February 2016

Man who carried out ‘utterly bizarre’ attacks in Kent jailed for life

A thug and pervert who became a one-man crime wave involving almost 50 “utterly bizarre” attacks on girls and women has been jailed for life.

John Guscott showed no reaction as a judge told him he would have to serve a minimum of 12-and-a-half years before he will be considered for release.

Judge Philip Statman said if he had been passing a determinate sentence it would have been one of 25 years

The 43-year-old, of Kemp Close Chatham, will then be on licence for the rest of his life.

Maidstone Crown Court heard while travelling around Medway, Sittingbourne and Whitstable in his job as a steel fixer, Guscott committed sexual assault, exposure, robbery and attempted robbery while masked.

One victim had a heart attack as a result of her ordeal and was detained in hospital for several days.

February 2016

Man says he downloaded indecent photos of children when he was “bored”

A man has been handed a supervision order after being found with more than 50 indecent images of children.

Police who seized Neil Ian McLean’s mobile phone along with a SIM card and a external memory card found five images of children appearing to be between the ages of five and nine, 11 images of children between four and seven and 40 images of children between nine and ten, the court was told.

The 34-year-old, of Barden Moor Road, Darlington, previously admitted one charge of making indecent photographs of a child following his arrest last November.

February 2016

Man found guilty by jury of indecently touching young girl

A 72-year-old Dunstable man is facing a lengthy jail term after a jury found him guilty of two charges of indecent assault yesterday (February 25) at Luton Crown Court. 

Following the verdicts, Raymond Lilley was remanded in custody while reports are prepared.

He will be back in court to be sentenced in April when he can expect a prison sentence for his crimes.

Lilley of Brownlow Rise, Totternhoe, Dunstable, had pleaded not guilty to the two offences.

The prosecution’s case was that he had indecently touched the young daughter of a friend of his while he was looking after her.

The jury heard evidence that the offences began when the girl was two-and-a-half in the 1990s and ended in 2001 when the girl was six and told her mum of an incident involving Lilley.

After that the mum made sure she and her family had no contact with Lilley

But in 2014 the police were told and the defendant was arrested.

Before being led from the court this afternoon to be remanded in custody, Lilley was told his name would now go on the sex offenders register.

February 2016

Sprowston man jailed for sending explicit text messages to 14 year-old girl

A man who send explicit text messages to a 14 year-old girl has been jailed for 16 months and placed on the sex offender’s register.

Gary Shearer, 31, of Wroxham Road, Sprowston, was arrested after the girl’s mother became aware of sexual messages he had sent her daughter and contacted police about the matter, Norwich Crown Court heard.

John Morgans, prosecuting, said that Shearer had sent the girl a number of sexually explicit texts and had asked if she liked older men.

He said that in an impact statement the girl said that the messages had left her feeling anxious and more cautious about meeting people,

Shearer admitted inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Jailing him, Judge Anthony Bate accepted that no actual physical abuse took place but said: “It is plain from your explicit texts messages that it something that appeared to be on your mind and she found it understandably distressing.

February 2016

Rapist walks free from court with supervision order

A sex offender has walked free from court with a supervision order after attacking a 16-year-old girl.

Unemployed David Francis Cooper, of Campsall near Doncaster, was found guilty by a jury of the rape and sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl.

The offences took place during one day in June 2014.

Sheffield Crown Court heard that Cooper had spent 18 months on remand, leading up to the trial because he had breached his bail conditions on three separate occasions.

Cooper was given various orders at court which include:

• Two year supervision order & to be supervised by a social worker

• Sexual harm prevention order

• Sex offenders register for a period of five years

• Exclusion zone relating to the area of Doncaster

February 2016

Rhyl man jailed and ordered to register as a sex offender for life

A RHYL man has been jailed for four and a half years for a series of sex offences.

Gerrard Stephen Jones, aged 53, was ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for life.

An indefinite sexual harm prevention order was made to curb his future activities.

He admitted sexual activity with two young girls – and a charge of voyeurism where he set up a video camera in a room to film her changing.

Jones, of Brighton Road in Rhyl, also admitted downloading indecent images of children from the internet and possessing extreme images of bestiality.

Mold Crown Court heard how he had admitted the images offences initially but denied the other behaviour.

