May 2016

Jailed for raping a seven-year-old girl

A 34-year-old man has been sentenced for child sexual offences in Bucks.

Michael Duncan, formerly known as Michael McGowan, of The Crescent, Bletchley, was sentenced yesterday (Tue) to five years’ imprisonment at Amersham Crown Court.

Duncan was convicted on Monday, April 4 of one count of rape against a seven-year-old girl and one count of indecent assault against an eight-year-old girl following a week–long trial at Aylesbury Crown Court.

The rape offence took place between December 1996 and December 1997 and the indecent assault offence against another girl took place between April 1996 and November 1996.

He was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for the count of rape and six months’ imprisonment for the count of indecent assault, which will run concurrently.

Duncan was also found guilty on September 14, 2015 at Aylesbury Crown Court of one count of indecent assault between April 1996 and December 1996 against the rape victim following an earlier week-long trial.

The offences took place in Milton Keynes when Duncan was aged 14.

Yesterday he received two years’ imprisonment for this offence, which will run concurrently to the other sentences, making a total of five years’ imprisonment.

Duncan was arrested on March 10, 2014 and he was charged with the offences on September 29, 2014.

May 2016

Paedophile with horrific images of child abuse NOT jailed

A man who was found with a collection of horrific images of child abuse on his computer has been barred from working with children and young 
people, and must sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years.

Ian Walsh, of Moor Road, Chorley, admitted possessing indecent images of children between January 1 and August 22 last year at his address in Chorley.

It relates to 733 images being found of youngsters.

The 28-year-old also admitted three counts of making indecent images of children.

Preston Crown Court heard those charges related to 161 images deemed to be category A – the most serious – with a further 156 pictures at 
category B and 440 at category C.

Police had attended his home in the town and carried out a raid on August 21 last year, while he was absent from the address.

Officers seized a number of electrical items seized, which contained indecent images of children.

Later the same day, Walsh turned up at Chorley Police Station to inquire what was happening at his house.

He was then arrested.

Judge Jonathan Gibson, sentencing, discharged him conditionally for two years but imposed a three-year community order with a requirement to attend the internet sex offenders’ treatment programme.

He also imposed a five-year sexual harm prevention 
order (SHPO) restricting and 
monitoring his internet use, including banning him from deleting his internet search history.

Walsh had also pleaded guilty to failing to surrender to custody at Skelmersdale Police Station in February as the probe into his activities was ongoing.

May 2016

Pervert downloaded hundreds of child sex abuse pictures and movies

A YEOVIL man who downloaded hundreds of indecent pictures and movies of children has been sent to Taunton Crown Court to be sentenced.

Alan Paul Seaman was found by police to be in possession of the indecent images which he had stored on a memory card and his mobile phone over a four and a half year period.

When both devices were examined by police experts they uncovered the images which spanned all three categories of seriousness.

Seaman, 59, of Penn Hill, pleaded guilty to making indecent photographs of children, namely 678 Category A photographs and movies.

He also admitted two further charges in relation to 385 Category B photographs and movies and 1,968 Category C photographs and movies.

When the defendant appeared before Somerset Magistrates, sitting at Yeovil, they were told that all the offences were committed at Yeovil between January 20, 2010 and October 22, 2014.

Prosecutor Emma Lenanton said that following investigations by the police they questioned Seaman regarding the indecent material.

“He was then found in possession of a memory card and mobile phone handset which were interrogated by the officers and found to contain the images and movies,” she said.

“They covered all three levels of seriousness ranging from the most serious Category A to Category C.”

Defending solicitor Louise Eaves acknowledged that due to the volume of images involved in the case the matter would have to be dealt with at Taunton Crown Court.

The magistrates refused to accept the case and ordered that Seaman must be sentenced at the crown court on June 3.

In the meantime they ordered a pre sentence report to be prepared by the Probation Service and released him on unconditional bail.

They also directed that the defendant must sign onto the National Sex offenders register within three days of the court hearing.

May 2016

Mum catches online predator who blackmailed 13-year-old daughter for explicit images

An online ‘predator’ has been brought to justice after being confronted by a furious mum.

After coaxing a schoolgirl into sending him explicit shots, Alie Fawaz threatened to publish them online unless she sent him another graphic image of herself.

Terrified, she confided in her mother, who told Fawaz in a text: “If you ****ing contact her again I will phone the police. In fact I might phone the police anyway.”

