May 2016

Perverted pensioner travelled 150 miles to have sex with 8-year-old girl

A perverted pensioner who travelled 150 miles in the hope of having sex with a eight-year-old girl after chatting with her ‘dad’ on a TV chatroom is facing years behind bars.

Peter Byrne, 69, was caught out as the girl did not exist and her dad ‘Kev’ was an undercover police officer.

Father-of-two Byrne made the trip from his Salford home to meet ‘Kev’ at Toddington Services on the M1 but insisted that his desires see just ‘fantasy’.

Police found a camera in his car which contained photos of him pleasuring himself while watching children being ‘seriously sexually abused’.

A jury of ten women and two men took just under 14 hours of deliberation to find Byrne guilty of facilitating a child sex offence by a majority verdict of ten to two.

Upon hearing the verdict, which followed a retrial, the paedophile repeatedly shook his head.

It was later revealed that Byrne had earlier admitted making indecent images of children. 

November 2009

Child rapist, 59, jailed for inflicting months of misery on child victim

A MAN who repeatedly abused a young girl over several months more than two decades ago has been jailed for 14 years.

Dennis Carter raped and indecently assaulted the girl over a period of time, at one point laughing as he took photographs telling her he would send them to magazines.

The 59-year-old, of High Street, Leek, denied three charges of rape and 12 of indecent assault or indecency with a child.

As well as being raped, the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was forced into a series of other degrading sexual activities.

In one incident, Carter laughed as he took photos and told the girl he was going to send them to magazines.

But he was found guilty by a jury yesterday after a four-day trial at Stafford crown court.

The offences were said to of taken place in Milwich.

Recorder Mr Stephen Linehan QC told Carter: “You don’t have the slightest remorse for what you did even now.”

The defendant, who was also banned from working with children and ordered to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, maintained the abuse never happened.

But the jury did not believe him and the judge said: “You treated that child vilely. You instinctively knew she was vulnerable and couldn’t protect herself.

“To pleasure yourself, you inflicted on her misery month after month that is difficult to imagine.”

“You treated that child vilely. You instinctively knew she was vulnerable and couldn’t protect herself and would not dare to complain,” the judge told Carter.

“To pleasure yourself, you inflicted on her misery month after month that is difficult to imagine.

“You have caused lasting damage to her. You do not get extra punishment for denying the charges, but with selfishness and self interest you forced her into a public court and made her repeat these things in public.”

After the sentence, the victim said: “When the verdicts were coming in, I was in the gallery, there was no reaction from him. His face was white and he was staring straight at the judge. When he was sentenced, I leaned forward so I could see him properly and he stood up and looked at me. I looked straight at him but there was no emotion.

“I didn’t hate him. I didn’t feel sorry for him. I just felt relief it was all over.”

“Initially it began as exposure and progressed as I got slightly older,” she says. “The abuse happened on a nightly basis or at least every other night. He’d come into my room when I was on my own.

“When I was about 10 he took some pictures and said he was going to send them to magazines to make some money which mum would be really happy about because I knew we were really struggling financially.

“It reached its worst point when I was 11, when he raped me. I knew it wasn’t right. I hated him with a passion but it became part of my normal life. I ignored him as much as possible.”

“For a time if there was anything that was sharp enough, I would cut myself with it,” she says. “It made me feel better for a bit then I had to hide my arms. I always had a Tubigrip on, pretending that I’d sprained my wrist. I managed to cover it up and it’s only now I’m older that I realise why I was doing it.

“When I left home, I was struggling in my own mind. I used to get home after work, forget about eating and crack open a bottle of wine. It took my mind off everything but it was delaying the inevitable. As for boyfriends, it was a whole different world.

“You realise that you don’t know what you’re doing and you don’t know how you should be reacting with men. Sexual relationships were difficult. I used to break down in tears.”

“Dennis used the classic lines on me when I was a child. ‘Don’t tell your mum because you’ll upset her’ or ‘She won’t believe you’. He knew I was close to her so it was emotional blackmail.

“After I told her and because she was the only one I was trying to protect through all of this, I thought, ‘Now she knows, I might as well report it’. I didn’t think the police would take me seriously at first because it was so far in the past and there was no DNA to prove it.”

