May 2011

Alcester man jailed for sexual abuse

AN Alcester man who sexually abused a 15-year-old girl in the mid-90s has been jailed for two-and-a-half years and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Bernard Bailey, 60, of Meadow Road, had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to four charges of indecent assault and one of unlawful intercourse.

Prosecutor Iain Willis said Bailey first sexually abused the girl, who also lived in Alcester at the time, when she was 15 by touching her breasts over her clothing. Matters developed to him touching her under her clothing with more intimate indecency and he also made her touch him.

On one occasion he also had full intercourse with her, using a condom.

The incidents came to an end when the girl’s mother walked into a room where they were together.

Although nothing was taking place, it was clear Bailey was aroused and the mother grabbed him and pushed him out.

Mr Willis said it was clear the incidents had had an effect on the girl, but she did not say anything until she told her husband-to-be years later, but still did not report it.

“More recently in 2010 she has had counselling, and as a result she thought it was right to contact police.”

In an impact statement the victim, now in her 30s, said that as a result of what Bailey did to her, she does not like being hugged or public displays of emotion and suffers from terrible mood swings.

After reading a report on Bailey, whose son died in 1991, Judge Richard Griffith-Jones commented: “I accept there was a terrible tragedy, and he was at particularly low ebb when this was going on.

“If you are at a low ebb it may be more difficult to resist an illicit impulse; it is no explanation for that impulse.”

Shaun Logan, defending, said it seemed to have been a bizarrely-motivated incident at a particular time in his life but no threats were made or force used.

Jailing Bailey, Judge Griffith-Jones told him: “This is a very distressing day for you, but it does not compare with the distress you inflicted on this wholly blameless girl.

“It was a terrible thing to do. It has done her enormous damage; something she cannot forget, and now in her 30s she is having counselling.”

March 2014

Sick Twitter paedophile exposed is back behind bars

A paedophile who bragged on Twitter about his secret hoard of child abuse images has been jailed thanks to the Sunday Mirror

Christian Derrick revealed his sick collection to our undercover reporter just months after early release from prison.

Within two hours of handing over our evidence to police, railway engineer Derrick, 36, was arrested.

And a court heard last week nearly 1,300 indecent images were found on his iPad and iPhone showing children as young as 18 months being abused.

Our investigators joined forces with child protection expert Mark Williams-Thomas after spotting Derrick on Twitter.

He signed up to the site last August and shared 261 tweets including dozens of vile pictures in just one week.

Derrick quickly gathered 181 followers including our undercover man who sent him a direct message just as he changed his profile snap to a child in underwear.

The pervert said of the images he had posted: “I think I’m sailing close to the wind but I’ve also seen naughtier.”

In one message, he revealed he lived in Wiltshire and was a Network Rail contractor. He said he received most of his images “thro mail”.

Derrick added: “I try to keep small amounts and quite often delete and destroy. I also live in that fear. Young.”

He then gave our investigator full access to all of his pictures. We handed our evidence to Wiltshire Police but at that stage we were unaware of his past.

In 2012 he got two years at Swindon Crown Court after admitting possessing prohibited images of a child and making and ­distributing images of extreme ­pornography, including bestiality.

Last week Derrick was back in the same dock. The court heard he admitted to police he was interested in children from a year old to 11. His collection included an image of an 18-month-old being abused.

His phone and tablet contained 1,294 indecent images of children with 278 in the worst two categories.

Derrick told police he joined Twitter four days before his arrest. He said he had seen images on sites like Netlog, Yahoo, Kik and photo-sharing site Dropbox.

He admitted nine counts of making and one of possessing indecent images of children and having extreme pornography. He was recalled to serve the rest of his earlier term following his arrest in August.

Jailing him for two years, Judge Douglas Field said: “Some of these images are really disgusting.”

Derrick must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Det Insp Mike Selbie said: “We would like to thank the Sunday Mirror. It was their vigilance and investigative work that enabled us to arrest this man.”

Last June, Ian Edwards, 50, of East London, was jailed for 18 months for trading child sex abuse images on Twitter after a Sunday Mirror investigation.

March 2014

Silverdale pervert jailed for sexually assaulting child in Birches Head pub toilets

PERVERT John Lightwood has been jailed for subjecting a young boy to a disgusting sex attack in a pub toilet.

The 44-year-old befriended the victim’s stepfather and falsely promised him work in an attempt to groom the child.

And he invited the family to a pub in Birches Head to discuss the job opportunity before taking the boy to the toilets and performing a sex act on him.

