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Peter Wright – Cambridge

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February 2014

Cambridge babysitter jailed for 12 years for abusing three young children in 1980s

Peter Wright

A babysitter has been jailed for 12 years for sexually abusing three “defenceless and vulnerable” young children he was supposed to be looking after.

Peter Wright, of St Bede’s Crescent, Cambridge, carried out the assaults over an eight-month period in the late 1980s when he was in his 20s and his victims were a 5-year-old girl and boys aged under 12.

Wright denied the claims but was found guilty of 13 counts by a Cambridge Crown Court jury last month, with charges ranging from indecent assault to indecency with a child – all in Cambridge.

The court heard the defendant, now aged 56, abused each child on their own so they did not know it was happening to all of them – often while reading them bedtime stories.

The most serious offence came when Wright enticed the young boy to a bedroom, bolted the door, stripped himself and the youngster of their clothes and abused him.

The abuse only came to an end when Wright was suspected of offering the boys alcohol at a park, leading to him being banned from seeing them by another adult.

During the sentencing hearing, Sally Hobson, prosecuting, read out state-ments written by the victims almost 30 years after the offences took place.

The female victim said: “I have been tortured by what Peter did all my life and it haunts me”, while one of the males stated: “I feel utterly humiliated by what happened to me.”

All three also described suffering mental and physical health problems since, including bowel problems, post traumatic stress, anxiety and depression, while one said they had battled with drug addiction, another had marital difficulties, and the third said they struggle to form close bonds with their children.

Judge Jonathan Haworth told Wright: “It doesn’t need me to emphasise the gravity of the abuse of three young children, when you were in a position of trust and responsibility for their care.

“It is only in cases where matters are dealt with at this distance from the crime that one can see the actual impact of the offences.

“This case shows the deep-seated effects this kind of abuse has on children and how it carries on through their lives. It is clear that all of them suffered considerable psychological harm that has been long-lasting.”

He added: “You preyed on defenceless and vulnerable children. There is no miti-gation in this case and you still accept no responsibility.”

Emma Rance, representing Wright, told the court her client had no other convictions.

The defendant will serve half his sentence and on release will be subject to a sexual prevention order banning any contact with under-16s unless approved by parents or unavoidable.


Oliver Brooke – Tooting

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June 1987

Lord Chief Justice compared images of child abuse with ‘collecting cigarette cards’

Oliver Brooke was the Head of Paediatric Medicine at St. George’s Hospital, Tooting. He was jailed for a collection of thousands of images of child abuse which he kept in a cupboard in his office at the hospital. He admitted “offences involving the procurement, collection and distribution of indecent images of children mostly aged 12-14, some posing with adults, and some as young as eight.”

Duplicates of the photographs were passed on to ‘three or four’ other paedophiles. Brooke was spending £800 a year on indecent images. He was directly responsible for the sexual abuse of children, and made notes such as “Very nice, but not quite enough crotch” so his contacts could produce ‘better’ photographs for him.

Brooke appealed his conviction, and the appeal was heard by Lord Lane, the Lord Chief Justice, who was the second highest judge in Britain, second only to the Lord Chancellor.

Lord Lane cut Brooke’s sentence to six months, which meant he was immediately freed from jail, having already served a few months of his sentence. Lord Lane said:

“It is not inappropriate, perhaps, in view of the puerility of this type of behaviour, to compare it rather to a schoolboy collecting cigarette cards in olden times, because the duplicates were handed on to other adults, three of four of them only, who were likewise minded to indulge in this sort of puerility. To that extent the distribution was by no means of the most vicious sort.

It is perfectly plain from those, (the testimonials read out about Brooke) that we are dealing here with someone who, apart from these offences, was an unusually fine man.’

The sentencing took into account

It appears that no effort was made to track down the other members of Brooke’s paedophile ring, and no effort was made to trace the children who Brooke had commissioned to be sexually abused. Lord Lane was more concerned about the ‘humiliation’ Brooke had suffered through having his sick ‘hobby’ exposed.

