December 2013

Sheffield car salesman jailed for child rape video

A Sheffield car salesman caught with a film of the brutal rape of a child on his computer has been jailed for six months.

The vile movie was found on 44-year-old Paul Kitcheman’s laptop along with indecent images of children, a court heard.

Kitcheman, of Bullen Road, Foxhill, admitted six counts of downloading indecent images of children from the internet during a hearing at Derby Crown Court.

Jailing him, Judge Jonathan Gosling, said: “There was a movie of the violent rape by an adult male of a young child.

“The damage caused by the activities of you and other people on children is incalculable and not just at the time the photographs or images are made.

“People like you are the market and the reason why those images are created.”

Sarah Allen, prosecuting, told the court police analysts found the images on Kitcheman’s computer after visiting his then home near Chesterfield in January.

Dale Harris, for Kitcheman, said: “He has had difficulties in his marriage over the last 10 years and he and his wife have been living almost separate lives.

“There is a stigma he has brought to his family and friends.

“There is a deep sense of shame and embarrassment that goes with that.”

Judge Gosling told ordered Kitcheman to sign the sex offenders’ register for seven years.

He said the images would be with the victims for the rest of their lives.

The judge said: “Those images are distributed and never deleted. They are always there for people like you to watch.”

February 2011

Sentence cut for paedophile teacher

A FORMER Fylde coast school teacher who was jailed more than two decades after abusing a teenage pupil today had his sentence cut by appeal judges in London.

Graham Wilcock subjected his victim to numerous sexual assaults while he was a 25-year-old teaching assistant at Emmanuel Christian School in Fleetwood.

The 51-year-old would later become deputy headteacher in charge of the senior school.

The attacks spanned two years in the 1980s from when the girl was 13 to 15 years old.

Wilcock was called back from his home in Romania to face the justice system after his now adult victim finally decided she wanted police involved.

Wilcock, who was staying in Poulton Road, Blackpool, after his return to the UK, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment at Preston Crown Court last June after pleading guilty to six counts of indecent assault.

But today, three Court of Appeal judges said his “unusually strong mitigation” meant the sentence should be reduced to three years and four months.

Mr Justice Wyn Williams told the court how Wilcock’s dealings with the then 13-year-old Fleetwood schoolgirl had begun with a fatherly arm around her shoulders.

But he had taken it further, kissing and molesting her, while often humiliating her and putting her down by making fun of her appearance, over two years.

He left the school in the 1990s when the victim became aware he was still working there and reported what had happened to her years earlier.

The school took advice from the Department of Education and Employment and sacked Wilcock, but did not inform the police as the victim had not asked for their involvement.

Wilcock then moved to Romania, where he worked for charitable organisations until 2009, when the victim decided it was then time to go to the police.

He was traced by a detective, agreeing to return to the UK, where he immediately admitted everything he was accused of.

Mr Justice Wyn Williams, sitting with Lord Justice Jackson and Judge Brian Barker, said: “The appellant admitted what he had done when challenged by his employers.

“He returned voluntarily from Romania to face the charges that, by then, he must have known were coming, and he admitted the substance of what was alleged against him at the first available opportunity.

“All of that clearly points to the fact his remorse in this is utterly genuine.

“It is also clear the period of offending with the complainant was otherwise completely out of his normal character.

“There is no suggestion he has behaved in any way that is similar towards any other young girl.”

December 2013

Martial arts tutor ‘tied up underage girls’ and had sex with them in his shop and home

A martial arts tutor is behind bars today after he was convicted of a string of sexual offences against two schoolgirls.

Paul Monty tied up the underage girls and had sex with them in his home and in his shop.

The 54-year-old was found guilty of 13 charges – eight of indecency with a child and five other serious sexual offences – at Teesside Crown Court today.

The married dad, who still runs a gym on Teesside, committed the sex crimes in the 1980s when he was in his twenties.

Now Monty, of Elton, near Stockton, is in custody until he is sentenced on December 16.

Jurors considered verdicts for almost six-and-a-half hours.

They found the former shopowner and doorman guilty on all counts – three unanimously, the rest by a 10-1 majority.

Decades after the abuse, the two girls gave evidence as adults about their secret sexual encounters.

Both said they a crush on Monty as he gave them sweets and kissed them in his car.

The first woman said: “I absolutely idolised him.

“I thought he was my boyfriend. I believed I was going to marry him. I believed he loved me.

“I wanted to please him. I felt so special. I felt like a grown-up.”

She said Monty picked her up from school, bought her dinner and set up a bed with dust sheets in a small back room at his shop, where he had sex with her.

She felt “wined and dined” when he took her to a hotel room.

She didn’t talk of the experiences until she was an adult.

“I was still in denial,” she told police.

The second woman said she fell “hook, line and sinker” for Monty.

“I was totally thinking I was his girlfriend,” she told the court.

“He told me he loved me, and I loved him.”

The woman told how he snuck her into his house, played her the film 9½ Weeks, sent her a Valentine’s card, bought her a dress and perfume, and they had sexual activity while he was driving.

