November 2008

Men jailed for sex attacks

Mohammed Ditta and Mirza Baig

TWO Asian men were jailed indefinitely for sex attacks on teenage white girls they had plied with drink and drugs.

Mirza Baig, 35, and Mohammed Ditta, 39, picked up vulnerable teenagers, offering them drink and cigarettes, Manchester Crown Court was told.

But after luring them back to Ditta’s flat in Hulme, Manchester, the girls were given vodka, Ecstasy pills and cocaine, until they became unconscious.

They then pounced on their 15-year-old victims, stripping them naked, putting them in beds and trying to force them to have sex.

Baig, of Longdon Road, Longsight, Manchester, and Ditta of Newdale Road, Levenshulme, Manchester, were jailed indefinitely for the public’s protection and told they must each serve at least three years before parole.

Passing sentence Judge Anthony Gee said: “These are despicable and truly shameful offences. Neither of you have displayed the slightest hint of remorse or regret.”

The pair were arrested in May last year after an investigation by a team of social workers from Manchester Children’s Services, detectives from Greater Manchester Police and project workers from the voluntary sector.

In the first incident, on April 18, 2007, Baig met up with two 15-year-old girls and drove them to Ditta’s flat.

Once inside Ditta gave the girls drink and drugs. He offered to pay one of the girls £20 to have sex with him, but she refused so he punched her twice in the face.

A few weeks later on April 30, 2007 the third victim, who was also 15 at the time, went to the same flat with a girl she knew.

There, Ditta and Baig gave her drink and drugs. While she was heavily intoxicated, Baig then sexually assaulted her. He then trapped her in the bedroom and threatened to kill her.

Ditta also sexually assaulted her before she was able to escape.

One girl told Manchester Crown Court she was terrified and thought she was going to die after Ditta ordered her to have sex and threatened her with a gun.

Ditta was convicted of assault and sexual assault after a three week trial.

Baig was convicted of sexual assault and threats to kill after calling one girl a “slag” and saying he would shoot her if she did not have sex with him.

Both men are married with young children.

March 2010

Anger as sex attacker walks free from court

A man who sexually assaulted a teenager in her own bed has escaped jail.

Vincent Cooper, of Gavel Walk, Hollin, kissed the girl before touching her chest during the attack.

But the 41-year-old escaped jail and was instead handed a community order with supervision requirement by magistrates.

Members of the girl’s family stormed out of the court as the sentence was read out.

The mother of the girl who was attacked said: “We are furious. If I stole a bar of chocolate I would fully expect to be sent to jail but this man walked free.  She has been devastated by this. We all have. We wanted him to go to jail but he has got away with it. After the verdict was read out she fell into my arms crying.”

Rochdale Magistrates heard how the man had followed the girl home last summer after drinking around seven cans of lager. Once he was in the house, he asked her for ‘a proper kiss’ while stroking her back.

He then kissed her on her lips and attempted to force his tongue into her mouth. As she tried to get up he held her down and touched her chest.

The victim then ran to her mother’s house.

Prosecuting Tracey Kelly said: “The victim has just suffered a miscarriage and needed the support of her family more than ever.”

The man pleaded guilty to kissing the victim on the lips and was found guilty at an earlier hearing of sexual assault – touching her breast.

Magistrates at Rochdale handed him a community order with a three year supervision requirement.

He was also ordered to sign the sexual offenders’ register and to attend a programme for sexual offenders.

Cooper, who is currently unemployed and has no similar previous convictions, sat in silence as he was sentenced.

He was also ordered to pay £300 costs. An application for compensation was rejected by magistrates.

Chairman Malcolm Bywater said: “We feel the order for compensation is best dealt with by the Criminal Injury Compensation Board.”

May 2011

Back behind bars: Pervert nurse who tried to create false ID to get new job

A convicted sex offender struck off from nursing turned to identity fraud in a bid to get a new job.

Damien Bible, 28, was working as a sexual health adviser at a drop-in clinic for youngsters when he subjected a schoolgirl to an intimate examination for perverted kicks.

The qualified nurse from Chorlton – who had also worked at hospitals in Bolton and Wythenshawe – was locked up in September 2008 for three-and-a-half years after being found guilty of sexual activity with a child. He was also barred from working with children.

But it has emerged that after his early release from prison he embarked on a sinister campaign of deception which has landed him back behind bars. Bible, of Oswald Road, decided to start a new life as ‘Adrian James Stewart’ – and set about acquiring medical qualifications for his new identity.

In October, last year he duped the University of Manchester into issuing a specialist mental health qualification to his fake identity after copying someone else’s degree certificate.

The fraud was discovered three months later – days after the Nursing and Midwifery Council struck him off for the sex offence – when he tried to transfer his old nursing certificates to his new identity.

The conman has now been recalled to prison to serve out the rest of his sentence and must serve another four months after admitting charges of fraud and failing to notify police of his new identity, which registered sex offenders must do by law.

He is not likely to be freed until August next year.

