywood’s Facebook page

“This was a course of conduct against a series of girls when you were acting in my judgment as a sexual predator seeking to find one who would comply with your desires.”

Heywood, 38, of Marina Terrace, Golcar, Huddersfield, admitted nine charges of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one of causing a child to watch a sexual act and two of sexual activity to a child.

Kama Melly prosecuting said Heywood had got a number of girls to put him on their Facebook after giving them riding lessons including the complainant.

She was vulnerable at the time and he told her she was pretty and “had a nice body.” He sent her naked photos of himself, initially she said she was 15 and did not feel comfortable seeing that.

He had told her he was 27 and when he later mentioned his true age she was shocked. She told a friend who confided in adult and his offending came to light.

Adam Birkby representing Heywood said he accepted full responsibility for his wrong doing and wanted to publicly apologise to everyone involved.

“He was a semi-professional showjumper travelling throughout Europe during his career but that ended in 2013 when he suffered a nasty injury to his leg.”

Faced with that loss he was at a low ebb and began to drink heavily and he started flirting with his pupils not specifically targeting the complainant but then became obsessed with what he was doing.

“The detached nature of the internet means that often people act in a way they would not normally do and ask people to do things they wouldn’t do on a face to face basis.”

June 2015

Youth worker found guilty of sexually abusing two boys at two different schools

A YOUTH worker from Bournemouth has been convicted of sexually abusing two boys at different schools in Hampshire.

After retiring for almost 11 hours, jurors found Graham Gilmour, 43, guilty of four offences against one boy who was attending Greggs School in Southampton.

He was also found guilty of another offence against a second boy who was a pupil at Lakeside School, a Chandlers Ford-based unit for children with behavioural difficulties.

Jurors however have been unable to reach a verdict on seven other charges surrounding both boys and will resume their deliberations at Southampton Crown Court on Monday.

Gilmour, of Branksome Wood Road, Bournemouth, had bail extended until then.

June 2015

Millom man jailed for series of sex offences against children

A 25-year-old pervert from Millom has been jailed for a total of 40 months for a series of sexual offences against children

Preston Crown Court heard that Sean Andrew Young, of Festival Road, Millom incited under-age girls on three separate occasions to engage in sexual activity.

A fourth charge related to engaging in sexual activity with a schoolboy between August 14, 2012 and April 27 2013

A fourth young victim decided not to go to court and the charges relating to that schoolgirl were dropped by the prosecution

The volunteer at the local amateur drama society targeted the 13-year-old and 14-year old victims by grooming them on social networking sites including Facebook and encouraging them into sexual activity.

The court heard Young also made SKYPE calls to the youngsters whilst masturbating in full view.

No offences relate to the drama society. 

Young was a member of the local amateur drama society and participated in many panto’s with schoolchildren

June 2015

Baby left virtually blind, unable to speak or eat & dependent on 24-hour care

A VIOLENT father who left his helpless baby son with “horrific” injuries – and later branded himself a “monster” – has been jailed for 12 years.

He lost his temper because of work and relationship stress and attacked his son so savagely that “catastrophic” brain damage was caused.

It had wrecked the victim’s young life and left him virtually blind, unable to speak or eat and totally dependent on round-the-clock care, a court heard.

Jon Watson, 27, of Park Street, Grimsby, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on Jarvis Watson between November 7 and December 13, 2013 and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to him between January 12 and 15 last year.

The injuries included seven fractured ribs, a spine fracture, a brain injury, retina bleeding and a fracture to the right leg.

Kathryn Mooney, 27, of Carr Lane, Cleethorpes, admitted cruelty to a child between November 7, 2013 and January 15 last year by failing to protect Jarvis from Watson.

Gordon Stables, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that Watson gripped baby Jarvis, who was then about four weeks old, very tightly around the chest, possibly shaking him.

“The pressure caused ribs on both sides of the body, and front and back, to fracture,” said Mr Stables.

“On the second occasion, when baby Jarvis was but 10 weeks old, Watson took hold of his baby son and shook him violently.

“The shaking caused the baby’s head to move first in one direction and then the other, and then back again and was of sufficient severity that the brain inside the skull compressed against the skull, causing irreversible and significant brain damage, leaving him severely disabled with profound physical and cognitive difficulties.”

As a result of his horrifying injuries, he will never be able to talk, eat, sit up unaided and he is almost blind.

Jarvis suffered:

• A brain injury

  Retinal haemorrhages

  Seven fractured ribs

  A spine fracture

  A fracture to the right leg

His disabilities, which will leave him needing round-the-clock care for the rest of his life, also include:

• Lifelong epilepsy.

  No ability to eat and having to be fed by a tube.

  Very limited control of his body.

  He will never be able to control an electric wheelchair.

  He will be doubly incontinent for life.

“He will never live independently,” said Mr Stables.

“He will need full-time round-the-clock care and support for life.

“The shaking was also sufficiently severe to result in a fracture of the cervical spine – that bit of the spine in the neck.

“It also resulted in bleeding of the retina in both eyes. The shaking also resulted in the fracture to the right leg.

“This was caused by a pulling and twisting force on the right leg of baby Jarvis.

“Watson was prone to volatility, anger and violence, would readily lose his temper, would snap, would lose his temper over small things at work and would lose his temper in a domestic setting, occasionally using violence on Mooney.