Each of the girls bought him teddy bears, which he kept in a cupboard in his shop.

Monty denied all of the allegations.

Through his lawyers, he accused the two women of lying and making things up.

The defendant said he had sex with each of them when they were 18, but not when they were underage.

He showed little reaction to the guilty verdicts yesterday, except to look over to the public gallery and shake his head.

Judge Peter Bowers adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

He told Monty, who had been on bail during the week-long trial: “I think it’s only right that you’re remanded in custody.”

The judge thanked jurors for their attention to a case he described as difficult, trying and emotive.

November 2013

Church-going sex abuser who followed his victim from Yorkshire to Dorset sentenced to three years

A CHURCH-going sex abuser who followed his victim from Yorkshire to Dorset has been jailed for three years.

David Cole, of Wesley Road in Poole, met the then-13-year-old in the early 1990s when he helped at a youth club in his home county.

Over the course of three years, he repeatedly abused the youngster, even moving him into his home after splitting from his wife.

Cole, 55, pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent assault with a male and indecency with a child at Bournemouth Crown Court earlier this year. It is the second time he has been imprisoned for sex offences.

Rev Christopher Strain of St Luke’s Church in Parkstone appeared as a character witness as Cole was sentenced.

He said the defendant, who was released from prison in 2002 after serving part of a 21-month sentence, had “always demonstrated remorse for his offence”.

The two met shortly after Cole, who has not committed any further offences since his release, moved to the conurbation a decade ago.

His victim had moved here in the years before that.

Rev Strain said: “He has deliberately avoided all contact with children. He is empathetic and supports others.”

Mitigating, Anne Brown said his “full and frank admission” to the police made for “slightly disturbing reading”.

“He is remarkably frank in terms of his offending and distorted thinking,” she said.

“He understands the impact of what he has done. He says he can see now that the complainant has suffered mental anguish for 20 years.”

She said Cole, who worked for Majestic Transformer in Poole, had moved to the county in part to be near his victim.

“Certainly part of the reason for choosing Poole was because of what he thought was a very important friendship to him but he understands the situation from the complainant’s perspective,” she said.

However, Judge Samuel Wiggs heard that Cole had fantasised about “boys smoking cigarettes”, and said he was “concerned” about the defendant moving to live in the same county as his victim.

“This is an extremely sad case,” he said.

“You do now understand what you did all those years ago. You now recognise you have effectively wrecked (your victim’s) life in many ways.”

October 2013

Telford man sentenced for indecent child images

A man from Telford has been given a community order after being found with 45 indecent images of children on his computer

Liam Bailey, of South Drive, Madeley, was arrested in December 2011 after police found the images on his PC following a tip-off.

Of the 45 images, two were categorised at level one, 18 level two and 25 at the more serious level four.

Bailey initially claimed that someone else had put the images on to his computer.

However, earlier this month the 23-year-old admitted three counts of making and possessing indecent images of children.

Yesterday at Shrewsbury Crown Court Bailey was given a three-year community order and told to attend a community sex offender’s programme.

He will also be the subject of a sexual offences prevention order for five years and must pay £500 towards the prosecution costs.

Judge Peter Barrie, sentencing, said: “You now know that possessing photographs of children is not a victimless crime because children had been used in the making of these images.”

Mr Daniel White, defending Bailey, said: “He has held down a job for three years and has a girlfriend.

“He has asked me to apologise to the court for his involvement in these matters.”

December 2013

Top Devon school’s head of science spared a prison sentence after being found with 6,600 child abuse images

A senior teacher of one of Britain’s top state schools was found with 6,600 child abuse images on his computer after being snared by a police under cover operation.

Peter Webber resigned as head of science at Colyton Grammar School in Devon and tried to hang himself after exchanging fantasies in an internet chat room with a detective who posed as a fellow paedophile.

Webber, aged 51, moved from an addiction to adult pornography to becoming fascinated by images of children and spent hours before or after his school day searching them out in the internet.

He was trapped when he logged into a chat room which was being monitored by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Unit and spoke to the under cover policeman.

The officer asked him if he would turn his fantasies into reality and have sex with a 12-year-old girl and Webber, using a false identity, replied that he would.

He was traced and arrested while taking a party of children across Dartmoor after police raided his home in East Devon and seized his computers.

The 6,687 images included 262 showing children having sex with adults and 35 in the most serious category which shows torture, sadism or bestiality. They featured girls aged three to 15.

Webber, of Lincoln Close, Exmouth, admitted 15 charges of making and two of distributing indecent images.

He was jailed for six months, which was suspended for two years and ordered to attend a sex offenders’ treatment programme by Judge Phillip Wassall at Exeter Crown Court.

The Judge said he was sparing him jail because he had acknowledged his addiction to pornography and already started working with the specialist charity the Lucy Faithfull Foundation to overcome it.

He said:”It is an aggravating feature that at the time you were a teacher but on the other hand I must point out there is no evidence at all that you crossed the line into contact offences and a great deal of evidence that you did not.

“Your work as a teacher put you in the presence of children and there is no suggestion that you crossed the line and sought to engage the children in your fantasies, despite having the facility to do so.