She was wrong. The police did take her seriously and after 18 months of careful investigation, which involved piecing together information from the girl’s diaries, letters and medical notes, the case came to court in November.

“I expected him to plead guilty,” she says. “This was a man who had caused me so much pain in my life. I should have decided on the person I was going to be and he did that for me.

“In court it was like being raped again, because you have to go into graphic detail but you have to answer these questions otherwise it just becomes my word against his.

“But I switched off from it and at that point said to myself, ‘I’ve got a job to do, I’ve come this far’. If I hadn’t have done that, the last two years would have been a complete waste.

“I wish I’d done it 10 years ago. I don’t hate myself anymore because I know now it had nothing to do with me. He influenced my life to a point. That has now stopped. I am stronger today and I make my own decisions.

“Kids who are abused don’t wave flags or shout about it. It’s more common than people realise and a lot of times cases don’t get to court. But I would advise anyone who has been through the same thing as me to think about going to the police, even if it’s years later. You’ve got to take the chance.”

February 2008

Sex offender banned

A FORMER Alnwick man was this week banned from working with children indefinitely for committing two sexual assaults on a young girl.

Paul Anderson, 40, was also put on the sex offenders’ register for five years and ordered to complete a three-year supervision order when he appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on Monday.

Anderson, of Alexander Road, Ashington, had previously pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a female child under 13 between August 31 and October 1 2006 and sexual activity with a female child under 16 between April 1 and May 21 last year.

The court said he must participate in national sexual offenders group work.

May 2016

Sunderland pervert jailed after performing sex act in his living room window

A pervert who performed a sex act at his living room window so passers-by could see has been put behind bars.

Carl Rowe had just completed a sex offenders treatment programme for bizarre sexual behaviour towards women at bus stops when he put on the shocking display.

Newcastle Crown Court heard in May 2014 the 45-year-old had been given a suspended prison term for rubbing his genital area while standing close to women waiting for buses outside Joplings store in Sunderland.

He received a caution for similar behaviour in 2006.

In March this year, while still subjected to the suspended jail sentence, Rowe stood at the living room window at his home in Eglinton Street North in the city, naked and performing a sexual act on himself.

His indecent activity was seen by a young girl, who told her mother what she saw.

Prosecutor Bridie Smurthwaite told the court: “The mother, about 10 minutes later, went back to check.

“She stood across from the defendant’s address and saw him standing in the centre of the downstairs window, curtain back, light on, completely naked.”

The court heard the worried mother took a picture on her mobile phone to prove to the police what she saw, which prompted Rowe to move behind the curtain out of sight.

Rowe initially claimed he had been simply exercising but pleaded guilty to exposure.

Miss Smurthwaite said the young girl and her mother were shocked and shaken by what they saw.

Judge Tim Gittins sentenced Rowe to five months behind bars and said he must sign the sex offenders register for seven years.

The judge said: “I am satisfied you were naked and masturbating so that anyone passing by would see you.

“You were there for all to see.

“It is clear from the pre-sentence report you are a high risk of further offending, given that the treatment programme you have been through has failed to prevent you committing this offence.

“This was an offence where you have been given an opportunity and failed to take it, an offence committed in the presence of a young, vulnerable girl.”

Vic Laffey, defending, said Rowe has problems with “isolation and loneliness”.

Mr Laffey said Rowe comes from a very supportive family, who are supportive of him and have allowed him to move back home since the offence.

May 2016

Former Reigate school teacher admits more than 20 charges of historic child abuse

A FORMER house master at a Reigate school has pleaded guilty to 28 charges of abuse and neglect of children younger than 16.

Philip Batten, 70, now of Caddock Hill in Battle, appeared at Guildford Crown Court today (Monday) facing a total of 42 charges during his time working as a teacher at Royal Alexandra and Albert School.

Mr Batten pleaded not guilty to 14 offences that include indecent assault, buggery, cruelty to a person under 16 years, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, which included allegations of masturbation and oral sex.

The charges relate to the alleged abuse of more than 15 children from 1971 – 1984.

At the beginning of the court proceedings, prosecutor Siobhan Molloy addressed the jury and said: “You are going to hear name after name after name and date of birth after date of birth and year after year and month after month. It must be remembered that they were boys as they were then – now they are in their late 40s or early 50s – but then they were 11 to 12 up to 14 and 15 years old.”