As threatened, the angry mum did phone the police , and Fawaz was arrested and later charged with causing a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch sexual activity, and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, offences he later pleaded guilty to.

Manchester Crown Court heard that the girl was just 11 when she began talking to Fawaz, then 15, on social networking site Omegle in October 2012.

By December 2013, when he was 17 and she was 13, he had convinced her to to send him a 30 second video of herself performing an indecent act, and he responded in kind.

The following morning, ‘she felt sick’, prosecutor Andrew Mackintosh said. But in February 2014 they exchanged more videos of a similar type.

After that, she deleted his number and contact details. But in July 2014 she got a message asking her to send him a video of herself performing a lewd act.

She deleted the message, and he contacted her again saying: “Hey send the video or I will see how many views it gets.”

Believing he was going to post the images online, she told her mother, who later said: “I decided to reply to this male because I could see what it was doing to her. She was frightened and didn’t know what to do. I was very angry.”

Mark Monaghan, defending, said of Fawaz, now 20, of Kingsway, Burnage was ‘thoroughly ashamed’, and was only a teenager himself at the time.

“This young man is described as isolated, with low self esteem, poor self worth, it may well be he presents as immature in the kind of matters we are talking about”, Mr Monaghan said.

Speaking of the perceived threat to publish the images, Mr Monaghan added: “It was accompanied by a smiley face, a laughing face. Although it was meant as joke he accepts she might not have taken it as such.”

Sentencing, Judge Andrew Blake agreed with defence submissions that a programme of rehabilitation, rather than a jail sentence, would prevent Fawaz reoffending.

Ordering him to attend the Northumbria Sex Offenders’ Programme as part of a three-year community order, plus £500 costs and a restraining order, Judge Blake told him: “Young girls have to be protected from people who are predatory like you.”

May 2016

Lewisham Council IT expert avoids jail for possessing child sex abuse images

A man who downloaded images of child sexual abuse only ‘appreciated the impact’ of his actions when he found himself in the dock, a court heard.

Jonathan Thurtell used his IT expertise to download perverted movies from the ‘dark web’, but claimed he did not realise the consequences of doing so.

He appeared at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday, after pleading guilty to possessing a range of explicit photos and video clips.

Although the 24 separate files found on his hard drive amounted to a relatively low amount, the crown said the content of the videos made his offending more serious.

One was over two hours long, and featured clips of some 80 young girls being sexually abused.

Prosecution solicitor Kim May, told the court two compliation videos had been found in Thurtell’s possession, with titles referencing ‘pre-teen’ and ‘jailbait’ girls.

Quoting a report by a police officer who examined the videos, she said the total number of sexual images listed in the charge sheet “doesn’t reflect the number of unidenfied child victims.”

Thurtell, 33, of Sweetpea Way, Cambridge, was arrested on April 23 last year, when several of his electronic devices were seized.

The images were found on a specialist computer valued at over £2,000, which the court ordered be destroyed.

At the time he worked in IT for a Cambridge firm, and admitted accessing a well-known child abuse website. He has since been dismissed from the role.

He now works at the principle IMT Officer at Lewisham Council

In his police interview he originally claimed to have sought out the images for ‘research’, a claim his solicitor Orla Daly admitted was false.

“His particular personality has made it difficult for him to understand the full importance of what he was doing, and the real impact on the victims on the other end of this activity”, she said.

“What has been achieved, perhaps only by virtue of these proceedings, is he has some insight into the fact that this is not a victimless offence and that there are real people at the end of this.

“He has been absolutely shocked to the core by his experience.”

Judge Jonathan Haworth sentenced Thurtell to six months in prison, suspended for a year. He also ordered him to pay £500 in costs, and to join the sex offenders register.

He said: “You found difficulty in fully appreciating the impact of what you were doing.

“This was an interest, a curiosity perhaps, in obtaining this material, and there can be no other reason for obtaining it than you own sexual gratification.”

May 2016

Former Scout leader jailed for sexual offences

A 79-year-old man has been jailed for more than four years’ imprisonment for sexual offences against children.

Former Scout leader Graham Stanford, formerly of Cambridge Court, Ellesmere, Shropshire, was convicted of two counts of indecent assault on a male and two counts of indecency with a child after pleading guilty at Reading Crown Court on Friday (April 29).

He was sentenced to a total of four years and six months’ imprisonment in total for the offences.

Stanford, who was a Scout leader in Berkshire during the 1970s, met the two boy victims and went on to indecently assault them.