“You did not enter into any form of contact with children despite having ample opportunity to do so. You were able not to cross the line despite the distorted thinking that led you to commit these gross and horrific offences.

“You now accept the effect these images have on the children and are motivated to address your offending behaviour and are now deeply opposed to indecent images and aware of the corrosive harm they do to society.”

Miss Janice Eagles, prosecuting, said Webber was traced after entering into a chat room discussion with an undercover CEOPS officer on a site called motherless.com.

He used the pseudonym Paul45 and had been a member of the site since 2009. He started his online chat at 7.00 am on a school day and ended it at 7.45 am.

Miss Eagles said:”The officer asked whether he would act on his fantasies in relation to having sexual activity with a 12-year-old girl and he indicated he would.

“Police executed a warrant at his home on June 7 and he was not present because he was on a school course on Dartmoor, where he was found and arrested.

“He told police he went online early in the morning or when he came back from school but denied conducting himself in any way improperly while at school.

“We say his position as a teacher ought to have made him more aware of the vulnerability of children and where he ought to have been protecting rather than exploiting them or taking advantage of those who had already been exploited.”

He had more than 6,600 still images, all of girls aged three to 15.

Mr Adrian Chaplin, defending, said Webber had taken responsibility for his behaviour, admitted it to family and friends, and defied the advice of his union by resigning on the spot.

He also tried to commit suicide by hanging himself in the loft of the home he shared with his wife and two sons, but was rescued and survived.

He has since enrolled with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation to seek help for his addiction to pornography.

He said:”This offending was the result of his individual addiction. He has been candid about how the matters progressed. He moved from adult pornography through his use of chatrooms.

“He compartmentalised this behaviour from his professional life. He blinded himself to the reality of what this pornography shows.

“This case has led to the loss of a career of which he was justifiably proud. It was a 29-year career in which his work was inspirational.

“He was only too aware of the shame he had brought on himself and those he loves and within a week of his arrest he wrote notes saying farewell to his wife and two sons and went to his attic where he attempted to take his own life by hanging.”

Colyton Grammar School has been rated among the top state schools for more than ten years and is currently in the top ten of selective school tables for GCSEs and A levels.

At the time of the arrest a school spokesman said:“The school obviously takes this development very seriously and is cooperating fully with the police investigation.

“I can reassure you that, as far as we are aware at this stage, the allegations do not relate in any way to the school or anyone in its community. I can, however, confirm that the school is taking appropriate action in accordance with its internal procedures and arrangements are already in place to cover the member of staff’s duties in school whilst appropriate investigations take place.

“This has come as a very big surprise to the school community and it is something the school has to come to terms with.”

December 2013

Man jailed for sex with vulnerable 15 year old

A Boston man who had sex with a vulnerable 15 year old girl has been jailed for 29 months at Lincoln Crown Court.

Robert Craven and the girl were among a group of youngsters who spent an evening at the Axe and Cleaver pub in Boston before returning to Craven’s flat.

Sarah Gaunt, prosecuting, said Craven had had a lot to drink but the girl had only had “a few sips” of alcohol during the evening and what she described as “a couple of puffs of cannabis”.

Craven’s flat mate agreed that the girl could stay the night and believed she would be safe sleeping on a mattress inside Craven’s room.

Miss Gaunt said that the girl went to sleep fully clothed and her next recollection was of Craven trying to get her to sleep in his bed.

Craven started kissing her and despite her pleas to him to stop he began indecently touching her.

The girl told Craven she was under age but he went on to have sex with her.

Craven, 22, now of Peterborough but who was living in Haven Court, Quaker Lane, Boston, at the time of the incident admitted three charges of sexual activity with a child between April 5 and 8, 2012.

He was placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

Harpreet Sandhu, defending, said Craven should be given credit for his guilty plea which had spared the girl from having to give evidence in front of a jury.

“He was older than her but he presents as a relatively immature 22 year old.”

He said Craven had a difficult early life and from the age of 17 had to fend for himself after his mother asked him to leave home.

December 2013

Man tried to groom girl on Facebook by offering puppy

A man tried to persuade a teenage girl to reply to his sexually explicit “suggestions” by offering to buy her a puppy dog, Perth Sheriff Court has heard.

Mark Baird, 24, of Carluke, Lanark, had managed to obtain the girl’s phone number. The court was told that what started off as “chat” soon descended into him suggesting “fairly explicit” sexual matters.

Depute fiscal Robbie Brown said: “The man told the girl his age and he was aware that she was 14. Their conversation lasted for two and half hours. He tried to induce the girl by offering to buy her a puppy.”

The court heard that the girl had called Baird a “paedophile” at one point. Mr Brown said that her parents were then made aware of what had happened and they contacted the police.

Baird’s solicitor said his client had received a “friends request” message from someone on Facebook.

On Monday, he admitted that on May 22 2011, at Church Road, Crook of Devon, he sent sexually explicit communications to a 14-year-old girl.

Sentence was deferred until January 22 and Baird was placed on the sex offenders register.