Judge Niclas Parry told him that slowly but surely he had come to terms with what he had done and admitted serious sexual offences.

He had targeted young girls who were vulnerable.

The defendant had fondled them – one over her clothing and another under her clothing.

They were particularly worrying offences.

He had set up a camera to view a girl naked for his own sexual gratification and it was all set against a background of “distorted fantasies” and the downloading of images which showed his interest in the abuse of children.

There had been an element of grooming and targeting, he said.

Under the sexual harm prevention order, he is not to have any unsupervised contact with females under 16.

It also controls his use of the internet – he must not delete the history of internet use and he is not to have any file sharing software.

Prosecuting barrister Anna Price told how complaints of a sexual nature had been made against him by two different teenage girls.

An examination of his computer showed that he had more than 1,500 images and more than 80 movies of an indecent nature – many of them classified as extreme involving sex acts with animals.

It also emerged that he had set up a video camera in a room to watch a girl changing.

She reported the matter when she noticed a red light on a camera which indicated that it was filming.

Defending barrister Sarah Yates said that the best mitigation was his guilty pleas.
He was candid and accepted what he had done.

Some of the offences had been committed under the influence of alcohol but he accepted full responsibility.

The defendant had lost everything, he had lost his own family and his job. It would change his life forever.

March 2016

Islamic studies teacher who raped girl, 14, as he taught her the Koran jailed for 19 years

AN ISLAMIC studies tutor who raped a 14-year-old girl and sexually assaulted her for five years as he taught her the Koran has been jailed for 19 years.

Mohammed Islam started molesting the girl when she was just nine years old in 2010 before the scale his heinous crimes escalated until he raped her and made her pregnant in July last year.

The 31-year-old teacher’s sickening attacks were only discovered after his victim delayed her abortion to prove he was the father.

Islam, from Bethnal Green, east London, accused his victim of initiating sex but on the first day of the trial he admitted to rape and sexual activity with a child.

Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how the perverted teacher had left the 14-year-old girl, from West London, “powerless to stop him” as he carried out the crimes.

Robert Brown, prosecuting, told the court: “A profile was obtained that was identical to this defendant. The Crown say he was clearly the father of that foetus.”

The victim opted to delay her abortion in order to prove Islam was the father and, according to an impact statement from the girl’s father, the abuse has called “pain and distress” for the family.

The statement read: “What Mohammed has done to my daughter has broken me.

“In our religion she is no longer considered a virgin and is therefore unable or unlikely to get married to have a family.

“I am devastated. I am so angry.

“I only hope and pray for her that this abuse will not have a long term effect on her”.

Judge Sarah Paneth dismissed Islam’s argument that a nine-year-old could have possibly “instigated any sexual activity” with him.

She added: “You were respected as a religious man teaching young children the Koran and while I fully accept that the community centre had no difficulties with you teaching children, what you did over a long period of time – five years – to this young child demonstrates to me that there is a significant risk of serious harm being caused by you to members of the public, as it is young children in this case, particularly young girls.

“These offences have had a devastating effect on a beautiful and brave young girl who I was fortunate enough to meet when she attended court.

“I hope that over time you will show greater empathy than you have for her position.

“You seem, both from the pre-sentence report and from what has been said, to be most concerned about the effect of all this on you.”

Judge Paneth then sentenced Islam to 19 years in jail and issued him an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and placed him on the sex offender’s register.

January 2014

Man jailed for raping girl and filming it on his mobile in campaign of abuse

A man who used emotional blackmail and the threat of shame in order to carry out a campaign of sexual and emotional abuse has been jailed for 17 years.

Mohammed Fakhrul Islam, 33, of Stewart Street, east London, began his campaign of abuse after meeting the victim in Bangladesh in 2008, the Metropolitan Police said.

He was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court today having been found guilty in December of three counts of rape, one count of battery and one count of voyeurism.

While nothing happened at the time of initially meeting his victim, they remained in touch, and in 2010 the victim, then aged 18, came to the UK to study, staying with a relative, police said.

Not knowing anyone in the country she gave her number to Islam believing him to be trustworthy. They became friends but after a while Islam became threatening when he saw her talking with other men.

