January 2016

London restaurant worker jailed for sexual assault

A 63-year-old man, who repaid the kindness of a teenage girl from Chippenham by sexually assaulting her, has been jailed.

Mohammed Thoskir Ali approached the 16-year-old at the town’s railway station on June 1 2015 and asked her if she would help him buy a train ticket to London because his English was not very good.

As they left the ticket counter, Ali asked her if she wanted to go for a drink.

The teen avoided Ali’s question and pointed out which platform he needed to go to.

The girl went to leave and Ali gestured he wanted to hug her.

She responded by trying to shake his hand at which point, Ali pulled her towards him and began to kiss her, before touching her inappropriately.

The teen immediately reported what had happened to the staff in the ticket office, who called the British Transport Police.

Officers boarded Ali’s train at Didcot Parkway and, after a search of the carriages, he was found and arrested on suspicion of sexual assault by touching.

Restaurant worker Ali was later charged with the offence but denied carrying out the assault, claiming the victim had hugged him.

However, a district judge sitting at Chippenham Magistrates’ Court saw through his story and Ali, of Hanbury Street, London, was found guilty on November 12, 2015.

On 7 January 2016, he was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison, given a restraining order until January 2018 and was placed on the Sex Offender Register for seven years.

January 2016

Freed child rapist had sex with under age girl

A convicted child rapist had under age sex with two different girls after being freed from a youth detention centre.

Chase Elliott started relationships with two 15-year-old girls after his sentence for raping a ten-year-old girl in Plymouth when he was just 13 was cut by the Court of Appeal.

He had sex with one while he was living in Teignmouth and the other after moving to a bedsit in Barnstaple. where he enrolled as a student at Petroc College.

Elliott, now aged 22, was jailed at Plymouth Crown Court in March 2008 for the rape of a ten-year-old girl in a garden shed near his home in the city.

The offence occurred when he was aged just 13 but he was 14 by the time he was sentenced.

His original sentence of four years was cut to two years in June 2008 by the appeal court and he was released from the Atkinson Unit in Exeter in 2010 without receiving any ‘effective treatment’.

He went on to have under age sex with one girl in Teignmouth in 2012 and a second 15-year-old at his bedsit in Barnstaple in July 2013, when he was aged 19. Both girls were virgins before they had sex with him.

His relationship with the first girl continued after she became pregnant shortly before her 17th birthday and she has since given birth to a son.

Elliott, of Sunflower Road, Barnstaple, was cleared of raping the second girl and another 17-year-old at two different trials at Exeter Crown Court in November 2014 and December 2015.

He admitted a total of three counts of sexual activity with a child and was ordered to attend a Sex Offenders’ Treatment programme as part of a three year community order.

Recorder Mr David Bartlett said it was a more constructive course that sending him to jail because he has been in custody for 17 months, which is the equivalent of a 34 month sentence.

He ordered Elliott to sign on the sex offenders’ register for five years and imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which bars him from unsupervised contact with anyone under 16 for the next five years.

He told him:”The reason I am not passing a sentence of around three years is because you have already served the equivalent of 34 months and I am taking the more constructive course recommended in the probation pre sentence report.

“There are hints in the report that you are still interested under age sex and may still have a residual interest in girls aged 14 and 15.

“I need to say this to you. You must keep your hands off all such girls. You must not touch them or go near them because if you do you will be prosecuted and face a much more savage sentence.”

The Recorder said the most serious aggravating feature of the case was Elliott’s previous conviction for the rape of the ten-year-old girl in Plymouth.

Mr Richard Crabb, prosecuting, said Elliott started a relationship with a 15-year-old in 2012 and pressured her into having sex when she was about six months short of her 16th birthday.

He went on to meet the second victim in Barnstaple and have sex with her. She claimed he ripped off her clothes and forced her to have sex on his bed, but he was cleared of rape after telling a jury it was consensual.

Mr Nigel Wraith, defending, said Elliott had served his time for the Plymouth rape at the Atkinson Unit in Exeter but added:”He does not appear to have received any treatment which was meaningful or effective.

“The probation report has more optimistic comments about him saying he does have a problem with his attraction to girls under 16 and wants help to address and change that which would be done most effectively on a Sex Offenders’ Treatment Programme.”

January 2016

Convicted child rapist jailed for “degrading” sexual abuse of woman

A CONVICTED child rapist who admitted sexually abusing and raping a woman has been jailed for six years.