December 2013

Paedophile avoids prison

A PAEDOPHILE who used chocolate to bribe a seven-year-old girl in to exposing herself has avoided jail.

Ian MacLeod, 58, of Richmond Avenue, Benfleet, was also caught with indecent images on his laptop of the girl and a baby.

He was handed a two-year suspended sentence, a three-year community order and ordered to attend a three-year sexual offenders’ programme when he appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Friday.

Judge David Owen-Jones described MacLeod’s behaviour as appalling. The court heard concerns were raised after the victim’s family found the youngster with a bar of chocolate.

When her parents asked where it came from, she said MacLeod had given it to her, but warned her not to tell anyone.

She also told them MacLeod had asked her to expose herself in exchange for chocolate.

Police arrested MacLeod – a divorcee – and seized two laptops from his house.

MaCleod has moved to Canvey while he carries out the community order.

He was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register and was made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order.

February 2007

Jail term for belt buckle abuser

A man who mistreated three children, turning their home into a “prison camp”, has been jailed for three years.

Alan Liddle, 48, who earlier changed his plea to guilty was sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday.

The court heard how Liddle beat the youngest boy with his belt buckle, forced him into freezing cold baths and rubbed soiled pants into his face.

Liddle admitted wilfully mistreating the children between July 2002 and January 2004 at a home in Craigentinny.

Liddle changed his plea on the fourth day of a trial in which the court heard evidence of systematic abuse by the accused.

The children, who were six, seven and 14 at the time are now aged nine, 10 and 17.

After meeting Liddle the youngest began to suffer accidents and was severely punished for it.

Liddle repeatedly forced the boy to undress and bend over his bed or a chair. He then took off his belt and beat him with the buckle end leaving him with thick purple bruises.

On one occasion, the boy’s 17-year-old sister, a nursing home care assistant, described seeing her brother fall to the ground screaming in agony.

“He kept saying ‘I am sorry, I am sorry’” pleading with Liddle not to hurt him, but he paid no attention. Afterwards Liddle went into the living room and sat reading a magazine.

She said Liddle shouted and swore at her for minor matters like calling a sink a bunker and for the way she wrapped a flex around an iron.

“I felt like I couldn’t do anything in the house, everything I did was wrong. It felt as if we were living in a prison camp.

The children’s mother said Liddle was a “control freak” who would not even allow the children to chat during meals and who spent his time reading magazines and drinking whisky.

She said she had contemplated committing suicide because of his actions.

Defence agent, Grant Markie, told Sheriff Isabella McColl that Liddle had been suffering emotional and mental health difficulties at the time, but he accepted that his behaviour had been a significant breach of trust.

Sheriff McColl said because of the lateness of the guilty plea, the children had had to go through the ordeal of giving evidence.

August 2007

Pervert found with 6,000 indecent images of children

A PERVERT found to have over 6,000 indecent photographs of children after he was caught trying to film a schoolgirl with a hidden camera has avoided time in prison. 

At Wolverhampton Crown Court, Judge Nicholas Webb ruled it was more important for Paul Coleman to receive treatment to resolve his problems than go to prison. 

He said the 38-year-old had been “utterly frank” 

when he was arrested by police, realised he had a problem and accepted he needed help from the authorities. 

The judge said reports indicated Coleman posed a high risk of causing serious harm to children if he re-offended and stressed it was necessary for him to attend the sex offenders protection programme. 

He gave him a three-year community order coupled with a supervision order and said he must register as a sex offender for seven years. 

Coleman was also barred from working with children for life and banned from loitering near schools or playgrounds for seven years. 

Coleman, of Hendra Close, Tamebridge, Walsall, admitted 11 charges of making indecent photographs of children, one of taking indecent photographs and two of voyeurism. 

Peter Cooke, defending, said Coleman, a man of previous good character, acknowledged what he had done would have moved on to sexual contact if his offending had not been “nipped in the bud”.

December 2013

‘Evil’ child abuse pictures shame of Mold family man

A MAN was found with pictures of child sex abuse and bestiality on his computers. 

Police raided the home of Nicholas Hunt and found the “offensive and disgusting” images.

The 44-year-old from Bryn Coch Lane, Mold, had been viewing pornography since he was 13 and continued after he was married, Mold Crown Court heard.

But he avoided jail, with a judge arguing it would ‘benefit him and wider society’ to impose a community sentence.

The court heard he was now a broken man whose wife and family had left him and he had tried to kill himself after the images were discovered. Hunt admitted nine counts. In 2012 he possessed extreme images including five showing a sex act with a live animal. He also admitted three charges of possessing an indecent image of a child.

Judge Philip Hughes said he had decided it would benefit Hunt and wider society if, rather than a relatively short custodial sentence, he was placed on a three-year community order with supervision, where his behaviour and attitudes would be challenged.

He was also ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for life and an indefinite SOPO (Sexual Offences Prevention Order) was made to curb his future activities on the internet.

Mr Hughes said the offences provided a market for those who created the images of child abuse.

“That is the evil of this kind of offending,” he said.

