July 2015

Westcliff Paedophile Jailed For 15 Years

A registered sex offender from Westcliff has been jailed for 15 years for a string of new sex offences.

52 year-old Davy Nicholls, from Manor Road, admitted having indecent images of children and also having sexual activity with a child under the age of 13.

Essex Police started an investigation after a member of the public in Nicholls’ bric-a-brac shop on London road saw suspicious images on his laptop open on the serving desk in November 2014.

She contacted police and the force’s On-Line Investigation Team found a large number of indecent images at the shop and on a camera and computer.

Further enquiries found he had also been abusing a young girl.

He was charged with three counts of sexual activity with a child under 13, one of breaching his Sexual Offences Prevention Order, one of taking indecent images of a child, and a further eight of making and possessing indecent images of children.

He pleaded guilty to every offence.

In court, it was heard Nicholls had been jailed for four-and-a-half years in 2008 for sexually assaulting a 12 year-old girl and possessing indecent images, and was released on licence part way through that sentence.

Judge David Owen-Jones described him as “a significant risk to children and members of the public and there was the likelihood of serious harm and further sex offences if he was released from custody.”

Investigating officer, Dc Gill Partridge of the Essex Police On-Line Investigation Unit, said: “The child involved in the latest crimes was understandably devastated, as were her family, to discover that Nicholls had been jailed for similar crimes.

“He managed to conceal his past and preyed on the girl for more than two years.

“He was extremely cunning and tried to keep the offences secret but fortunately a member of the public saw images on the computer at his shop and police intervened immediately.”

March 2006

Child rapist jailed for life

A CHILD rapist, who befriended and then preyed on young children in Worthing, has been jailed for life.

Martin Phelan, 35, previously of Chatsworth Road and Meredith Road, Worthing, attacked nine boys and girls, aged seven to 14, between 1994 and 1998.

Appearing at Chichester Crown Court on Friday, he stood frowning, arms folded, as Judge Anthony Thorpe told him “all right-thinking people will be appalled to hear that one man can cause such misery and betray trusts so cruelly.

“You are such a danger, acting as a sexual predator preying on the young and vulnerable, that there is no alternative to sentences of life imprisonment.”

Judge Thorpe told Phelan he would serve at least 10 years in prison before parole would be considered.

He added: “I doubt it will ever be safe to release you, but that is a matter for the parole board, not me.”

At a previous hearing, Phelan had admitted rape, two counts of attempted rape, 15 counts of indecent assault and three counts of assault causing actual bodily harm. His attacks took place in Worthing town centre, the Broadwater/East Worthing area and Bramber.

As the verdict was announced, cries of abuse and “rot in hell” were screamed from the crowded public gallery containing his victims and their families.

Philip Katz QC, prosecuting, told the court Phelan was “a compulsive, promiscuous paedophile” who devastated the lives of his victims.

He detailed Phelan’s appalling abuse of young children, saying: “The abuse was persistent, done in an atmosphere of threatened violence, and often perpetrated when other children were present.”

Mr Katz said Phelan’s wife, Jackie, had questioned her husband about his behaviour, but believed he would stop.

Mr Katz added: “There is a clear indication Mrs Phelan knew what was going on and chose not to do anything about it.”

Police later confirmed no charges had been brought against Mrs Phelan.

Mr Katz read statements from the tormented youngsters, painting a torrid picture of lives blighted by drink and drug abuse, behavioural and relationship problems since their experiences with Phelan.

One 14-year-old boy told how he attempted suicide after being indecently assaulted.

A girl repeatedly raped by Phelan from the age of eight said he had ruined her life.

Another girl believed Phelan would kill her if she told anyone what was happening and was left with a phobia of men with ginger hair – the colour of Phelan’s.

Mr Katz told how Phelan’s abuse had begun when he had lived in Brightlingsea, Essex, in 1994, continuing after he moved to Worthing in the summer of 1996.

Another sickening episode happened after Phelan had taken four children on a trip to Bramber.

Police began investigations in November, 1998, after several complaints from parents of his victims.

Phelan, an Irish national, fled to Ireland, where his horrific abuse continued. He was twice convicted of offences against boys aged between nine and 14 years, serving more than five years in prison before being extradited to the UK last September.

Brian O’Neill, defending, said Phelan had been sexually and physically abused throughout his childhood. He said Phelan now expressed “considerable remorse and regret for his actions” and deserved credit for sparing his victims and families the ordeal of a trial.