Bible, a former youth worker, denied that he had been trying to sneak back into nursing or working with youngsters.

But Justin Hayhoe, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court that the Crown Prosecution Service took the claims with a pinch of salt.

He said he was concerned Bible was adding to his professional qualifications ‘in an attempt that perhaps indicates something more sinister.’

Mr Hayhoe said: “If he wanted to obtain a legitimate job he would have simply have changed his name to Adrian Stewart.

“There would have been no need to have changed his nursing certificates to that name. They would have been no use to him.”

Nicholas Clarke, defending, said: “I accept, as does Mr Bible, that these offences have the taint of something far more serious, and have the potential for something far more serious, but he was caught before anything happened.

“He hadn’t applied for employment in another name, he hadn’t sought to conceal his conviction from his employer. I accept he may have been preparing for that.”

Bible’s sex trial heard he had not been qualified to perform an intimate swab test on the youngster at the Parallel Clinic in Bolton and had made inappropriate remarks while doing it.

When he was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in December last year, he had already been trying to build up a CV for his new identity for several months.

Bible was arrested and interviewed in February and at one stage claimed the identity theft had been a prank.

Sentencing, Recorder Anthony Cross QC told Bible: “I do make the assumption that you wished to obtain employment under a new name and that you would seek to hide your previous convictions, at least at some stage.”

January 2011

Rapist walks free as judge agrees girl, 12, looked 16

A convicted child rapist who claims he believed a 12-year-old girl he raped was 16 has been given a conditional discharge by top judges.

Disgraced Junaid Bhuta, 19, from Manchester Road, Frenchwood, Preston, met the youngster on Facebook before meeting up with her in March 2010.

They met and had sex in a park in Penwortham before going on a date at a Preston cinema.

Bhuta then bought her a train ticket home to Greater Manchester.

After admitting rape in May 2010, he was given a six-month suspended jail term by Judge Timothy Mort, sentencing at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court, who agreed it was right the victim could pass for 16.

However, Bhuta took his case to the Court of Appeal where three judges ruled the sentence was too harsh. The conditional discharge means if he goes a year without committing any other offence, the rape conviction will be removed from his record.

Gill Gibbons, chief executive officer of CROP (Coalition for the Removal of Pimping) said it was “very disappointing” and added: “We need to make sure those who are exploiting young people are convicted and prosecuted properly.”

South Ribble MP Conservative Lorraine Fullbrook MP described the case as “unbelievable” and vowed to bring it to the attenion of Theresa May, the Home Secretary.

She said: “I’m appalled, as any right minded member of public will be. Something has clearly gone seriously wrong with the system. My thoughts are with the girl and her family. I would urge all parents to be aware of the dangers the internet can present to their children.”

Judge Warwick McKinnon, sitting with Lord Justice Leveson and Mr Justice Sweeney, said the case was “unusual” and agreed that the punishment was too harsh.

He told the court Bhuta, then 18, met the girl online in January last year, and started speaking to her on the phone.

James Palfrey, for Bhuta, told the court his client had no idea the girl was so young.

He said her Facebook page was misleading, she looked older and acted more maturely than her 12 years.

He said the judge at the trial mistakenly believed the pair had known each other longer than they had, and gave Bhuta a “manifestly excessive” sentence. Bhuta, who sat at the back of the court with his family, wept at the decision.

April 2010

Paedophile jailed for string of sexual assaults

A FORMER pillar of the community is in disgrace after being jailed for inflicting years of sexual abuse on a young girl.

Paedophile Ian Howard, 43, of Rochdale Road, Middleton, subjected his victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to a series of sexual assaults in the 1990s.

The girl, who is now grown up, wept from the public gallery as Howard, a former funeral director and amateur photographer, was sentenced to two years behind bars for six separate counts of indecent assault on the girl.

He will remain on licence for two years following his release.

Judge Lesley Newton, presiding at Bolton Crown Court, said the affect on the victim has been appalling. She added: “Like so many other children in her position she has lived with feelings of guilt and shame. She has suffered mental health problems and even attempted to kill herself.”

Talking directly to the victim after the verdict was read out, she said: “This is not your fault and I hope this verdict will help you put some of this behind you.”

At the sentence hearing last Wednesday, 9 January, the court heard how the girl would pretend to sleep as Howard would get into bed with her wearing only his boxer shorts.

He would then subject the girl to a brutal indecent assault. The court heard how these attacks continued on a regular basis for four years.

Prosecuting, Peter Cadwallader, said: “Following the final incident, she lived for a number of years with feelings of guilt and felt it was her fault.

“She has been seeing a psychiatrist and has attempted to commit suicide, all of which is connected to the sexual abuse committed on her.”

Howard, who had previously pleaded guilty to the charges, spoke only to confirm his name in the court.

Raquele Simpson, defending, said Howard was sorry for his actions and fully acknowledged he had to be punished.

She added: “The defendant knows there is nothing he can say to make this better. He is truly sorry for what he has done and acknowledges the pain and suffering to her, her family and his own family.