It was obvious that Hunt was involved in more images than had been found on his computers. Images had clearly been deleted but their file names indicated the nature of them. It all demonstrated he had “an unhealthy interest in children”, which he was sharing with others in chat logs, Mr Hughes said.

But he was previously a man of good character. The judge said he had read character references from his line manager, his best man, his father and his GP, and the judge said he was lucky so many people were standing by him. The case had also impacted on his own health.

“From everything I have read about you, you can rightly be described as a broken man,” he said.

The court heard that after Hunt’s wife and two daughters had gone to bed he would spend hours viewing images on the internet and discussing them with like-minded people on the web.

Prosecuting, Simon Mills told how the investigation was started by the Metropolitan Police who, during another case, found an email containing an indecent image of a girl had been sent to the Hunt’s home address in Mold.

A warrant was executed in September of last year at the home he shared with his wife and daughters, aged 15 and 11.

Two computer towers and a hard drive were seized, encryption software was present to protect his work but Hunt refused to give any passwords.

Police had to call in the national technical advice centre in London to crack the codes and when the files were examined there was evidence of an interest in child sex abuse and bestiality.

There were also chat logs where he had discussed such images with others and he had file sharing software where he and another had thanked each other for the “nice stuff” they had on their computers.

But there was no evidence that the prosecution could show that actual distribution had taken place.

In his first interview, Hunt largely gave ‘no comment’ replies but, after the images had been discovered, he was more forthcoming.

He said he had been looking at porn since the age of 13, had become desensitised to it, he had continued throughout his life and after he married, and would do it when his wife and children were in bed.

Owen Edwards, defending, said that his client was disgusted with what he had done and accepted the nine images were not the full picture.

“He has confessed to an interest which became increasingly bad and serious over the years,” he said.

Hunt was a well-respected man from an impeccable background who in a depressed state had spent hours watching appalling material.

He had been brutally frank with all who knew him and admitted what he had done.

“If ever a man understands the corrosive effect and impact of extreme pornography, it is Mr Hunt,” Mr Edwards added.

Hunt was in fact glad that he had been caught.

He had spent 14 months “staring into the abyss” awaiting the conclusion of the case.

His wife and family had left him and he had made a serious attempt on his own life.

“As far as this court is concerned, nothing it can do can compare to what he has been doing to himself. He stands before this court a broken man.”

December 2013

Paedophile is scum claims family of victim as he is found guilty

A PENSIONER who sexually abused two young girls has been branded the “scum of the earth” by the husband of one of his victims.

Alan Steer, pictured, of Campion Way, Abingdon, has been convicted of three counts of indecency with a child and two counts of sexual assault dating back to the 1970s.

The 77-year-old committed the offences against two girls aged between eight and 11 who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He denied the charges but was found guilty of five counts yesterday and on Monday after a five-day trial and around 14-and-a-half hours of deliberations by a jury at Oxford Crown Court.

Steer was acquitted on a further five counts of indecency with a child and five counts of indecent assault.

The jury could not reach a verdict on one count of indecent assault and Judge Patrick Eccles ordered it to lie on the file, after the Crown Prosecution Service said holding a retrial would not be in the public interest.

There were cheers from the victims and their families in the public gallery as the first verdicts were read out on Monday.

Speaking after the hearing, the husband of one of Steer’s victims, both of whom are now adults, said: “My wife is too distraught to talk about the case – he stole her childhood. We are happy with the guilty verdicts, justice has been done, but this will never leave her.”

The husband of the other victim said his family was happy with the outcome of the trial but it had been a difficult experience for his wife.

He said: “We are very happy about the verdicts that came back guilty but my wife found the trial very distressing. “He came up with so many lies about what happened to try and get away with it and it was hard for her to listen to them. She found giving evidence very difficult, especially being questioned by the defence.

“The barrister was only doing her job, but it felt like my wife was the one on trial, like she was being accused when she was the victim.”

Now the family are now awaiting sentence before putting the case behind them.

“It has been good seeing him found guilty but the real closure will come after he is sentenced in January,” he said.

“That’s when we will know we’re getting justice for what he did all those years ago, because it’s had a devastating effect on her. “She had counselling before and I think she will have it again now it’s over. It has been a difficult week.

“He is just the scum of the earth. My wife is going to get justice. We just need to get to the sentencing and try and move on after that.”

Steer will be sentenced on January 10 and Judge Eccles told him he should expect a prison sentence.

December 2013

Man sentenced to life for 17 year old girl 1981 murder

A convicted killer has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering and mutilating a 17-year-old girl in 1981.

Claire Woolterton’s naked body was found by the River Thames in Windsor. She had been sexually assaulted and her throat was cut.

Her murderer Colin Campbell (pictured above – current mug shot) went on to kill Deirdre Sainsbury in 1984, for which he is serving a life sentence.

Advances in DNA analysis helped convict Campbell, 66, of Miss Woolterton’s murder 32 years after her death.

The jury of four men and eight women at Reading Crown Court had been deliberating since Friday morning before convicting Campbell of murder by majority verdict.

He was given a life sentence and must serve a minimum of 24 years, concurrent to his current sentence.