Police said that late in 2010 they met up and Islam took the victim to a friend’s house. Once there he told her she had to have sex with him or he would contact her parents and inform them they were in a relationship and that her reputation would be ruined.

In fear the victim ran to one of Islam’s friends seeking help, but he refused and told her to return to Islam. He then grabbed the victim and dragged her into a bedroom and raped her. Unbeknown to her, he was secretly filming the attack on his mobile phone.

Following the incident he told her that if she did not do what he wanted he would tell her family they were having sex – knowing that the outcome would be that her uncle would throw her out of his home and she would be disowned by the family, police said.

A week later Islam told the victim they were now in a relationship and could have sex often. He also told her he had footage of the earlier incident and that if she refused to have sex with him he would show the footage to her family and post it online with her phone number, implying she was a prostitute.

He threatened to kill her if she went out with any other man. He raped her a second time and again recorded it.

In February 2013 the victim began to suffer from serious depression as a result of the ongoing abuse and her studies began to suffer. Her parents indicated that they were keen for her to marry and when she relayed this information to Islam he flew into a rage stating that he would not allow her to marry another man, demanding she come to his house and saying he would ruin her life if she refused to do so.

The victim went to Islam’s house in east London where he raped her before telling her: “I am so lucky; I am so happy. I am controlling your life.”

When she refused to go home with him after a shift at work he attacked her and her colleague – strangling her and assaulting the colleague with a set of keys – before fleeing the scene.

After being convinced by her colleague to report the matter the victim finally found the courage to report the mental and sexual abuse she had been subjected to at the hands of Islam.

On March 5 2013 Islam was arrested and he was subsequently charged and convicted.

Detective Constable Caroline Horden, from the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: “The victim has shown great strength of character, she found the courage to come forward and speak about her terrible ordeal and because of this a very dangerous individual has been brought to justice.”

March 2016

Father’s social media warning after man convicted of sex offences

A father has warned parents of the dangers of social media after a man was convicted of sexual offences against his young daughter.

Joshua Humphreys, 23, a waiter, of Broadfield Barton, Crawley, pleaded guilty to causing or inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity online.

At Chichester Crown Court on February 17, he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years, to 240 hours unpaid work, was placed on a sexual offenders work programme, and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to last until further order, severely restricting his access to children and computers.

The father of the victim, who lives in the Horsham district and cannot be identified for legal reasons, has urged parents to keep their children safe on the internet

He said: “I cannot explain the emotional impact this has had on our daughter and family.

“Please check your security settings and talk with your kids about these sorts of things in an age appropriate manner.

“I cannot stress how important this is. This kind of thing seems to happen more and more often.”

He explained that he found the messages on social media while helping his daughter on the internet.

He said: “I thought I had done all I could to keep my daughter safe online by restricting settings and speaking to my daughter about being safe online.

“The messages had an adult nature and were sent to my daughter.

“I replied to the messages pretending to be my daughter. I told him her age to which he replied ‘I don’t care about ages’.”

The father added: “I’m disappointed he hasn’t been sent to prison for what he has done.

“I do accept that he has a Sexual Harm Prevention Order placed on him to monitor and restrict his movements: this will hopefully identify if he reoffends.”

March 2016

Worthing man jailed for voyeurism and indecent photos of children

A man who hid a video camera in an adult friend’s bedroom so that he could watch her getting undressed has been jailed.

Tarran Collins, 24, a theatre director, of Shakespeare Road, Worthing, appeared at Chichester Crown Court for sentencing having been convicted of voyeurism and two counts of making an indecent photograph of a child

Sentencing him to at least 16 months in prison, HHJ Christopher Parker said: “You have caused an immense amount of trouble and upset.

“She was a friend of yours. You went to her house, her family’s house, under the guise of being her friend and while she was absent from her bedroom you concealed a camera in there so that you could secretly film and record her getting undressed and being naked in the privacy of her own bedroom.

“You had taken steps to acquire the camera, under an alias, so that you would not be discovered because you knew what you were doing was fundamentally wrong. She did find the camera, but not before it had been operating and filming her getting undressed. You were confronted with what you had done and you denied it.”

The court heard that as a result of his arrest in March 2015, other electronic media was recovered and on one item was found a total of 64 indecent images of children – schoolgirls – six of which involved penetration.