Roger Drake was previously convicted and jailed for raping an eight year old girl, Bristol Crown Court heard.

But the 56-year-old, of South Terrace in Weston-super-Mare, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting and raping a woman in Portishead.

The court heard he was attracted to the woman and was found with her underwear and a photo of her under his pillow.

Judge Richard Bromilow told him: “You pleaded guilty to two very serious sexual offences.

“You abused her in the most degrading of circumstances.

“You have a previous conviction for rape and it inevitably elevates the sentence I must consider passing in this case.”

The judge said the only mitigation of Drake’s guilty plea earned him a 20 per cent discount on the sentence.

Kenneth Bell, prosecuting, described how Drake groped the woman’s chest, she pushed him away and told him to stop.

Mr Bell said: “He tried to pull her trousers down. His hands were down the side of her trousers.

“She said ‘Get out of my way, I’ve got enough problems’.”

The court heard the woman reported Drake to police but did not want action taken, as a family member was ill.

Some four months later Drake approached the woman, pushed her up against a wall and told her: “I want sex with you now.”

She told him “no”, before he groped her chest, pinned her down and raped her.

Mr Bell said when the woman told Drake she had her period, he replied: “I don’t care, I just want sex.”

She reported Drake to police the next day and Drake’s DNA was found on her underwear.

Her DNA was also found on his body, the court heard.

Drake told police he had not raped the woman or had consensual sex with her.

He claimed to have been working at a scrap yard at the time of the attack, but investigations established he had not been at work.

In a second interview, Drake claimed to have had consensual sex with the woman on nine occasions over five months.

The woman told police they never had a sexual relationship and he had raped her.

Drake had kept her knickers with a photo of her under his pillow, the court was told.

Drake had previous convictions for theft, driving while disqualified, handling stolen goods and rape of a female aged under 16.

Brendon Moorhouse, defending, said his client was in a car accident which left him with a head injury, causing him to fit occasionally and for which he was medicated.

Mr Moorhouse said: “He had an interest in this woman and the offences followed that.

“They were short-lived offences, there was no additional degradation and they were unplanned.”

Mr Moorhouse said the best mitigation he could offer was his client’s guilty plea, and asked for full credit.

Judge Bromilow imposed a sentence of five years and eight months for rape plus an extra four months for the sexual assault.

September 2009

‘High risk’ paedophile not jailed

A judge who was unable to jail a “horrific” paedophile said he has “grave reservations” about the risk the man poses.

Kevin Tate, 32, of North Cornelly, Bridgend, was handed a community sentence at Cardiff Crown Court despite sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy.

Judge Philip Richards said his hands were tied by sentencing guidelines – despite Tate being assessed as a “high risk of reoffending”.

Tate pleaded guilty to sexual assault.

The court heard he “sexually touched” the boy’s thigh.

Tate, who has three previous convictions for bomb hoaxes, was made subject to a sexual offences prevention order.

He was ordered never to be alone with children under 18 and banned from working with children indefinitely.

Judge Richards said: “He poses a high risk of serious harm. That could be physical, sexual or emotional harm.”

He told Tate: “I find your behaviour horrific and I am deeply concerned you present a serious risk to children.

“I have grave reservations about the risk you present.”

But Judge Richards told the court that because of the nature of Tate’s assault he could not keep him locked up.

A report from the probation service identified Tate’s risk level of future reoffending as “high.”

Judge Richards said: “The guidelines say because he touched the boy’s leg he should be given a community sentence.

“He cannot be given a programme of rehabilitation in custody unless he’s sentenced to three years.

“It’s left for me to impose a community sentence of three years as well as a supervision requirement.”

January 2016

Teenager jailed

A teenager posted an obscene video on Facebook alongside the phone number of a girl who has spurned his advances.

Shane Stott, 18, published her details with a message saying she would perform sex acts if she was called.

The girl received 25-30 calls.

Stott had contacted the teenage girl through Facebook and attempted to arrange a meeting, Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court was told..

Mark Monaghan, prosecuting, said: “He sent a message which said ‘hi’. There was another message which said ‘come mine’, but she decided to reply and say she had things to do.

“She received a message saying ‘you promised you would meet me you little b****’.

“Another said ‘I will just post pictures on Facebook and say they are you’…. He was clearly upset that the meeting he planned was not going to happen.”