Stanford, is already serving a prison sentence after having been convicted of similar sexual offences last year against a further victim.

Speaking following the hearing, investigating officer PC Andrew Penrith, from Windsor Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “Stanford took advantage of the trust placed in him by people in the community, people who trusted him to be a role model and to care for children and he instead abused this trust for his own sexual pleasure.

“The victims in this case have been living with the effects of these crimes for many years and have finally had the recognition they deserve with regard to these appalling crimes committed against them. I would encourage all victims of abuse to come forward and speak to the police – you will be listened to and dealt with sensitively.”

May 2016

Ex-Army bomb disposal expert, 27, had sex with a 15-year-old girl and used her as a drugs mule

A former Army bomb disposal expert has been jailed for having sex with a 15-year-old girl he later used as a drugs mule at a music festival.

Paul Davis, 27, slept with his victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, numerous times during a four-week relationship with her in 2014.

But he was only snared for his crimes when she was caught by security at Brownstock Festival in Essex, in possession of 40 wraps of cannabis.

She described her relationship with Davis to police who later raided his home in Norwich, Norfolk, where they found £300 worth of cannabis.

Prosecutor Stephen Rose told Chelmsford Crown Court: ‘She described a sexual relationship that was taking place between them.

‘The first time that sexual activity took place, he was upset, she had comforted him and that contact led to intercourse between them.

‘She admitted that on a trip to his house, she had flirted with him. She took a drink up to his bedroom, and then described him pulling her down onto the bed and putting his hand down her skirt.

‘She responded “I don’t want to do nothing like this” and she left. She also described feeling unable to report what had happened to police at the time.’

The court heard police seized a phone from Davis’ home and that texts to a second under-age girl, who was 15 at the time, were also discovered.

He initially denied the charges, only to plead guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child and one of supplying drugs, the day before his trial was due to start in March.

Catherine Bradshaw, representing Davis, told the court her client had believed the first victim to be at least 16 years old when the relationship began.

She said: ‘The group of friends were not all teenagers, some of them were 20 and 21, and Paul Davis says he believed these girls were of a similar age to them.

‘Part way through the relationship, he became aware that she was not 16 but at the outset, he believed she was older.

‘It was consensual in colloquial terms, if not legal terms.’

Ms Bradshaw also described how Davis was going through a ‘low point’ in 2014, with the breakdown of his marriage, struggling to get custody of his children from his ex-partner and a spell of depression.

She added: ‘He turned to cannabis to cope, and then he turned to alcohol. While that does not excuse his actions, I hope it goes some way to explaining the lack of judgement he showed.’

The court heard how after leaving the armed forces in 2011, Davis lost two jobs and his accommodation when news of his guilty plea reached employers.

He was jailed for three years and nine months yesterday.

Sentencing him, Judge David Turner said: ‘You crossed a boundary which was wholly unacceptable.

‘It was, as far as such activity with a child can be, consensual, there was no force and there may have even been some affection, but what was not acceptable was the power imbalance between you and the girls.

‘You were a man of 26, a father, who has had several adult relationships, and you were taking advantage of children.

‘You were the adult in the situation and it was your duty to protect them from themselves, something which you failed to do.

‘Not only did you take sexual advantage of these girls, but you used one of them as a drugs courier.’

He added: ‘This has hung over them and their families for far too long; cases such as this are not easy to sentence.

‘Your defence has suggested that I suspend the sentence but these matters are too serious for that.

‘I have extended you a measure of mercy.’

Davis will be made to sign the sex offenders’ register, while the drugs will be forfeited and destroyed.

May 2016

Earlston man admits sex with 14-year-old 

AN Earlston man who had intercourse with a 14-year-old girl in his car at a Borders beauty spot has been placed on the Sex Offender’s Register.

Kieran Austin pleaded guilty on indictment to having under age sex with the girl at Scott’s View in April, 2014.

But a not guilty plea to having under age sex with the girl’s 13-year-old friend at his home at Fansloanend was accepted by the Crown.

Jedburgh Sheriff Court was told that 21-year-old Austin, who is employed in the family’s coach hire business, was 19 years old at the time of the offence.

Procurator fiscal Graham Fraser said Austin befriended the two schoolgirls and they would be driven in his car to Edinburgh to visit fast food outlets.

He explained: “Both girls spent most of the Easter holidays travelling around in his car before dropping them off home.