A further single image was recovered from a phone.

HHJ Parker noted that the only mitigating factor was that Collins had undergone some voluntary therapy. However, taking into an account a previous conviction for twelve offences of making indecent images of children for which he was given a suspended 12 month sentence in 2012

He added: “Given the escalation in your offending, the type of offending and the spread of offences here, you do pose a significant risk of serious harm to members of the public, particularly young women and teenage girls, that risk arising from your committing further specified offences.”

Collins was sentenced to a maximum of 20 months with at least 16 months to be served. He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for five years.

March 2016

Man jailed for 12 years for multiple sexual offences against ‘vulnerable’ girl

A 40-year-old man from South Yorkshire has been jailed for 12 years after admitting multiple child sexual offences.

Simon Stokes from Woodhouse, pled guilty to nine offences, including multiple counts of sexual activity with a child and producing indecent images of children.

Stokes abused a teenage girl, over a two-year period in Sheffield.

Police found a number of indecent images of the victim on his phone.

March 2016

Man had stash of indecent images of children on PC

A MAN from Waterloo has pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images of children.

Robert McGovern, 35, of Waterloo Road, appeared at Sefton Magistrates Court on February 24 in relation to five charges of possessing indecent photographs/ pseudo photographs of a child following a search of his property on March 23 of last year.

The prosecutor said: “Officers carried out a search at a flat in Waterloo Road. Information was received that the occupier was downloading child abuse images. Multiple child mages were located on the device and the defendant signed saying that these items were his.”

Detailing the images as being of 665 at most serious category A, 466 at category B, and 832 at Category C, she added: “Bearing in mind the categorisation and the amount of the images I invite you (the magistrates)to send it to the Crown Court.”

March 2016

Ex-youth worker jailed after he groomed and sexually exploited girls online

A former youth worker who sexually exploited teenage girls online was jailed for more than four years this afternoon.

Christopher Wise, 36, trawled the internet for young girls and targeted three schoolgirls via social media, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He sent girls explicit photos, sending one girl pictures of his private parts more than 10 times.

He asked them to send him images of their naked bodies, to no avail.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, said Wise posed a danger to young girls.

He told Wise: “The offences demonstrate a common thread – a deeply embedded determination to satisfy your sexual interest in respect of young girls.”

He told how Wise made “a determined effort to groom young girls”, hiding his true age from them.

Prosecutor Harry Hadfield said Wise used social networking site Tagged to communicate with girls.

He started sexual conversation as soon as he started texting one vulnerable girl, asking her to have sex and a “threesome”.

He met her and asked her to introduce him to a girl aged 13 or under, or “a girl who wants to lose her virginity”.

He picked her up in a sports car and touched her leg as he drove.

The grooming led to sexual activity at his home, Teesside Crown Court heard today.

He sent a “raft” of graphic text messages laying bare his thoughts and fantasies, saying he wanted the girl in his bed.

He said in one: “I reckon 13 is the youngest I would go.”

The girl later said she had been through “a living nightmare” and “felt sick” about Wise’s manipulation and abuse.

Her confidence was ruined and she did not trust boys, suffered depression and became a “social recluse” since.

In other texts, Wise mentioned kidnapping and said “you can’t say no to anything, you have to be utterly submissive”, “I want to spank you til you cry” and “I want to tie you up”.

He touched a second girl after contacting her online, and she refused all his sexual suggestions.

His actions towards her sparked the police investigation and seizure of Wise’s phone and tablet computer.

She said she did not think she was in real danger at the time, getting into a stranger’s car.

Now she felt relieved nothing worse happened to her.

A third girl stopped communicating with him when he asked her for “dirty pictures”.

She said it caused her stress and affected her education.

Police found Wise, who had six email addresses, had also downloaded 26 indecent photos of girls aged 11 to 16.

Wise, of Honeysuckle Close, Hartlepool, admitted 11 child sex offences – his first convictions – covering a two-year period.

Nigel Soppitt, defending, said: “His letter sets out his absolute disgust at what he’d done to these young girls.

“He knows that he’s caused an immense amount of distress and doesn’t seek to minimise it at all.

“It’s a disgusting and appalling sequence of offences.”