Mr Monaghan added: “She blocked him and got a message from a friend that was a screenshot of the defendant’s Facebook with a video of a girl performing a sex act with (the victim’s) phone number posted.”

The court heard that alongside the video – which was of a different girl – Stott wrote that the victim would perform sexual acts for people if they phoned her, leading to her receiving 25-30 calls.

He added: “The upset which was caused must have been intended.”

The court also heard that in June 2014, Stott, who was 16 at the time, messaged a another young girl on Facebook, and invited her and a friend to visit a house he was looking after while the owners were away.

The victim told police that after a while Stott told her friend to leave and ‘stuff happened’. She later confirmed they engaged in a sexual act and Stott was arrested the next month and released on bail.

Between September 2014 and April 2015 Stott, of Bradley Smithy Close, Shawclough, Rochdale , also had sex with two other underage girls after exchanging messages on social media. He invited them to his home for ‘kisses and cuddles’ and to ‘watch a film’.

David Bruce, defending, said at the time of the offences Stott was vulnerable because his grandmother who he previously lived with had recently died.

He added that a psychological report indicated Stott had a mental age of a 10 to 13-year-old.

Sentencing Judge Stewart Driver said the fact Stott committed three of the offences while on bail was an ‘aggravating feature’.

He added: “This was a very unpleasant experience for the victims.”

Speaking about the Facebook posts the judge said: “It was a very mean offence, the defendant intended the consequence. You repeatedly posted obscene videos and pictures. It gives a flavour of the defendant’s character, including his vindictiveness, when his attempts were thwarted. He is, in my judgement, a dangerous offender.

“The offence was very distressing to the victim.”

Stott pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault of a female under 13, two counts of sexual activity with a child under 16 and one count of stalking involving fear of violence.

He was sentenced to four years in a young offenders institute and four years on licence.

He was also added to the sex offenders register indefinitely.

January 2016

Cruel parents who inflicted brain damage on their baby then lied to doctors are jailed

A mother and father have been jailed for more than seven years each after inflicting a life-changing brain injury on their baby girl and then for lying to doctors, nurses and police.

Gregory and Kirsty Griffin sobbed and bowed their heads as they were convicted of child cruelty after their 22-month daughter, Patience Griffin, sustained severe brain damage.

The couple, from Grimsby, North Lincs, were found to have ill-treated or neglected the infant by either causing her catastrophic head injury and other injuries, or failing to protect her from the risk of them.

They were also said to have conspired to hide behind a ‘wall of silence, lies and misinformation’ to cover up the extent of Patience’s injuries following the January 27, 2014, incident.

The child now suffers with severe physical disabilities and is unlikely to ever lead an independent life.

Gregory Griffin, 31, comforted his hysterical wife, 30, as they were both jailed for seven-and-a-half years each at Grimsby Crown Court after the jury delivered two unanimous guilty verdicts.

The verdicts were earlier met with gasps and tears from the public gallery.

On the day of Patience’s life-altering head injury two years ago, the youngster’s parents took her to hospital after she began vomiting and became floppy, with dilated pupils.

Doctors discovered the baby had a catalogue of soft tissue injuries and fractures to her knuckle, collarbone and leg, the latter of which rendered her unable to stand or walk.

But she had also suffered a serious head injury consistent with it being banged against a hard surface or by being struck forcefully with a hard object.

The court heard how the Griffins were ‘unable or unwilling’ to provide an explanation to doctors as to how their daughter had suffered the devastating injuries.

A report conducted in the wake of the incident, which was read aloud in court by prosecuting barrister David Gordon, said it was ‘impossible to be certain what the future holds for Patience’.

It added that the infant, who is now aged three, has no bowel or body control and that her movement is very limited for her age.

The prosecution concluded it was not clear exactly who inflicted the severe head injury on the helpless baby, which occurred between November 1, 2013 and January 27, 2014 in Wellington Street.

Both of the Griffins, who have since moved to Gainsborough, covered themselves by concealing information from doctors, police and health care professionals, the court was
told.

Sentencing the couple Judge David Tremberg told them they had not shown a ‘hint of remorse’ during the proceedings.

“One of you did that (caused the severe head injury) deliberately but the crown do not suggest which of you did it,” he said.

“What is clear is that each of you knew she had been seriously injured and once again you tried to ride it out without seeking medical attention,” he continued.

“She deteriorated and when she started vomiting, became floppy and had dilated pupils, even you were driven to call emergency aid.