“On the day of the offence they met up with the accused on a Thursday evening and they travelled around in his car.

“The other friend went home at 9pm leaving the accused with the girl.

“They went to Scott’s View when it would be dark and they began to kiss.

“They then had consensual sex after she removed her clothing and he lay on top of her.”

Mr Fraser said Austin urged the girl not to tell anyone as he knew what age she was and she was very co-operative with him.

The court heard however that the girl did tell her friend they had unprotected sex and there was a risk of a sexually transmitted disease.

As a result the girl went to a clinic “and it came out what had happened and the accused was traced”.

Mr Fraser went on: “He now accepts he had sex with her. He did make no comment to the police at the time.”

Defence lawyer Greg McDonnel accepted background reports were inevitable and said he would await sentencing before addressing the sheriff.

Sheriff Peter Paterson deferred sentence until June 13 for the production of a Criminal Justice Social Work Report and a Reistrction of Liberty Assessment.

He also said Austin would be subject to notification for the Sex Offender’s Register – the length of which will be determined on June 13.

May 2016

Pervert teacher smirks as he avoids jail for downloading almost 2,000 sickening child abuse images

A pervert teacher who was caught with almost 2,000 horrific child abuse images was seen grinning as he left court having avoided jail.

Jonathan Horenfeld would scour the internet at night and download hundreds of sickening images.

Although there is no suggestion he offended against any children he taught, the fiend would access vile peer-to-peer sharing websites where other child sex beasts would share abuse images.

Horenfeld, who was a trusted geography teacher at Harrytown Catholic High School in Romiley, Stockport, had his double life exposed after police raided his home in May last year.

Two laptops and two hard drives containing nearly 2,000 child abuse images were recovered after police investigating these sites followed an electronic trail which led them to Horenfeld’s door.

Prosecutor Simon Barrett told a Manchester Crown Court sentencing hearing that Horenfeld had stolen one of the hard drives he was using from a colleague who had left it in a classroom.

Horenfeld will no longer be able to teach following his conviction

Horenfeld, who has been sacked by Harrytown High, was jailed by magistrates at an earlier hearing for 12 weeks for the theft. But the 25-year-old, of Signal Close, Eccles, was spared jail and sent on a sex offenders’ treatment programme after admitting 12 offences of making indecent images of children at Manchester Crown Court.

He laughed and joked as he left court.

Mr Horenfield trained as a teacher and worked as a teacher, but that profession is no longer open to him due to these offences.

Sentencing him to three-year community order, with a 60 day rehabilitation activity requirement, Judge Michael Henshell also made him subject to a sexual offences prevention order which restricts his contact with children and internet use.

The judge told Horenfeld: “Offences involving pornographic images of children are regarded by members of the general public as revolting.

“Fortunately most people in day to day life never come across these images, never have to look at them and don’t realise quite how revolting they are.

“Of course you do – it became an addiction for you to look at these images.

May 2016

Paedophile jailed for 22 years for ‘savage and depraved’ abuse of two girls and a boy in Bradford

A 49-year-old man has been jailed for 22 years for the “savage and depraved” sexual abuse of a little boy and two young girls.

Darren Holmes showed no emotion yesterday as he was led down to the cells from the dock at Bradford Crown Court after he was found guilty of nine offences, including rape and repeated buggery.

Judge David Hatton QC told him: “The sickening behaviour in which you engaged can be met only with a significant term of imprisonment.”

During the trial, the jury heard that Holmes, of Manningham Lane, Bradford, preyed on a boy aged four to seven in the early 1990s.

Sentencing Holmes, Judge Hatton told him: “It was a sustained course of savagery in which you committed repeated acts of buggery on him. He was threatened and you instilled fear into him.

“He longed for help and release from the torment – and you, his tormentor.”

Holmes was imprisoned for a total of 12 years for two offences of buggery, indecency with a child and indecent assault on a male person.

He was imprisoned for 12 months for repeatedly groping and fondling a girl aged 13 in 2007.

“You had the gall and hypocrisy to castigate her for her sexualised behaviour,” the judge said.

Holmes then went on to defile a 12-year-old girl.

“You raped her, believing her to be asleep. It was brief but its brevity doesn’t diminish its savagery or its depravity,” Judge Hatton told him.

Holmes then went on to further sexually assault the child.

He was jailed for a total of nine years for that abuse, all the sentences to run consecutively.