“He fully accepts that he must be punished for what he did.”

She said Howard had lost everything, including his job as a funeral director and his marriage.

Judge Newton handed Howard a four year sentence, two in custody, and two on licence in the community. She also ordered that he must sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

Judge Newton said she had taken into account the fact Howard had pleaded guilty to the offences, sparing his victim the trauma of giving evidence in a trial, the fact he had no previous convictions and the remorse his defence argued he had shown.

But she added the seriousness and repeated nature of his crime meant a custodial sentence was inevitable and he was taken down amid angry scenes from a packed public gallery.

April 2010

Child rapist made his victims relive ordeal

A RESPECTED businessman who preyed on young girls has started a ten-year prison sentence this week.

Dad-of-two Kevin Smith sexually assaulted one girl, known as Girl A, and raped another girl, Girl B.

The 64-year-oldgroomed the girls with gifts and money.

In victim impact statements Girl A was said to be distressed by what she had gone through. Girl B was said to be left with many difficulties as a result of the abuse.

Smith, of Cyprus Close, Salem, forced the girls to give evidence during a trial after denying all the charges.

However, he was convicted by a jury on two counts of indecent assualt on Girl A.

He was also convicted of one count of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault, two counts of indecency with a child, one assault by penetration, four counts of taking indecent photos and two counts of rape against Girl B.

He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and ordered to pay £4,250 costs.

Earlier the court heard Smith’s offending began in 1998 after his marriage to his wife ended. He was running his own business and living alone in a detached house.

He befriended Girl A and, after a sustained period of grooming, sexually assaulted her when she was just 11-years-old. Her parents ultimately became suspicious of the friendship and the contact with Girl A ended.

Smith then moved onto his second victim, Girl B, when she was 13-years-old and went onto see her up to twice a week.

After her 14th birthday, Smith began drawing the curtains when she was at his house and touching her. This happened a number of times.

On occasions money was given to Girl B and he would pay her to perform sexual acts. He finally progressed to full sexual intercourse with her and, on one occasion, held her down on a bed and raped her without using any form of protection.

He started writing love letters to the girl which made her tell her parents what was going on, and they alerted police.

Ouside court, family of the victims said: “Justice has been done. This man has been given the correct sentence.”

Girl B added: “It was scary seeing him in court. I’m just glad it’s all over.”

April 2010

Child rapist is caged

A 40-YEAR-OLD man who subjected a schoolgirl to a campaign of sexual abuse has been jailed for 12-and-a-half years.

Mark Anthony Hindley, of Warwick Terrace, Dukinfield, pleaded guilty at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court to six counts of rape.

Hindley raped his victim when she was aged between 11 and 16.

He threatened he was harm her if she told anyone of the sexual assaults.

The abuse came to light in February 2008, when the victim reported she had been raped by Hindley since 2002. Hindley was then arrested.

During the course of the investigation, officers discovered that Hindley had filmed himself raping his victim on one occasion.

In addition to his jail sentence, Hindley was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life and he also received an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order, preventing him from having unsupervised contact with children under 16 years old.

Detective Constable Sarah Aaronson, of Tameside Public Protection Investigation Unit, said: “This was a particularly harrowing case of systematic sexual abuse of a young child who was subject to horrific rapes over a lengthy period of time.

“The victim was threatened with violence and was too afraid to report the matter at the time. However they were ultimately brave enough to report the incidents to the police earlier this year.

“The victim will never get over what has happened to her but will at least get some satisfaction from today’s result.

“Tameside Police Public Protection Investigation Unit is committed to investigating matters irrespective of how long ago the incidents have occurred and this result highlights the importance of coming forward to the police to report incidents of sexual abuse no matter how long ago they may have taken place.”

April 2010

‘Pervert’s ruined my daughter’s life but he’ll be free in months’

A MUM whose little girl was sexually assaulted has slammed the court’s leniency in dealing with the sick culprit.

The woman said her six-year-old daughter’s life has been ruined by Terence Parr, who was jailed last week after being found guilty of the perverse attack.

But Parr, already convicted for abusing another 12-year-old girl, was ordered to spend just one year behind bars with another year out of jail on licence.

With time spent on remand, Parr, of Abbey Road, Hollin, could be back on the streets as early as August.

The six-year-old’s mum, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “Our lives have been ruined, he’s stolen my little girl’s innocence. I’m devastated because he’s going to be out in a couple months.

“I’m frightened to death, what if he makes his way back to the same places?

“I can’t sleep at night, I just sit there wondering what to do for the best.”

She added: “The worst thing is I’ve lied to my little girl. I told her that this dirty paedophile would be put away for a long time and he hasn’t.

“He’s going to be out in August and I’m not going to know where he lives. How can I move forward with him being back in Middleton?

“We just don’t have justice in this country.”

Last week, we revealed that an inquiry has been launched into Parr’s case.

He had been ordered to take part in a sexual offender’s treatment programme by a crown court judge in December 2006 after admitting to molesting the 12-year-old girl.