“You tried to pull the wool over their (medical professionals’) eyes by not giving an accurate history of her injuries.

“The child suffered a catastrophic brain injury and she is likely to need assistance in all daily activities.”

“Not a day will go by in that child’s life where she will not bear the burden of your behaviour.”

January 2016

Paedophile jailed for string of sexual offences against young girl

A Shrewsbury paedophile has been jailed for the sexual abuse of a five-year-old girl.

Mechanic Martin Evans, aged 54 of Springfield Way appeared before Shrewsbury Crown Court on Friday 8 January and was sentenced to four years in prison for sexual assault of a child under 13 years of age.

Evans pleaded not guilty but was found guilty of eight counts of sexual assault that occurred between 1997 and 2000.

The court heard that the victim was just five-years-old when the abuse began, and it continued over a period of three years

When the victim reached 14-years-old, she felt strong enough to speak out.

However when the girl reached out to her mother – the one person who she thought she could trust – the mother refused to listen or believe the allegations even resorting to calling her daughter a liar.

In 2014, the victim went to the police to report Evans.

The trial took sixteen months to reach court and he was eventually found guilty by the jury on eight charges of sexual assault of a child under 13 years of age.

The court heard that during the trial, the victim became isolated from her family as they had refused to believe her and that there had been no contact between them. 

Now she wants to encourage other people who have been abused not to suffer in silence.

He will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Evans was also made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order for five years, must be on the sex offender’s register and has been barred from working with children.

Detective Constable Alexander Sullivan, who led, the investigation said: “I would firstly like to commend the victim for their courage in coming forward. What they have been through is unimaginable and I hope today will provide some form of closure that will help them to rebuild their lives.”

January 2016

Paedophile spared jail for making indecent images and videos of children

A PAEDOPHILE caught downloading and making indecent images and videos of children has escaped a jail sentence.

Darren Haddow, 50, of Crest Close, in Stretton, was given a three-year community order and placed on the sex offenders’ register.

He appeared at Burton Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent videos and photographs of children.

Two of the images and one of the videos were of the most serious category A, while the other pictures and video were categories B and C, which are considered less serious by the courts.

Haddow was caught as part of Staffordshire Police’s Operation Safenet to crack down on perverts and safeguard children.

Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have welcomed the sentence.

Prosecutor Natalie Merchant told the court that when police raided his home, officers discovered 12 indecent images of children and two movies, which had been downloaded from the internet.

The defendant confirmed that the devices were his and he had downloaded the images. He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of a child.

Ms Merchant said: “Due to the overwhelming evidence against the defendant, he pleaded guilty at the first hearing. The CPS and our partners in the criminal justice system are working together to identify and bring to justice those who commit such crimes.

Detective sergeant Steve Chadwick, from Operation Safenet, said: “The sentencing of Darren Haddow is to be welcomed and shows we will take swift, robust action against anyone suspected of child sexual abuse.

“We have a number of people now charged and going through the court system as part of Operation Safenet and this work will continue.”

Haddow was sentenced at Burton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, January 7.

As well as the three-year community order, Haddow was also ordered to attend an accredited sex offender treatment programme for 18 months, fined £150, and told to pay court costs of £185 and a victim’s surcharge of £60.

January 2016

Pervert gets four-year term for child sex assaults

A 64-year-old man involved in sexually assaulting a young girl and possessing hundreds of indecent images of children has been jailed.

Michael Collins, from Telford, had been convicted of six offences involving a girl under the age of 13 after a trial in November last year. He was also found guilty of seven other offences relating to the possession of almost 950 indecent photographs.

At Stafford Crown Court yesterday Collins, of Calcott, Stirchley, was jailed for a total of four years.

The court heard that the young victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been traumatised by the events.

Collins, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, continued to protest his innocence as he was being sentenced. The court heard a probation report said he had continued to maintain his denials which suggested he was at high risk of re-offending.

Recorder Kevin Hegarty ruled that, in view of Collins’ previous good character, his lack of mobility and that he was suffering from a progressive illness, he should not be considered a dangerous offender.

However, he said the defendant had repeatedly abused the victim.

Collins was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order, a restraining order relating to the victim and must also be on the sex offenders’ register. All three orders are for an indefinite period.

January 2016

Sex offender jailed after breaching court order

A pervert who blackmailed a girl into sending him ‘compromising’ images has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for breaching his community order.

Steven Murphy, of Moorland Avenue, Oxley, had already been placed on the sex offenders register after admitting the offence.