The little boy first accused Holmes of abuse more than two decades ago.

He was sickened by it and would try to hide from him.

The child told his mother and the police were alerted. Holmes was arrested and interviewed but a decision was made not to prosecute him.

The boy, now an adult, was contacted again by the police when they were investigating allegations that Holmes had raped and abused the 12-year-old girl.

Her mother contacted the police after reading a message by her daughter on Facebook saying she was very upset by what had happened.

That inquiry led to the second girl coming forward to say Holmes had abused her three years earlier.

Holmes’ male victim told the jury the traumatic experiences were embedded in his mind.

Now approaching 30, he said: “I didn’t find it easy to talk about it, I never have.

“I remember how things felt, how it affected me emotionally.”

Holmes was ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for life and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order bans him from contacting his victims and having any supervised contact with children.

Judge Hatton labelled Holmes “an offender of particular concern” and ordered that he spends at least 11 years behind bars and for up to 22 years, unless and until the Parole Board deems him safe to release.

May 2016

Paedophile jailed for sending disgusting baby pictures to fellow perverts

A paedophile who distributed pictures of a baby and two and three-year-old children being raped by adults to more than 100 perverts was jailed for three years.

Kevin Johnson operated in a “dark and very sinister corner of the web” as he sent the sickening images to like-minded cyber friends on the internet .

The 33-year-old, who has a young son, was caught after a high risk sex offender was arrested in Lancashire in May, 2015, when it revealed Johnson’s “role-playing” with other paedophiles .

Judge Andrew Hatton, sitting at Liverpool Crown Court, said it showed “conversations between you{Johnson} and other paedophiles discussing your interests, what you would like to see in photographs and would you would like to do to children.”

Johnson, from Walton, had most of the indecent photos on a mobile phone which was found under a work tie in his bedroom.

The security guard’s stash was described as a “sickening array of offensive material” which also featured a small baby being raped, it was heard.

“He continues to struggle to come to terms with what he has done”

Johnson, of Astor Street, also had photos of adults having sex with animals and had searched the web for child abuse images.

He pleaded guilty to four offences of distributing indecent images, three of making them and one of possessing them.

Frank Dillon, prosecuting, said when the two of Johnson’s phones were forensically examined about 100 images were found in all three categories of seriousness, including What’s App conversations with other paedophiles.

When he was interviewed by police in February, he admitted having an interest in girls aged from six to 17.

Anthony O’Donohoe, defending, said that Johnson, who sat in the dock with his head bowed throughout the proceedings and suffers from depression and suicidal tendencies, has no previous convictions.

The barrister added: “He continues to struggle to come to terms with what he has done. By his conduct he has lost a great deal. His relationship with is partner, the mother of his child, is over. He has lost his employment and the prospect of future employment.”

Mr O’Donohoe said that his former partner and other relatives were in the public gallery to support him but did not condone his behaviour “for one millisecond.”

Johnson was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed.

May 2016

Judge slams sentence guidelines as he frees child abuse images paedophile

A 34-year-old man who downloaded thousands of images of very young children being sexually abused has been freed on probation for three years as the best way to help him change his ways and for protecting society.

May 2016

Ex-police officer made 584 indecent images of children

A former Metropolitan Police officer was caught with 584 indecent images of children – some of whom were only 18 months old.

Kenneth Diamond’s former home in London was raided by police on August 25 last year after he was involved in sexual conversations with two teenage girls over the internet.

Officers seized two laptops, two mobile phones and found indecent images of two children.

Diamond, who now lives in Magna Mile, Ludford, appeared before Lincoln magistrates today, Thursday May 5.

Jim Clare, prosecuting, said: “It appears Mr Diamond was identified after it was expressed he was talking sexually to a female of 16 year.s on teen dating websites.

“This conversation was then moved to Skype where Mr Diamond was accused of being a paedophile.”

Mr Clare added that Diamond had been involved in another similar incident with a 15-year-old girl.

He said: “The older brother appears to take over her account calling Mr Diamond a paedophile warning him away from his younger sister.

“‘If you don’t stop contacting her I’ll contact the police’ he said effectively.”

Diamond admitted making 212 indecent images of children which were in category A, the most severe level.

He also admitted making 70 images in category B and 302 images in category C.

“We should also be aware these images were children as young as 18 months, not even two years of age,” Mr Clare added.

“High allegations of images at the highest level, this is a matter to go before crown court.”

Diamond will be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on June 2.