He said Wise believed he had “helped scores of people”, came from a good family and had relationships.

“Yet despite all of that it seems he’s trawled the internet to find some gullible young girls.

“His career’s gone, his home has gone, his friends have gone.”

He added Wise’s offending was sporadic, outlandish and irrational at a time of stress and anxiety.

He had kept out of trouble for the last two years and was in a new relationship.

References spoke highly of Wise’s caring personality and readiness to help others.

The judge told him: “You showed no such care for your victims – quite the reverse.”

He said Wise’s remorse was not reflected in a pre-sentence report, showing a lack of empathy.

Wise denied being attracted to children – “a very worrying lie”, said the judge – and claimed he was thrilled by the taboo.

Wise was jailed for four years and eight months, given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

He had pleaded guilty to three counts of causing or inciting sexual exploitation of a child, two of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two of sexual activity with a child, two of arranging or facilitating a child sex offence, one of meeting a child following sexual grooming and one of making indecent photographs of children.

Acting Detective Sergeant Iain Pearson welcomed the sentence and praised the victims’ strength and courage.

He said: “It is a stark reminder to those who seek to prey on the vulnerable in our society that their actions will not go unpunished.

“Whilst, thankfully, this level of manipulation is rare, it highlights the potential dangers of talking with strangers online.”

March 2016

Rugby ‘deviant’ who downloaded child abuse pictures avoids jail

A ‘DEVIANT’ Rugby man who downloaded ‘utterly repellent’ images of children being sexually abused – some of them of pre-school age – has escaped being jailed.

Instead Christopher Kowal was given a 16-month prison sentence suspended for two years by a judge at Warwick Crown Court.

He was also ordered to take part in an Internet Sexual Offender Treatment Programme, to do 150 hours of unpaid work, to register as a sex offender for ten years and to pay £340 costs.

Kowal, 36, of Chamberlain Road, Rugby, had pleaded guilty to eight charges of possessing indecent images of children, one of possessing a prohibited image of a child and one of possessing extreme pornography.

Prosecutor Amy Jackson said that after receiving intelligence about his internet use, the police executed a warrant at Kowal’s home in December 2014 and seized his computer.

On it, officers found 403 still and moving indecent images of both boys and girls as young as one being made to perform sex acts.

In addition they found a prohibited computer-generated movie depicting boys aged about six, and three extreme movies showing women engaging in sex acts with animals.

When Kowal, who had no previous convictions, was interviewed he denied having any sexual interest in children or actively seeking out images of young children.

He said he would search for things like ‘teen sex,’ and would download images en-masse, resulting in the images of young children arriving as well.

Ben Williams, defending, said that at a time of personal difficulties Kowal, who works as an engineer, ‘began to use pornography as a way of taking his mind off them’.

He did so using file-sharing software, and then began to view material which ‘crossed the boundary of legality’.

“The interest he developed which did cross the line was in girls a little under 16 – but teenage girls and not pre-pubescent or even younger, although such images were among those he had downloaded.

“This was purely a fantasy interest, and nothing he would have ever contemplated embarking on in the real world.

“He has begun to get help with his attitudes towards sex and, with probation’s help, hopefully he can put this type of behaviour behind him,” added Mr Williams.

Sentencing Kowal, Judge Alan Parker told him: “You have pleaded guilty at an early stage to utterly repellent offences which disclose an interest in deviancy.

“Like many people in your position you denied in interview a sexual interest in children. It is axiomatic that people like you fail to acknowledge the deviant thought processes which lead you to obtain images of this kind.

“If I were to send you to prison forthwith, you would only serve half of that sentence, and when you are released there is little I can do to protect the public.

“Although I am utterly repelled by the description of the images you found attractive, my purpose must be to protect the public. I have come to the conclusion that the recommendation in the report is probably about right.”

March 2016

Judge jails ‘remorseless sexual predator’ who sexually abused boys over 25 years

A former colliery security guard labelled “a remorseless sexual predator” has been jailed for 18 years for sexual offences against boys.

Ronald Preddy, 73, of Dunraven Street, Glyncorrwg, in Port Talbot’s Upper Afan Valley , had denied offences including rape and indecent assault going back to the 1990s against two boys.