But he was handed a harsher sentence at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Thursday for failing to comply with his community order.

Murphy, aged 22, had previously admitted a charge of inciting a child into sexual activity. 

The court heard how Murphy had set up a fake Facebook account as ‘Andre Johnson’, aged 17 to 18, and sent a friend request to a 14-year-old girl.

He managed to get hold of an indecent image of the girl through a contact and then blackmailed her into sending more.

The court heard Murphy was eventually stopped when she reported the matter to her teacher, who then informed the police in February last year. Police later found material linking him with the Andre Johnson character, which he had tried to delete from his computer, and images of the girl saved in a folder.

Murphy pleaded guilty and was ordered on to a sex offenders work programme as well as being told to carry out 200 hours unpaid work on October 1. He was also made the subject of a three-year supervision order because of previous convictions.

But he went on to breach those conditions and was remanded in custody after being arrested last week. Judge James Burbidge, sentencing on Thursday, said: “You clearly have an interest in pre-pubescent girls, which you should not have.

“You set up a false Facebook page pretending to be Andre Johnson and managed to get hold of compromising photos of this girl, which she did not want people to see.

“You made her send images of herself, which was pretty much blackmail. You were very lucky not to get charged with that at the time.

“Your breach report makes for sad reading and I have no other alternative but to revoke this order.

“The offence was already so serious it passed the custodial threshold because of the degree of planning and the disparity between the ages.”

Mr Jasvir Mann, defending, said Murphy had failed to comply with the order after struggling to fit in his unpaid work with his new employment. He said: “He managed to find employment, which he was told was the biggest hurdle standing between him and rehabilitation.

“He started working 16 hours a week but often that would become 30 to 40 hours. He began putting his work in front of the order but he did make an effort to contact the probation service.”

January 2016

Sex offender jailed for breaking ban by being in company with several young girls

A sex offender who defied a court order by being in the company of several young girls has been jailed for two years.

Ian King, 50, pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual offences prevention order on three occasions, between July and September, 2015.

Although there was no suggestion he abused any of the children, he knew he was forbidden to be in the company of females under 16 without the permission of their parents or guardian, who also had to be made aware of his previous convictions.

One of the occasions he had gave the girls sweets and on another played magic tricks. 

Leicester Crown Court was told that the mother of four girls, all under 16, did not know of King’s previous convictions for indecently assaulting children.

Joey Kwong, prosecuting, said that on two occasions he visited the mother of the children when they were present.

On one occasion she visited his address with her girls.

Other adults were also present during all the visits and the defendant was never alone with the children.

However, on one occasion he played magic tricks to amuse them, said Mr Kwong.

When one child went to sit on his knee, he had immediately lifted her off – and also sat on his own hands during much of the time.

King’s offender manager found out about the contact when he made a routine visit to the defendant, who admitted being in the company of the girls on one occasion.

When the mother was informed she revealed there were two other occasions.

King, formerly of Lomond Crescent, Leicester, was said to dispute suggestions he momentarily tickled one of the children or had rocked two them in a rocking chair.

The court heard that in 1992, King was jailed for 21 months for indecently assaulting a female under 16.

In July 2011 he was jailed for 14 months for sexually assaulting two girls under 13.

It was on that occasion he was made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order banning contact with girls under 16 without permission.

Judge Ebraham Mooncey said: “There was clear grooming behaviour doing magic tricks for children; it would only be to impress them.

“The giving of sweets, what’s that going to do?

“You were aware of the restrictions.”

In interview, the defendant said he was not trying to groom the family and wanted to test if he could integrate back into the community without having sexual thoughts about children.

Mr Kwong said: “But he then accepted it was risky behaviour.”

Fernando Rodrigues, mitigating, said: “He accepts there was some interaction with magic tricks, but there was a barrier, a table between them.

“On one occasion he just sat in the corner of the room.

“There’s nothing to suggest any physical contact, other than when a child tried to sit on his knee.

“He says he didn’t inform the mother of his past record, as he should have done, because in his words ‘it was extremely awkward and I didn’t know how to bring it up.’ “

January 2016

Pervert found guilty of making child abuse images

A TIMBER firm worker has been warned he faces a “considerable prison sentence” after admitting to making indecent photos of children and possessing extreme images of animals.

Calvin Hardcastle, of Kingfisher Drive, Aiskew, near Bedale pleaded guilty at Northallerton Magistrates Court to having 13 images classed as the most obscene on June 28 last year.

