January 2014

Pervert who abused two girls jailed for six years

A Haddington pensioner was jailed for six years today after subjecting two girls to a catalogue of depraved abuse which began 40 years ago.

A judge told Robert Whitefield: “You robbed these children of their innocence for your own sexual gratification.”

Whitefield (75) began targeting his first victim more than four decades ago and went on to rape her.

The second victim was later subjected to painful abuse that left her bleeding and crying.

Lord Doherty told Whitefield that what he had done to the sex abuse victims was “utterly depraved”.

He said: “It has had profound effects on each of them.”

The judge said that because of the seriousness of the crimes he would be failing in his public duty if he failed to impose a substantial custodial sentence.

But he said he could take into account Whitefield’s age, health and that the last of the offending had occurred nearly 20 years ago.

He told him he would have faced an eight-year prison term but for his guilty pleas.

Whitefield, of Market Court earlier admitted four charges of rape, indecent assault and indecency in Musselburgh.

The pensioner, whose previous convictions include indecent exposure, abused one child between 1972 and 1979 and the second girl between 1989 and 1994.

January 2014

Southampton paedophile tracked down by international police investigation

HE posted vile pictures of young girls being abused on the Internet that were beamed around the world.

Richard Couzens thought his sickening behaviour would go undetected after uploading the images to a Russian website via his mobile phone.

Now the 30-year-old from Southampton has been brought to justice – with the help of eagle eyed police using clever technology on the other side of the world.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Australian police officers discovered the sordid images on a Russian website and set about finding out who was responsible for them.

Using the latest techniques to solve cyber crime they began tracking the images – leading them straight to the door of Couzens, from Chettle Road, Southampton.

The information was passed on to detectives from Hampshire police who arrested Couzens and took him in for questioning.

Prosecutor Christopher Wing told the city crown court how he confessed to police that he had taken pictures of a youngster who he also sexually abused. He posted them on the Internet along with others of children aged between three and eleven – blaming his actions on his addiction for images of young girls.

Couzens, 30, admitted 20 charges of taking and making indecent images, distributing them and assault by penetration.

He was jailed for 10 years with a five year extended licence. He was also placed on the sex offenders register and made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order, both for life.

Jailing him, Judge Derwin Hope told Couzens: “You committed a serious breach of trust.

“You took pictures of this girl and then distributed them over the web for other like minded people.

“This was particularly shocking and illustrates the deep seated nature of your perversion that has manifested for more than five years.”

The judge told Couzens he represented a significant risk to the public, especially to young girls, and extended his licence because he considered him dangerous.

In mitigation, Susan Ridge told the court how Couzens had struggled with his addiction and though he wanted help, he felt unable to do it.

“He is deeply remorseful and greatly distressed at what he has done. He is ashamed of what he has done and knows he will he will go away for a long time and the impact it will have on his family.”

Couzens, who she added was motivated to address his offending in prison, was of previous good character.

October 2012

Pervert who spied on his neighbours, taking photos and filming them also caught with indecent images of children

John Andrew Chambers, 47, also added a disgusting sexual commentary to the tapes and filmed women passing his former home.

Carlisle Crown Court heard how Chambers formerly of Victoria Road, Botcherby, would stand naked at his window and film and photograph innocent women who walked by.

Prosecutor Robert Dudley said: “One woman saw Chambers taking photos as she left Botcherby Community Centre with her son and two other mothers. She reported the matter to a police community support officer.

“Another woman saw him everyday on her commute to work. He would be standing naked in the front dining room window of his house. On August 2 last year she saw him naked taking photos of her and reported it to police who searched his home.”

They found cameras, recording equipment, memory sticks, binoculars and pornographic magazines. He told police he may have taken some pictures while he was naked and that he usually took pictures of women aged 18 to 50.

Mr Dudley said: “Police found a large number of photos of women walking past his house. They also found a memory stick showing women walking around their homes – some in a state of undress.

“One neighbour was forced to keep her blinds down and another neighbour shouted at him and he hid behind a curtain. One neighbour referred to him as the creepy man.”

Chambers, who now lives on Warwick Square in Carlisle city centre, admitted five counts of voyeurism and eight charges of possessing indecent photos of children. He appeared at crown court yesterday for sentence.

Police found 15 level one images of children, two level two images and three images at level three on his computer.