Mr O’Neill said Phelan had attempted suicide during a rehabilitation programme while in prison in Ireland, as he began to see himself as an abuser rather than a victim.

Judge Thorpe urged authorities to admit Phelan for treatment as someone with “a dangerous and severe” personality disorder.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and banned from ever working with children.

April 2007

Prison officer & scoutmaster jailed for child abuse images

A judge yesterday said he was staggered at how easy it was find sick sex pictures of children on the Internet as he jailed a former Scoutmaster.

Andrew Hadwin, 27, was jailed at Oxford Crown Court yesterday for possessing and distributing thousands of indecent images of children via an Internet search engine.

Sentencing Hadwin to 18 months, Recorder Peter Clarke backed calls for Internet search engines to restrict access to illegal material.

Yesterday a report by the Internet Watch Foundation revealed the number of websites showing indecent images of children had quadrupled in the past three years.

Mr Clarke said: “It does beggar belief that it is so easy to just type out words like that into a computer or search engine run by such an international company and come up with pornography so easily.”

Prosecutor Peter Coombe told the sentencing hearing Hadwin began his perverted search for child pornography by entering keywords into the search engine on his personal computer.

Hadwin, of Gibbs Crescent, in West Oxford, also joined an Internet group where requests were made to trade indecent images of children, Mr Coombe added.

One email request for a specific image written by Hadwin to a fellow online pervert was not read out publicly because Mr Clarke believed it was too indecent to be heard in open court.

Yesterday the Oxford Mail typed some of Hadwin’s search requests into the Internet search engine and found links to child and teenage pornographic websites within seconds.

Mr Clarke said: “I feel it necessary to echo the court’s concern to the ease with which search engines of any kind can be used to access indecent images. I am extremely conscious these remarks might even increase the perverted use of search engines.

“But it seems to me every proper effort should be made to try and restrict the availability of pornographic material involving children.”

He said it was a trade that caused children worldwide to be abused.

Hadwin – who was a Scoutmaster and worked as a prison officer at Bullingdon prison, near Bicester – had earlier pleaded guilty to seven counts of distributing indecent photographs of children and possession of 2,724 images and 105 videos.

Nine of the images and one of the videos were classed as level five which included simulated torture of children.

Mr Coombe told the court police were tipped off about the content on Hadwin’s computer by his lodger.

Jennifer Edwards, defending, said Hadwin had married after he entered his guilty pleas last month and his wife was standing by him.

She said: “The reality is access (to indecent images) is frighteningly easy.”

Hadwin was sacked as a prison officer and banned from working with the Scout movement after he pleaded guilty. Mr Clarke banned him from working with children or from having a password to a private home computer when released from jail.

July 2015

Private hire driver found guilty of sexually abusing teenage girl with learning difficulties

A PRIVATE hire driver has been told he is going to prison for sexually abusing a teenage girl passenger with learning difficulties.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Roger Thomas QC, warned Mohammed Adrees it would be impossible to avoid an immediate jail sentence after a jury convicted him of molesting the 17-year-old Bradford student on the 35 minute journey to her college.

Adrees, 44, of Ryan Street, West Bowling, Bradford, was today found guilty of sexual assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, on April 1 last year.

The jurors convicted him by a majority verdict of 10-2.

He was cleared of two further charges of sexually assaulting the girl at the same time.

His barrister, Kate Batty, asked the court to adjourn sentence for a probation report.

She said Adrees was a man of previous good character with a settled address in the city.

Judge Thomas asked the Crown to obtain an updated victim impact statement from the Bradford victim, now aged 19.

He rebailed Adrees with a condition that he does not contact the teenager or go within a hundred metres of her address. He was also ordered to immediately sign on the sex offender’s register.

Judge Thomas told Adrees: “It is impossible to see how this does not result in an immediate prison sentence.”

He said the conviction would prevent him from working as a cabbie again.

Adrees must return to Bradford Crown Court on August 12.

Prosecutor Michael Greenhalgh said the teenager was transported to college in the mornings by a Euro Cars cab provided by the local authority.

Adrees asked her to move to the front passenger seat before touching her indecently and making her put her hand on his penis.

The court heard that Adrees was not the girl’s usual driver and it was only the second time he had taken her on the journey.

She was talking to him about pop groups and her boyfriend.

Mr Greenhalgh said Adrees stopped his vehicle and asked her to sit in the front passenger seat.