Ms Molloy added: “It’s the prosecution’s case that Mr Batten effectively, regularly and systematically sexually abused boys and also physically abused those in his contact. Also during the sexual altercations there were some sadistic elements where he would threaten to use a broom handle, coca-cola bottle and filming them.”

Members of the jury also heard that Mr Batten allegedly “cherry picked” boys to groom. He came into the children’s dormitories late at night and also invited boys to his flat alone to drink alcohol.

“[One of the victims] described how some of the pupils were described as his special cherries being invited for special events at his flats. It’s the prosecution’s case that these ‘cherries’ were abused by masturbation and oral sex,” she said “In a police interview on November 5, 2013, Mr Batten admitted that he did have ‘cherries’ but he continues to deny anal sex.”

She added: “[Another of the boys] described how the defendant would remove towels so he could watch children drip dry. Sometimes he described he would be standing there for 20 minutes waiting. Mr Batten then touched [the alleged victim] and fondled his genitals.”

He is also accused of physical assault such as throwing a blackboard rubber, kicking a boy to the ground and hitting a student around his head.

Mr Batten has previously been convicted of sexual abuse to children and was found guilty in April 21,1989. And on March 5, 1999 he was found guilty of nine charges of indecent assault and was sentenced to three years.

The trial continues.

May 2016

Pervert jailed for abusing teenage boys

A sex offender who pleaded guilty to abusing two schoolboys has been sentenced to six years in jail.

James Desiree, 39, formerly of Lower Sands, ‪‎Dymchurch pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child but during court proceedings eventually admitted a further three counts- bringing the total to five counts of sexual activity with a child.

During the summer holidays in 2013 Desiree, who went under the name of Steve McWilliams, befriended a 15-year-old boy. After a couple of weeks Desiree pressured him into committing sexual acts on a number of occasions.

The victim confided in another teenage boy about the assaults and Desiree then went on to sexually assault both of them behind a café he owned at the time.

The assault was captured on film by the victims and the footage was passed to Kent Police.

When interviewed by officers Desiree initially denied the assaulting the two victims.

In his second police interview, officers confronted him with the film footage and he admitted he had lied.

He was given a six-year prison sentence, disqualified from working with children for life, and will remain on the sex offenders register indefinitely

May 2016: Nigel Phillips has now been released and is living back in Warminster

April 2013

Paedophile jailed after sexually abusing girl for years

Pictured: Photo of Phillips is approx 20 years old

A paedophile has been jailed after he was found guilty of sexually abusing a young girl over a number of years.

At his trial in March, 2013 at Southampton Crown Court, Nigel Phillips aged 66, was found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault against a child.

The court was told that the abuse started in the 1990’s when the child was just 11-years-old and lasted for five years.

The abuse included digital sexual penetration as well as molestation.

Phillips who worked as a carer in a care home for pensioners was sentenced to a total of six years imprisonment and was told that he will register as a sex offender for an indefinite period.

May 2016

Former assistant head banned from teaching indefinitely

A former assistant head who exposed himself to shocked passers-by from his living room has been banned from teaching indefinitely.

Andrew Beasley, 42, was spotted standing naked through the front window of his home on three occasions while working at Eston Park School in Middlesbrough.

Beasley intentionally exposed his privates to three women including one who was out with her seven-year-old granddaughter, the National College for Teaching and Leadership heard.

The youngster had remarked to his grandmother: ‘Grandma, he’s got no clothes on’. 

May 2014

Neighbour of “naked exhibitionist” former teacher speaks of “hell” at living on same street

IT’S not something you would ordinarily expect to see when going about your daily business – a man parading stark naked in the living room of his home.

But that’s exactly what residents in Allerton Close, a normally quiet cul-de-sac in Northallerton, bizarrely experienced courtesy of former teacher Andrew Beasley.

The father of two, a former deputy head of PE at Eston Park Academy, in Middlesbrough, was dubbed an exhibitionist during his trial on exposure charges at Teesside Crown Court.

He was described on one occasion laughing as he stared out from his window with his genitals on show.

For some of his neighbours however it was far from a laughing matter – not least for the women who witnessed Beasley in a state of undress.