Greg Hoare, defending said: “Chambers can accept that his course of conduct was wholly inappropriate. He is utterly ashamed and disgusted that he behaved in that way.”

Judge Peter Hughes QC told Chambers: “You have what I can only describe as a disgusting, unhealthy and perverted sexual interest.

“I had to view the images which were found on your computer equipment. It wasn’t so much the child porn that shocked me, it was the images of those innocent women and neighbours that you captured with your snooping and the quite revolting sexual commentary that accompanied those images.”

He imposed a three-year community order with a supervision requirement and ordered Chambers to attend the sexual offenders treatment programme.

Chambers must also sign the sex offenders register and be subject to a sexual offences prevention order for five years. He is barred from working with vulnerable adults and children and must pay £1,000 court costs.

October 2002

Teacher jailed for assaulting pupils

A maths teacher was today jailed for five years for indecently assaulting two pupils.

Brian Roberts, 62, of Meadow Drive in Swinton, Rotherham, was sentenced at Doncaster crown court for indecently assaulting the girls in the early 1980s and early 1990s at a South Yorkshire comprehensive school.

Judge Linda Sutcliffe said it was important to send out the message to those who found themselves in charge of young girls and abused that position that this kind of behaviour would not be tolerated in a civilised society. She said the nature of Roberts’ conduct towards the girls, calculated, determined and persistent as it was and culminating in such serious acts, was so grave that a substantial custodial sentence had to be passed.

She said Roberts’ career had been marked by distinction and that he had been a gifted teacher looked upon with affection by his pupils.

“That in a sense makes it even worse what you did to these two complainants because they were in your thrall. They did what you expected of them and they did it over a period of time, and in relation to each of them you progressed from relatively minor instances of indecent assault to an offence which in the case of each of them was a very serious offence of its kind.”

At his trial earlier this year at Sheffield crown court the jury heard how Roberts used to walk down the school corridor carrying a large set of keys which he would jangle as a signal for his first victim to leave class and meet him.

Roberts would either take her to a nearby stairwell or to a stock room where he would indecently assault her on an almost daily basis.

She told the jury that while Roberts had never threatened her he made it clear she was expected to comply with his demands, which left her feeling confused and ashamed.

David Brooke, prosecuting, told the court that a decade after he began indecently assaulting the first girl, Roberts turned his attention to another young female pupil whom he indecently assaulted on a number of occasions.

He had denied six specimen counts of indecent assault, four against one girl between 1982 and 1986 and two relating to his second victim between 1991 and 1993.

The judge told Roberts that it was no coincidence that both the girls were well developed, blonde and pretty when he assaulted them. She said: “The single most important feature of mitigation in cases of this kind is a guilty plea. That was not forthcoming in this case. It exhibits a lack of remorse.”

In mitigation the court heard that Roberts was a pillar of support for his family, visiting his elderly and infirm mother and mother-in-law on a daily basis.

Outside the court one of his victims said: “The upset and devastation that this caused my family cannot be compared to five years in jail.”

The court was told that on release Roberts is to be placed on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.

January 2014

Victims say BNP monster is too dangerous to be freed after fiend tortured girlfriends while they were pregnant

VICTIMS of racist thug James Boyd told yesterday how they hope he is never free again after he admitted a 10-year campaign of horrific violence against six young females

James Boyd battered two of the women when they were heavily pregnant.

Another victim – who was just 14 – was left with terrible injuries when he stamped on her private parts in a bid to make her unable to have children.

Yesterday, the women said they hoped Boyd died in jail.

Siobhan Melrose, 26, said: “He put us all through hell and he deserves to die.

“We hope he takes his own life because he’ll never change. He will always be a danger to women and when he gets out of jail, he’ll do it again.”

Leigh Cameron, 24, who was pregnant when Boyd tried to strangle her and throw her down the stairs, added: “He is worse than an animal.

“They should lock him up and throw away the key. No woman is safe when he’s on the streets.

“The best result would be if he hanged himself. That would be justice.”

Boyd, who has a string of convictions for racist attacks, threatened his victims with knives, choked them, spat on them, and punched and kicked them.

The tattooed monster, of Whitburn, West Lothian, told one of his pregnant girlfriends: “You don’t deserve to have a child” as he knocked her to the ground and repeatedly kicked her in the stomach.

While he was battering the living daylights out of his victims, Boyd, a BNP and National Front activist, was also cheating on them with a string of other women.

