November 2016

Jailed: Man, 61, who repeatedly raped and sexually abused 5 girls

A Swindon man who repeatedly raped and sexually abused five girls between 1977 and 2014 has been given a 20-year prison sentence.

George Tinsley, 61, of Welcombe Avenue, Park South, who is originally from Warrington, has been found guilty of 38 counts of child sexual offences at Swindon Crown Court.

He was sentenced to 20 years in jail and five on licence.

Tinsley committed the offences against five victims over a period of 37 years.

A number of the indictments he was found guilty of where multi-incident counts of rape and sexual abuse, meaning the offence happened more than once.

November 2016

Ex-local football referee from Ipswich, 76, jailed for child sex offences

A tearful former local football referee told a court he was disgusted with himself after being jailed for seven-and-a-half years for sexually abusing a child.

Gary Licence, 76, of High View Road, Ipswich, was jailed at the town’s crown court after previously pleading guilty to four child sex offences dating back several years.

At the end of his sentencing Licence, who listened to proceedings via a video link from Norwich prison, said: “Can I just say I’m absolutely disgusted with myself totally and I just wish the lady so much better for the future.

“I’m absolutely disgusted with myself. I’m very sorry.”

Earlier Judge David Goodin said Licence, who has also lived in Colchester and Dovercourt, had abused his victim “in the most disgraceful way.”

Licence replied: “Yes Sir. I accept that.”

When told that if the offences had occurred today he could have received a maximum term of life imprisonment, he was heard to say “Oh my God.”

However, it was explained to Licence, who was well-known on the local football scene during the 1970s and 1980s, that as the offences happened some years ago the judge was constrained to a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Judge Goodin said he had no hesitation in starting at the top of that scale, but had to take into account Licence’s guilty plea at an early stage in proceedings.

Again the judge referred to the “monstrous abuse” of the victim, before giving him credit for not putting her through a trial where she would have to relive her ordeal in front of “12 strangers” on the jury.

Judge Goodin also recognised Licence’s age and infirmity.

The court had previously been told by Licence’s counsel Paul Donegan that his client has suffered a series of minor strokes, two of which have occurred since he was remanded into custody in August.

Licence’s offences were uncovered when his victim, who is now an adult, went to police in August 2015 to tell them he had abused her as a child.

The court heard how the victim said she felt powerless to stop Licence – a former Safeways worker – and had turned into an angry child afterwards.

In addition to his jail term Licence was made subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act and given a sexual harm prevention order. Both were made without limit of time.

November 2016

Former Lincoln football coach jailed for rape and sexual assault of boys

A former youth football coach and referee has today been jailed for eleven and a half years for a string of offences against teenage boys including rape and sexual assault.

Johnathan Bedford, a married man who met his victims through his involvement with local youth football, also persuaded young boys to send him indecent photographs of themselves. He has since been suspended from all involvement with football.

Recorder Graham Huston, passing sentence at Lincoln Crown Court, also imposed an indefinite sexual offences prevention order which is designed to restrict Bedford’s activities when he is released from jail.

Bedford was placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Recorder Huston told Bedford: “I see no indication of remorse. No apology. No regret.

“You are a thoroughly selfish man who has never once sought to consider the damage you were causing.

“Everything you did, you did to get the opportunity of a sexual encounter.

“The football league and the other referees and coaches who give up so much of their time to support youth football have been let down by you.

Martin Hurst, prosecuting, told the jury: “Mr Bedford was working as a driver doing daily deliveries and he would spend his leisure time as a football referee and a football coach.

“The boys described him as generous, engaging and with a bubbly personality. He helped these boys, some of whom were vulnerable and some of whom had difficulties at school.

“It is perfectly clear that Mr Bedford had a sexual interest in the boys. He was feeling his way to see how far he would go and see what the reaction would be.”

Mr Hurst said that the Bedford had wrecked the life of the 18-year-old boy he raped.

The boy went into town and got so drunk he could hardly stand up. Bedford went on to rape him while the lad was so intoxicated he was unable to fight him off.

Two other boys were sexually touched by Bedford and he persuaded others to take selfies in their boxer shorts and send them to him via Snapchat.

Bedford, 34, of Monks Road, Lincoln, denied one charge of rape, two charges of sexual activity with a child and a further charge of sexual assault but was found guilty of all counts.