But the Probation Service failed to find Parr a place on the intensive course and just eight months later, in August 2007, he abused the six-year-old girl.

A spokesman for the Probation Service said Parr was not a priority for the course because he was deemed a low risk of re-offending.

The mother said: “How many children does he have to touch before they decide it’s serious and he’s a high risk? How far does he have to go?”

March 2008

Man jailed for attacks on girls

A HEYWOOD man was jailed for three years at Bolton Crown Court last Thursday for indecently assaulting three schoolgirls.

Michael Philip Loach, 35, of Sutherland Flats, Angel Meadows, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual touching last December.

The court heard that on Friday 6 July 2007, two girls were walking to school in Radcliffe when Loach approached them and asked for directions.

Loach then reached forward and tried to grab one of them, indecently assaulting her, but she managed to move away quickly and ran off.

He then grabbed the other girl’s skirt, ripping it as she, too, ran away. The girls ran to school and reported what had happened to their teacher, who called police.

About 10 minutes later Loach approached another girl, who was also on her way to school.

He asked her for directions and, as she gave them, he pushed her against the wall of a house and indecently assaulted her.

When the girl screamed, Loach put his hand over her mouth but, as she continued to scream, he ran off.

Three people from nearby houses heard the screaming. One woman came out to see what had happened, a man called police and another man looked out of his window and saw the incident as it happened.

He rushed out of his house and ran in the direction Loach had gone in. He then saw a dark blue Ford Escort stopped at traffic lights and recognised the man inside as the offender.

He opened the door of the car and grabbed Loach who shouted: “It wasn’t me”, before driving off.

The man recorded Loach’s registration number on his mobile, flagged down a police car and passed the details to officers.

A short time later a police patrol saw the car. Loach stopped the car and tried to run away, but officers chased him and he was arrested.

Later the same day, officers searched Loach’s house, where they discovered a quantity of women’s underwear.

Detective Inspector Lynne Vernon, from Bury CID, said: “It is thanks to the quick reaction of members of the public that we were able to get Loach so quickly and ensure that he could not continue to prey on young girls in this area.

“What happened must have been extremely upsetting for the girls but they did exactly the right thing by running away and reporting what had happened to a teacher.”

May 2010

Our life has been left in tatters

A mother has told how her family’s lives are in ruins after a convicted sex offender was allowed to walk free from court.  

David Stothers, 36, of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, was given a three year community order for a sex assault in which he ordered the woman’s six-year-old daughter to indecently touch him while he tried to take a photo on his mobile phone.

The incident, which occurred in a churchyard in the summer of 2007, only came to light a year later when the girl told her mother.

Her story was corroborated by a friend who had been sent away by Stothers while the assault took place.  

Bolton Crown Court heard Stothers warned both children they would ‘get hurt’ or he would ‘kill them’ if anybody else found out about it.

Stothers pleaded guilty to a charge of indecent assault, which can carry a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

But instead he must sign the sex offenders register for five years, must not own a camera or camera phone, not actively engage with children under 16 and not to go within 200 metres of the child’s address.

The girl’s mum wept as she said: ‘I am absolutely gutted by this decision, which will mean he will be allowed to roam the streets of Rochdale while our lives have been ruined.

‘I always brought my daughter up to tell the truth and told her people who do bad things would always be punished. So how do I tell her he has got away with this? 

‘She has been deeply disturbed and tried self harming by biting herself and cutting herself with scissors. He has taken away her innocence.

‘The criminal justice system is pathetic. I have had to do all the chasing to even find out what was going on and when he would be brought to justice. I want him named and shamed so parents in Rochdale are aware of him and he can’t do this to any other child or family.’ 

Geoff Whelan, prosecuting, said Stothers, who already had convictions, including one for assaulting a policeman, ordered the child to indecently touch him while he took the photo, but the camera failed to operate.

Nicholas Clarke, defending, said: ‘Stothers has accepted he committed this offence and he has a drinking problem, consuming up to six litres of cider and vodka every day.  

‘Your honour could send him to prison for up to 12 months, but that would not help with his problem.’ 

Sentencing, Judge Elliot Knopf said: ‘I want you to understand the order is not a let off and the offence was very serious indeed.’ 

April 2008

Man jailed for attempting to abduct schoolgirls

A 23-year-old man from Platt Bridge has today, Monday 14 April 2008, been convicted of attempting to abduct a number of schoolgirls.

Dean Meadows, born 06/05/84 of Dartington Road, was found guilty of 10 counts of attempted abduction at Liverpool Crown Court following a four week re-trial in February this year.

The re-trial had been ordered by a judge at the end of a previous trial in August 2007 in which Meadows was convicted of two offences of attempted abduction.

He has been now convicted of a total of 12 offences of attempted abduction.

He was sentenced to five years for each offence, to run concurrently.

He has also been made the subject of a Sexual Offences Provention Order for 12 years.

Meadows used his red VW Polo to prowl the streets of Wigan, Westhoughton, Platt Bridge and Ince, looking for teenage schoolgirls.