The 30-year-old also admitted possessing 23 grossly offensive category B and 56 category C images or videos, some of which are understood to be cartoons.

January 2016

Pontyates cyber predator who groomed girl, 13, jailed for two years

A cyber predator who groomed a 13-year-old girl who he got to send him explicit sex images of herself has been jailed for two years.

Scott Williams, 22, of Pontyates, Llanelli, kept up a secret on-line relationship with the schoolgirl from Essex over two years.

He used Skype, a webcam and his smart phone to regularly contact his victim, encouraging her to drink alcohol and expose herself.

Williams also set up at least four face-to-face meetings with the girl, at a series of unnamed locations between south Wales and Essex.

When he was finally caught he told police it was all “purely a cyber world” affair to him, Swansea Crown Court heard.

Williams was jailed after admitting three counts of causing, and three counts of inciting, a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted two counts of possessing indecent images of children. The offending covered 24 months from September 2012.

Brian Simpson, prosecuting, said that Williams already had a string of sex offence convictions.

They included a conviction for causing a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity, using the MSN messaging service.

Williams had ordered the girl to expose herself, threatening to “destroy her computer” with a virus, if she refused, Mr Simpson said.

Williams had also exposed his genitals to a schoolgirl in 2014 while out walking on the Burry Port Coastal Path.

He appeared after 16 months in custody for breaching a 10 year Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning him from entering any park which contained children’s play equipment.

Judge Paul Thomas QC, said: “The offences, Scott Williams, that you committed were obviously very serious ones.

“Over a period of two years, starting when she was as young as 13, you contacted a girl from the Essex area over the internet.”

“This happened during a period when she was between 13 and 15, a fact that you were at all times aware of.”

He added: “This young girl for one reason or another, was besotted with you.

“But it is right to say that you never actually met her – it all took place in cyber space.

“On the four occasions you arranged to meet her she went along from her home in Essex and she wanted to have sex with you.

“You never showed up. In my view you never intended to show up.”

He told Williams his convictions showed: “You have an inability to stop committing sexualised offences.”

Jailing him for two years he told him that when he was released it would be “under strict licence.”

January 2016

Paedophile investigation stops man who had arranged to meet with child in Medway

A 50-year-old man who had arranged to meet a child in Medway was greeted by police last month, and charged with child sex offences.

Colin Page, Watson Road, Birmingham, was arrested by police in Medway on December 6, following work from Kent Police’s paedophile online investigation team.

He was charged the same day with two counts of arranging commission of a child sex offence.

He was sentenced last Thursday at Maidstone Crown Court to six years and eight months in prison.

DC Jon Baker said: “Police use a number of methods to help identify people who prey on children and have a desire to sexually abuse them. Due to the team’s online investigations Page was swiftly identified and is now behind bars and away from the public.”

January 2016

Sex offender jailed again after tracking down victim on facebook

A man who sexually abused an underage girl has been jailed four months after being released from prison for messaging the victim.

Sharem Karemi, 26, was jailed in August 2013 for having a sexual relationship with a young girl and was released in July last year.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that four months later on November 27 and while still subject to a sexual offences prevention order, Karemi found the girl on Facebook and began sending her messages.

Paul Cross, prosecuting said: “The victim was very surprised because she had not sought any contact from him. The messages he sent said that he missed her so much and that he was dying without her.

“He messaged her three separate times that night from 10.30pm onwards saying how much he missed and loved her. He also said not to tell anyone as it would be bad for him.”

In an impact statement read out in court, the victim said: “The fact he does not want me to tell anybody tells me he wants to continue the abuse.

“I have moved away and I want to put this behind me, I am terrified he would find me and carry on abusing me.”

Defending Karemi, Graham Stewart, said: “The defendant doesn’t normally drink and he can’t even remember these messages.

“Clearly he got drunk and did this ridiculously stupid thing.”

Karemi, of Hylton Road, Sunderland pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual offences prevention order and was sentenced to four months in prison.

Judge Robert Adams said: “On three separate occasions you sent messages to the victim of your abuse who had no doubt moved on after your offending behaviour.

“After these messages she blocked you from contacting her on Facebook and reported you to the police.

“A number of years after the offending she certainly had not contacted you and she was terrified you would find out where she’s living.”

He added: “You knew full well what you were doing.”