The control freak put them through mental hell, too. He was consumed by jealousy and stopped the women from shaving in a bid to make them unattractive to other men.

The thug’s first victim, a 15-year-old girl, was subjected to a year of violence in 2003.

On one occasion, he held a knife against her neck and another against her stomach and threatened to kill her.

Siobhan, of Whitburn, was his most recent victim.

She endured three years of hell before she fled his clutches last year.

This week, Boyd, 28, appeared at the High Court in Glasgow and confessed to violence towards the five women.

He was finally brought to justice after the mum of a sixth victim, a 13-year-old girl, reported him to police.

Her daughter had been held hostage and beaten for three days.

Police traced the other women last year. The 13-year-old was so disturbed and terrified by her ordeal that she was unable to give evidence. She moved away and her case never got to court.

Three of the victims in court were distressed as details of Boyd’s brutality were read out.

Prosecutor Jo McDonald, said: “All the women comment that at the beginning of the relationship, the accused was caring.

“But he became more and more paranoid, jealous and controlling as the relationship continued and when drinking, he was violent and abusive.

“They all describe continuing assaults and abuse throughout their relationship with him.”

Boyd bleated to the judge that he battered the women to block out ­memories of his own violent childhood. He also blamed alcohol for his terrifying outbursts.

His lawyer Stuart Carson said: “Mr Boyd accepts that during these relationships he suffered from jealousy. He was paranoid about these young women and he was controlling.

“He was drinking on an almost daily basis and says this was to block out memories that he had been abused as a child. He took out his anger on those around him.

“He says he is sorry for what he has done. He says he of all people should have known better about what he was doing because of the feelings he has about abuse.

“Violence was commonplace in his childhood.”

Boyd’s victims were disgusted by his excuses and insisted alcohol was not to blame.

Siobhan said: “He was a monster with or without drink. It’s disgusting that he is trying to make excuses for beating every woman he had a relationship with. There are no excuses for what he did.”

The judge Lord Turnbull ordered a background report to determine what risk Boyd poses to the public and deferred sentence until the end of the month.

He told the thug: “You have pled guilty to acts of violence which seem to me a course of conduct perpetrated over 10 years and involving almost every young woman with which you had a relationship.”

Yesterday, police described Boyd as “a predatory, callous and unremorseful individual”.

A spokesman said: “Boyd subjected his victims to years of physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse. He now faces significant time behind bars for his crimes.”

January 2014

Stalker found guilty of sexually assaulting schoolgirl walks free from court

A “weird” stalker who had been found guilty of sexually assaulting a Gospel Oak schoolgirl and repeatedly following her on her way to school has walked free from court

Tony Coyle, 51, of Ferdinand Street, Chalk Farm, deliberately brushed past the 14-year-old girl outside her school, touching the victim’s breast with his arm and shoulder.

For eight consecutive weekday mornings in September, he watched and followed her in the Gospel Oak area as she walked or waited for a bus to school.

The victim and two of her friends also saw Coyle, who they called “the weird guy”, loitering outside their school three times.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she is now too frightened to walk anywhere, even to her nearest corner shop, without having someone with her.

She said: “I’m really paranoid. I’m scared someone else is going to do the same thing. I can’t even go to school by myself.”

At Coyle’s trial at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court, the victim said she first saw Coyle staring at her as she waited for the bus in Gospel Oak at around 8.20am on September 16.

She then saw him watching her again the following two mornings.

As she arrived at school on September 19, he was standing opposite the school gates watching her.

He first followed the teenager the next day, walking behind her for a short period of time in Gordon House Road.

On September 24 he waited outside her house before stalking her all the way to school, having followed her the previous day as well.

He did not make contact with the girl until September 25, when he stared at her as she arrived at school before crossing a busy road to walk up to her, touching her breast as he went past.

The victim, who burst into tears, immediately reported the incident to the school and to police.

Coyle was caught the next day after the girl’s sister spotted a man walking near the school who looked exactly as the 14-year-old had described and called police.

The court heard that Coyle had a distinctive appearance as he had always been seen with a plaster on his face, with very pale skin and wearing a black Great Ormond Street Hospital hooded jumper.

Coyle, who has been declared not fit to work, insisted he did not have “any interest in schoolgirls”.

He admitted to being “in the area” on the days in question but said he was not “intentionally stalking anyone”, saying that he likes to go for regular walks all over Camden for no specific purpose.