She did so because she “didn’t want to be rude”.

He told her not to say anything about what he had done when they arrived at the college.

The next morning, the girl confided to her mother and the police were informed.

July 2015

Pensioner spared jail over child abuse images because he has cancer

A PENSIONER who downloaded child abuse images has been spared jail after the judge showed “mercy” on him because he has cancer.

George Spiteri, of The Glade in Furnace Green, appeared at Lewes Crown Court on Friday for sentencing, having previously pleaded guilty to six charges of making indecent images of children.

Spiteri was caught with photographs of children as young as five.

Police discovered nine category A images – the most extreme – as well as ten in category B and 21 in category C.

Prosecutor Francesca Lewington said: “Despite admitting these charges there has now been a suggestion that the defendant had been blackmailed by people sending him this material and demanding money.

“The guilty pleas and the evidence available do not point to that, though. There are a series of enthusiastic emails from Spiteri discussing these images and what can be seen.”

The 70-year-old also admitted possessing explicit pornographic material portraying acts of intercourse with animals.

He had 74 images and 30 videos of this nature.

Trina Little, defending, said: “Mr Spiteri is a 70-year-old who has never been in trouble before. He has lived an exemplary life and is family man.

“He struggled to come to terms with these offences. This does not mean he is not remorseful though, because he is mortified by his actions.

“He has embarrassed his family, who have taken it badly, as you would expect.

“His children are shocked but the family want to try and move forward.”

Ms Little urged the judge to suspend a prison term for the retired electrician because he has been diagnosed with cancer.

She added: “He wasn’t thinking straight.

“He has bowel cancer and says custody would finish him off completely.

“He would not be able to carry out unpaid work but I absolutely urge you to consider a suspended sentence. I ask you for an act of mercy.

“His family don’t know how long they have left with him.”

Judge Charles Macdonald QC said: “The very young age of the children appearing in these stills and the evidence of your enthusiasm shows how serious these offences are.

“My standard decision is to sentence anyone with category A images to custody immediately and this case clearly merits a custodial term.

“However, I am going to take an exceptional decision due to your serious medical condition.”

Spiteri was handed a 12-month jail term suspended for 18 months.

The judge also called for a sexual harm prevention order to be set up after declaring Spiteri was a “risk” to the public.

His computers will also be confiscated by police and he must pay £1,200 prosecution costs.

Spiteri, who has had to sign the sex offenders register for ten years, denied separate charges of distributing indecent images of children and these will lay on the file.

July 2015

58-year-old exchanged pictures with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl

A SCUNTHORPE man was caught with nearly 65,000 indecent images and videos, including some of children, a court heard.

Ivan Kiddle, 58, also exchanged pictures with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl from America, who he claimed to be in love with.

Grimsby Crown Court heard police raided Kiddle’s home on Barnetby Road in June last year.

Prosecuting, Nigel Clive said they found a number of electronic devices and hard drives with a total of 64,123 images and movies, 681 of which fell into category A, the most serious category.

Mr Clive said: “When police investigated the material, they discovered a conversation between him and a girl from America.

“There were exchanges of pictures between the two. He admitted possession of these images and told police he thought he loved her.”

Defending, Gordon Stables said Kiddle pleaded guilty at an early stage and made full admissions.

Kiddle admitted eight counts relating to possessing indecent images between 1999 and 2013 and one of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was ordered to take part in a three-year treatment programme, banned from staying in a house with an under 17, subject to a five-year sexual harm prevention order and was banned from using electronic devices, unless they show internet history.

July 2015

Long Ashton man who swapped naked photos with 11-year-old girl is sent to prison

A LONG Ashton man who exchanged naked photos with an 11-year-old girl and had child abuse images has been jailed for three years.

Stephen Wilks, 28, met the child and chatted to her online.

Bristol Crown Court heard the talk turned sexual, with references to “bondage”, and resulted in the youngster sending him a photo of her topless and him sending her a picture of his private parts.

Police called in recovered some 2,000 child abuse photos from his computer.

Wilks, of Fishers Mead, pleaded guilty to inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch sexual activity and possessing indecent photographs of children.

Judge Michael Longman told him: “I’ve read the pre-sentence report and psychiatric report.

“I note the view of the probation officer that the risk you present is one that can be managed in the community.

“I need to consider sentencing guidelines and my public duty and the need to reflect to seriousness of your offending and public distaste for such behaviour.”