But at a Swansea Crown Court trial he was found guilty of the offences and was sentenced by Judge Huw Davies QC on Friday.

The judge described Preddy as a “remorseless sexual predator” who had committed offences over a 25-year period using bribes in one case as low as 50p and in some cases using threats to encourage children into sexual acts.

The trial heard evidence relating to two sets of offences against two boys, one relating to the 1990s, the other said to have occurred more recently

The court heard the offences took place in the South Wales area and that Preddy had been, until his retirement, a security guard at a coal mine.

In 2004, Preddy was jailed for eight years for separate sexual offences, also involving a young boy.

Judge Davies said over a 12-year period, Preddy had been before Swansea Crown Court three times for sexual offences, each time denying he had done anything wrong.

The judge told Preddy: “You have shown no remorse whatsoever”.

Preddy was given in total a 21-year extended prison sentence but with a custodial element of 18 years.

He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.

February 2008

Son shops dad over ‘disgusting’ dog sex

A son who watched a video of his 51-year-old dad having sex with dogs was so shocked he reported him to police.

Lorry driver, Paul William Langton, filmed himself carrying out the “disgusting” behaviour with a black Labrador and a brown mongrel.

Following a row, his son – who had seen the video by chance – took the tape to a local police station.

Married Langton pleaded guilty to letting three male dogs have sex with him, between 1974 and 2004, at Leicester Crown Court.

Barbara Graham, prosecuting, said: “There were disturbing video images explicitly showing, and suggestive of, sexual acts with dogs.”

He had allowed the dogs to have sex with him and been involved in other acts.

In interview, Langton, from Beaumont Leys, Leicestershire, said it had happened so long ago he had tried to blank it out of his mind because he knew it was wrong.

Judge Michael Pert QC said that although the offences were “disgusting” it did not mean, according to sentencing guidelines, they automatically qualified for a jail sentence.

The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to explore non-custodial options and possible treatment programmes.

Langton was remanded into custody to await sentencing next month.

After the court appearance, his 32-year-old son, who lives in Leicester but has a different surname and does not wish to be named, said his father was “rather sick and needs help”.

“I used to have a pet dog and he used to look after it and take it for walks, but fortunately it was a bitch and I hope nothing happened,” the son said.

“I don’t know where he got the idea from in the first place – maybe he’d seen the film, Animal Farm or something horrible like that.”

He said he handed over the video because his dad “was going around slandering me after we fell out over money”.

“It’s not as bad as child abuse, but an animal can never speak out however old it gets, so someone has to be their voice. That’s another reason why I reported him,” he added.

“One of the dogs was on a lead while my dad was bent over the sofa and couldn’t escape.”

He concluded: “I’m a bit ashamed that some people know I’m related to him. I hope he gets help and sorts himself out.”

February 2016

Sex offender jailed for assaulting teenager

A CONVICTED sex offender has been jailed after a drink-fuelled encounter with a teenage girl.

Lee Davis, 33, of Macaulay Street, Grimsby, denied sexual assault between May and December 2012 but was convicted by a jury after a trial.

He was cleared at Grimsby Crown Court of six other charges, including raping the girl, and matters involving complaints from two other women.

Tom Storey, mitigating, said that it was an isolated incident and alcohol was a key factor. Davis had no previous convictions. 

He had worked in security at Scunthorpe steelworks until being arrested and was dismissed from that job. He had not worked since.

Father-of-four Davis was jailed for 15 months and was given a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

He will have to register as a sex offender for five years.

March 2016

Pervert set up fake Facebook profiles to groom girl, 13

A north-east man who set up fake social media profiles to groom a young girl has been jailed.

Donald Sutherland created false Facebook accounts in the names of Alex Buchan and Sinead Brook before bombarding the 13-year-old with explicit images.

Sutherland then asked the schoolgirl, who can not be named for legal reasons, to respond to him by sending him private images of herself.

The 27-year-old eventually received the sexually explicit pictures from the child after he managed to “persuade her”.

Yesterday Sutherland appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to be sentenced having previously admitted committing the offences between November 14 and 21 last year.

The court heard the pair had engaged in an extremely graphic sexual conversation late into one night.

The girl finally reluctantly sent Sutherland a picture of herself and another she had copied off the internet.