He would pull up alongside the girls and attempt to talk to them and get them into his car. In every incident the girls refused to get into his car.

Meadows preyed on a number of girls between July 2005 and March 2006.

Meadows first struck at around 8.30am on 14 July 2005 when he spotted a 14-year-old schoolgirl making her way to school along Landemans in Westhoughton.

She looked up and saw Meadows staring at her from behind the wheel of his car as he slowly drove along the road.

As she walked onto nearby Bankside, Meadows drove alongside her, wound down his window and asked her where she was going.

He then asked her which school she went to and whether she wanted a lift, which she refused.

She then told her mother about the incident after school that day, but they decided to find out more details about Meadows car before going to the police because the girl was convinced she had seen the car on the estate.

Some time later the girl spotted the car parked outside a house on Bankside and she took down the details of the car and house and the police were called.

When spoken to by police, Meadows denied approaching the girl and he was advised by officers.

However, in November or December 2005, Meadows again attempted to abduct another schoolgirl, this time in Wigan. On this occasion he asked the girl five times to get into his car, but the girl refused to do so, despite shaking with fear.

During the course of this incident he bombarded the girl with a number of questions, asking her where she was going, whether she wanted a lift, how old she was and whether she’d give him a kiss.

He then struck again at around 9pm on 6 March 2006 when he approached a girl on Warrington Road, Platt Bridge, and attempted to entice a 14-year-old girl into his car.

After she reported this attack to the police, Meadows was arrested on 1 April 2006.

During the course of the subsequent investigation, Meadows was found to have approached a number of other girls in the wider Wigan area, including one 13-year-old girl from Platt Bridge who he made four attempts to get into his car.

Detective Constable John Pattison of Wigan CID said: “Meadows is a dangerous individual who tried to entice schoolgirls into his car.

“Thankfully all the girls he approached had the common sense and wherewithal to turn him down and most of them raised the alarm straight away.

“Meadows has constantly denied the offences from the start of the investigation, so we are very pleased that this dangerous individual has now been taken out of the community.”

December 2008

Man jailed over sex attacks on girls

A 48-year-old man has been jailed indefinitely for sexually abusing schoolgirls.

James Ridyard, aged 48, of no fixed abode but had previously lived in Kearsley, pleaded guilty to:

• Four offences of causing a child to watch indecent images

• Two counts of sexual activity with a child

• Three counts of sexual assault on a child

• One count of possession of indecent images of children

He was today sentenced to an indeterminate term of imprisonment for public protection at Bolton Crown Court and was ordered to serve a minimum of two-and-a-half years.

Ridyard abused his five victims, who were aged six, 10, 11 and 12 at the time of the abuse.

He regularly showed the girls indecent pictures of himself telling them not to tell anyone about it.

Ridyard sent indecent pictures to one girl’s mobile phone, which she immediately deleted.

He also forced two of the 10-year-old girls to touch him intimately and forced them to watch a sexual act, and later went on to sexually abuse one of the girls.

One of the girls mentioned Ridyard’s behaviour to an adult and the police were called.

Detective Constable Rick Barratt of Astley Bridge CID said: “Ridyard gained the trust of the children and completely abused this.

“These girls should be enjoying their childhood but instead they will have the memories of what Ridyard put them through.

“One of the girls had enough courage to go against Ridyard and tell an adult what he had shown them. This encouraged the two other victims to talk about what had happened.

“Through this bravery Ridyard has today had to face the consequences of his actions.

“I would urge anyone who has been abused in this way to report it to police. We take all reports of sexual abuse extremely seriously and are dealt with in a sensitive manner by specially trained officers.

August 2007

Victim of abuse reveals ordeal

A YOUNG mum has spoken out about the years of sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her stepfather after he was convicted last week of abusing another youngster.

Former company director Andrew John Turner, aged 52, of Whitworth Road was sentenced to two years behind bars last Thursday after he was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault following a trial at Bolton Crown Court.

He had denied the charges.

But in February 2006 he admitted six specimen counts of indecent assault against his stepdaughter and was given 30 months behind bars, of which he served half, was banned indefinitely from working with children and placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Now stepdaughter, Nicola, who was abused by Turner for six years from the age of eight, has waived her right to anonymity and told her story in the hope of encouraging other victims of abuse to go to the police.

Nicola, aged 25, said: “When it first started I didn’t understand what was happening.

“As I got older, I started to realise it was wrong and wanted it to stop, but didn’t know how.

“I told my friend and she said I should write it all in my diary and leave it where my mum could find it.

“My biggest fear was that she wouldn’t believe me.

“But she came to pick me up from school and told me she’d read something that she didn’t think she was supposed to see.

“I told her, No, I meant for her to see it. Then everything just spilled out and we both sat there crying.”

Nicola’s mother took her to the police, who interviewed the youngster and asked her if she wanted to press charges.

At the time she felt too frightened by the prospect of a court case to take things further and it was only years later, after becoming a mother herself, that she felt ready to bring her abuser to justice.