Wilks was handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order designed to stop him re-offending.

He was also told to register as a sex offender indefinitely and was barred from working with children.

Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said Wilks chatted to the child online and messaged her.

Miss Bolt said: “The chats became sexualised.

“The defendant asked for a naked photograph of her.

“She sent him a picture of her naked breasts to him.

“He sent her a picture of his erect penis.”

The court heard the girl’s mother found out and challenged Wilks, but didn’t report the matter to police as her daughter didn’t want her to.

A few months later the mother became aware contact between her daughter and Wilks was continuing, but still didn’t go to police as her daughter didn’t want it, the court heard.

Eventually the youngster herself complained about Wilks to police, he was arrested, and police who searched his home found he had a computer collection of indecent photos of children after using specific search terms to download them.

A total of 900 photos were deemed to be in most serious category A, with 449 in category B and 878 in category C.

Police found he had 12 movies in category A, with 18 in category B and three in category C.

Miss Bolt said a victim impact statement referred to psychological harm suffered by the child, which mental health records supported.

Darren Burleigh, defending, said his client had pleaded guilty, not wishing to “prolong a difficult journey for the victim.”

Mr Burleigh said: “He has begun to understand the impact of the behaviour.

“He doesn’t want to exacerbate anything further.”

Mr Burleigh told the court it was his client’s case that the youngster had her arms crossed over her chest in the photo she sent him.

He told the court: “In no way is he seeking to place any blame or excuse that she may come across as a more mature 11-year-old than one which we may categorise an 11-year-old to be.”

Mr Burleigh said though the case didn’t begin as a grooming case, his client accepted that is what it turned into.

He said: “There is a suggestion the victim was exposed to issues of bondage.

“There some suggestion of texts of that nature.

“There are no videos or anything more direct than the words used.”

The court heard Wilks, a man of previous good character, appeared to have a history in his life which had an impact on his development both in terms of education and maturity and it was possible he was suffering from depression at the time of the offending.

Mr Burleigh argued that prison could “destabilise” his client, which may increase a risk of his offending rather than reduce it.

July 2015

Rastrick man jailed for sexually abusing schoolgirl

A Rastrick man who walked into Halifax police station and confessed to abusing a schoolgirl has been jailed for four years.

Police launched an investigation last November after Paul Lodge admitted “fondling” the girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Lodge described how he had woken up to find the girl on top of him and he had handed himself in because he thought things might have gone further.

The 48-year-old, of Gargrave Close, pleaded guilty to four charges of sexual activity with a child and an offence of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and today (Wednesday) his own barrister conceded that the abuse of the girl had been despicable.

Barrister Jeremy Lindsay said the offending had not only brought the complainant into the judicial system to assist the police in the way she did, but it had destroyed his client’s good character.

“He has obviously accepted by the fact that he was the one who went to the police in the first place that what he was doing was wrong,” said Mr Lindsay.

“He was obviously upset and concerned about what he had done. Had he not gone to the police at that stage the likelihood of immediate disclosure of what was taking place would appear to have been nil.”

Mr Lindsay said Lodge realised that he now faced a lengthy period in custody, but he submitted that the chances of his client committing similar offences in the future were very small indeed.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Jayne Beckett the complainant described how the abuse had left her “emotionally scarred” and her studying had been badly affected.

Jailing Lodge Judge Peter Benson said it was to his credit that he had “shopped himself” to the police last year, but what he had done to the girl was “wicked and wrong”.

Judge Benson noted that the abuse had not been an isolated incident and it had culminated in them both ending up in bed in a state of undress under the influence of alcohol.

The judge described Lodge’s behaviour as disgraceful and said there had been an element of “grooming” as well as a significant disparity in age.

Lodge, who had no previous convictions, will now have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life and he is also subject to a sexual harm prevention order which bans him from having unsupervised contact with children under 16 or contacting the complainant.

April 2015 Now released after serving half his sentence

2013

A man who abused a young girl over a prolonged period whilst himself under-age has been jailed

A man who started to sexual abuse a 7-year-old girl in 2002 and who continued the abuse over a 10-year period beginning when he was nearly 16-years-old has been jailed for 5-years.

Unemployed Joseph Michael Watkins, now 26-years-old from Hereford was convicted at Worcester crown court of: 

• Sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 13

• Sexual abuse of a minor between the ages of 13 and 17

The court heard Watkins had groomed the child before encouraging her to engage in sexual acts.