But he was found guilty of sexual assault on a female and of stalking involving serious alarm or distress.

January 2014

East Devon diver jailed for distributing vile child abuse movies

A diver has been jailed after swapping extreme images of child abuse over the internet under the alias of Scuba77.

Colin Lee was arrested in a dawn raid which was part of a nationwide police investigation based on information uncovered by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.

Police found so many images on his three computers they stopped counting when they reached 2,000, Exeter Crown Court was told.

E-mail and internet records on his computer showed he had been sending some of the most extreme images on the internet to a file sharing website where they were viewed by fellow paedophiles.

He distributed 775 still images and 30 movies including one showing a 12-year-old boy screaming in paid as he was raped by an adult man.

Lee is a keen amateur diver who blamed his fascination with the images on the traumatic psychological effects of a drowning accident nine years earlier in which he lost a friend and was blamed by some fellow divers for the death.

Fork lift truck instructor Lee, aged 36, of Culme Way, Dunkeswell, admitted ten offences of distributing indecent images of children and 23 of making or possessing images.

He was jailed for two years by Judge Phillip Wassall after he heard that a total of 75,000 images and 4,200 movies were found on Lee’s computers.

The judge described some of the images and movies, including one showing a boy of about three being abused by an adult man, a girl of eight being assaulted in a bath, a boy of about four forced to take part in oral sex, and a boy of 12 screaming in pain during a sexual attack.

He told Lee:”I give these examples not to shock but to give an illustration of what the court is dealing with. I’m afraid these offences are so serious that only immediate custody is justified.

“People who distribute these images must know, and the message must go out, that if they do so they will receive a prison sentence.”

Mr Gordon Richings, prosecuting, said police were tipped off about Lee’s internet activity after an investigation by the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and his home was raided at 4 am to make sure he was at home.

He said Lee distributed images by e-mail and through a file sharing website and was traced through a hotmail address in the name of Scuba77. He was born in 1977.

Mr Nick Bradley, defending, said Lee has enrolled on a course with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation to address his interest in child abuse images and lost his job as a result of his arrest.

He said:”He has issues with his mental health relating to an incident when he was 27. He is a keen diver and was involved in an expedition in which a friend drowned and died.

“He was not responsible for his death but was the handler of the boat and there was talk that he was in some way instrumental in causing the fatality and this became a burden on him.”

Mr Bradley said Lee was not distributing material for gain but was encouraged to do so by fellow users of the file sharing website who allowed him greater access to their images as a result.

January 2014

Birmingham policeman jailed for sexual activity with a child

A police officer has been jailed for sexual activity with a child.

Christopher Semak, an officer in south Birmingham, was sentenced to six years behind bars at Stafford Crown Court today (Thursday 9) following a four-week trial.

The crimes took place between April 2010 and November 2011 when the girl – who was known to the man – was aged 14 and 15.

The 33-year-old officer was arrested on January 24, 2012 from his Kings Norton home the same day the girl, then aged 16, revealed that she had been systematically assaulted over the course of two years.

A major police investigation was immediately launched and the officer was suspended from the force with his access to police buildings restricted.

As part of the lengthy enquiry in which texts and emails were scrutinised, detectives did not find any other victims other than the girl, who was known to Semak outside of work.

Det Supt Tim Bacon, from the force’s Public Protection Unit, said:”Christopher Semak has today been found guilty of sexual activity with a child.

“It is clear that he groomed the victim for his own sexual gratification. His actions were disgraceful for any person let alone a man who, when he became a police officer, swore an oath to protect people. 

January 2014

Peterlee sex offender jailed for downloading indecent images of children

A SEX offender was said to be “in denial” of his attraction to young girls, a court heard.

Recorder Sophie Drake made the observation about Ashley Colville as she jailed him for a year for possession of indecent images of children.

It followed recovery of an iPhone by police who called at his home in Peterlee, County Durham, on October 5.

Durham Crown Court heard that examination of its contents revealed 27 offending images, including five considered to be in the top two most serious categories for such material.

Colville told police he had gone onto an internet chat room from which he was able to download adult pornography, but he accepts it included indecent images featuring children.

Stephen Duffield, prosecuting, said Colville claimed they were, “not there at his instigation.”