The former travelling salesman, who lived in Acton, west London, at the time of the murder, told the court he could not remember the events of August 1981 or if he had ever met Miss Woolterton.

Miss Woolterton’s stepfather Terry Pearce described her as a “lovely girl”, who was “very precious” to the family.

He said: “This feels as raw as it did 32 years ago.

“Claire was a hard-working girl, who was very kind and would always help people.

“She’d speak to anybody who needed help and did whatever she could for them.

“Claire’s murder had a shocking and distressing permanent effect on our lives.

“We have been emotionally scarred for life and have a very cynical outlook to life now.

“Claire went out to meet some friends and never came home. We never had the chance to say goodbye.

“We are left with a sense of complete helplessness when we think about the absolute terror and suffering that Claire had to endure at the hands of this ruthless man.

“What must have been going through her mind? This will haunt us forever.

“Colin Campbell’s evil and terrible act devastated our lives and left us wondering who was responsible for over 30 years.”

Nobody was arrested or charged with Miss Woolterton’s murder during the original investigation.

Thames Valley Police reopened the case in 2011. Scientific advances meant it was possible to find evidence of Campbell’s DNA profile from adhesive tapings taken from Miss Woolterton’s body.

When asked why his DNA had been found on Miss Woolterton’s body, Campbell could not explain how it might have happened.

By 2011, Campbell was serving a life sentence in prison for the manslaughter of Miss Sainsbury, from Greenham, in December 1984.

She was picked up in Campbell’s car while hitchhiking on the South Circular Road in Roehampton.

The 29-year-old’s mutilated body was found close to Denham Golf Course the following morning.

He was convicted of her murder in 1985. However, his conviction was downgraded to manslaughter on appeal in 1999 after he successfully argued his epilepsy had led him to carry out the frenzied attack.

By 2011, he had been downgraded to a Category D prisoner status and was being allowed out into the public on licence for five days every month, before he was arrested over Miss Woolterton’s death.

Miss Sainsbury’s family said: “We all still think of Deirdre every day and this trial has brought a lot of the emotions back for us, which were felt when Campbell was tried for his crime all those years ago.

“Our family would like to extend its deepest sympathy to the relatives of Claire Woolterton and we are pleased their long wait for justice is finally over.

“Colin Campbell is a dangerous individual who cut short the lives of two young women in their primes and has never accepted any responsibility for his actions.”

Pete Beirne, the principal investigator when the case was reopened, said: “What we’ve managed to achieve today obviously won’t bring Claire back, but hopefully it’s a small comfort to [her family] that Campbell has been in custody since 1984.”

High Court Judge Mr Justice Spencer warned Campbell he was “unlikely” ever to be released from jail after imposing the life sentence on the convicted killer.

November 2013

Care home worker in children’s home is guilty of sex abuse

A sex-obsessed care home worker who preyed on vulnerable young girls — is facing a prison sentence after he was found guilty of a series of sickening offences. 

Paul Lang, a father-of-five, who is originally from Drumchapel, wormed his way into the confidence of two teenage girls who were residents at a Clydebank care home where he was working.

The 46-year-old also turned his attentions to a six-year-old girl at a house in Drumchapel when the youngster’s mother was not at home He went into her bedroom late at night during a house party and sexually assaulted her, a court heard.

Lang denied all the allegations against him, claiming his accusers were telling lies, but last week after a two-and-a-half week trial at Dumbarton Sheriff Court a jury of 13 returned majority guilty verdicts in relation to seven separate charges.

Sarah Healing, prosecuting, convinced the jury there was a sinister motive behind Lang’s “over friendly” ways. In her closing speech she reminded the court Lang was in a position of trust in relation to all three girls who looked up to him as a “father figure”.

Referring to the two girls in the care home, she said: “Just because they are troubled, just because they have a difficult background, just because they are finding life hard does not mean they are telling lies about this.”

Ms Healing went on to say Lang was well aware of the vulnerability of all three girls and that he exploited their vulnerability.

She described Lang as a “calculating, devious and manipulative” individual who, she said, couldn’t be trusted, adding: “Paul Lang would have you believe that everyone is lying except him.”

Alan Jackson, defending, suggested to the jury that if they looked at the evidence dispassionately they would recognise that the Crown’s case “fell short” of the standard beyond reasonable doubt. He said his client applied himself to a job he had fallen into by chance and that, if anything, he was a “soft touch” who allowed himself to be placed in a position where he was open to allegations.

The lawyer accepted Mr Lang had pushed boundaries by buying cigarettes for youngsters in his care, picking them up in his car and communicating with them via his mobile phone but he added: “He has been naive, immature in the way he has gone about matters but he is not guilty of these offences.”

Mr Jackson added: “His life has been on hold for a year. A proper verdict can not change that but it can give him a fresh start.” But that did not convince the jury who found Lang guilty of sexual offences against all three girls.

Remanding Lang in custody, Sheriff Simon Pender placed him on the sex offenders’ register and adjourned the case until December 3 to allow time for the preparation of a social work enquiry report and a psychological report including a risk assessment.