The child told his stepfather what had happened when he went into the toilets to see what was keeping the pair so long.

Lightwood was confronted, but fled the pub and was later arrested and charged.

Now the pervert, of Bath Road, Silverdale, has been sent to prison for 32 months after pleading guilty to sexual assault.

Prosecuter David Bennett told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court yesterday how Lightwood, who has previous convictions for five offences not of a sexual nature, pretended he owned a number pubs in the Blackpool area to befriend the victim’s stepfather. He offered the man work in one of the pubs and invited him, his partner and his partner’s son to the pub to discuss the proposal.

Mr Bennett said: “They discussed moving to Blackpool. At one stage the defendant stated that he would be happy to look after the victim if the man and his partner ever wanted a night out. There came a time when the victim asked to go to the toilet and the defendant offered to accompany him and did so.

“After a relatively short amount of time the man became concerned. He went to the toilet area and found the defendant and the victim close to the hand-dryer.”

The boy ran towards his step-father and told him what had just happened after the attack last August.

Lightwood ran out of the pub, leaving his coat behind. This was later used by police to extract a sample of his DNA which matched saliva found on the victim’s underpants.

Lightwood was arrested and initially denied the charge. At one stage, he said he might have blacked out while in the toilet and left the pub unaware of the allegations.

The court heard witnesses later traced by police told how they heard noises coming from the locked toilet cubicle where they believed a couple were having a sexual encounter.

Anis Ali, defending, said: “His behaviour on this day is inexcusable. He struggles, even now, to explain his behaviour. That’s not to say he’s trying to minimise what he did. He accepts full responsibility for these actions. He’s totally ashamed.

He added: “Matters could have been worse but he clearly realised what he did was extremely wrong and must have been devastating for that child.”

Judge David Fletcher imposed a sexual offences order which prevents Lightwood from contacting or sleeping in the same house as a young person under 18. He will also have to keep police informed of his whereabouts for the rest of his life.

March 2014

Man charged with 173 counts of rape, oral rape, anal rape and sexual assault of three young children over the course of a decade has been given a 15 year sentence

The 61-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identities of his victims, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to all offences committed at various locations between 2001 and 2010. The man has two previous convictions for sexual offences.

The court heard that the sexual abuse began when each of the three siblings reached the age of six or seven. The man was in a relationship with the children’s mother.

The rapist introduced the youngest victim to a friend of his who sexually assaulted her. He also raped one of the victims in front of another friend.

Neither the boy nor his two sisters were aware that the others were also being abused.

Mr Justice Paul Carney said the case involved “nearly every form of depravity it is possible to perpetrate on children.”

He said he was taking into account a range of factors including the breach of trust, the victim’s ages, the multiplicity of victims and offences, the effect on the children, the relevant previous convictions and the involvement of other men in some of the offences.

Mr Justice Carney imposed a 15 year sentence and suspended the final three years taking into account the man’s guilty plea.

Harrowing victim impact statements for each of the three victims, now in their late teens and early twenties, were read out in court.

The siblings said they feel their childhood was ruined and their innocence stolen from them. They remain terrified of swimming pools, caravans, graveyards and bogs and other places where they were raped and assaulted.

The eldest sister said she felt so alone and afraid as a child and that she had no-one to turn to.

“I felt like it was my fault. I trusted him and he let me down and hurt me in the worst possible way,” she said.

The girl said she feels jumpy and paranoid all the time, and that she’s afraid to walk out the door because she thinks people are looking at her and talking about her.

Her younger sister, now aged 18, said she feels like she is in a “dark hole” and can’t get out of it.

“I wish sometimes I was never born,” said the girl. She said she still has a lot of nightmares and remains very nervous every time she has a shower or a bath as she is afraid her attacker will be waiting for her.

She said she has no confidence and doesn’t think she will ever trust a man again.

“This has destroyed my whole family,” she said.

The 18-year-old boy said he felt suicidal at times because he wasn’t able to cope with the abuse.

He said he turned to alcohol and later drugs, but that with the help of his foster family he no longer takes drugs.

“I hate myself for acting like a coward because I never did much to stop the abuse. I feel like less of a man,” he said.

The boy said he is afraid that people won’t trust him and that he won’t be able to have relationships with girls in the future.

Delia Flynn SC, defending, said her client was placed in foster care at a young age and spent a number of years in institutions.

Ms Flynn said he suffered from depression as a result of his childhood experiences. He has attempted suicide and been hospitalised afterwards.

She outlined a number of serious health issues and said he was “a man in a state of considerable physical debilitation.”