But, Mr Duffield said that at the time Colville was on licence from a 40-month prison sentence for an indecent assault on a 16-year-old woman, for which he was ordered to permanently register as a sex offender.

Colville, 23, of Cotswold Place, admitted ten counts of possession and one of making indecent images of children.

His barrister, Scott Smith, said Colville indicated early admissions in the case, but accepted that, “a significant aggravating feature” of the case was having access to such material given his previous conviction.

Mr Smith said a pre-sentence report on Colville appears to suggest he has a, “high level of sexual pre-occupation”, but he added that there would be little opportunity to address this while in custody, as his latest offence would not attract a lengthy sentence.

Imposing the year-long prison sentence, Recorder Drake told Colville: “It’s readily acknowledged that custody is the only option here due to your previous conviction.

“I accept you have not physically touched the children on these images, but by looking at them you’re encouraging abuse of children and furtherance of what is a vile industry.

“It’s worrying that you failed to recognise you have a sexual interest in children.

“The author of the report has grave doubt about managing your future risk and I agree with that.

“At the age of 23 you are building up a worrying history for sexual offending.”

Recorder Drake also made Colville subject of a sexual offences prevention order, restricting his future access to the internet, “indefinitely”, while he remains on the Sex Offenders’ Register, for life.

January 2014

Pervert teacher jailed after being found with videos of child abuse and animal sex abuse

A perverted teacher has been jailed for a year after admitting possessing child and animal abuse pictures/films.

January 2014

Pervert church youth leader jailed for 18 months after admitting a host of indecency offences against eight young boys

A church youth leader who admitted indecency offences against eight boys has been jailed for 18 months.

Karl Monsen Elvik, an ex-member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Pollok, Glasgow, committed the offences from 1986 to 1994.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard how he took pictures of boys in states of undress, timed them sitting naked in cold baths and rubbed ice cubes on them.

His victims were aged between 12 and 16 when the offences took place.

Elvik, 51, admitted his crimes after an anonymous report to police in 2011.

He admitted taking indecent images of children, four charges of lewd and libidinous behaviour and two charges of indecent assault dating from 1986 to 1994

He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register and told he would be supervised for nine months after his release.

Elvik, from Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, lived in Nitshill, Glasgow, at the time of the offences.

The court heard how he invited one boy to go running with him and afterwards at his house, massaged him and indecently touched him.

He invented a game where the boys would take turns sitting in a cold bath and timed them to see who could last the longest.

The youth leader would rub ice-cubes on their bodies or have them strip if they lost a game while at his house.

On one occasion when a boy was alone in the flat sitting in the bath, Elvik appeared in the bathroom naked, squirting water from a syringe.

Years later he was confronted by one of his victims and begged him not to go to the police, but it was later reported anonymously in April 2011.

The court heard Monsen Elvik made extensive admissions and gave a list of names of victims.

January 2014

Baildon man found guilty of abuse of girl in tent

A Baildon man was told to expect a “substantial” jail sentence after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a girl more than 15 years ago.

Steven Baxter showed no emotion in the dock at Bradford Crown Court yesterday as a jury of seven men and five women convicted him of five counts of indecent assault, four of indecency with a child, and one of attempting to rape a girl under 16.

He will be sentenced today.

Baxter, of Valley View, had previously denied the allegations, telling the jury on Wednesday: “I would never ever do anything like that, never.”

But, after the 37-year-old was convicted, Judge Jonathan Rose told him: “You have been convicted on overwhelming evidence on these matters.

“You should prepare yourself for a substantial sentence that will be measured in years.”

Baxter, who will also have to sign the sex offenders’ register, molested the child in a tent on a night fishing trip and abused her on repeated occasions at his then flat in Windhill, Shipley.

The abuse happened between 1995 and 1998 when his victim, who is now in her 20s, was aged between 11 and 13.

Baxter had told the jury that in the mid-1990s, he was smoking cannabis, taking ecstasy and going to raves.

He admitted the girl was one of a group of young people who went on a camping trip by the canal.

He said the girl was asleep in one of the tents but he denied touching her.

Baxter said his friends lit a fire and took drugs on such expeditions. That night, others in the group had taken LSD, amphetamine tablets and magic mushrooms.

Baxter also recalled one friend describing a space battle in the sky and another injuring his eye when he tried to shoot himself in the face with an air rifle.