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William (Andy) McKechnie – Port Talbot

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February 2014

Pervert has admitted sexually assaulting a 4 yr old girl by penetration

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A 53 year old man has admitted sexually assaulting a four year old girl

William (Andy) McKechnie, of Western avenue in Port Talbot pleaded guilty to assaulting a child by penetration and of sexual assault on the same child

He also pleaded guilty to possession of 15 indecent images of children and 11 charges of taking indecent images of children

Prosecutor Brian Simpson asked Judge Paul Thomas QC not to sentence McKechnie yet

Robin Rouch, representing McKechnie said his client knew he would face a significant sentence but asked for sentencing to take place after further charges had been put to him

Judge Thomas said: You’ve now pleaded guilty to very serious matters. There are other charges in the pipeline and no one can sentence you until such time as the outcome of those is known.”

McKechnie was remanded in custody

Steven Keogh – Dundee

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February 2014

Child rapist jailed for prolonged abuse of girl with learning difficulties

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A rapist who subjected a girl with learning disability to a prolonged ordeal of abuse has been jailed for ten years.

A judge condemned Steven Keogh’s sex offending as “crimes of unspeakable wickedness”.

Lord Uist told Keogh at the High Court in Edinburgh: “You clearly cared not what the effect of your deviant sexual conduct on her would be.”

The judge said: “You have shown no remorse, continued to deny the sexual offences and called her a liar.”

Keogh was earlier convicted after a trial of rape and other sex crimes against the girl at houses in Dundee and Broughty Ferry.

He began preying on the girl before she was aged 12 and continued the abuse into her teenage years. During one incident he told the youngster and a young boy to take off their clothes and lie on a bed.

He compelled the boy to touch her while he stood and watched them. Keogh also used physical violence on the girl and slapped her and struck her with a belt. He also assaulted two boys who were both hit with a belt.

Lord Uist told Keogh, who appeared in the dock for sentencing with a walking stick: “You are now 47 years old and have no previous convictions, which is about the only thing that can be said in your favour.”

The judge said: “The crimes which you committed must attract a lengthy sentence.”

He jailed Keogh, formerly of The Beeches, in Dundee, for nine years for the sex offences and a further year for the assaults on children.The judge told that he would be placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

George Owen – Prestwick/Bellshill

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February 2014

Child sex predator jailed for five years

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A man who admitted sexually abusing four young children over an 11-year period has been jailed for five years.

George Owen, 66, attacked the children mainly at properties in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, and Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, between 1971 and 1982.

He was caught in 2012 when a daughter of one of the victims confronted him.

Owen was jailed at the High Court in Glasgow after previously pleading guilty to five charges of acting in a lewd and libidinous manner.

Judge Lord Turnbull told Owen that he had behaved in “a devious and calculating manner”.

‘Predatory offenders’

Lord Turnbull added: “It is the duty of the court to protect victims from predatory sexual offenders who use children as sexual objects.”

During a previous hearing, the court was told that Owen’s first victim was only five years old when he began attacking her.

He also started abusing an eight-year-old boy around the same time.

A second boy was also targeted – beginning at the age of five. This included a sex attack at a swimming pool cubicle in Ayr.

Owen’s final victim was aged between eight and 10 when she was abused.

Prosecutor Bill McVicar told how Owen escaped justice for decades until a daughter of his first victim challenged him about the abuse in late 2012.

Owen then went missing, but police eventually discovered him in Dunoon, Argyll and Bute.

He told officers that his “past was catching up with him” and that he had “needed to get away”.

Kamran Khalid – Coventry

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February 2014

Trio sentenced for toddler Mariam Alam death cover up

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TWO of the three liars who covered up a toddler’s death have avoided prison – while the third has been jailed for just two years and ten months.

Kamran Khalid couldn’t escape a jail term at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday) but his wife, Razwanah Yousef, and his lover, Saima Bashir, were only handed suspended sentences.