Prosecutor Paul Newcombe said the 40-year-old, who is originally from South Yorkshire, became “emboldened”, with those who witnessed his behaviour initially choosing to give him the benefit of the doubt or simply not wanting to make a fuss.

His defence, meanwhile, attempted to paint a very different picture with the complainants accused of colluding with each other as part of a campaign against him.

Beasley denied he would ever deliberately indecently expose himself and also said one neighbour, who claimed she had seen him expose himself on more than 20 occasions, held a grudge against him for chopping down a tree on railway land near to his home.

He said he wasn’t at home during many of the reported incidents and was either at work, walking the dog, or in one instance out watching a Northallerton Town football match.

In the witness box he performed confidently, even finding time to joke about his apparent propensity for wearing few clothes, along with his fondness for a cheap pair of pink shorts he bought to wear over the summer months.

The jury convicted him of three of the charges he faced, clearing him on six others. He was given an 11 month-long community order by Recorder Anton Lodge, but will not have to register as a sex offender.

The judge said only he could answer the question why he behaved as he did.

Afterwards, a resident of Allerton Close praised police for their support throughout the case, adding: “It has literally been hell what we have been living with.”

Another woman who knows Beasley said he was previously seen as a “fun guy” with a large circle of friends.

She said: “Some of his close mates find it hard to believe what he has done. People who he has convinced he has done nothing wrong will probably stick by him and others will just avoid him.”

May 2016

Sex offender jailed for string of sex offences against young girls

A Denbighshire man described as a sexual predator has been jailed for 10 years today for a series of sex offences against children.

Nightclub doorman Neil Charles Owen, 47, of Ffordd Talargoch, Prestatyn, was placed on the sex offender register for life.

An indefinite sexual harm prevention order was also made.

Judge Geraint Walters, sitting at Mold Crown Court, told Owen that he was outwardly leading a perfectly decent and respectable life.

But the court heard that, beneath that, he was carrying out “predatory sexual acts” upon children.

“That is something that you have done for years,” the judge told him.

“There can be no doubt whatsoever that you are a person who likes sexual activity with young girls.”

Judge Walters said the pre-sentence report claimed the defendant’s remorse was superficial and that he had no true understanding of the effect of what he had done.

“I can tell you that these courts have learnt through bitter experience that behaving in this way towards children brings about life-long harm to them,” he said.

“There is no avoiding that.”

The judge said that victims may seem to be surviving and getting on with their lives, but said the truth is that they are “living it every day”.

Judge Walters said: “What you did, I want you to understand, was not just wrong but very wrong.”

The court heard Owen pleaded guilty to the charges, and would therefore receive a one-third discount in the sentence he would otherwise receive.

Judge Walters said the victims must have been terrified by his “predatory abuse”.

Owen received nine and a half years for sexual assaults against children and one charge of attempted rape against one child.

He received a consecutive six-month sentence for sexually assaulting an adult female and a charge of voyeurism after he had filmed her naked without her knowing.

Prosecuting barrister Elen Owen said the offences had a devastating effect on the victims.

In a moving statement, one of them told how she felt the earth was crumbling to pieces around her.

Simon Killeen, defending, said that often in such cases people could not bring themselves to admit what they had done.

But he said the defendant had been frank and had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Mr Killeen said Owen had an insight into his offending, wanted assistance, and would take advantage of any courses available to him while in custody.

His client was conscious of the fact that he was at the start of a long road, he said.

“He knows what has to be done,” said Mr Killeen, who claimed his client was showing “genuine contrition and remorse”.

Owen showed no emotion as the 10-year sentence was announced.

May 2016

Web pervert who posed as teen caught after taking his mobile phone to shop for repair

A pervert who posed online as a teenage boy to persuade underage girls to send pictures of themselves was coaught when he took his phone to a shop for repair.

Jeffrey Roe, 33, claimed to be a 17-year-old boy on social networking sites to persuade girls to send explicit pictures of themselves.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the pervert built up a sickening collection of 55 “folders”, each containing images of named young females and had a haul of hundreds of random images of children being sexually abused.

Detectives managed to trace five youngsters Roe had been communicating with.