TEXT MESSAGE THAT SEALED LANG’S FATE: PAUL Lang’s predatory ways came to light when two female colleagues at the West Dumbartonshire Council facility discovered worrying text messages on a mobile phone belonging to one of the girls he was later accused of assaulting.

Giving evidence, the women described how they were immediately alarmed and suspicious about the nature of the text, all the more so because Lang was no longer working at the unit when it was sent to the girl from his personal number.

They raised the matter with their superiors which triggered an investigation that led to Lang being suspended from a job he claimed to love and which he had held since 2008. As a consequence of that the allegations involving the six-year-old emerged.

Devious Lang, though, insisted he was not responsible and that all three victims were liars. However, the jury chose to believe the evidence of the youngsters, including the six-year-old who was forced to endure a distressing two days in court recounting her experience.

Lang, who had never worked in child care until he was recruited by West Dunbartonshire Council, also gave evidence and admitted to the jury that he had broken certain boundaries by giving the youngsters at the unit cigarettes and acting as a taxi service for them even when he wasn’t on duty.

He also accepted having mobile phone numbers in his personal handset, even though it was strictly forbidden, as well as having a habit of making sexually inappropriate remarks and jokes.

The former lorry driver and taxi driver claimed it was all part of a strategy to win over the youngsters and make them feel comfortable but he insisted he had never acted in a sexual way towards any of them — a claim the jury rejected.

THE CHARGES PAUL Lang, of Halley Place, Yoker, was convicted of sexually assaulting a six-year-old at a house in Drumchapel in September last year. The jury also found Lang guilty of attempting to kiss the face and touch the leg of a 15-year-old girl, who was a resident at the unit, as well as making indecent sexual remarks towards her.

He was also convicted of sexually assaulting the same girl on two separate occasions at Dumbarton Road, Anniesland, and at an unknown street in Yoker, between September 1, 2011, and March 1, 2012. He was found guilty of engaging in sexual activity with another girl at the care unit and at Old Kilpatrick train station between January 1 and September 3 last year. 

December 2013

Paedophile Stalked then Raped autistic boy at Kent Leisure Centre

A paedophile made an autistic child perform sex acts on him in the changing room of a swimming pool, a court has heard.

John Bartholomew, 50, of Upper Norwood lured the 15-year-old boy into a private area at Walnuts Leisure Centre in Orpington, Kent, after stalking the teenager during previous visits there.

During one sex act, the victim broke free and ran from the changing room to alert staff.

Bartholomew was arrested as he left the leisure centre. At Croydon Crown Court, he was jailed for eight years for rape and sexual assault.

DC Faye Churchyard, of the Metropolitan Police’s Sapphire unit which investigates child abuse, said Bartholomew was a “dangerous man”.

“It is likely that he stalked his victim over a period of time and then struck when he thought he would go undetected,” she said.

“The victim has found the courage to see his attacker convicted and I commend him and his family who have shown immense strength through what must be an incredibly difficult time.

“Bartholomew is now in prison and I would appeal to anybody else affected by this man’s behaviour to come forward and speak to police.”

December 2013

paedophile walks free from court

A PAEDOPHILE who subjected a teenage girl to a torrent of sexual abuse has escaped a jail sentence.

Stephen Rice, 56, of Northfields, Bishop’s Hull, consistently abused the victim in an act of “sexual perversion”, Taunton Crown Court heard this week.

Rice admitted three historic counts of indecent assault on a girl under 16 and was given a three-year supervision order and ordered to pay £3,000 compensation.

Judge David Ticehurst told a tearful Rice: “The effect this offence has had is incalculable. They are going to live with your sexual perversion for the rest of their lives.”

Prosecutor Mark Worsley told the court that Rice first abused the victim during the mid-1990s.

Rice gave her kisses and said he wanted to be her boyfriend and would inappropriately touch her for “20 to 30 minutes”, said Mr Worsley.

It was said the victim only spoke out last year when suffering from mental health problems before the police carried out an investigation.

Defending, Patrick Mason asked for credit for Rice’s early guilty plea during Monday’s hearing.

He said: “He is remorseful. He is somebody who does fully accept it and is appalled by what he has done and the effect on others.

“This was conduct which concluded 15 years ago.”

The Judge read an impact statement from the victim which said “every aspect of my life has been affected”.

He told Rice: “You ruined her life. You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself.

“This (compensation) is in no way payment for your wicked actions. If you make any mistake from now I can tell you with great certainty you will go to prison.”

Rice must also undertake the Thames Valley Sex Offender Programme.

December 2013

Coventry swimming pool pervert jailed for filming boys

A pervert used a camera concealed in a rucksack to film boys getting changed at a swimming pool.

Jonathan Ivens, from Wyken, Coventry, admitted three charges of voyeurism and four of distributing indecent images of children.

He also admitted nine charges of possessing indecent images of children, four of making indecent images and one of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Ivens, 45, of Wyken Grange Road, was jailed for 27 months and ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years.

Passing sentence at the crown court in Leamington,

Judge Robert Orme told Ivens: “The most serious offences involve distribution of indecent images of children. 