The abuse finally ended when the victim reached 17-years-old and spoke out.

Watkins is expected to serve half of his sentence in prison and the rest will be on licence until 2017

The judge also ordered Watkins to register as a sex offender for an indefinite period

July 2015: Now released and living back in Pembroke Dock

November 2014

Pembroke Dock man with sexual interest in children jailed

A Pembroke Dock man with a sexual interest in under aged girls has been jailed 

Gareth Flynn, aged 36, was also made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order banning him from approaching girls aged under 16 for the next five years.

Flynn, of Laws Street, admitted harassing two 14 year old girls.

Catherine Richards, prosecuting, told Swansea crown court how Flynn approached the girls in Memorial Park, Pembroke Dock, on August 26 last year.

He told them he was aged only 25 and made “inappropriate and suggestive comments,” even telling the girls about the sexual activities of his two dogs.

They walked away but Flynn approached them again, and later for a third time, again making “sexual innuendos.”

Miss Richards said that at the time Flynn had been on bail accused of harassing a 15 year old boy. Flynn had asked him to find out the name of a teenage girl, but later turned on him and threatened to stab him “and put him in a canal.”

Flynn was also being investigated over a complaint that he had pulled up next to two young girls and offered them a lift.

And in 2003 he had been convicted of having sexual intercourse with a 14 year old girl.

Ieuan Rees, representing Flynn, said his behaviour in Memorial Park had been more “ladish” than threatening.

Flynn was jailed for 16 months, and an additional six month for breaking into the Ship and Anchor pub in High Street, Fishguard, which he admitted.

Miss Richards said Flynn was seen climbing out of a window. Police arrived within six minutes and found he had removed more than £1,000 worth of items, including brass door handles.

Judge Keith Thomas said Flynn had a background of sexual interest in young girls.

He had been made the subject of community orders in the past but had not taken advantage of the help he had been offered.

July 2015

Police find 5,000 indecent images of children in swoop on Black Country home

Police found almost 5,000 indecent images of young children on five separate computer devices when they swooped on the Black Country home of a 23-year-old man.

The grim find came after police arrived with a search warrant at the address in Wednesbury where Paul Simmons was living on July 16 last year, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

March 2014

Jail for Leamington man who assaulted baby aged just five months

Pictured in 2013

A baby boy could have suffered permanent brain damage when frustrated Stuart Leech bent his head between his feet and shook him because he would not stop crying.

Jailing Leech for three years and two months, a judge told him that when a grown man assaults a baby, his culpability is ‘off the scale.’

Leech ,24, of Ranelagh Terrace, Leamington, at the time, had been charged with cruelty to a child, which he denied.

But following his arrest after he failed to turn up for his trial Leech, who was living at an address in Cardigan as a condition of bail, pleaded guilty to an alternative offence of assault.

Prosecutor Tom Schofield said that in 2012, when the baby boy was just under six months old, he began crying while strapped in a bouncing chair on the sofa.

Leech went over and unstrapped him, but was told by the boy’s mother to leave him alone.

He left him, but then went back and grabbed the baby’s head and bent it forward between the little boy’s feet before letting go.

Leech did the same on two further occasions before shaking the baby’s head from side to side three or four times.

When the boy’s mother intervened and took him from him, Leech complained: ‘He just wouldn’t stop crying’.

When doctors later examined the baby they found bruising to its lip and a subdural haemorrhage.

There were also non-accidental historic fractures to a rib and to the radial bone in his left arm, but Mr Schofield said: “There was no way of saying the defendant caused them.”

He pointed out that the baby’s mother had also been questioned about the old injuries and had a child taken from her as a result, which she had found ‘heartbreaking’.

Mr Schofield added that, although it had not led to a prosecution, there had been a previous incident when it was said Leech put his hand over the mouth of another baby when it was just nine weeks old.

Stefan Kolodynski, defending, said: “The pre-sentence report does not make encouraging reading. He has resigned himself to a custodial sentence.

“He is a young man who has a difficulty in life. He had too much responsibility too soon, and he just can’t control his emotions.

“He knows just how lucky that child was that serious injury was not caused.

Mr Kolodynski said the baby was examined by ‘a pre-eminent doctor in the field of subdural haemorrhaging,’ and has made a full recovery.

Jailing Leech, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano told him: “The child was crying, and the way in which you dealt with it was by bending his head forward between his legs and then shaking it three or four times.