One girl had been convinced to send him a total of 102 pictures of herself, believing she was sending them to a teenage boy.

Roe was collared when he took his mobile phone to the O2 shop in King Street, South Shields, using a false name, because it developed a fault and a shocked worker realised what it contained so alerted the police.

A total of 1,695 images and movies, some of the most serious of their type were found on two phones belonging to Roe, who admitted himself his collection was “terrifying”.

Roe, of Oak Crescent, Whitburn, admitted possessing indecent images of children and encouraging the commission of an offence.

Judge Tim Gittins sentenced him to 16 months behind bars and said he must comply with the terms of a sexual harm prevention order and sign the sex offenders register for ten years.

The judge told him: “You sought assistance for your mobile phone that was not workng properly. The shop assistant who was dealing with you observed, when he checked the phone, there was indecent images, which undoubtedly alarmed and shocked him.

“He took entirely the proper step.

“Examination of your phones revealed not just a large quantity of images of various categories, from the most serious category A images of penetrative sex with young children, to category C involving sexual posing but importantly it revealed contact you had had with a number of girls where you used an identity over social media, purporting to be a 17-year-old youth to persuade them, successfully on a number of occasions, to send indecent images.”

Roe asked “I’m actually going to jail?” and said “I’m sorry” as he was led away to start his jail term.

Graeme Cook, defending, said Roe is a carer of his mother, who feels real remorse for what he did.

Mr Cook said: “If his liberty was removed it would cause catastrophic problems for his mother.

May 2016

Pervert on the run is is jailed for 20 years for multiple child rape

A dangerous paedophile with Wolverhampton links is on the run after being sentenced to 20 years in prison for almost identical rapes of two children.

Twisted Jose Manico, 44, of Templefield Square, Edgbaston, fled the country before he could face trial over the string of offences against a six-year-old girl in London and a boy of the same age in Birmingham a decade later.

May 2016

Convicted paedophile accused of breaching sex offender order – by opening takeaway ‘too close to park’

A convicted paedophile has been accused of breaching his sex offender’s order by opening a takeaway too close to a park.

Mohammed Arfann Ali Hussain, owner of Tandoori Fusion, in Gatley , is not allowed within 50 metres of a park as part of an order given for grooming two girls.

Police arrested him as his takeaway is too close to Walter Stansby Memorial Park, which is on the other side of Church Road.

Mr Hussain appeared at Stockport Magistrates Court to deny breaching the sexual harm prevention order.

Defending, James Warburton said: “It (the order) is in relation to designated areas where children are.”

He added that because it was a ‘memorial park’ it was not an area where youngsters would necessarily be.

But Kate Gaskell, prosecuting, said Tandoori Fusion was 40.7m from the park, which is used by Brownies to garden, and that ‘any park, means any park’.

The matter was adjourned and a trial date fixed for August 5.

Mr Hussain, of Adswood, was originally convicted in January 2008 at Derby Crown Court.

The order he was given restricts him from entering a park, amusement arcade, swimming pool or any other recreation area designed for use by children or going within 50m of these places.

It states he must abide by this unless travelling on public transport or private hire vehicle, or it is inadvertent.

He was arrested at the takeaway on March 14.

Mr Hussain was convicted of breaching the order in 2013 when he asked a girl for her phone number while she was walking to school.

A teacher saw him and rang the police, and he was given a three year community punishment order with the same length of supervision.

Stockport Council refused planning permission for the takeaway at 7 Church Road in 2011 but the Planning Inspectorate upheld an appeal.

May 2016

Doncaster pervert imprisoned for 20 months after sex assaults

A Doncaster sex fiend who carried out a string of assaults on young girls outside a school and in a popular shopping centre has been jailed.

Karl Snow, of Cedar Road, Balby, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for five counts of sexual assault against girls, who were all under the age of 16.

Snow, aged 29, admitted sexually assaulting three girls aged 12, 13 and 15 near a school.

He was found guilty at trial of another two assaults – on one 11 and one 12-year-old girl – that both took place at Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield.

The court heard the first incident involved a 12-year-old girl and took place on March 15, 2013. Snow followed her as she was walking home from school and then grabbed her breast before walking off without saying anything.

On June 3, 2013, Snow grabbed the breast of a 13-year-old girl near a school and said: “You’re sexy,” before running away.