The latter of the trio was the mother of Mariam Alam, who suffered a ‘catastrophic’ head injury in November 2011 at the Fisher Road, Foleshill, home of Khalid, a taxi driver who she had called ‘uncle’.

But rather than seek emergency help he carried the injured three-year-old across the road to her mum, Bashir, and demanded: “Keep me out of this.”

The pair – who were having an affair – then set to work hatching a plot to sweep Mariam’s death under the carpet, even sneaking off to discuss alibis while paramedics fought to save the youngster’s life.

They tricked police, friends and neighbours into thinking Marian collapsed on the doorstep of her own home following a supermarket shopping trip.

Along with Khalid’s wife they stuck to their lies for more than a year, misleading detectives and removing potentially vital evidence.

The trio all admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice before the sentences were handed down at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday).

A murder charge against Khalid had failed to stick through lack of evidence but he admitted child cruelty for failing to get Mariam emergency medical treatment.

The court had heard Khalid, 36, and 34-year-old Yousef initially suggested Mariam never set foot in their home – despite being a regular visitor – while a CCTV hard drive disappeared from their house along with camera footage showing Mariam entering and being carried home hurt shortly afterwards.

And when Khalid was finally forced to admit Mariam was hurt while in his care he told officers she fell from a child’s plastic desk – but the desk was surreptitiously removed from the house, just days before making the claim, ensuring police were never able to forensically examine it.

West Midlands Police Detective Chief Inspector Chris Hanson, from the force’s Public Protection Unit, said: “It’s astonishing to think that whilst this little girl lay dying her mother and Khalid were busy concocting a story to cover up the facts – and because of their lies we still don’t know exactly how Mariam received the head injury that killed her.

“Khalid lied throughout the investigation and misled officers.

“He eventually admitted Mariam died in his care but not out of any desire to help police, rather he’d been backed into a corner by our enquiries and exhausted all his lies. He is deeply dishonest and has never shown any remorse for what happened.

“I just hope that Mariam can now rest in peace.”

He added: “Within a matter of days we became suspicious of the stories we were being told and, when we ramped up our house-to-house enquiries locally, Khalid took an unplanned trip to Pakistan.

“The whole investigation team has been shocked by the cold, cynical way family and friends have tried to cover up Mariam’s death. It’s highly frustrating we were unable to prove precisely what happened to Mariam but, ultimately, we can only go as far as the evidence takes us. We did all we could to secure a murder charge.”

Gareth Williams – Cardiff

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February 2014

Cardiff teacher used secret cameras to film thousands of shots of pupils, court hears

A deputy headteacher used secret spy cameras to film thousands of pupils while they were using toilets, a court has heard

Gareth Williams, aged 47, allegedly hid cameras in clock faces, lights and fans to film children in bathrooms and toilets.

Williams is facing 48 charges of voyeurism and making indecent images of teenagers at his 1,500-pupil school.

Prosecutor Andrew Gwynne said: “The number of victims is effectively in the thousands.

“The filming took place at the school and two private properties and there was more than a modicum of premeditation.

“Clockfaces, fans and lights were modified to include pinhole cameras so those using the bathrooms for private acts were totally unaware.”

The court heard Williams was the deputy head teacher and rugby coach at the school in Cardiff.

Mr Gwynne said: “He is accused of a myriad of offences, incorporating making indecent images as well as acts of voyeurism.

“This is a systematic abuse of trust which amounts to an invidious invasion of the privacy of young people.”

Cardiff magistrates heard Williams kept the images on a computer hard drive and viewed them for “sexual pleasure”.

The alleged offences happened over eight years between February 2006 and January 2014 at the 1,500-pupil Ysgol Gyfun Cymraeg Glantaf – a Welsh language school – in Llandaff North, Cardiff.

Williams is accused of possessing 4,544 indecent photographs of children.

The court heard 20 downloaded child abuse images were of the most serious category involving sex acts on children.

Williams appeared by video link from prison where he is on remand because of the danger of him committing further offences.