“We see, in this court, cases where behaviour of this sort leads to children suffering very serious brain injuries or even death.

“A baby is very, very fragile at that age, and can suffer permanent brain injury as a result of something like this.”

November 2013

A man who had sex with a girl in Accrington supermarket car park is jailed

A man who had sex with an underage teenage girl in the back of his car has been jailed.

Jason Damien Phillips, 32, parked up with the girl outside a supermarket in Accrington, and performed sex acts on a number of occasions, Preston Crown Court heard. 

He originally denied the offences but admitted his involvement with the girl on the day he was due to face trial.

Prosecutor Virginia Hayton told the court that Phillips, who now lives in Warwickshire, had been aware of the young victim’s age but entered into a consensual sexual relationship with her.

She said: “He took advantage of a young girl.”

The barrister said Phillps, who was working as a mechanic at the time of the offences.

She said the victim who lived in Rossendale had sex in the back of Phillips car in a car park one evening.

She added: “It’s clear what happened to her at the hands of this defendant has informed her ability to develop relationships.”

Phillips was arrested years after the incident, while officers were investigating a separate incident.

He denied sexual contact with the victim who he claimed had been in her twenties at the time.

Phillips, of Old Warwick Road, Ettington, Warwickshire, pleaded guilty to indecent assault.

Elizabeth Muir, defending, said Phillips is an ‘immature’ man who suffers from depression. She said the defendant is a ‘decent man’ but had been an ‘unusual and immature’ 27-year-old.

She added that the relationship had been nothing other than consensual. Miss Muir said the defendant, who is engaged to be married, had lived a ‘blame free life’ both before and after the offences and is extremely frightened about getting a custodial sentence.

She said: “He was absolutely terrified that he would lose the support and stable relationship with his new partner.

“He was terrified that she would not want to continue the relationship with him.”

But Judge Stuart Baker said it was not possible to suspend a prison sentence and jailed Phillips for 40 months, also handing him a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

The judge said Phillips had denied the offences ‘doggedly’ up until the day of trial.

He said Phillips is not a dangerous offender but he was ‘quite satisfied’ Phillips had no reason to believe the victim was of the age of consent.

He added: “ She was truly a vulnerable young girl.”

July 2015

Registered child-minder (41) jailed for having sex with two 14-year-old boys

A registered child-minder has been found guilty and jailed for sexual activity with two schoolboys.

Jennifer Woodward, 41 of Reading had pleaded not guilty to three charges of sexual activity with a child but was found guilty by a jury of two of those charges at Reading crown court.

Woodward was sentenced to a total of four years imprisonment due to a concurrent sentence that was given by the judge.

The judge told Woodward that she would have to register as a sex offender for life.

She was also ordered to pay a £120 victim surcharge.

July 2015

Pervert caught with 11,000 indecent images of children

A former restaurant manager from The Beverley Arms Hotel has been revealed as a paedophile after being discovered with more than 11,000 images of children on his computer.

Ewan Logan, 38, of Robert Wood Avenue, Beverley, appeared at Hull Crown Court for sentence after pleading guilty to five counts of making or possessing indecent images of children.

Police raided his home to reveal a library of 11,020 still images and 46 movies on his computer and various electronic storage devices.

He had 137 pictures and 19 movies in the worst Category A as well as 98 images in the second most serious Category B.

The vast majority of the indecent images fell in Category C.

Dressed in a blue suit jacket with slicked-back blond hair, he also admitted two charges of possession extreme pornography.

He hung his head as explicit details were read in court as examples of his child porn collection which had been built up over three years between 2011-2014.

Crown barrister Claire Holmes said: “As a result of information received, the police seized a computer and digital devices from Logan’s home. In total there were 11,020 still images and 46 movie files.”

A probation report concluded his social isolation, despite being in work, had lead him to an addiction to pornography.

Defence barrister Harold Bloomfield handed in references from Logan’s mother and also a letter from the Beverley Arms Hotel explaining how he told his employers of the charges and admitted he could no longer work for them.

“The disclosures he made to his mother and brother must have been very difficult bearing in mind the lack of close friends who made themselves absent when they gained knowledge of the charges,” said Mr Bloomfield

“He has shown insight and an ideal candidate for rehabilitation. While there are a considerable number of images in Category C, thousands in fact, there are a relatively few images in category A.”

Sentencing, Recorder Tahir Khan, QC, said his first thought was to jail Logan for two years, but he also wanted to rehabilitate him. He said the case was aggravated by the length of time he was viewing the images.