Three days later, on June 6, 2013, Snow grabbed the breast of a 15-year-old girl who was walking to school. He then ran off.

The first Meadowhall incident took place on April 2 2015 and involved an 11-year-old girl. The court heard Snow grabbed the bottom of the girl in a shop before offering to buy her whatever she wanted in return for sex.

On July 27, Snow followed a 12-year-old girl in Meadowhall before grabbing her bottom.

Snow was spotted on CCTV following the victim before the incident.

Prosecuting, Hannah Lynch read out a victim impact statement from the 11-year-old Meadowhall victim in which the young girl said she no longer felt safe going to the shopping centre without an adult.

The statement said: “At the time I was left really scared and very shocked. I was instantly in tears.

“I used to enjoy going to Meadowhall. It was somewhere I felt safe. After the incident I didn’t go back for five or six months because I was scared I would bump into him again.”

Speaking in mitigation, Gordon Stables said Snow had no previous convictions.

He added: “He feels utter shame and embarrassment for his actions.”

Jailing Snow for 20 months in total on Friday, Recorder Andrew Baker QC said two of the incidents had been aggravated by the verbal comments made by Snow.

Snow was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for five years, put on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and banned from working with children indefinitely.

May 2016

Auchterarder man admits possessing indecent images of children

A 79-year-old Auchterarder man has admitted sharing indecent images of children via the internet.

John Sutherland, Milton Crescent, had 182 indecent images and 116 indecent videos of children within his home when it was were searched by police.

Sheriff William Wood also heard on Tuesday that Sutherland had six and a half hours of indecent footage in his possession.

The indecent material was discovered on the pensioner’s PC tower, iPad and on a number of discs found in his home.

Police had searched his house after receiving confidential intelligence that the accused was responsible for uploading numerous indecent images of children to the internet.

The images discovered were of predominantly young males, but also females, aged between three and 16 years.

Depute Fiscal Susan Ruta said there were 169 category C images, nine category B and four category A.

The videos included 29 in category C, 22 in category B and 65 in category A.

Ms Ruta added that the accused had sent three emails showing indecent images with attachments on May 29.

Sutherland admitted that, between March 23 2015 and July 30 2015, at an address in Milton Crescent, Auchterarder, he had in his possession indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children.

He also pled guilty that on May 29 2015, at the same Auchterarder address, he distributed or showed indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children.

Sheriff Wood deferred sentence until next month for reports.

May 2016

Pervert sentenced for possessing and distributing indecent images of children

A man has pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing indecent images of children.

Keith Harris, 62, of Milestone Close in Norwich, admitted at Cambridge Crown Court two counts of distributing indecent images of children and one count of possessing indecent images of children.

During his sentencing on Monday, the court heard police became aware of Harris’s activity after investigating an email address linked to a Twitter account.

Stephen Mather, prosecuting, said the IP address used between December 1, 2014 and January 6, 2015 was traced back to the defendant.

A search of Harris’s address, which at the time was a house in Arbury, Cambridge, was conducted and Harris admitted it was him police needed to speak to.

Mr Mather added: “He was interviewed on August 20 and told police he knew what would be found from his seized computers.

“He said it started as a game to find gay friends but once he clicked on one indecent image of teenage boys it became addictive.

“He told police he had sought counselling and realised what he was doing was equivalent to child abuse.

“Harris said looking at the images became an addiction and he would look at them when his wife left the house.He had been taking antidepressants and viewed himself as “a gay man in a straight marriage” but not a bad person.

The court heard what happened took its toll on Harris’s marriage, which broke down last year after 37 years.

John Farmer, mitigating, said the likelihood of Harris re-offending was “near to nil”.

He added: “This was more than a wake-up call; it sent a shock wave through his life.

“Harris was handed a 16 month prison sentence suspended for two years, a 35 day rehabilitation activity requirement and an internet sexual offending treatment programme.

He was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) was made indefinitely.

May 2016

Former police worker ‘hooked’ on child abuse images

A FORMER Staffordshire Police employee was caught downloading more than 20,000 indecent images of children.

Martin Holdcroft said he began looking at adult pornography and then became ‘hooked’ on images of child sexual abuse

But the 61-year-old was arrested after police visited his Loggerheads home and seized his computer equipment.