She added: “I never had a sense of closure about it, especially as he was still swanning around like nothing had happened.

“I’d see him on nights out and he’d come over and offer to buy me drinks. It made me feel sick.

“Once I’d had my son and was pregnant with my little girl I knew then that enough was enough. If anyone did that to my children I would kill them.”

The second victim had no idea Turner had already been convicted of abusing Nicola at the time she reported her own experience to police in 2006.

Although Turner pleaded guilty to abusing Nicola, he denied the counts of abuse against the second girl, but with the help of a damning statement from Nicola about her own ordeal, which was read out in court, the jury returned a guilty verdict.

Despite vowing not to let what she went through ruin her life, Nicola says the first few years after the abuse ended were tough.

She had frequent nightmares and until her early 20s she found it almost impossible to settle in relationships as she wasn’t able to trust men.

But she says she has no regrets about seeking justice and speaks highly of the way police handled her case.

She added: “Rochdale CID were brilliant with me. When it came to court, they stayed with me right up to the end.

“When someone is abusing you, you feel at the time like they have won. Now it’s the case that I won’t let him win anymore.”

March 2010

Town hall worker sacked over child abuse images

A town hall worker has been sacked after he was caught with child and animal sexual abuse images.

Nathan Porter’s perversions were uncovered when a flatmate logged on to his home computer to find he had tried to arrange a webcam viewing of a child engaged in sex acts.

His friend was so alarmed by what he saw he immediately called the police.

When detectives searched Porter’s Salford home they found seven DVDs of women having sex with animals.

Further analysis of the 32-year-old’s computer discovered he had downloaded two pornographic pictures of girls aged around 10.

Porter was suspended from his job in the strategic regeneration unit at Salford council following his arrest and charge.

He has now been dismissed due to a ‘lack of trust’, the council confirmed last night.

Porter, of Jones Street, Langworthy, walked free from court after pleading guilty to seven counts of possessing extreme pornography. He asked for a further 38 to be taken into consideration.

He also admitted attempting to incite a child to take part in a sexual act and making an indecent image of a child.

Judge Jeffrey Lewis, sentencing at Minshull Street Crown Court, told him the offences were so serious that there would have been no alternative to prison.

But because Porter had already spent seven months in jail on remand, having refused to apply for bail, the judge handed him a community order with strict supervision requirements for three years.

“There is nothing I can say to you that you have not thought of yourself,” Judge Lewis added.

The court was told Porter was arrested in August last year.

An examination of his computer revealed an online dialogue in which he discussed paying £50 to watch sexual activity involving a child.

Alaric Bassano, prosecuting, said part of the conversation involved Porter saying: recovered read: “Have you got young bum? Hope you can get it for me “Eleven to 12 would be good.”

December 2010

Police officer’s sex act appeal case thrown out

A PERVERTED policeman — who performed a sex act in a squad car in front of a young girl he was supposed to be helping —has had his claims he was wrongly convicted thrown out by top judges.

Kristian James Abbott, aged 29, was jailed for 21 months at Manchester Crown Court in November, 2008, after he was found guilty of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Having since been released from prison, Abbott, of Cannon Street, Radcliffe, brought a legal battle against his conviction to the Court of Appeal in London yesterday.

Mr Justice Cranston said Abbott picked up a 15-year-old girl who had run away from a care home in 2007.

At the Court of Appeal yesterday, Andy Fitzpatrick, for Abbott, argued fresh DNA testing on Abbott’s uniform trousers cast doubt on the jury’s verdict and made his conviction “unsafe”.

But three senior judges called his arguments “thoroughly bad”, and dismissed the appeal, saying the test would not have affected the jury’s verdict.

January 2009

A COP who carried out a sex act in front of a teenage girl in care has been jailed.

Father-of-one Pc Kristian Abbott, 27, performed the act in his patrol car as he returned the girl to her care home.

He was given a 21-month sentence – half to be served behind bars and the remainder on licence – at Manchester Crown Court.

Abbott was found guilty after a trial in November of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child. The court heard he picked up the girl at Rochdale train station in April 2007 and offered her a ‘brew and a fag’ at the police station if she exposed herself.

Abbott, who got married just three months after the incident and has worked as a police officer of five years, asked her if she was working as a prostitute as he drove her to Littleborough police station and repeatedly asked her to expose herself.

She replied: “Aren’t you meant to be a copper?” and told him he should be catching criminals instead of being one, the court heard.

At first the girl said she thought he was joking but his behaviour persisted. She spent 20 minutes in a cell at the police station before he offered her a lift back to her Yorkshire care home. In the car he asked her to perform sex acts on him and again asked if she was a prostitute.

She asked him: “Do you not know how old I am?” He asked her if she thought he was a good copper and she replied that he was being weird.

The court heard how Abbott then stopped the car then pulled over and performed a sex act on himself.

Abbott then dropped her at the care home from where she had been reported missing the night before. She banged on the door and told a member of staff what had happened. An investigation was launched but the defendant said ‘nothing untoward’ had happened.