January 2016

Pervert spared jail over more than 2,700 child abuse images

A multiple sclerosis sufferer who downloaded more than 2,700 indecent images and movies of children had been spared a prison term because of his medical problems. 

Passing a suspended jail term on 61-year-old Colin Dowsett, Judge John Devaux said the case clearly crossed the custody threshold and would have resulted in an immediate prison term but for what he had read about him in reports prepared for the court.

Dowsett, of St Crispin’s Close, Kesgrave admitted five offences of making indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornographic images.

He was given a 14 month prison sentence suspended for 18 months with supervision by the probation service. He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for ten years and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same period of time.

He was also ordered to pay £250 costs and a £100 victim surcharge.

Andrew Thompson, prosecuting at Ipswich Crown Court said police officers, who were acting on information they had received, executed a search warrant at Dowsett’s home on December 10 2014.

They seized computer equipment, tablets and a mobile phone on which were discovered a total of 470 images and movies at the most serious level A, 940 at level B and 1,350 at the lowest level C.

A number of extreme pornographic images and movies were also discovered on the equipment, said Mr Thompson.

He said that following his arrest Dowsett made immediate admissions to police and later told officers the downloading of the indecent images, which featured children as young as six months to a year old, had been habit forming.

He had expressed disgust with himself and told officers he had an addictive nature.

Claire Hullock for Dowsett said his arrest for the offences had had a devastating effect on him and his family.

His wife had moved out, although she still visited and helped him on a daily basis.

Miss Hullock said medical reports on Dowsett said his multiple sclerosis may have affected his decision making.

The court heard that Dowsett began showing signs of his illness in 1995 and following a medical diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 1999 he had been wheelchair dependent since 2009 and was now visited by carers three times a day.

January 2016

Newham hospital staff evade jail over child sex abuse film

A midwife and a health care worker who showed colleagues a child sex video walked free from court today after a judge said they only did it to “demonstrate the evils of the world”.

Amudat Popoola, 50, played the six minute clip to horrified staff at Newham University Hospital on her mobile phone in April last year. It depicted a young girl aged two to three years old performing a sex act on a man in his 20s or 30s.

The day before, Popoola had asked for the film be sent to her via messaging service WhatsApp after being shown it by health care assistant Yaodele Salami, 48.

Colleagues at the hospital in Glen Road, Plaistow, were so shocked by the footage that a student nurse immediately reported it to police who arrested the pair, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

In what he described as an “exceptional case”, Judge Martyn Zeidman QC told Popoola and Salami that they both held a “responsible, important position in a hospital” and “needed to show high standards of behaviour”.

He added: “It seems that once the image had been received you both sought to use it, not for sexual pleasure but to demonstrate the evils of the world in which we live.

“Your motive was very different from someone who just does it for sexual purposes.”

Salami, of Ivyhouse Road, Dagenham, was handed a 12-month prison term, suspended for 12 months, for possessing, distributing and showing an indecent image of a child.

Popoola, of Dagenham Avenue, Dagenham, was handed a 14-month sentence for possessing and showing the same image, also suspended for 12 months.

Both will also have to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and face the end of their careers.

January 2016

Sex pest banned from using buses after molesting schoolgirl on top deck

A sex pest has been slapped with a 10-year ban from using any bus during peak hours after molesting a schoolgirl on the top deck.

Stefan Sabo will not be allowed to get on a bus between 7am and 9.30am and 3pm and 6pm until 2026.

The 30-year-old sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl on the No 11 bus as she made her way to school

At Birmingham crown court, Sabo, of Oxhill Road, Handsworth, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and was given an eight month jail term suspended for two years.

He was also given the Sexual Harm Prevention Order banning him from buses.

Jennifer Josephs, prosecuting, said the incident he was being sentenced for happened at 7.45am in May last year when the girl, wearing her school uniform, got onto the top deck of the bus.

Sabo was also there and fairly soon the girl became “very frightened” by his behaviour.

Ms Josephs said the girl became so concerned she texted her friend who was sitting downstairs and asked her to come and join her.

“The defendant was swearing and had been drinking alcohol and was making comments to the girl, such as ‘you’re beautiful’, ‘I don’t care about the age difference’ and ‘I will do inappropriate things to you’,” she said.

The schoolgirl texted her friend, who was by now with her on the top deck, saying “Shall we move?”

As the girls walked past Sabo to go downstairs he reached over and sexually assaulted his victim.