The offences related to the period between September 23 2008 and December 31 2010.

He had earlier admitted six charges of inciting the sexual exploitation of a child and a further charge of attempted sexual exploitation of a child between January 2013 and March 2014.

The offences involved a total of 10 teenage boys.

During his trial on the rape and sexual activity charges Bedford denied anything happened between him and the boys who gave evidence against him.

November 2016

A FORMER policeman has been sentenced to five years in jail for downloading a total of 480 indecent images and videos of children – in what is the second time he has been convicted for such offences.

Robert Mauger, 31, pictured, had pleaded guilty to five counts of making indecent images of children, before being sentenced at Royal Court, relating to a total of 350 movies and 130 pictures.

Back in March 2013 Mauger was convicted for 11 counts of making indecent images and sentenced to a term of three-year in prison imprisonment.

Advocate Samuel Steel, representing Mauger, read out part of a letter to the court from the defendant, in which he said he felt worthless and ashamed

March 2013

Three years for ex-copper who downloaded child abuse images

A FORMER policeman who downloaded nearly 3,000 indecent images of children and more than 50 hours of video has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Robert Mauger, 27, had already pleaded guilty to 11 counts of making indecent images of children when he appeared before the Royal Court for sentencing yesterday.

The offences were committed from December 2006 to June 2012.

Advocate Chantal Barrett, representing Mauger, said her client had previously been of good character and had recently held a respectable job as a trust administrator. He viewed his behaviour as a ‘shameful secret’ but had been too afraid to ask for help.

Judge Russell Finch described the compilation of videos as ‘disgusting’.

Before passing sentence, he said Mauger’s good character and guilty plea had been taken into account, but the large number of images was a worrying factor.

November 2016

Paedophile newsagent raped and abused girls as young as 13

A newsagent raped and sexually abused a series of young girls – some as young as 13.

Port Talbot newsagent Clive Gordon Davies plied some of his victims with alcohol and blackmailed and bullied them into submission.

A judge described his actions as “pure wickedness” and told him had deprived his victims of their childhoods.

Davies, now aged 74, subjected the girls to sustained and systematic sexual abuse during a 10 year period during the 1970s and 1980s.

But it wasn’t until 2015 that his victims came forward and police launched an investigation.

Davies, of Moorland Avenue, Newton near Mumbles, had previously pleaded guilty to 31 sexual offences involving girls aged between 13 and 15 when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

He was jailed for 15 years.

The court heard Davies subjected the girls to “systematic sexual abuse” that in the case of one of his victims went on for some three years.

He plied a number of the young teens with alcohol and took indecent photographs of them, telling them he would show people the pictures if they told anyone about the sexual assaults.

Sending him to prison, judge Geraint Walters described the offending as “truly disturbing” and the defendant as a “serial abuser of young girls”.

He told him: “Your conduct was nothing short of pure wickedness.

“You were a predatory paedophile who preyed on young girls — you deprived them of their childhoods.”

November 2016

Woman pleads guilty to sexually abusing two schoolboys

A woman from Lisburn has pleaded guilty to several charges of sexual abuse against two schoolboys.

Mother of four Bernie McKibben (40) formerly of Lisburn, pleaded guilty to five counts of engaging in sexual activity with a male child who was aged between 13 and 16-years-old.

At Craigavon Crown Court, she also admitted two further counts of engaging in sexual touching involving penetration against the two boys on dates between 30 September 2013 and 16 May 2014.

November 2016

Paedophile who abused boys on Selby Canal is jailed for 10 years

A paedophile who robbed two ten-year-old boys of their childhood by his “debauched” sexual crimes has been jailed for ten years.

York Crown Court heard Neil Gilpin, 32, took them away from their playmates to sexually abuse them in woodland near where he had moored his boat on a canal near Selby.

Michele Stuart-Lofthouse, prosecuting, said the children were called in to their supper and when one of the boys went out to play with his friends again later on the same day, the paedophile again took him away and again abused him.

The Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Batty QC, said the boys’ parents’ accounts of how they had been changed by their experiences were “heart rending.”

“What you did on this day was truly wicked,” he told Gilpin. “You really robbed two little boys of their childhood innocence.

“You corrupted them for your own sexual gratification. I am entirely satisfied you targeted them.”