“Mooney knew this and knew that he would lose his temper with Jarvis.

“She knew that there was a risk of harm being caused to anyone that Watson lost his temper with and knew that there was a risk of Watson taking out his anger on innocent others, particularly inside the family home.”

The couple moved in to Kings Mews, Cleethorpes, in late 2011.

“There were regular episodes of aggression and abuse towards Mooney,” said Mr Stables.

“Sometimes, she argued back. These were overheard or seen by various neighbours. The arguments were frequent and loud.”

Watson later admitted to a mental health nurse that he was “angry most of the time due to stress at work” and he was assessed as a “risk of harm to others impulsively due to being unable to manage his stress and anger in a better way”, the court heard.

“He was working at a leisure centre and felt that the standards of his bosses and work colleagues were lower than his own,” said Mr Stables.

“He felt his anger was building.”

Watson told the mental health nurse that, six years earlier, he had been charged with criminal damage and had punched a neighbour.

He was advised to seek anger management help.

Watson caused brain damage, spine fracture and retinal bleeding to the baby during the second incident after a work fall-out and an argument with Mooney.

He shook the baby severely and repeatedly and also caused the leg fracture.

Watson telephoned for an ambulance on January 14 last year and Mooney could be heard telling him to tell the operator that Jarvis was not breathing.

An ambulance was sent to Kings Mews and paramedics found the baby looking “very, very poorly, with a pale and grey complexion and he was not moving”.

A paramedic could not hear any breathing and could not feel a pulse.

A heart monitor was connected but the paramedics could not open the baby’s mouth because it was tight shut. He was making short, irregular breaths.

Watson at first told police: “All I can say is that I haven’t shaken my son. I’d never harm a child.”

But he later admitted: “I did do GBH. I snapped. I shook my son. I know what I’ve done. I know I’m a f***ing monster for it.”

He admitted of his previous denials: “I lied.”

He added: “I do believe that I may have shaken him before.”

He also admitted: “I blew it, lost it. I snapped. I shook him, three times vigorously. I had my hands round his chest. I shook him by the ribs.”

Mooney was aware that Watson had been discharged from the Army for violence and fighting.

She admitted she should have got Jarvis out of the situation at home much sooner.

Judge David Tremberg told the court that the case was an “unmitigated tragedy” because the baby had been left with injuries that would blight the quality of his life for as long as he lived.

He told Watson: “You recklessly caused this child a catalogue of injuries that no parent should cause a child.

“At the time you caused them, you were entirely indifferent to the child’s health and welfare.

“You elected to say nothing in the hope that you had not caused him serious harm, that nobody would notice and, accordingly, that you might get away with it.”

The full extent of the injuries went undetected, despite a series of medical examinations.

Whatever it was that had gone on at work made Watson very angry and he brought that anger home with him, said Judge Tremberg.

On the second occasion, Watson shook his son “with an outstanding degree of force” causing “yet another catalogue of injuries”.

Judge Tremberg added: “Although you called the ambulance, in those potentially critical minutes, hours and days during which the child was being given medical care, predictably, you failed to inform the medical specialists of what had really happened to Jarvis, preferring instead to paint a false picture.

“For a time, it was feared that Jarvis would not survive.

“As it is, you have left your son with irreversible and significant brain damage.

“He will never be able to live independently. He will require round-the-clock care.

“He will be unable to properly see, speak, walk, eat or sit unaided, control his body movements or bodily functions and he has lifelong epilepsy. “The child was only weeks old and therefore he was vulnerable and was entirely dependent upon his principal carers for his wellbeing.

“Your victim was one of the most vulnerable members of our society.

“You have left him with a catalogue of grave injuries which will seriously undermine the quality of this child’s life.”

Judge Tremberg told the court that Jarvis was living with Mooney’s parents under a special guardianship order.

“Until recently, you were not allowed to live in the same household and your contact had to be supervised,” he said.

“More recently, you have been permitted unsupervised contact and you are now allowed to reside in the same household.”

There was no criticism of the quality of the care she was providing and it was “clearly intended that you should continue to play a significant role” in the boy’s future life and care.

Watson was branded a “dangerous” offender and he will be on extended licence of 15 years after his release from prison.

He will serve at least eight years behind bars before even being considered for release. The Parole Board will decide whether it is safe to release him.

Mooney was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a two-year supervision order. Judge Tremberg imposed no reporting restrictions on the case – meaning that all those involved can be named – after deciding that it was important that the matter was publicised. The prosecution supported his view that there should be no restrictions.

After the hearing, Mooney declined to comment but members of her family who were in court said they wanted to thank Sheffield Children’s Hospital high dependency and intensive care unit for all they had done.

“If it wasn’t for them, Jarvis would have died,” they said.

Detective Chief Inspector Matt Baldwin, of Humberside Police, said: “The life-changing injuries inflicted upon this baby at the hands of his father are nothing short of horrific.

“The sentences handed down to the parents today reflect the seriousness of those injuries.

“They will have to live with the effects of their actions, including the mother in her failure to protect her child.

“Sadly, this will not change what has happened to this child. It will, however, prevent this happening to other children in the future.”

Judge Tremberg praised the police for the quality of the investigation it had carried out.