They found 20,473 images and films at category C; 177 images and films at category B; and 186 images and movies at category A – the most serious.

The children were aged six to 16 and the images included them having sex with adults.

Now Holdcroft has been handed a suspended jail sentence at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Richard Gibbs said police seized computers and laptops from the defendant’s front bedroom on May 13, 2014.

Mr Gibbs said: “All contained indecent images and films of children.”

‘He spiralled into crippling depression’

The defendant told officers he looked at images of young girls and became hooked on it.

He said he had not looked at them for two years and was trying to wean himself off.

Holdcroft, of Meadowside, Loggerheads, pleaded guilty to six offences of making indecent photographs of a child.

Recorder Simon Ward sentenced Holdcroft to four months in prison, suspended for two years, with supervision.

He was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was placed on the sex offenders’ register for seven years.

Recorder Ward said: “I accept you had spiralled downwards after a combination of very sad family circumstances led you online to look at ordinary pornographic material.

“But once you got into this murky world you stayed there for quite a while.”

The judge added: “Offences of this nature are so serious because you are creating the market for people who abuse children to take photos or movies of children and put them online.”

May 2016

Six years in jail for South Shields sex predator

A predator has been locked up for historic abuse after subjecting a child to a campaign of sex attacks.

Richard Watkins, 29, who was a teenager when the abuse began, has been jailed for six years after being found guilty of seven counts of sexual assault.

Watkins, of Winskell Road, in South Shields, had denied the charges but a jury found him guilty of them all – three of assaulting a child under 13 by penetration, three of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one of sexual assault of a child.

The court also heard how Watkins threatened his young victim,

Prosecutor Jonathan Devlin told the court how the victim has suffered considerable damage, both mentally and physically, as a result of the abuse.

He added that the girl was extremely vulnerable.

Lee Fish, defending, said that many adolescents find themselves carrying out “sexual experiments” at a young age and that Watkins has now since matured.

He said: “This man has no previous convictions. He has lived his entire adult life responsibly and abides by the law.

“He did not commit any of these offences as an adult. This defendant is not a risk to the public.”

But Judge Bindloss said that Watkins was mature for his age at the time of the offence.

He said: “You were relatively mature for your age. You were working, you had a girlfriend.

“There was no element of consent from this girl. This was in no way an experiment that you regretted and never repeated. You threatened her so that you could get your way.”

Jailing Watkins for six years, Judge Bindloss, who sentenced the defendant as though he was a juvenile, added: “Given that you are still in denial of these offences and you have shown no victim awareness at all, you still pose a risk of committing sexual offences against children.”

May 2016

Paedophile went to meet ’13-year-old schoolgirl’ after grooming her online

A 25-year-old pervert was jailed for 16 months after he tried to groom a 13-year-old girl for sex and was snared by a group of paedophile hunters.

Adam Bushell, of Holy Stone Avenue, Blyth, Northumberland, believed he had been talking to a shy schoolgirl online before he arranged to meet up with her on Westmoreland Road, Newcastle.

But Bushell had in fact been communicating with members of Dark Justice, an anonymous group set up to snare perverts who lurk online, who waited for him to arrive with police officers.

Bushell, a pizza delivery driver and handyman, was arrested and admitted attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

The 25-year-old, who has a previous conviction for covering a heavily pregnant woman’s mouth with duct tape during an attack, has also been cautioned in the past for having sex with an underage girl. 

Judge Tim Gittins said Bushell’s clear intention was to have penetrative sex if the underage girl had shown up, if she was keen.

Bushell had told the ‘teen’ her age put him off ‘a bit’ but promised he would be gentle with her.

The judge said: ‘Sadly, there are occasions when real girls, against their better judgement, would engage with such activities and they need to be protected from themselves.

‘You were told at an early stage in this conversation she was only 13. Notwithstanding that, you continued to communicate.

‘In fact, it turned out to be a member of the organisation Dark Justice, who had set up a fictitious account to identify people preying on young females.’

Bushell, who is now making plans to marry his partner, was jailed for 16 months and must abide by a sexual harm prevention order and sign the sex offenders register for the next 10 years.