He showed no emotion during the 15-minute hearing before Cardiff magistrates.

Williams, of Rhiwbina, Cardiff, has previously admitted three charges of using a hidden camera to film children going to the toilet at a private house.

He faces 12 further counts of voyeurism – six of these relating to his school.

The remainder relate to offences committed at other locations.

Williams also faces 34 counts of making indecent images which includes footage related to the voyeurism charges.

He’s also accused of two counts of possessing indecent images relating to other indecent material.

The Crown Prosecution Service said he is expected to admit the charges when he appears at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday.

Lachlan Gillies – Tyttenhanger

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February 2014

Rapist from St Albans jailed for four years

A St Albans man who raped a nine year old girl when he was a teenager has been jailed for four years.

Lachlan Gillies, 29, of Tillage Close, Tyttenhanger, was convicted at St Albans crown court of one charge of rape and three of indecency with a child.

At yesterday’s (Wednesday) sentencing, Judge Stephen Warner also ordered Gillies to register as a sex offender for life.

Gillies had sexually abused the girl on four occasions in 1999 when he was aged 14 or 15.

He got her to perform a sex act on him on three occasions and raped her once.

He had denied the charges during his trial, but his lawyer Andel Singh said yesterday that Gillies had since admitted his guilt to a probation officer, who prepared a report on him.

Mr Singh said: “There is a genuine sense of remorse from Mr Gillies about the way he behaved as a young man. He feels disgusted with himself. The whole episode has been eating away at him for the whole of his life.”

The court heard that Gillies had confessed to the offence to his then partner in 2008, but the police were not told until January last year when they were contacted by another woman.

The judge told him: “The victim was young, vulnerable and confused. You used her as an outlet for your sexual urges. She told no one for many years. She did not think she would be believed.”


Adam Willmore – Newhaven

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February 2014

Newhaven sex offender jailed for impregnating 15-year-old

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A sex offender who impregnated a 15-year-old girl has been jailed.

Adam Willmore has been jailed for two years and eight months on appeal after pleading guilty on three counts of sexual activity with a girl under 16 between July and September 2012 which resulted in the 15-year-old victim becoming pregnant.

The 23-year-old, of The Crescent in Newhaven, was sentenced at Hove Crown Court earlier this month to three years but had the sentence reduced on appeal yesterday.

He is also subject to a ten year Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) severely restricting his access to children and will remain on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely.

Detective Constable John Steven said “The victim in this case was vulnerable and her life has changed forever, something which cannot be undone.

“The sentence imposed will ensure that the risk from this man is minimised and emphasises that this sort of behaviour will not be tolerated.”

Brian Vaughan – Sileby

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February 2014

Paedophile from Sileby confessed to downloading child abuse images after ‘blackmail demand’

A paedophile confessed to looking at indecent images of children online after receiving a blackmail demand for $20,000 from an American gang.

Brian Vaughan (48) took his laptop computer to Loughborough police station and handed himself in after receiving an e-mail from a group calling itself the Black Hands Gang.

Leicester Crown Court was told the gang threatened to inform “everyone in his contacts list” that he had downloaded indecent images, unless he paid $20,000 in four instalments.

Victoria Rose, prosecuting, said: “Vaughan told the police he had accessed indecent images of girls and wanted to confess.”

Officers found 12 readily accessible indecent images but recovered hundreds more deleted pictures. They were unable to trace the Black Hands Gang.

Vaughan, of Seagrave Road, Sileby, admitted eight counts of downloading indecent images of girls aged about 12, between September 2011 and February 13 last year.

They involved 465 images at level one, 78 images at level two, 68 images at level three and 65 images at level four.

There were none in the most serious category, level five.

Vaughan was sentenced to a two-year community order, with supervision, and a requirement to attend a sex offenders group course.

Martin Auty, mitigating, said: “These offences would never have been detected but for his confession.

“A year has elapsed since he went to the police station and there’s been no repetition of this behaviour.

“He sought help.”