In a statement read to the court the victim told how the ordeal had made her feel ‘dirty’ and ‘scared to tell in case he came after me’.

She said: “After this happened to me I found myself in really risky situations and was too scared to call the police because of what he had done to me in case other policemen might do the same or worse.”

The girl said she hadn’t been able to sleep through worry, stress and fear and added: “Growing up in care has been hard enough without being portrayed as a liar in front of a lot of people who don’t even know me.”

Mark Jones, defending, said that Abbott, of  Radcliffe, planned to appeal and was adamant about his innocence. The officer has been suspended from duty and is expected to either be sacked or asked to resign.

Sentencing Abbott, Judge Peter Lakin, said: “As a serving police officer it was your duty not only to fight crime but also to protect the vulnerable in our society.

“You were trusted by the Greater Manchester Police and by the public you served to perform your duty conscientiously and with complete integrity.

“The harsh reality of this case is that in your dealings with (the victim) you abused your authority, you failed in your duty and you breached the trust placed in you.”

 He told him he had taken advantage of the girl and added: “You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself. Not only have you committed a serious criminal offence whilst on duty as a police officer, you have also tarnished the good name of Greater Manchester Police.”

As he was taken down Abbott’s family shouted: “We’ll fight for you, we know you’re innocent.”

He was disqualified from working with children indefinitely.

July 2015

Pervert admits downloading child abuse images & pictures including a human having oral sex with a tiger

A pervert admitted 22 charges of downloading child abuse images and “extreme” pornography of a human having oral sex with a tiger.

Instead, Nicholas Wakeling, 60, of Wavell Close, Springfield, Chelmsford, was made subject of a three year community order by Judge Martyn Levett at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Judge Levett also ordered him to undertake the sex offenders treatment programme and sign the sex offenders register for five years. And he made a sexual harm prevention order for five years.

He said many of the nearly 4,000 images Wakeling was caught in possession of were duplicates so there were “probably no more than 1,000″ all at category A , the highest level, plus the one extreme image involving the tiger.

There images ranged from toddlers to teenagers.

As he passed sentence, the judge told Wakeling : “The public and you need to understand that downloading images of babies, infants, young children and pre teenage girls perpetuates a market which encourages the making of more and more indecent images of children.”

“Those children will be harmed by the knowledge that perverted gratification gained by adults like you from looking at the images is something they will have hanging over their heads.

“Harm caused to those children can never really be quantified especially later in life when they realise there are images available on the internet of them as children and now they are adults themselves

“So that’s why the whole case becomes an important and serious matter for the courts to deal with.”

He added : “I have no doubt in your life you might question your own sexuality and there’s an inability to form relationships.

“I have no doubt that you are a lonely man who looked at these images for your own sexual gratifications over the internet.”

Wakeling admitted on October 24 last year having an extreme pornographic image which portrayed in an explicit and realistic way a person performing an act of intercourse or oral sex with a tiger.

He further admitted 21 offences of downloading indecent images, involving nine still images at levels A, B and C, three moving images at levels A and C, 273 still images at levels A to C, 17 moving at the same levels, 4,047 stills at A-C, 15 movies at A & C, five at A-C and two moving at level A.

Wakeling was arrested on the basis of information from the authorities in the United States someone was downloading illegal indecent images at his address.

Laura Glover, mitigating, said: “He was suffering distress about his sexuality.”

July 2015

JAILED: Sex offender who used facebook photos of children to create pornographic pictures

A MAN who took children’s photographs off Facebook pages and used them to make sexual images has been jailed for 18 months.

James Alan Taylor, 35, admitted 15 charges of possessing indecent images and videos of children, possessing extreme pornographic images and videos and making pseudo photos of children. It was the second time he had been convicted.

Michael Cahill, prosecuting at York Crown Court, said police found the children’s altered photographs when they raided Taylor’s home in Micklegate, York, along with other sexual photos and videos of children and photos and videos of extreme pornography featuring adults.

Judge Tom Bayliss QC said: “The public would be horrified – will be horrified – to know that men like you take images of children from the internet, posted there by them for their pleasure and those of their friends, and use them for your perverted sexual lust.

“In order to deter you and to deter others from behaving in the way you have behaved, there must be an immediate custodial sentence.”

In addition to the 18-month prison sentence, Taylor was put on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and made subject for 10 years to a sexual harm prevention order that bans him from using the internet without special software or controls aimed at stopping him repeating his offences.

He had been convicted in 2000 of making and distributing pseudo photos.

His solicitor advocate Liam Hassan said he was unemployed and isolated socially without social or work friends, so spent long hours at home on the Internet. That had led to him committing the offences.

He had mental health issues and needed help in dealing with his behaviour, said Mr Hassan.

Mr Cahill said two of the three children in the four pseudo photos had been identified.

The judge said: “The children weren’t physically harmed, but knowledge that their photographs, which have been innocently placed by them on the internet, have been used by you and manipulated in this way must have had an impact upon them.”