Prosecutor Neil Pallister told the court Bushell had started talking to the decoy on an adult dating website and soon started exchanging private messages on Whatsapp.

During the conversations, Bushell asked for nude pictures and sent shirtless snaps of himself, despite believing the girl to be just 13-years-old.

When asked if her young age put him off, Bushell said it did ‘a bit’.

Mr Pallister told the court: ‘He said he couldn’t have sex or kiss due to her age but in the same conversation he said if she had sex he would be gentle.’

Mr Pallister said it was in 2011 Bushell was convicted of battery after putting duct tape over the mouth of a woman who was 33 weeks pregnant and given a suspended sentence.

He assaulted the same woman later that year and was jailed.

Bushell received a caution in 2010, when he was 19, for having sex with a 15-year-old.

Alec Burns, defending, said Bushell had been trying to meet an adult on the website and had not set out to talk to a child.

Mr Burns added: ‘He is now engaged. He has made no wedding arrangements because this hearing may prevent him doing that in the near future.’

May 2016

‘Tech-savvy’ South Croydon teenager facing jail

A “tech-savvy” teenager who uploaded masses of child and animal abuse images to the internet could face jail after a court threw out his claims he did not mean to access the material.

Dilruk Dias-Banbaranayake, 18, stored hundreds of vile images and videos – including one that showed sexual activity between a dog and young girl – on his online Dropbox account after being sent them via a mobile chat app.

The Selsdon teenager claimed he signed up to the KAK app because he was “bored” and there was “trouble between his parents” – not to receive indecent images.

He told magistrates at Croydon Youth Court today that “complete strangers” had sent him nearly 500 sick photos and videos in messages between February and July 2014 after he posted his KAK username in an online chat room.

In one of the most disturbing videos found on Dias-Banbaranayake’s Dropbox, described to the court by Detective Constable Sue Day-Sawyer, a three-year-old girl cries as she is raped by a man in front of the camera.

The student, who according to his Facebook profile is a student at Wimbledon College, protested his innocence and claimed he had not realised the images were being sent to him. He claimed his Android phone was automatically backing them up to his Dropbox account along with holiday snaps from Venice and Rome.

Watched by his parents in the public gallery, Dias-Banbaranayake, of Addington Road, said he deleted all the illegal material from his phone as soon he realised what had been sent to him, but was not aware the images were still stored on Dropbox.

But chief magistrate Terry Geater said it was “inconceivable” the “tech-savvy” teenager had not been aware of the images or that he had been sent so much material unsolicited.

Dias-Banbaranayake was found guilty of 12 counts of possessing extreme or indecent material and immediately placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

He was released on conditional bail until a pre-sentence hearing at the youth court on June 2, at which magistrates will decide whether the teenager should be sentenced by a judge at crown court.

Dias-Banbaranayake said he had no comment for press as he left the court room with his parents today.

May 2016

Pervert jailed after taking indecent images of children

A pervert whose phone contained indecent images of children within more than 116,000 online child sex abuse conversations has been jailed.

The explicit chats shared on WhatsApp, Snapchat, iMessenger, Kik and other messenger services were downloaded by police from Daniel Shipley’s iPhone 5s.

However, Maidstone Crown Court was not told how many of those chats the 25-year-old was actually involved in.

Prosecutor Craig Evans said Shipley was arrested following a tip-off from police in New Zealand.

It was here that he had shared an indecent photograph he had himself taken of a young girl with another online pervert via one of the messenger apps.

Shipley admitted three offences of possession of indecent images of children with intent to distribute in December last year and one offence of taking indecent images of a child.

Mr Evans told the court the images were not found on the phone itself but only as a consequence of downloading the conversations.

Eighty images covering all three levels of seriousness as categorised by police were found, including film clips.

Shipley, from Rainham, who was said by his counsel to have become embroiled in the chats at a time when he had depression, was jailed for 31 months.

Judge Charles Macdonald QC accepted he had shown remorse and made some effort at self-help but described the offences as worrying and revolting. He added that he had a duty to both deter and protect the public.

On his release, Shipley must sign on the sex offenders’ register and be subject to a sexual harm prevention order limiting his access to the internet and banning him from unsupervised contact with children under 16.

He will be barred from working with children.