“Any right thinking person will be disgusted even by the mere mention of this material, let alone seeing it. I do not wish to suggest in anyway the courts don’t regard this offending as serious. Of course we regard it as serious. But all the sentencing guidelines say, a sentence is not just about punishment, but about rehabilitation. You have been a hard-working man starting at the Beverley Arms Hotel in 1995 and working your way up to restaurant manager. All that has now gone.”

He gave Logan a 36-week community order, 200 hours un-paid work in the community and 45 sessions on a sex offender’s programme.

Logan was made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order and must sign on the National Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.

July 2015

Man jailed for 3 years for abusing 4-month-old child in Harlow

A man has been jailed for three years for causing injuries to a child in his care.

The boy was four-months old when he was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow after a sudden fit and was found to have various injuries to his body and a CT scan revealed a bleed to the brain.

Matthew Challis, 34, of Kingsmead Road, Bishops Stortford, was arrested and later charged with causing serious physical harm to a child by means of an unlawful act.

He was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday, July 9.

The charge comes under section 5 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004, a piece of legislation which received royal assent in 2012.

DCI Tracey Harman, head of Child Abuse Investigations at Essex Police said: “We believe this is one of the first successful convictions in England under this relatively new piece of legislation.

“The investigation leading up to this conviction has taken two years of dedicated by work by Dc Ian Forsith from the west team as well as positive liaison with partners including social care.”

Challis was found guilty following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday, June 10.

He had claimed the injuries to the child, who was alone in his care at the time, were accidental.

DC Forsith said: “Matthew Challis has continued to maintain his innocence and disputed medical evidence which concluded that the baby had been shaken and the injuries he sustained were not accidental.

“The boy is being monitored and we will have to wait and see whether the injuries he sustained at the hands of Matthew Challis have any lasting impact on his life moving forward.

“It is an incredibly cowardly act to hurt a child who cannot defend themselves. I hope the sentence passed today gives Matthew Challis time to think about what he has done.”

July 2015

Pervert caught in on-line “sting” jailed for 16 months

A FORMER church volunteer who was caught in a “sting” after being filmed awaiting a fictitious 15-year-old girl he believed he was meeting for sex, a court was told

Footage of Jonathan Michael Shearer being confronted waiting to meet the girl with a bunch of flowers outside a Darlington pub was posted on Facebook, under the heading, ‘How to Catch a Paedo’.

Within hours it was said to have “gone viral”, but soon came to police attention, resulting in the 44-year-old’s swift arrest.

Shearer, of Wilton Crescent, Darlington, subsequently admitted two counts of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, and was jailed for 16 months.

Durham Crown Court heard yesterday (July 9) that Shearer, whose now ex-partner is expecting his baby, made contact with a fake Facebook account, purportedly set up by a ‘Lisa Sinclair’, a woman claiming to be in her mid-20s, in May.

In reality, the account was set up and made to look genuine by a couple as a joke in a bid to play a practical joke on a friend.

Joanne Kidd, prosecuting, said Shearer’s conversations immediately became sexual, and, in order to get rid of him, the woman who set up the account told him that she (‘Lisa’) was actually a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

Despite having told him that he became more explicit, with increasingly sexual conversation.

Miss Kidd said Shearer was looking to meet ‘Lisa’ and arrangements were made to go to a pub in Darlington with accommodation in order to have sexual intercourse, on May 19.

Although Shearer attended, ‘Lisa’ failed to turn up and the account owner made a series of excuses.

Undeterred, Shearer arranged a further meeting at the same venue three days later.

Miss Kidd told the court: “Throughout the course of these exchanges, he was more than aware the person he thought he was speaking to was 15.

“There are references to him asking her to wear her school uniform, but when the rendezvous was arranged he told her to wear more make-up, to look older, and a plan was hatched that he would pass himself off as her uncle if confronted

“It’s clear, he was sexually excited at having sexual intercourse with someone who was under 16.”

Miss Kidd said a male friend of the woman who set up the fake Facebook account filmed Shearer standing near the pub – the White Horse, in North Road – with flowers in hand, in expectation of ‘Lisa’ arriving.

Miss Kidd said the footage of the confrontation, ‘How to Catch a Paedo’, attracted 100,000 hits on social media by the time he was arrested, and has subsequently been removed by Facebook.

When arrested, Shearer admitted it was him on the video, but initially denied knowing or believing the girl he was expecting to meet was under 16.