Gilpin had told the second boy to pretend he was with a girl as he abused him.

“Truly debauched, truly outrageous behaviour,” the judge said.

He jailed Gilpin for ten years and put him on the sex offenders’ register and made him subject to a sexual harm prevention order, both for the rest of his life.

Gilpin, of Manchester Road, Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield, pleaded guilty to two charges of inciting a child to perform a sex act and a sexual offence involving a child.

November 2016

Paedophile who indecently assaulted an Atherstone child jailed

A TWISTED paedophile who indecently assaulted an Atherstone child has been jailed for his crimes.

Robert Peter Ellis, aged 80, of Alma Road, Selston, has been jailed for nine years, with a further three on license, after being found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault.

The offences relate to historic sex offences which took place between 1975 and 1981 in Atherstone.

The victim provided a statement to the court.

She said: “I would like to state I made this statement and reported these matters not just for me but for all survivors of childhood sexual abuse which has a physical and emotional impact for the rest of your life. Thank you to the police staff investigator Alan Butler for his support throughout and Louise my ISVA (Independent Sexual Violence Advisor).”

“The judge has helped me by showing all that I am believed and the justice system deals with such offences appropriately.”

And, following the trail, Ellis was found guilty at Warwick Crown Court last week (November 18) for the offences. He also previously pleaded guilty to an additional offence of indecent assault on October 11.

The 80-year-old was also found not guilty of two counts of indecent assault and three counts of rape.

November 2016

Vile animal abuse porn found on man’s computer

A pervert got his sexual thrills while a woman he had met online performed an obscene act with a dog, a court heard.

Footage found at Ian Cairns’s home showed the woman engaged in the act while at the same time she also pleasured Cairns.

The film was found after police raided his home in Bryn Road South, Ashton, and seized his computer equipment, cameras and recording equipment, Liverpool Crown Court was told.

When this was forensically examined a total of 300 indecent images of children were found in all categories of seriousness and showing children aged between two and 15 being abused.

An extract from a chat room conversation with a 15-year-old girl revealed he had pretended to be 17 and asked to lift her top said Martine Snowden, prosecuting.

The extreme porn footage was also found on his computer during the police raid on July 7, 2014 showing the woman abusing the dog while she performed a sex act on Cairns.

A total of 16 video clips were also found showing the schoolgirl daughter of the 42-year-old woman who had been secretly filmed by her mum using a covert camera in the bathroom of their Merseyside home.

The images showed the 15-year-old naked in the shower and on the toilet and had been sent to Cairns via dropbox, said Miss Snowden.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was found guilty of voyeurism and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months last month.

Sentence on 53-year-old Cairns, who pleaded guilty to four charges of making indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme porn, had been adjourned until today.

However the judge ruled that the same judge who had heard the woman’s trial and sentenced her should also sentence Cairns and the case was further adjourned to a date to be fixed. Cairns was further remanded on bail.

November 2016

He became a sex offender aged 12 – now he’s been jailed

A man who became a sex offender at the age of 12 has been jailed for failing to tell the police he had changed address.

George Harding, aged 21, was locked up for six months for breaching the terms of a court order imposed to allow officers to keep an eye on him.

He had been given a suspended prison sentence for child sex offences committed between the ages of 12 and 17, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

Harding spent nine months “sofa-surfing” away from his father’s home where he was registered, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

Judge Ian Lawrie told him: “I accept you have buried your head in the sand, but whatever the chaos in your particular life, ultimately this order has to be respected.”

Harding, of Exeter Prison, pleaded guilty to breaching the requirements of his sex offender registration between January and October.

He was convicted of serious sexual offences in November last year and handed a suspended prison sentence.

The court heard that he had already breached that order and been sent to jail until April next year.

The new sentence, of which he should serve half, will not add to the time he spends behind bars.

William Parkhill, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said he had left his registered address in January and could not be found when police came looking for him in July.

He must tell officers every time he changes his address.

Officers caught up with him three months later in October, the court heard.

Mike Brown, for Harding, said he had lived a “chaotic lifestyle” and “buried his head in the sand”.

He added he was making good use of his time in prison.