The offending happened during a period of isolation and loneliness following the loss of a job when Vaughan had “too much time on his hands”.

“He’s devastated and ashamed,” Mr Auty said.

Judge Simon Hammond said: “It’s a highly unusual case but no-one should minimise the gravity of people accessing the internet to view images of children who have been abused.”

Vaughan, who has no previous convictions, will have to enlist on a sex offender register for five years.

He was placed on a sex offences prevention order, which means his future computer use can be monitored by the authorities.

Adrian Moore – Redditch/Birmingham

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February 2014

Pervert jailed for abusing young girl

A man has been sentenced to 23 months imprisonment for sexual offences against a 12 year old girl

Adrian Moore, formerly of Lodgepark in Redditch but now living in Birmingham pleaded guilty to the charges at Worcester crown court. The abuse was said to of been over a period of years between 2008 and 2010

Moore will be subject to the sex offenders register, when he is released from prison. He was also banned from working with children for life

Kevin Leahy – Dagenham

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February 2014

Serial paedophile jailed for string of historic child sex offences

A serial paedophile from Dagenham has been jailed for six years and nine months for a string of historic child sex offences spanning three decades.

Kevin Patrick Leahy, 58, a self-employed electrician of Westfield Road, Dagenham, was sentenced today at Snaresbrook Crown Court .

He was charged with two counts of indecent assault, sexually assaulting a child aged between seven and 11, and engaging in sexual activity with a child under 13.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to four counts of voyeurism.

All of the crimes were committed either in Dagenham houses he frequented, or at the victims’ home addresses.

Det Ch Insp Adam Lowe said: “Today’s sentence will not take away the hurt and damage caused to his victims by Leahy but will hopefully mark how seriously the courts view such gross breaches of trust and privacy by predators such as this man.

“This case should send a strong message to sex offenders that despite the passage of time they are not safe from conviction.”

Between February 17, 2005, and September 15, 2009, Leahy sexually assaulted a girl aged between seven and 11 years, who knew him through a friend’s mother.

The girl was encouraged to perform dances with her friend, sometimes naked and sometimes wearing underwear.

The court heard how Leahy would sometimes be ‘playing with himself’ under bed covers or sitting on a sofa. On one occasion he assaulted her.

Leahy indecently assaulted two sisters between January 1, 1982, and August 1, 1985 – one aged between six and nine, the other eight and 11 years.

The offences came to light in 2012 after inappropriate text messages from Leahy were found on a victim’s phone.

Following searches through his home, police discovered how Leahy had set up a camera to record everything that occurred in his upstairs bedroom, later putting it onto DVDs.

As well as his jail term he will be added on to the Sex Offenders Register for life and subjected to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

Jake Carr – Runcorn

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February 2014

Sex offender who is ‘a risk to girls’ walks free from court with community order 

A PERVERT from Runcorn has  been given  a three-year supervised community order for  sexual offences involving children under the age of 16.

Jake Carr, 26, of Willow Close,  appeared before Warrington Crown  Court on February 21 after pleading  guilty at an earlier hearing to 18  charges, including one of possessing an indecent photograph of a  child under 16, 14 of making indecent photographs of a child under  16 and three counts of causing or  indicting a female child under 16 to  engage in sexual activity.

In a separate indictment, he was  also charged with one offence of  intent to supplying a  Class C controlled drug.

Judge Nicolas Woodward put  Carr on a three-year community  supervision order, ordered him to  attend the Northumbria Sex Offender Programme and warned  him that any further incidents will  see him sent to prison.

The prosecution described how  police had visited Carr’s home on  May 15, 2012, following intelligence  regarding his internet activities.

Sarah Badrawy, prosecuting, said:  “The intelligence related to the internet service provider of his being  used to send messages of a sexual  nature to young children.”

The prosecution said one of the  charges included possession of 64  indecent images and a further 53 on  his mobile phone, all but one of  which were level one, which is the  least severe level of indecency.   