January 2014 

Former bus driver jailed of sex assaults on young girl

A former Blackpool bus driver is starting a three-year jail sentence after being convicted of sex assaults on a young girl 25 years ago.

Graham Ablett, 48, had denied two offences of indecently assaulting a girl under the age of nine between 1988 and 1993.

But a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court convicted him in November.

And Ablett has now been jailed by a judge at Chelmsford for three years.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

The court heard that Ablett, who ran his own driving instructor business in Blackpool before becoming a bus driver with Blackpool Transport, still denied the allegations and claimed the victim, now a 31-year-old wife and mother, was lying.

Judge David Turner QC told Ablett: “The victim has carried the burden of anxiety about your misbehaviour for too long.

“It was clear to me during the trial that she was still emotionally affected as she recalled these thoroughly unpleasant events, which you continue to deny.”

The judge described Ablett as “controlling and manipulative”.

The offences happened when he was in his early 20s, the court was told. They occurred in Basildon, Essex.

Ablett, who had lived in Blackpool for many years until December, resigned his job with Blackpool Transport after his conviction.

His relationship with a partner and her family had also recently come to an end.

He is a single man but does have children with two previous women partners.

He has no previous convictions.

Defending, Justine Davidge, said there had been no concerns about Ablett, now of Llys Alwen, Rhyl, Denbighshire, coming into contact with children either before or since these allegations.

She said he was well thought of and respected by those who knew him.

January 2014

Kingston man pleads guilty to possessing hundreds of indecent images of children

A Kingston man could face a jail term after police discovered he had nearly 300 indecent photos of children and more than 80 indecent movies with children.

Russell Gower, 33, of Sopwith Way in Kingston, pleaded guilty to four counts of downloading indecent images of children from level one to four and five counts of downloading indecent movies of children from level one to five – the highest level.

He also admittied possessing 273 indecent photos of children and 82 indecent movies with children.

Gower is believed to have downloaded the photos and movies on or before August 10, 2012.

He appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Friday, January 3 and was given unconditional bail.

He will be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court at a later date.

January 2014

Shropshire babysitter jailed for sex assault on young girl

A Shropshire man who sexually assaulted a girl he was babysitting has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Judge Simon Tonking said there was “very clear scientific evidence” that Julian Tudor Owen, 50, had abused a young child he was looking after.

Owen, a married father, of Lower Down, Lydbury North, near Bishop’s Castle, was found guilty of one count of sexually assaulting a child under 13 at Shrewsbury Crown Court on December 12. A second count was dropped.

He was back at Shrewsbury yesterday for sentencing.

Steven Bailey, defending, said Owen still denied the charges, and was “lucky to retain the support and love of those close to him”.

He said self-employed businessman Owen was a man of previous good character who had carried out a “single completely aberrant offence” of “relative brevity”.

But Judge Tonking said: “This was a very young child and you were in breach of the trust that her parents had put on you. Instead of looking after her you abused her.

“I accept that this was an aberration.”

November 2013

Neath man, aged 24, admits sexual activity with a child

A NEATH man has admitted a series of charges including sexual activity with a child.

Lee Martin, aged 24, from Henry Street in Neath, pleaded guilty to five charges of sexual activity with a child aged under 16.

He appeared at Swansea Crown Court by videolink.

The offences are said to have taken place between December 2012 and August 2013.

Martin also admitted a charge of intimidation where he made verbal threats towards a man.

He also pleaded guilty to two charges of battery, one was against the victim of his sexual offending.

Andrew Evans, for Martin, asked Judge Huw Davies to order a pre-sentence report to be prepared on his client before sentencing.

Judge Davies agreed but warned Martin that a “significant custodial sentence was inevitable”.

Sentencing will be on Friday, December 6.

January 2014

Mirfield man Anthony Dews admits making indecent images of children

A Mirfield man has admitted making indecent images of children.

Anthony Dews, who lives at Johnson Street, appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court, Huddersfield, yesterday.

He pleaded guilty to 11 charges of making an indecent image of a child.

The offences happened on or before July 3 in Mirfield.

District Judge Richard Manning heard that these images included a large number at levels four and five.

These are at the more serious end of the scale of indecent images. The youngest child involved was aged two.

Because of this District Judge Richard Manning committed the 29-year-old to Leeds Crown Court for sentencing.

He will appear there on Thursday, February 6.

Due to his conviction, Dews is now subject to the Sex Offenders’ Register.