He will also face a charge of having a photo of a person having sex with a cow to which he indicated no plea on May 5.

May 2016

Housemaster at notorious Penketh school jailed again for child abuse

AN 84-year-old man who admitted abusing boys in his care while he was a housemaster at a notorious Penketh school in the 1970s has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Dennis Grain was originally jailed in 1995 for seven years after he pleaded guilty to abusing 17 boys at Greystone Heath Approved School.

He was part of a notorious paedophile ring at the school responsible for abuse of scores of boys who lived there.

In 2015 a further victim came forward who had been systematically abused by Grain from the age of 11 to 13 on an almost daily basis, including during school trips.

Mark Connor, prosecuting at Chester Crown Court on Friday, said: “The defendant was in a position of trust and groomed the children. The boys were all vulnerable and in care and the defendant took advantage of this.

“The victim would run away and each time Mr Grain would come and collect him.”

Grain lived with his wife at the school and he abused the victim both at his home and in the school buildings.

“He told police, ‘They are ardent liars, they always have been. ‘They are street children. Abuse, yes, but not buggary and I will stick to that as long as I live,’” said Mr Connor.

“Grain said he stopped because he didn’t want to be found out. At the time, he did not think what he was doing was wrong but looking back now he can see that it was.”

When Grain, from Stourport-on-Severn, was arrested in 1994 he gave police a list of names of boys he could remember abusing.

Police visited the victim but he did not wish to complain at that time, saying instead that Grain was like a ‘father figure’ to him.

Mr Connor said: “When asked why he did not complain he said he was embarrassed and he didn’t want anyone else to know, including his own wife.”

The victim has since suffered from problems with alcohol and depression.

John Bromley-Davenport, defending, said Grain’s offences were ‘revolting’ but that he should receive a lenient sentence because of the way the case developed over many years.

He said: “In this case the police have directly approached the victim and normally the biggest hurdle is for victims to approach the police themselves.

“In this case that hurdle has been removed. At that stage he could have said something and he said nothing.

“Grain doesn’t deserve the court’s sympathy but he does deserve to be dealt with justly.”

Judge Neil Flewitt admitted Grain would have received a less severe punishment in 1995 for his offences.

Judge Flewitt, sentencing, said: “You admitted abusing him but limited the number of occasions on which the abuse had taken place and tried to pass this off as a loving relationship between a man and a woman.”

“There’s no doubt that he was particularly vulnerable due to his personal circumstances.

“You caused him psychological harm and you groomed him and this was a gross abuse of trust.

“I’m afraid your comments show your contemptuous attitude towards those that you abused.”

Grain was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for six counts of buggary concurrent with four years in prison for one count of indecent assault.

May 2016

Bedworth baker is jailed and told to register as sex offender

A BEDWORTH baker who sexually abused a teenage boy in the preparation room of his shop more than 20 years ago has been jailed and ordered to register as a sex offender.

Andrew Whitehead, aged 56, of Coventry Road, Bedworth, had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to indecently assaulting the boy in the early 90s.

He also pleaded guilty to eight charges of gross indecency by encouraging the boy, then in his early teens, to remove his clothing and perform a sex act while he did the same.

Whitehead was jailed for 20 months and ordered to register as a sex offender for ten years.

Prosecutor John Hallissey said the boy would sometimes go into Whitehead’s shop in Bedworth on his way home from school.

When he was 12 and Whitehead saw him on his own, he tickled him – and then pinned his arms to his side and put one hand down the boy’s trousers and groped him, telling him: “I’ve been waiting for you to grow up.”

Some weeks later the boy went to Whitehead’s shop at a time when other staff members had left, and Whitehead took him upstairs to the preparation area, which the boy recalled was fitted out with stainless-steel tables.

Asking him if he knew how to perform a particular sex act, Whitehead gave him a soft-core pornographic magazine and encouraged him to take off his trousers and pants.

Whitehead then removed his own trousers and underwear and began to perform a sex act, encouraging the youngster to do the same, which he said made him feel ’embarrassed’.

And before he left Whitehead gave him a set of playing cards with naked women on them.

After that similar activities took place on a number of occasions, mainly at the bakery, and Whitehead gave him money to get men’s magazines from a local shop for them to look at.

“On one occasion the defendant tried to escalate his behaviour, asking the boy to give him oral sex.

“He refused, and the defendant said: ‘Not even for £50?’ But he still refused,” added Mr Hallissey.