The prosecution also described  three incidents where Carr used a  false identity to dupe girls into perform sexual acts over the internet.

Miss Badrawy said: “He was using a profile that he had set up and  had put a picture of a young looking  male and had put his age as 17.”

The court also heard that  officers  also found 61 packets of tablets at  Carr’s home, which were found to  be clenbuterol – a steroid and a class  C drug.

An application for a sexual offences  prevention order was also  heard by Judge Woodward, who  said: “I have to deal with you for a  serious offence and offences of different types of seriousness.

“The last three [charges] are inciting children to engage in sexual  activity. The rest deal with indecent  images that have been found on  your computer and on your phone.

“The three charges of inciting a  child to deal with sexual activity are  very serious. All of these matters to  me indicate an entrenched position  of a person that presents a very  serious risk.

“I believe you pose a real risk to  young girls because of your behaviour.”

But Judge Woodward handed  Carr the community order to allow  him the opportunity to improve his  behaviour under the programme.

He added: “The overall sentence  which will be imposed would not be  greater than two years in prison.

“I am not in any way satisfied that  an immediate sentence is going to  be effective in bringing up a degree  of change.

“It is much more desirable that  you engage the full programme  over the three years.”

Carr’s defence, Desmond Lennon,  had earlier asked Judge Woodward  to ‘impose the sanction’ regarding  the community order.

Judge Woodward added: “I make  it absolutely clear to you that if you  perform under the order and not  commit any further offences during  the three years, that will be the end  of that.  On the other hand, if you  reoffend or fail to properly engage  with the programme, you will be  brought back to be re-sentenced.

“If you breach the order or commit a further offence, you will come  back before me and you will go to  prison for these offences. This is  your only chance – if you do not take  it, it will come back to haunt you.”

Owen Critchley – Swindon

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February 2014

Man jailed for sex texts to boy of 13

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A SEX offender who bombarded a 13-year-old boy with suggestive messages after overhearing him tell a friend in the library that he might be gay has been jailed.

Owen Critchley was just six months into a suspended sentence for similar child sex offences when he targeted the youngster.

And when the 25-year-old was called a “dirty paedo” online by the child’s friend, he begged her not to go to the police.

Claire Marlow, prosecuting, told the court the victim and a female friend were in the central library on January 12.

They were chatting in the HeadSpace area, set aside for under 16s, when the boy noticed a man sitting close by smiling at them.

Soon after leaving he received a Facebook message from the defendant asking if he would make him a “friend”.

She said the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, realised from the picture on his profile the request came from the man in the library and agreed.

Critchley, who told him he got his name through a mutual friend, and the boy then exchanged mobile numbers.

Miss Marlow said although the boy’s Facebook profile said he was 16, he quickly told him the truth by text.

The defendant sent him a topless picture of himself as they communicated by text and online.

He sent one text saying “I know it is wrong to talk to you as you are only 13 and I am 19,” even though he was then aged 24.

The boy sent a message back before the girl intervened after seeing what they had been talking about. “She sent a message ‘dirty paedo.’ He replied ‘Please don’t tell the police,’” Miss Marlow said.

Miss Marlow said he was arrested a few days later and at first denied he had been in contact with the boy but then admitted what he had done.

Critchley, who was living at a hostel in Croft Road, admitted breaching a sexual offences prevention order which banned unsupervised contact with children.

The court heard he was put on a suspended sentence at Salisbury Crown Court after being convicted of two sex offences and two of child grooming.

A jury found him guilty of telling a 14-year-old boy he was 17 in the summer of 2011 after contacting him online. He then engaged in sexual activity with the boy before contacting him on Facebook and other networks.

Greg Gordon, defending, said his client had ended the contact with the child in Swindon and had not intended to have sexual contact with him.

He said he was due to start a sex offender programme a few weeks after his arrest but was struggling to fill his time as he could not find work because of his convictions. At the time he was drinking heavily.

Critchley was jailed for a year, the 18 months suspended sentence was added, he must register as a sex offender for life and the breached order must be continued.