“The voyeurism counts are not as grave as some of the matters in the guidelines, but they show the deliberate nature of your offending. It was not only a gross invasion of the privacy of those children, but a deliberate act on your part.”

Prosecutor Iain Willis said police had a tip-off that someone at Ivens’ address was using peer-to-peer websites to distribute indecent images of kids.

Officers raided the house and seized his laptop computer and a mobile phone. On the phone’s memory card the police found video clips of a “voyeuristic and covert nature”, said Mr Willis.

They had been taken in the changing room at swimming baths, showing boys in various states of undress.

They had been taken by Ivens using a camera hidden in the mesh pocket of his rucksack.

Elsewhere on the phone, officers found indecent images of children, aged from about seven or eight up to 13.

The images ranged from level one, showing children in naked or indecent poses, to the more depraved level four.

On the laptop and two hard drives police found just over 1,200 level one images of children, and images and movies at levels three and four.

Two further images showed Ivens engaging in a sex act in front of his webcam as he recorded a video conference with a 14-year-old boy.

Ivens admitted having indulged in ten such sessions with the same boy, explaining that he had an attraction towards young boys.

Describing himself as bisexual, he said he regularly deleted images he had downloaded because he felt ashamed.

David Jackson, defending, said the distribution of images had taken place on one occasion to one person.

December 2013

Jail term for pervert who groomed 14-year-old girl on Facebook

A predator who groomed a schoolgirl on a social networking site and then performed sex acts with her when they met up has been jailed for three years.

Craig Sloan, 25, faced two charges of sex offences involving a 14-year-old girl and was found guilty by a jury last month at Airdrie Sheriff Court after a five-day trial. He was also convicted of buying alcohol for her.

Sheriff Morag Galbraith told him: “You were convicted of offences against a girl of just 14-years of age.

“I have taken everything into account. The public must also be protected from serious harm upon your release so you will be on licence for 15 months.”

The jury heard that jobless Sloan, of Kilwinning Crescent, Clarkston, sent sexually-explicit text messages to the girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. The offences happened on various occasions between October 5 and 20 last year.

The messages, the jury was told, were sent to her to encourage the schoolgirl to have sexual intercourse with him.

During the trial it was also revealed Sloan claimed to her that he was aged 18, six years younger than his actual age at the time.

The jury of nine women and six men took less than an hour to convict Sloan of all four charges, returning unanimous verdicts on each.

Fiscal depute Ann Francis Hilley said Sloan engaged in various sex acts with the schoolgirl on October 20, 2012, in the toilets at Airdrie train station then bought her cider and vodka from a nearby off-licence.

Ms Hilley said: “The girl, in evidence, claimed that he would only buy her the drink if she had sex with him.

“They had been talking extensively by text and on Facebook, which began in a flirtatious way and then became of a sexual nature. The only reason he was sending her the messages was for his sexual gratification.

“They met at the train station. The girl was with a female friend her same age. The girl went into the toilet with Sloan while her friend remained outside.

“She confided in her mother what had happened and texts were obtained from her phone.

“There was one she received from Sloan when she was on her way home afterwards saying ‘sorry I showed up semi-drunk. I’m not any good at sex when I’m drunk. You’re stunning by the way’.”

Sloan, a former call centre worker, was convicted of meeting or communicating with the girl on various occasions between October 5 and 20, 2012, at his home and elsewhere.

And on at least one occasion he met or communicated with the girl while not “reasonably believing she was 16 years of age or over, and made arrangements for her to travel and meet him and intended to engage, during or after the meeting, in unlawful sexual activity”.

In a two-hour police interview tape, played to the jury, Sloan said: “At first I didn’t think she was serious at meeting me. She said she would come over from East Kilbride. Then I got a call from her to say she was 15 minutes away from Airdrie.”

Defence advocate Louise Arrol said: “He maintains his denial but expresses remorse to the accused and her family and appreciates how difficult it was for them to give evidence.

“He appreciates this must have caused hem a great deal of stress and apologies to them.

“He has lived his life in isolation and was bullied when younger. He used the internet to form friendships and relationships. He realises he has been convicted of serious matters.”

Sloan was also put on the sex offenders’ register.

December 2013

Man jailed for sexually abusing a young girl

A 66-year-old man who sexually abused a young girl was jailed for four-and-a-half-years on Monday.

Rachid Menasria, of Hayes, had previously been found guilty at Isleworth Crown Court of two counts of indecent assault and four counts of sexual activity with a child.

His victim told officers she had been sexually abused from the age of seven until she was 17, the last time on Christmas Day 2011.

Shortly afterwards Menasria verbally abused her. She was upset while at school and told a teacher about the sexual abuse, who then alerted police and the investigation began.

Menasria was arrested on January 19, 2012 and charged on August 30 that same year.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Andrea Lenihan, from the Child Abuse Investigation Command, said: “The victim didn’t tell anyone what was happening to her for a number of years as she believed the defendant’s behaviour was normal.

“It was only when she got upset at school that the whole story came out. Sexual abuse can never be considered ‘normal’ behaviour and I would urge anyone in a similar position to contact police in confidence so we can help.”