November 2016

Cardiff teacher caught with indecent images of children

A primary school teacher who downloaded indecent pictures of children has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Parents of pupils at Llysfaen Primary School, Lisvane, Cardiff, have now been told by the head teacher that the court case was the reason why David Pugh, 54, from Ludlow Street, Caerphilly, was absent from work.

Pugh pleaded guilty and was given a 32-week term, suspended for two years, at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday

Pugh was also placed under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.

November 2016

Victim of Clapton Common child abuser speaks out as her attacker avoids jail

A child sex abuse survivor whose attacker has dodged jail is urging parents to look out for signs their own kids could be at risk.

Joseph Augustin, 88, of Clapton Common, indecently assaulted his victim more than two decades ago as a young child.

The victim, who cannot legally be identified, was diagnosed with a mental illness following the abuse, and found the courage to tell police about her ordeal three years ago.

Augustin denied the allegations but was found guilty by a majority verdict of two counts of indecent assault following a trial at Wood Green Crown Court on September 22. Last week he was given a two-year suspended sentence.

He was also added to the sex offenders’ register but police refused to provide the Gazette with a photograph of him.

“Things like this shouldn’t be silenced,” the victim told the Gazette.

“I’ve got nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of. My point is he’s committed a disgusting crime.

“I had a diagnosis because of this and I had it removed. I didn’t get listened to because people thought I was mentally ill. I lost my childhood and the beginning of my adulthood because I couldn’t get over it – it took me years. But the police said I’ve come a long way.”

She added: “A lot of parents are unaware of stuff. They leave their children so exposed, but maybe they will learn to protect their children and learn the signs of abuse, because not a lot of children know the signs.

“Everyone has a responsibility to speak out about what’s going on. It makes it more worthwhile what I’ve gone through. Like I’ve helped someone.”

Long term effects of abuse can include emotional difficulties like anger, anxiety, sadness and low self-esteem, mental health problems and addiction to drugs and alcohol.

November 2016

Man jailed for rape of six year old girl

A man who sexually abused a young Quedgeley girl when he was 17-years-old has been jailed for just three years at Gloucester Crown Court today.

Christopher Rouen, 22, of Dumbarton Road in Stockport sexually assaulted the girl, the court was told.

Rouen, who has ten convictions for ‘flashing’ offences of indecent exposure, was aged 17 at the time he abused the girl between June and September 2011, the court heard.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC said the normal sentence starting point for an adult who committed such offences on such a young girl would be eight years.

But he halved that because of Rouen’s age at the time and then deducted a further year to take account of his guilty pleas, he said.

Prosecutor Brendan Moorhouse said: “The girl was extremely grateful that the defendant spared her the ordeal of having to give evidence to a jury.”

He said the offences came to light when the girl told a family member what Rouen had done to her.

“She kept it secret for a long time,” the prosecutor said.

“The defendant was interviewed on December 24 last year and denied the offences. He did refer to the difficulties he’d had with a cannabis habit.”

In a victim impact statement, the girl said that at the time of the offences she was so young she did not know what to feel about it.

She now feels wary about boys and is scared they might suddenly kiss her, she stated. It takes her a long time to feel she can trust someone.

“I don’t feel I can trust any man apart from my grandfather,” she stated.

She had mixed feelings about Rouen – mad that he had confessed his crime to the court but not to her, she said.

“I think he should go to jail as a punishment but I think he needs some support so he doesn’t do it again,” she added.

Judge Tabor told Rouen: “What you did was wicked. It has had an effect on your victim since that time. It has obviously been something very much on her mind while she has been growing up.

“I have tried to strike a balance between the young man you were then and you are now but I have come to the conclusion, I’m afraid, that you must go away to prison. I don’t say that lightly or with any pleasure at all.”

November 2016

Bristol man facing ‘very substantial’ jail sentence for sexual abuse of 12-year-old girl

A Stockwood man will find out next year how long he will spend in prison for sexual abuse which left a young girl “traumatised”.

Ben D’Mellow has already been told that he faces a “very substantial” prison term, after admitting a total of nine sex offences involving the girl, as well possessing extreme images of child sex abuse involving youngsters as young as eight years old.

The 29-year-old, of Fontmell Court, had been due to be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court today, having admitted a total of 17 charges at an earlier hearing.

But a judge has deferred sentence on him until early next year.

D’Mellow appeared via a video link from prison.