Colin Shakeshaft – Grangetown/Middlesbrough

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September 2007

Sex offender spared prison

A DAD-OF-FOUR retreated into “exile” after indecently assaulting a young girl about 16 years ago.

Colin Shakeshaft, 56, was living in Grangetown around 1990 to 1991 when he touched the girl, then aged 11 to 12, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Shortly afterwards the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, broke down and told of what happened, said prosecutor Peter Makepeace.

Shakeshaft did not deny the allegations when challenged.

But the offences were not reported to the police then, the court was told yesterday.

When the girl grew up, a stable relationship allowed her, now in her late 20s, to tell the police what happened and that she wanted action taken.

When arrested in November last year, former Teesport driver Shakeshaft admitted to police that he touched the girl for a matter of seconds.

He said he thought to himself, “Colin, what the hell are you doing?”

“He said he wasn’t planning what he was doing, it just happened,” said Mr Makepeace.

Shakeshaft admitted he must have had a sexual motivation to touch her.

He told officers his crimes had become “common knowledge” and he had been beaten up in a local pub.

Shakeshaft, of Bangor Close, Middlesbrough, admitted two charges of indecent assault, saying he touched the girl over her clothing.

He had no previous convictions.

David Lamb, defending, said the offences were “antique”, and Shakeshaft had not been in trouble for about 16 years.

“He has effectively lived in self-imposed exile.”

Judge George Moorhouse said the offences were extremely serious and justified custody. “No doubt it had an adverse effect upon her,” he said.

He decided the “exceptional circumstances” of the case just entitled him to suspend the 12-month prison sentence for two years with supervision.

Shakeshaft was also banned from working with children and given a Sexual Offences Prevention Order preventing him from having contact with under-18s except when buying items from shops or ordering a meal.

He will be on the sex offenders’ register for seven years.


Christopher Kershaw – Millom

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February 2014

A Millom dad who has admitted to downloading images of child abuse is due to be sentenced today

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Christopher Kershaw, 59, pleaded guilty to 15 separate counts of making indecent photographs of a child at Furness Magistrates’ Court on February 13.

The charge relates to downloading images to view them.

The 59-year-old, of Millom, will be sentenced at Preston Crown Court today.

Kershaw, a former children’s rugby union coach and primary school janitor, appeared on the Pride of Britain Awards last year when his son was honoured for saving his life after he suffered a heart attack.

Matthew Quirk – St Helens

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February 2014

Sex offender breaches order

A SEX OFFENDER previously convicted of secretly filming children has been remanded in custody after breaching the terms of a court order by loitering around a supermarket’s toilets.

Matthew Quirk was spotted by plain clothes police officers entering toilets in Tesco, Langtree Park on January 13.

This was in breach of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) which had been imposed last August preventing him from entering a public toilet.

The order was brought against Quirk, who was convicted of two counts of voyeurism in 2006 and received a suspended jail sentence, after he was spotted acting suspiciously in The Range store in St Helens last year.

A woman had made an allegation that Quirk had followed her child into the toilets on two occasions.

Although no criminal offence was committed, police took out civil action against him due to his previous pattern of behaviour.

In a hearing at St Helens Magistrates’ Court the 31-year-old from Phoenix Brow, who was dressed in a grey prison sweatshirt listened as prosecutor Angela Blackmore outlined how he had breached the order by going into public toilets at the Tesco store last month.

“The officer entered the male toilets where there were two urinals, both of which were unoccupied. One of the cubicles was locked.

“As the officer went into the next cubicle the other was unlocked and he heard water running. As he (officer) opened the door the defendant was seen walking away.

“There was no one else in the toilets. He was then seen going back to the toilets a short time later, leaving quickly as if he had gone in and gone straight back out.

“He was approached by two officers and arrested.”

Mrs Blackmore said that during interview Quirk admitted he had been ‘daft’ for going into Tesco toilets because he knew it breached his SOPO.