Mr Cahill said all four pseudo photos were category C, the lowest of three categories. Police found 29 indecent photographs of children, of which five were in category A, the highest, and four indecent videos of children, none of which were category A. There were 36 extreme pornographic images and 24 extreme videos.

March 2001

Former teacher jailed for abusing pupils

A FORMER teacher, who taught at two Watford schools, was jailed for ten years on Friday, March 23, for sexually abusing young pupils over a nine-year period.

Languages teacher Peter Ward first befriended the boys and their families and provided extra tuition in their home.

But this was just part of a grooming process to ensnare vulnerable and innocent children into a web of sexual perversion.

He was jailed for a catalogue of offences involving in five young boys, but specially trained detectives from the Child Protection Unit in South Oxhey, who uncovered his sordid past, believe their may be many more.

They are urging other victims to come forward.

Ward, 56, stood head bowed in the dock at Luton Crown Court as Judge Ronald Moss told him: “On any view what happened over the years from the end of 1979 to the early 1990’s amounts to a catalogue of serious and systematic abuse by you over a period of nine years.”

The judge said Ward, a married man who has no children, targeted youngsters who had difficult family backgrounds.

He picked on youngsters whose parents were divorcing, or where there was a lack of money, and offered them free extra tuition.

Parents were grateful to the teacher for the interest he showed in their offspring, unaware that his real motive was to perform sickening sex acts on the children.

The judge said: “Your real intent was to groom the boys for your sexual perversions. You groomed the parents in your way so that they trusted you.”

Ward had been found guilty of 16 charges at the end of an eight-day trial in January.

His victims were aged between 11 and 17 and attended Leggatts School in Leggatts Way, which has since closed, and Francis Combe School in Horseshoe Lane.

The boys were abused at three different houses, where Ward lived – Hillfield Avenue, Hornsey and Belmont Road and Botley Road in Hemel Hempstead.

He also took them on holiday to France.

Mr Stuart Trimmer, prosecuting said the victims were now aged between 25 and 33. He said: “They have gone on to get good jobs and are grateful to him for his tuition, but he used the opportunity to groom them.

He had power over them and they were not in a position to complain.

“He created a master-apprentice relationship in which they were required to pass tests, which involved them undressing and indulging in acts of indecency.”

Ward, now of Brambling Rise, Sittingbourne in Kent, was arrested in March last year, and was suspended from teaching.

Ward was found guilty of four charges of buggery, involving two of the boys, ten charges of indecent assault and two of indecency with a child.

July 2015

Man convicted of multiple child sexual offences in Sheffield

A 42-year-old man who sent explicit sexual messages and pictures to schoolgirls via social media has pleaded guilty to multiple child sexual offences at Sheffield Crown Court.

Amjed Taher Al-Badran, previously of Langsett Crescent, Sheffield, appeared before the court charged with one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and four counts of inciting a child to engage in prostitution.

July 2015

Stockton man jailed after arranging to meet 14-year-old girl girl for sex

A man has been jailed for more than four years for arranging to meet an underage girl for sex and asking two teenagers to send indecent pictures to him.

Philip Smart, 25, was sentenced to 42 months for causing or inciting a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity on January 29 and February 5; and arranging or facilitating a child sex offence of sexual activity with the same girl, by requesting that they meet up on January 29.

He was sentenced to eight months to run consecutively for inciting child pornography – asking a second teenage girl for a picture on February 11.

In total Smart, of Yarm Road, Stockton, was sent to prison for four years and two months by Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough.

Teesside Crown Court heard that the first teenage girl was contacted by Smart via “a random Facebook message” which progressed into a conservation via messages which became more explicit and Smart suggested they meet for sex at his flat.

The teenager suggested Ropner Park as she was “too shy” to go to his flat and the meeting was stopped after the teenager – who the court heard had a mental capacity of a 10-year-old – confided in a carer at the children’s home where she lived. The carer rang Smart to ask him how old he was and he said he was 25.

The second 14-year-old girl, who the court heard has cerebral palsy, was contacted by Smart via social media app Whatsapp and was asked to send an indecent photo to the defendant while he sent her one.

The court was told that Smart knew the first girl was in care but would not have known of either girl’s disabilities.

Shaun Dryden, defending, said Smart’s previous convictions – for which he received a six-week custodial sentence for each, were for burglary and threats to commit criminal damage – were not of a similar nature. He said Smart had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

The court heard statements from both girls, the first said what Smart had done was “horrible” while the second said she never wanted to hear from him again.

Judge Bourne-Arton said both of the girls were vulnerable.

“You set out to groom [the first girl] and you gained her trust so she trusted you and in the case of both girls you knew they were under 16.”

He said the probation reports showed Smart had a “dismissive attitude” and claimed he had been targeted by the victims and called him “reckless and risk-taking” for self-gratification.

“He considers you posing a considerable risk to young girls.”

He ordered that Smart be placed on the sex offenders register and gave him a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.