He has admitted three counts of sexually assaulting a girl aged 12 by touching her private parts with his tongue and penis, and six counts of sexual activity with a child by the same actions.

D’Mellow also admitted six counts of making indecent images of a child, one count of distributing indecent images of a child and one count of possessing extreme pornography, involving images of youngsters aged eight to 15 engaged in sexual acts with animals.

Ian Fenny, prosecuting, told the earlier hearing: “This criminality went undiscovered.

“It was only as a consequence of an investigation into highly pornographic material that it was uncovered. In her available best evidence interview her disclosures are fairly general.

“She was so traumatised by her past that she has effectively driven the memory of awful events very much to the back of her mind.

“This is a very damaged complainant. She was abused before and that is something he would be aware of.”

D’Mellow was due to be sentenced today but Judge Judge Michael Cullum deferred sentence until February next year.

D’Mellow is remanded in custody.

November 2016

Convicted killer is jailed for 12 years after raping child

A convicted killer who burnt his girlfriend to death has now been jailed for 12 years for raping a child in Derbyshire.

Anthony Frost, jailed in 2004 for 10 years for manslaughter and arson, has now been convicted of sickening sex crimes against two young girls during the 1980s.

Frost forced himself on a teenage girl, put his hands around the back of her neck and pulled down her trousers and her underwear and raped her, Derby Crown Court was told.

The 57-year-old also sexually assaulted another girl, who was aged under 10 at the time.

The court heard that the teenager was raped by Frost in the late 1980s in Holbrook but that she was “still haunted” by him and still “wakes up crying” almost 30 years after it took place.

His second victim was “a likeable and innocent little girl who he took his disgusting sexual needs out on”.

The attacks took place in Holbrook in the late 1980s and early 1990s – before Frost, then of Park Road, Belper, was jailed in 2004 for 10 years for manslaughter and arson.

The hearing was told how in that case he pushed a burning bag through the letterbox of his former partner’s Belper home after he dialled a wrong number, heard a man’s voice and thought that she had found a new lover.

The house set on fire and 33-year-old Sarah Jane Dudley, a mother-of-two, was heard screaming as she became trapped in a bedroom. She died from the effects of smoke inhalation.

Stephen Kemp, prosecuting the rape and sexual assault case today at Derby Crown Court, said the two victims decided to come forward to police in 2015 after they both discovered they had been sex victims of Frost.

Frost, now of Elizabeth Walk, Northampton, pleaded guilty to one count of raping a child and another of sexually abusing a child.

Sentencing Frost, Judge Robert Egbuna said of the attack on the younger girl: “This was a dreadful thing to do a young girl, she was a child and you chose to gratify yourself with her.

“You heard what the reaction was (to the other victim). She says the whole set of circumstances have been a nightmare for her and she wakes up still recording the events that happened to her when she was a young girl.”

October 2016

Former Telford pub landlord exchanged sexual messages with girl

A man who ran a pub groomed a girl who he exchanged sexually explicit messages with, a court heard.

David Arrowsmith, formerly of the Foresters Arms in Madeley, Telford, has now moved out of the area as a result of the offences, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard.

The 47-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of inciting a child under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity. The offences date back to December last year.

Mrs Debra White, representing Arrowsmith, said he had taken full responsibility for his actions and had already spent three months remanded in custody at Hewell prison in Redditch.

She said: “He’s someone who has spent time on remand and has moved away from the area as a result of this offence.

“He has a partner. He has a young child.”

Arrowsmith, who now lives in Bucks Hill, Nuneaton, was told by Judge Peter Barrie that he had behaved in a very bad and a very damaging way towards the girl.

He said: “The outcome of that relationship you had with her was that you had this exchange of highly explicit phone messages over the Christmas period, which were clear incitement to serious sexual activity.”

He said he should not have taken advantage of her and instead should have made sure nothing came of it.

Judge Barrie told the court that no penetrative sexual activity resulted from the messages that were sent.

Sentencing Arrowsmith, he told him: “I accept you pleaded guilty to these offences as soon as the opportunity was placed before you.”

But he went on to add: “This was still serious offending.”

He said if the matter had gone to trial Arrowsmith could have expected a custodial sentence.

But Judge Barrie told him that he accepted he had already served a period of time in custody on remand, and therefore felt a community order would be a more fitting punishment.