January 2014

Man caught with child abuse images in Glasgow home

A man was caught with indecent images of children after police discovered he had been contacting another man who was planning sexual activity with a boy.

James McBride, 27, admitted possessing indecent photographs of children and distributing one indecent photograph.

The offences were committed at his home in Castlemilk, Glasgow, between May and September last year.

At the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lord Turnbull deferred sentence on McBride until next month for reports.

The court heard how McBride was caught during Operation Delta because of his links on the internet to a man who was arranging sexual activity with a 10-year-old boy.

When this man’s iPhone was seized it revealed that messages had been exchanged between him and McBride.

Police raided McBride’s home in September last year, and found a laptop, USB stick and an iPod hidden in a linen cupboard.

Advocate depute Kath Harper, prosecuting, said: “Indecent images of children were found on all the devices.”

One of the images showed a baby being raped.

Chat logs from last year were also recovered from the laptop which included exchanges between McBride and the other man about footage of a boy being raped.

March 2011

Jailed for 30-year reign of sex terror on females

A FORMER fairground worker has been caged for a series of sex attacks dating back more than 30 years.

James Pennock’s victim was just five when he started to indecently assault her.

But as he begins a 10-year jail term, his victim said: “There is no sentence that can compensate for my lost childhood.”

The 58-year-old had been due to be tried by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court earlier this year.

But after his victim got in the witness box – though before she started reliving the minute details of her ordeal – Pennock, of Nora Street, South Shields, confessed and pleaded guilty to 11 charges of indecent assault, dating back between the late 1970s and 1980s.

Judge Colin Burn said the offences were the “most serious” of their type, and ordered that Pennock must sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

Pennock, who used to work at the town’s fairground, was banned from working with or having contact with children under the terms of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

After the case, Detective Constable Kit Tipling, from South Tyneside area police command, who led the investigation, said: “Pennock’s abuse spanned many years.

“I hope the sentence brings his victim some degree of comfort and closure.”

Pennock’s victim said: “There is no sentence that can compensate for my lost childhood.

“However, due to the endeavour of Northumbria Police and the officer investigating the case, I have been able to get some sort of closure today.”

January 2014

Broxbourne hair fetish paedophile Stephen Brewster jailed for four years

A PERVERT with a fetish for young boys’ hair has been jailed for four years.

Stephen Brewster trawled websites and chatrooms searching for young teenage boys he could groom for sex.

He got them to send pictures of themselves pulling their hair and even asked them to cut off their locks and send them to him.

The 47-year-old single man thought nothing of travelling miles in his car to make sordid rendezvous with boys he thought he could persuade to have sex with him.

Today (Friday January 10) at Luton Crown Court, Brewster, a former baker for Tesco, was told by Judge Richard Foster he had taken advantage of vulnerable youngsters.

On some occasions, weirdo Brewster of Chilworth Gate, Broxbourne, even paid the boys he met for sex.

He was arrested at his home last July and appeared in court from custody.

Brewster pleaded guilty to causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two offences of causing or inciting a child to engage in prostitution, two offences of meeting a child following sexual grooming, two offences of paying a child for sexual services and three offences of sexual activity with a child aged 15.

He also admitted two offences of possessing indecent photos of a child.

The court was told Brewster had travelled as far as Newcastle and Norfolk to meet boys.

One teenager he met in Southend he took back to his flat in Hertfordshire.

He asked youngsters to send him pictures and videos of themselves and locks of their hair.

To start with Brewster would hide his true identity from the youngsters when talking to them in chat rooms and pretended to be younger.

When meeting them, they were often shocked to find him a tubby middle aged man.

His victims were aged between 14 and 17.

On a beach in Hemsby in Norfolk he had met a youngster and pulled his own trousers down before getting the 15 year old to fondle him.

After taking another young boy back to his flat, he told the teenager he would cut his hair while the boy performed a sex act on him.

The boy told police later: “I really wish he was dead because then I know he’s never coming back to hurt me again.”

When finally arrested at his home last summer, police found images of child sex abuse on his computer as well as hair clippings from youngsters.

Bossie Sheffi defending said Brewster was genuinely sorry for his victims and their families.

Judge Foster told Brewster he was a danger to the public.

He sentenced him to four years imprisonment, explaining that Brewster would have to serve two-thirds behind bars before being considered for release and he would be subject to an extended period of licence.

He was also made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order