Martin Liddiard, defending, said the incidents stopped naturally, and pointed out: “We’re dealing with events now which took place more than 21 years ago, and he hasn’t been involved in anything else.

“He is plainly a very caring man in relation to his family, and he’s terrified about how his father will manage because he’s the one who looks after him.

“In relation to the business he has made an effort in the last four to six weeks to see how the business does if he takes a step away from it.

“He does ten or 11 hours six days a week, and he has an element of dread that that business, which has been going for 30-plus years, may not survive if he’s absent for a long period.”

Before sentencing Whitehead, Judge Richard Griffith-Jones observed that at the time the maximum sentences for the offences were much less than they are now.

And he said: “In approaching this sentence I have taken into account the maxima which were applicable at the time, and have also considered the current guidelines.”

And he pointed out that if he was dealing with Whitehead for recent offences the sentencing bracket would have been two to six years, with a ‘starting point’ of three years.

Judge Griffith-Jones told Whitehead: “I treat you as a man of previous good character, and of positive good character, in that you have worked hard all your life and established a good business, and you have been a good son to your infirm father.

“I also take into account your remorse and your pleas of guilty, but I am simply not able to pass over this.

“This course of activity is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified. The victim was young and vulnerable, and there was an element of grooming.”

The judge also imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order under which Whitehead is banned from having unsupervised contact with any child for ten years, other than that which is incidental in the course of everyday life – which he was told did not prevent him from serving a child in the shop.

May 2016

Former crown court clerk caught with indecent images of teenage boys is handed a community order

A former crown court clerk who downloaded indecent images of teenage boys has been made the subject of a three-year community order.

Brighouse man Andrew Wood, 48, who is understood to have previously worked for the Ministry of Justice at Leeds Crown Court, was arrested back in October 2014 by West Yorkshire police officers acting on intelligence obtained as part of a international operation focusing on the purchase of DVDs and videos of teenage boys.

Prosecutor Jayne Beckett told Bradford Crown Court today (Wednesday) that Wood was linked to the purchase of a DVD and his home was searched by officers.

Mrs Beckett said police seized “quite a large amount of computer equipment” and analysis of an external hard-drive revealed almost 200 indecent images of boys aged between 13 and 16.

During his police interviews Wood, of Thornhills Lane, said he hadn’t received any sexual gratification from his offending and claimed he was “trying to find out who he was.”

At another police interview a year later Wood confirmed that he was the only person who could have downloaded 10 sample images which were shown to him.

Wood pleaded guilty at a previous court hearing to 10 charges relating to the making of indecent images of children and an allegation of possessing indecent images.

The court heard that Wood was now working for a supermarket and Judge Colin Burn was handed a number of references on his behalf.

Barrister Robin Frieze, for Wood, submitted that his client was clearly somebody who did a great deal for the community as demonstrated by the references.

“You know as well as I do, because you are an intelligent man, that what you did was firstly illegal and secondly perpetuating a market in abuse,” the judge told Wood.

Judge Burn said that on the one hand Wood had been “of great worth to the community” particularly in relation to his important role at the Ministry of Justice, but on the other he had “almost without thinking” been providing a market which resulted in, or caused, significant damage to children in various far-flung parts of the globe.

The judge added: “You are a person with no previous convictions. You’ve lost that good character now forever and I think that’s had a very significant effect on you.”

As part of the three-year community order Wood will have to comply with the terms of a sex offender treatment programme.

He will also have to do 120 hours unpaid work for the community and pay £750 costs.

Judge Burn told Wood that he would now have to register as a sex offender with the police for the next five years and be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period of time.

May 2016

Walney pensioner admits possessing indecent images of children

A PENSIONER has pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children.

At Furness Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, David Attwood pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent photos and one of possessing indecent images of children.

The 76-year-old, of Irwell Road, Walney, was found to have 26 indecent images, spanning across categories A, B and C – with A being the most serious.

The offences all date between September 7, 2011 and February 25, 2014.

Due to the severity of the crime, magistrates did not believe they had sufficient sentencing powers so committed the case for sentence at Preston Crown Court.

Mr Lee Dacre, prosecuting, said: “These are some of the most serious categories so, in view of that, this case should be dealt with at the crown court for sentence.”

Attwood was represented by Mr Trystan Roberts, who made no submissions in relation to the case.

Attwood is due for sentencing at Preston Crown Court in the morning of Friday June 3.