Arrowsmith was given a 12-month community order and will have to complete a 30 day rehabilitation activity requirement.

He will have to follow a programme designed for sex offenders.

Judge Barrie made a requirement that Arrowsmith keeps police informed of where he is living for the next five years.

He also made a five-year sexual harm prevention order and told Arrowsmith he would be barred from working with children in the future, for a period of time yet to be decided.

July 2005

Child abuse images teacher jailed

A MIDLAND teacher who downloaded child abuse images on his school computer, including the image of a newborn baby, has been jailed.

James Roberts accessed the material while working as a temporary science teacher at Redhill School, Stourbridge.

Magistrates at Halesowen heard that by typing in the words “gay porn” he downloaded 200 images – all adult apart from five featuring children.

Roberts, 24, of Goldthorn Road, Kidderminster, who had previously admitted five charges of making indecent photographs of children, was jailed for a total of 36 weeks.

Chairman of the bench, Brian Slater, told him: “We think there is no other appropriate way to deal with you because of the very serious nature of the offences. These are aggravated by the fact that you were a teacher and had previous involvement working with children.”

Karen Hackett, prosecuting, said Roberts’ possibilities of gaining a full time position ended on February 2 this year when images downloaded in January were found on a school computer under his user name and he was suspended. Police were called in and seized the computer, along with a memory stick.

They found 200 downloaded images but only five of children. All were of the lower end of the pornographic category, one image being of a newborn baby, two of children aged five to eight and another two of children aged 14.

Roberts was arrested at his home on March 3 where he admitted downloading the images, said Mrs Hackett.

“He said his interest was in the younger male adult. He had no interest in children but was curious and so copied the images.”

September 2015

Suspended detention order for man that groomed Redditch girl and had sex with her in field

AN 18-year-old who “groomed” a young Redditch girl online before meeting up and having sex with her has been given a suspended detention order.

Connor Abley, now 19, of Berryfields, Aldridge, near Walsall, admitted meeting the 14-year-old girl after grooming, engaging in sexual activity in her presence and having sex with her.

Gareth Walters, prosecuting, said the girl’s mother alerted police after she confiscated the teenager’s mobile phone and found messages between her and Abley, who had expressed his love for her.

Mr Walters said the girl’s friend initially put out a Blackberry Messenger communication and three men contacted the two girls, including Abley.

Abley chatted to the 14-year-old, calling her “princess” and “beautiful” and they exchanged their ages.

She spoke to Abley over Skype, during which time he carried out sexual activity in front of her.

In March, Abley met the girl and they went to Arrow Valley Lake in Redditch and then to a fair before they caught a bus to near her home.

Mr Walters added they went to fields behind her home, where they had sex.

In a victim statement to Worcester Crown Court, the girl said she felt ashamed and embarrassed and that she had “lost a part of me”.

Abigail Nixon, defending, said Abley was naïve and immature, behaved as though he was aged 15 and had been bullied at school.

Judge Michael Cullum gave Abley a 16 month detention order, suspended for two years.

Abley was also ordered to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work in the community and 20 days of rehabilitation activity.

He was barred from working with children, put on the sexual offenders’ register for seven years and given a restraining order banning him from any contact with the girl.

The judge said Abley had taken advantage of the girl and his conduct was “abusive”.

May 2016

Man banned from Lancashire leisure centres for a decade

A sex pest who fondled a male in a sauna has been banned from every leisure centre in Lancashire for the next decade.

Bashir Haji, 49, who already had convictions for sexual offences, has admitted a charge of sexual assault on the day his trial was due to start.

Judge Andrew Woolman, who ruled he would pose a risk of sexual harm if allowed in any leisure centres, told him off, saying he needed to “keep his hands to himself”.

Prosecuting at Preston Crown Court, Claire Larton described how Haji had groped the young man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, as he relaxed in the facility at Fulwood Leisure Centre in Preston on June 4 last year.

He was later arrested.

Haji, of Newton Street, Deepdale, Preston, was ordered to notify his address details with the police for the next 10 years.

Judge Woolman accepted he had not targeted the man for more than a few seconds, but said his two previous convictions for sexual assaults aggravated the matter.

He imposed a 15 month prison term but suspended it for two years after his guilty plea to sexual assault.