When both girls arrived at school they told the teachers and police were called.

Ms Josephs said the girl gave police a detailed description of Sabo who, at the time, was very distinctive-looking with a mohican hairstyle, tatoos and piercings.

She said Sabo’s previous convictions included shoplifting and also another assault on a bus.

This occurred in January 2015 when Sabo assaulted a male passenger on a bus and robbed him of his mobile phone.

He was sentenced in June last year for these offences and received a suspended prison sentence.

But because the sentence took place after the sex assault on the schoolgirl, Sabo was not in breach of it.

January 2016

Teacher gets lifetime classroom ban over affair with student

A married teacher at a top private school has been banned from the classroom indefinitely for having an affair with one of his students.

John Boothby, 27, began the relationship with the teenage girl during the summer of 2014 while he was head of philosophy and religious studies at Canford School – a co-educational independent boarding school in Wimborne, Dorset.

The girl – who is not identified – told police the consensual relationship progressed from kissing to sex and included a night in a B&B during school half-term. She told police in July 2014: “It started about two months ago. It was consensual and not forced.”

The teenager explained they became close, they kissed, they gradually became more comfortable around each other and eventually “a sexual relationship did develop, but not that rapidly”.

She also told police she had “ended up in a B&B” with Boothby during half-term, where he had told her that he loved her. She added: “I told him I loved him a week later.”

Boothby, who had worked at Canford since September 2010, acknowledged the affair to school investigators. He said: “I was well aware at the time that the affair constituted a serious breach of school policies.”

Boothby faced a hearing of the National College for Teaching and Leadership’s professional conduct panel in which it was alleged he engaged in a sexual relationship with the student, identified only as Pupil A, while she attended the school.

The hearing heard that Boothby had admitted the facts of the allegation but had not expressly admitted they amount to unacceptable professional conduct. In written representations to the panel, he said: “I accept the central charge here. In engaging in a sexual relationship with Pupil A, I was entirely unprofessional, and fully deserve the termination of employment and procedures that have followed.

“My behaviour is something I hugely regret. It has caused more pain to my family and close friends than I would ever have wished to bring anyone, and was a huge breach of the standards that were, rightly, expected of me as a teacher.”

Boothby later confessed to his wife that he had been having an affair with a student. The panel found the allegation proven and said Boothby was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and had brought the teaching profession into disrepute. It recommended that Boothby be banned from the classroom for life.

“The panel was of the view that Mr Boothby’s sexual misconduct was serious and had the potential to result in harm to Pupil A,” it said. “The panel was of the view that, while Mr Boothby was clearly remorseful about the events, he had not expressed sufficient insight into the role of a teacher and the importance of maintaining professional boundaries in order to prevent such a situation arising at all.

“He did not appear to appreciate the distinction between teachers being friendly towards pupils as opposed to being friends with them. The panel did not see any evidence that he was aware of the need to be able to control his own emotions when dealing with pupils. Further, the panel noted that Mr Boothby showed no insight into the potential impact of the affair on Pupil A.

“He regarded her as an adult on an equal standing as himself, rather than a pupil under his care. Given this lack of insight, the panel was not persuaded that Mr Boothby would not make this same mistake again in the future.”

A Department for Education official endorsed the panel’s findings.

January 2016

Phone salesman spared jail for child sex

A phone salesman who had sex with an under age girl has been spared a prison sentence and sent on a course to adjust his attitudes to young women.

Francis Duncan had just finished university and was living in the same house as the teenage girl when he had sex with the girl more than five years ago.

She did not complain at the time but later told her mother what had happened and eventually made a complaint to police, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Duncan, aged 28, of Church Street, Tiverton, admitted two offences of sexual activity with a child and was jailed for 20 months, suspended for two years and ordered to attend a ‘Facing Forward’ course run as part of a year’s supervision.

Judge Erik Salomonsen said he was suspending the sentence because Duncan is of good character, has a good job, and showed insight into his offending when interviewed by probation.

He said:”The probation report suggests your actions were driven by the pursuit of deviant sexual gratification and fuelled by associated fantasies. It says you have accepted significant responsibility and that is very much in your favour.”

Mr Sean Brunton, prosecuting, said the girl was aged 15 or 16 and Duncan was about six years older when the offences occurred at a house where he was living in at Tiverton.

She told police they had sex up to ten times but the prosecution now accept they had full sex on only one occasion and there was touching on another, when they were interrupted by her mother coming home.