Christopher McKee, mitigating, told the court: “This is a peculiar case as there was no tangible harm caused, as there was no actual ‘victim’.

“I have to accept the tenor of the communication between the parties amounts to an intent to have sexual activity.

“But, it was an unsuccessful attempt in circumstances in which he came to be caught on camera, which were, in effect, ‘a sting’.”

Mr McKee said the defendant has no similar offending history and he immediately acknowledged his “stupidity”.

He added that it has caused great embarrassment to his family and, “put in jeopardy” any potential future relationship.

Jailing him, Judge Simon Hickey said although the girl, in reality, did not exist, Shearer did not know that and fully intended having sex with a 15-year-old.

He added that an aggravating feature was their “huge disparity” in ages.

Shearer was made subject of a sexual harm prevention order restricting future contact with girls under-16, “until further order”.

He will also be registered as a sex offender for ten years.

July 2015

Man avoids jail after buying indecent images of children DVDs from Canada

A man has appeared in court after pleading guilty to making indecent images of children.

David Lindsay, of South Parade in Cleckheaton, was given a three year community order and told he must comply with the Sex Offender Treatment Programme.

Leeds Crown Court was told that Lindsay, 40, purchased a total of 27 DVDs from Canada in 2006, which contained over 300 explicit images of children.

Most of the images fell into the Category B level of offending.

Police attended Lindsay’s home in October 2014 as part of a wider enquiry into the importation of such materials from Canada. When they issued him with a caution, he is said to have responded, “Is it about the DVDs from Canada?”

He was charged in April this year and pleaded guilty to the offences.

It was heard that he had informed his employers of his circumstances and had lost his job as a result. His representative said Lindsay was “remorseful” for his actions and has been undergoing specialist therapy with a counsellor.

Recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier QC said: “Your life was very straightforward except now you have a problem – that is a problem that results in you gaining pleasure from viewing images of children.

“You have begun to seek help for it so you will be able to deal with the issues you face.”

Lindsay is subject to a number of restrictions, including not having unsupervised contact with persons under 16 and not being able to purchase a computer or smartphone without consent.

July 2015

Shop fitter targeted young grooming victims on WhatsApp

A pervert who sent messages to two young girls asking for sex tried to convince police his social media accounts had been hacked.

Shop fitter Ashley Smith sent explicit pictures of himself to the girls aged 12 and 13 and to his eldest victim wrote a message saying: “We should meet for hugs and kisses, maybe more.”

The 26-year-old, of Poplar Avenue, Edgbaston, befriended the girls on Facebook before contacting them on messaging service WhatsApp.

At his insistence, the 12-year-old sent him explicit pictures of herself in various poses.

Sick messages and pictures to both girls were found by horrified relatives and reported to police.

Smith, a dad-of-one, went on to plead guilty to three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Jailing twisted Smith for a total of six-years and three months, His Honour Judge Roderick Henderson said the pervert posed a danger to the public and imposed an extended licence period.

The judge said: “You pleaded guilty but only on the day of trial so credit must be limited, not just because you delayed until the 11th hour but because it does not take much imagination to think what those girls went through waiting to come to court.”

Smith was ordered to serve at least two-thirds of his sentence before he could be considered for parole.

Deborah Gould, prosecuting, said Smith befriended his first victim on Facebook before exchanging messages on WhatsApp.

She said: “He asked her how old she was and she said 12, she received photos of him and she sent pictures because she was worried if she didn’t he would hurt her.

“He asked to meet her once or twice.

“When he was interviewed he said his Facebook page had been hacked and that he had not used it since 2012.

“He claimed he had left his phone with friends or in their cars.”

She said he was identified by pictures he sent to the girls by a tattoo on his arm which included the word ‘Dante’.

Passing and extended sentence, Judge Henderson said Smith would only be released before the six-year-three months if he was no longer a risk and even then would remain on licence for a further five years.

In relation to Smith’s first victim said: “You knew she was 12 because she told you so.

“After sending pictures to her you encouraged her to send pictures and indulge in sexual conduct and encouraged her to have sex with you.

“That was your aim.”

Theresa Hunt, defending, said various factors, including Smith’s mum’s cancer battle, had manifested in “very disturbing behaviour”.

She said: “These offences were a form of escapism.

“He seems to have switched off at the time of the offences without thinking at all. He is extremely ashamed of what he has done.”