He said: “This is not the first time you have been in trouble.

“I hardly need to spell out to you what will happen if you breach the terms of your sentence.

“You will definitely go straight to prison.

He added: “I don’t think any amount of culturing by the probation service is going to do any good. You either learn to control yourself and keep your hands to yourself, or you will go to prison for a very long time.

“I strongly suspect the influence of your family is far greater than the influence someone else is likely to have on you.”

November 2016

Transgender woman from Wells tried to get photos developed of naked 10-year-old girl

A transgender woman and convicted paedophile who was caught trying to get photographs of a posing, naked 10-year-old girl developed at a Wells photographic shop has been committed to Taunton Crown Court for sentence.

Transgender Nicola Florida served a long prison sentence for convictions of sexual assaults and rapes committed against children and possessing indecent images when she was formerly living as a man.

Following her release from custody, and now living as a woman, she was arrested after taking a film to a photographic shop to be developed containing images of a naked 10-year-old girl.

Florida, 50, of Johnsons Close, Wells, was brought before Somerset Magistrates at Yeovil in custody and pleaded guilty to breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO).

The charge stated that on November 14 she did something, namely that she was in possession of photographic equipment and naked pictures of a child under the age of 16, which she was prohibited from doing so by the order made at Taunton Crown Court on November 29, 2007.

The court was told that the SOPO included various prohibitions including being in possession of a camera or other recording device and being in possession of photographs of children, or taking photographs of children under the age of 16.

Prosecutor Emma Lenanton said that Florida attended DH James Photography on November 8 and handed over a strip of negatives containing four pictures to a member of staff to be developed in a 16 inch x 4 inch size.

“She gave contact details and a name and agreed that the photos would be collected the following day,” she said.

“The staff member saw they contained four photos of a young girl, aged about 10, and in his opinion she seemed to be posing for the camera and was completely naked. He felt uncomfortable about the situation and contacted the police.”

Officers attended Florida’s address and she was arrested for the offence and a search of her home was conducted. They found a 35mm camera and three further photos of a young girl matching the description of the ones that had been taken to the shop.

A Kodak film was found on the living room windowsill and in her bedroom they found a digital camera along with two more cameras in some drawers.

Miss Lenanton said: “There should be no misunderstanding of the order that was imposed for very serious offences and there should be no doubt how important it was to adhere to those prohibitions.

“Also, because of the number of cameras found, and the fact that she was wanting to print the photos, is particularly serious.”

Defending, Nigel Yeo said that Florida was released from prison in May 2015 following a very long custodial sentence and after spending six months in a bail hostel was now living in Wells.

He said that before receiving her sentence the defendant had been a semi-professional photographer and had acquired a significant amount of photographic equipment and paraphernalia.

Since her release her elderly father had been helping her to sort out her possessions and the photographs and negatives seized by the police were found in a box which he had brought over to her, and had been taken before she went to prison.

“She found some photos in a wallet which had been taken when she was an extra in a film with her fellow actors and thought that the other negatives were going to be similar photos as well,” he said.

“She didn’t look at the negatives in great details as if she had, it was highly unlikely she would have taken them to a photographic shop in Wells and given them her name and address.

“The police then searched her home and found two or three photos of the girl on the film and my client accepts it was one of the victims for which she was sent to prison for and were taken after 2001.”

He said that Florida was aware of one of the cameras but had not used it for many years and did not think it was in working order.

“She was proposing giving it back to her father when he next visited and has no recollection of the other cameras and knows she should have been far more careful in relation to items coming into her home, and going through them much more carefully,” he said.

Mr Yeo said that Florida had complied with her sex offender’s notification requirements and changed her name to her current one in 2012 while in prison and had been living her life as a woman ever since.

“She has taken some medical advice and has two appointments arranged later this month at a gender identity clinic in London and is hoping she will be able to start on the course of hormones which will be the first steps in achieving a gender reassignment,” he said.

“She then hopes this will lead to surgical reassignment but at the moment she is living her life as a woman 10% of the time.”

He added that Florida had also been prescribed anti-depressants and lived a fairly lonely existence.

The magistrates said that offence was so serious that Florida must be sent to Taunton Crown Court to be sentenced .

They adjourned the case until December 16 and in the meantime released her on unconditional bail.