In the meantime, he must attend Barrow Police Station and be subject to an interim sex offender registration order.

The guilty charges include possessing 13 indecent photographs of categories A, B and C, making five category B images, making five category A images and making three category C images.

Mr Gary Ormondroyd, chairman of magistrates, told Attwood at his first appearance: “This matter will be adjourned until June 3.

“You will be required to attend Preston Crown Court for sentencing.

“To help the sentencing judge, we want to prepare a pre-sentence report by the probation service.”

Attwood was granted unconditional bail until June 3.

May 2016

Man jailed as police reveal major child sexploitation investigation in South Devon

A Newton Abbot man has been jailed for eight and a half years after being caught as part of an ongoing investigation into child sexual exploitation in South Devon.

Nigel Smith, 40, of Queensway, was arrested in September 2015 and charged with number of offences of sexual activity with two young girls who were aged between 12 and 14 at the time of the abuse.

Smith’s arrest was part of an ongoing investigation called Operation Pangram into child sexual exploitation within the South Devon area.

Having pleaded guilty to eight sexual offences and two offences relating to the supply of cannabis, Smith was jailed at Exeter Crown Court on Thursday.

May 2016

Exeter restaurant worker arrested at Heathrow after downloading child abuse images

An Exeter man has admitted downloading child abuse images including children being raped onto a laptop which he borrowed from a housemate.

Steven Wilkes appeared at Exeter Crown Court by video link from prison after being arrested on a warrant at Heathrow Airport when he returned from a gap year trip.

His itinerary through India, Malaysia, and Thailand was interrupted after police in Devon alerted the Australian authorities and he was blocked from booking any further flights.

Wilkes, aged 29, of Milton Road, Exeter, downloading 24 stills and six movies including some which are classified in the most serious category A.

He was remanded in custody by Judge Graham Cottle who said he will sentence him next week when a report from the probation service is available.

Miss Janice Eagles, prosecuting, said Wilkes failed to answer bail in February and inquiries showed he was seeking to obtain a working visa for Australia.

She said:”He returned to Heathrow and was arrested after being informed by e-mail that all further onward travel was blocked and he should arrange to return to the UK. He complied.”

Miss Mary McCarthy, defending, said Wilkes had forgotten about his bail date when he went travelling but returned to Britain voluntarily once he was reminded of it.

She says he has a job at a restaurant in Exeter which will be held open for him provided he is freed from custody in the next few days.

She said:”He did not have images on his own devices. He was using one of his housemate’s computers which he borrowed to access the images. He says he did so out of curiosity.”

May 2016

Interviewer of child abuse victims caught with indecent videos

A civil servant responsible for interviewing child abuse victims was caught with indecent videos of youngsters.

Craig Burke, an official with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), was found with 11 “very graphic” sexual abuse videos of children when his Stirlingshire home was raided.

Stirling Sheriff Court heard he watched child abuse videos to “de-stress”.

He pleaded guilty on Wednesday to possessing and downloading indecent videos of children and was placed under supervision for three years and ordered to have treatment.

On Thursday, the CICA said Burke, 37, would also be dealt with by the UK Government agency.

A spokesman said: “The member of staff has not worked with CICA since his arrest. Following his conviction we are now taking appropriate action.”

Part of Burke’s job involved interviewing victims of child abuse to determine how much compensation they should get.

Stirling Sheriff Court heard Burke was caught after Police Scotland’s cyber crime unit received intelligence that an internet connection at the house he shares with his parents, in Killearn, Stirlingshire, was being used to access child abuse material.

A police raid took place on June 6 last year and prosecutor Adrian Fraser said: “The videos were very graphic.”

David Fitzatrick, defending, said Burke, a loner who had difficulty coping, was immediately signed off work with the CICA and had not worked there since.

The lawyer said: “He is disgusted by his behaviour. He accepts that viewing material like this can increase demand for it and therefore cause further abuse down the line.

“He has past experience with his job with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority of speaking to people who have suffered childhood sexual abuse and he does have empathy with them.”

Sheriff Wyllie Robertson made Burke subject to a three-year community payback order, during which time he will have to take part in the Making Changes, Moving Forward sex offender treatment programme.

He was also banned, for the same period, from having contact with anyone under 17 without the permission of his supervising officer, and ordered that any equipment he uses to access the internet must be fitted with a programme that will check what he has been accessing.

Burke was also banned from using any file wiping software