The court heard she had initially tried to ignore the messages he had been sending her, however after eventually responding to them she felt “persuaded and compelled to continue communicating with Alex Buchan and Sinead Brook”.

It was only when the girl’s unsuspecting mother came across one of the messages that she phoned the police and Sutherland, of Prunier Drive, Peterhead, was uncovered.

The court heard officers quickly discovered that the two accounts were both registered to the same e-mail address, and consequently tracked him down.

The girl’s mother said that she was “extremely upset” to find out that Sutherland was neither of the people he had claimed to be.

Yesterday, Sheriff Graham Buchanan jailed him for 13 months for committing two offences which broke the Sexual Offences Scotland Act 2003.

He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for causing an underage girl to send sexually explicit messages to him and for exchanging sexually explicit written messages with her.

March 2016

Pervert spared prison after being caught with 100’s of indecent images of children

A St Austell man who was found with more than 450 indecent images of children on his computer has been spared jail.

A judge said it was only the genuine remorse shown by 40-year-old James McLellan of Hendra Lodge that prevented him being sent set straight to prison.

McLellan appeared at Truro Crown Court on Friday, having previously pleaded guilty to seven counts of possessing indecent images of children.

The court heard how police were alerted by an internet service provider in 2014 and how they searched McLellan’s home and seized his computer and a hard-disc drive.

 In total they found 455 pictures and a small number of videos dating between 2006 and 2014, including 114 images in the most serious category.

Some of the images involved young children – in one case a child aged only 3 years old.

The court also heard that file sharing software was discovered on McLellan’s computer.

Judge Simon Carr said McLellan was of previous clean character and had shown genuine remorse for his behaviour.

He said: “This is clearly a case of a very lonely and isolated man who has difficulties with relationships and who has fallen foul of indecent images on the internet.

“I have no doubt that you started with adult pornography, which is legal, but moved on to indecent images of children.”

But he said child pornography was not a victimless crime and added: “This has become an industry, where people are abused by people who have no sexual interest in them – but because it’s a business.

“They are abused and raped in the worst possible way imaginable because people like you download it to your computer.

“I accept you are horrified by what you did and you would not repeat this offending.”

McLellan was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for two years. He must attend a sex offenders treatment programme with a rehabilitation requirement and will be listed on the sex offenders’ register.

March 2016

Horrified store staff discovered indecent images of children on tablet

WHEN staff at the Cash Generators shop in Nuneaton began to prepare a tablet computer for resale, they were horrified to find child abuse images on it.

So the police were contacted – and when a laptop computer sold by the same customer was checked, that also had child porn on it, Warwick Crown Court has heard.

As a result, Russell Wilkin who was arrested and, tried blaming others for the images, pleaded guilty to four charges of making indecent images of children.

The 34-year-old of Vernons Lane, Nuneaton, was given a three-year community order and was ordered to take part in a three-year internet sex offender’s treatment programme.

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC also ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and to register as a sex offender for five years.

Prosecutor William Douglas-Jones said that on a laptop hard drive found at Wilkin’s home were 3,704 indecent images of children aged from 12 to 15 classed as being in category C – showing them in indecent poses but without any sexual activity.

The police also found two category A images showing pre-pubescent children being subjected to sexual abuse.

On another laptop and a tablet, both of which had been sold to the Cash Generators shop in Bridge Street, Nuneaton, were 749 and 452 category C images respectively.

They had been sold to the shop on a buy-back agreement, but Wilkin had failed to do so at the end of the agreement period in relation to the tablet.

So staff began to prepare it for sale, and when they came across indecent images of children on it, they reported it to the police.

A check revealed that the same customer had sold them a laptop, so that was checked as well and more images were found.

When Wilkin was arrested and interviewed in June, he denied being responsible.

He accepted he had accessed an adult site, but suggested that his lodger or his son might have viewed the younger images, which Judge Lockhart said was ‘an unattractive feature’.

Mr Douglas-Jones added that in a later interview Wilkin said he wanted to tell the truth and admitted being responsible, but had not intended to download that many and had not noticed the category A images.

Judge Lockhart commented: “The aggravating features are that they were left on a laptop that some other poor person has to clear down, and that he lies in interview and lays the blame at the door of others.”