She said that he accepted he needed help with his attraction to under age children and didn’t want to put “anyone else in harm or have any more victims”.

On the day in question Quirk had returned from an appointment in Liverpool and claimed to have visited Tesco because he had an upset stomach.

However Mrs Blackmore said that he had spent several hours in St Helens including at his home address.

He was also seen in the Matalan store looking at children’s clothing before going to the supermarket.

Quirk has six convictions for 27 offences, nine of which were sexually related.

Magistrates dismissed appeals for his release on bail saying that the matter was so serious that only crown court could deal with the matter.

He was remanded in custody until a sentencing date in March.

Michael McKell – Blackpool

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February 2014

Man jailed for abusing children

A man who sexually abused four young girls in Blackpool has today been jailed for six and a half years.

Preston Crown court heard Michael McKell touched the youngsters in a sexual way over their clothing. One of them was also touched under her clothes.

As well as the prison sentence McKell was told he would be the subject of an extended period of licence following his release from prison.

His crimes were said to have had a significant impact on his victims, including fear and dread about the prospect of giving evidence in a trial.

One of them took an overdose after making her complaint.

McKell, 53, of Princes Street,Blackpool had pleaded guilty to three offences of sexual assault, two of sexual activity with a child and another of assault.

He was given six and a half years prison, with three and a half years extended licence.

He will serve two thirds of his jail term and will only be released when the parole board decide it is no longer necessary to keep him in jail for public protection.

His barrister told the court that by pleading guilty he had spared the victims having to relive what had happened.

The defendant himself had been the victim of serious sexual abuse in the past.

Judge Heather Lloyd said McKell had previous sex offences on his record and there was a significant risk of serious harm through further offending. He will be on the sex offenders register for life.

Randolph Pickard – Copmanthorpe

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February 2014

Man caught with thousands of indecent images of children – Community order given

A RETIRED postman and hospital radio volunteer has been ordered to register as a sex offender for possessing indecent images of children.

Police found posters inviting boys to go to Randolph Adrian Pickard’s home, computer print-outs of indecent images of boys under 16 and sexual chat room discussions, and nearly 9,200 different illegal child sexual image files on his home computer when they raided his home, said Nick Adlington, prosecuting.

There were 20,000 copies of the images which had been gathered over many years.

Police did not find any evidence that Pickard had actually approached or invited boys to his home. Mr Adlington said: “It seems to be fantasy.”

The Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, told Pickard: “At 73, you have now acquired a criminal record. You have lost your good name and you are shamed publicly. I hope that, together with the preventative orders I have made today, will best protect the public and keep you out of trouble in the future.”

He passed a community order with three years’ supervision and a compulsory sex offender treatment programme on Pickard and made him subject to a sexual offences prevention order limiting his access to the internet. He must also register as a sex offender for five years.

Pickard, of Temple Garth, Copmanthorpe, pleaded guilty to 14 charges of possessing indecent images of children, most of them of the least serious level.

For Pickard, Andrew Semple said he was isolated socially and had never had a proper relationship with anyone. He did not connect his viewing of the images with the child abuse needed to produce them and put them on the internet.

Mr Adlington said West Midlands Police alerted North Yorkshire Police that Pickard had bought CDs of sexual images of children over the internet.

Johnathan Grant – Exeter

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February 2014

Drifter pleads guilty to abducting and sexually abusing a child in Barnstaple on Boxing day

A drifter has admitted abducting and sexually abusing a child in Barnstaple on Boxing Day.

Johnathan Grant, 32, pleaded guilty to sexual touching of a girl under 16 and child abduction when he appeared before Judge Francis Gilbert QC at Exeter Crown Court.

The judge adjourned sentence and remanded Grant in custody so a psychiatric report could be prepared, which will include an assessment of his dangerousness.

Grant had a permanent address at a hostel in St David’s Hill, Exeter, but was living rough or staying with friends in Barnstaple at the time the offences took place between Christmas Day and December 28 last year.

No details of what he did were given during a short procedural hearing at which he entered his plea.

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