She asked Mr Justice Carney to take into account his guilty pleas which she said spared the victims a long and traumatic trial.

March 2014

Victim breaks 20-year silence over sex abuse only to be told he’d imagined it

A brave victim broke his 20-year silence over sex abuse he suffered as a child – only to be told by authorities that he’d imagined it.

Simon Whitter, 40, was removed from his violent home by social services at the age of 12.

He was sent to Burton House children’s home in Manchester in 1986. There he was subjected to ritual sex abuse at the government-run home for boys.

Yet when in 2012 he finally reported his years of trauma, Manchester City Council claimed Burton House had never even existed.

In a shocking attempt to whitewash Simon’s history, they claimed documents had gone missing and there was no record of where he had lived. Only later did they admit their mistake and allow him to file for compensation.

Simon’s story is just one example of the hurdles that have had to be overcome by more than 400 victims of abuse in Manchester’s children’s homes.

The latest blow has been a High Court ruling that remaining victims must come forward in the next seven weeks or lose any chance of compensation.

This week Simon and another victim Paul Tyler, 49, returned to their children’s homes in a bid to encourage others to find justice.

Dad-of-three Simon said: “It took me over 20 years before I was ready to speak out and then they tried to silence me.

“Putting a time limit on when victims can come forward is just disgusting. What if they’re not ready? You could have put a gun to my head and I wouldn’t have spoken five years ago.”

Claims of child abuse centre on three main homes run by the City Council – Rose Hill in Northenden, Broome House in Didsbury and Mobberley Boys in Knutsford. A total of 275 cases have so far been settled by Abney Garsden Solicitors for over £2million since the action started in 1997.

Several members of social services have been jailed for their involvement.

Among them was Ronald Hall

Ronald Hall, a former warden of Broome House in Didsbury, was assistant director of Manchester social services when he was arrested in 2001. He was jailed for 11 years for 21 counts of sexual and physical abuse of children at Broome House

Jailed: former assistant director of social services Ronald Hall

They court found that Hall – who before his conviction had moved to live in Northumberland – molested children in his car, at a number of houses he owned, during holidays and in a Manchester theatre

Broome House childrens home

Hall had risen to the rank of assistant director of Manchester City Council social services by the time of his arrest.

His colleague, Ian Gray, was jailed for 14 years earlier that year after being convicted of 23 similar offences.

Simon says he was forced to perform sex acts from the age of 12. He says the effects of the abuse led him on a trail of destruction which culminated in a six month prison sentence for alcohol related offences.

“I had been forced to do things no child should endure and I know so many other people have been through the same thing,” he said. “The City Council just want to stop them coming forward to save money. It’s disgusting.”

Dad-of-three Paul was another victim.

This week he returned to the Rose Hill home. He recalled: “The boy in the bunk next to mine told me to do as the staff said and I’d be fine. I didn’t know what he meant but soon found out. It has affected my whole life. I can’t get rid of the memories.”

Pictured: Rose Hill childrens home

A Manchester City Council spokesman said: “Cases within this group action are the subject of ongoing litigation and therefore it would be inappropriate for us to comment.”

In 2004, Philip Roe (pic below) was jailed for twelve-and-a-half years for 15 sexual abuse offences on children he visited in foster and care homes while he worked for Manchester’s social services department in the 1980s.

His victims ranged in age from five to 16 when he was working in Manchester for social services. Roe was arrested in Hornchurch, Essex but had been doing care work in the London after leaving Manchester.

He was convicted of 15 charges – some of them specimen offences – of indecent assault and more serious sexual abuse. The jury heard a photograph of a naked 14-year-old wearing only a baseball cap was published in a gay contact magazine by Roe.

Prosecutor Maurice Greene said it was the Crown’s case that Roe, who denied all the allegations, had preyed on vulnerable children in care. They were too young to object and because of Roe’s position, did not know what to do about what was happening to them.

He was working as a social worker in Essex when he was arrested as part of Operation Cleopatra.

February 2001

Life for ‘depraved’ killer

The Old Bailey trial of David Mulcahy from Hampstead, north London (pictured above) has heard graphic accounts – based on the statements of convicted serial killer John Duffy also from Hampstead(pictured below) of the three murders he allegedly committed with Duffy.

John Duffy “the man with the laser eyes”

Mulcahy denies 15 counts of murder, rape and conspiracy to rape.

Pictured: Left – John Duffy     Right – David Mulcahy 

Duffy was very interested in martial arts. He trained with swords, knives, a quarterstaff and a garotte, and was much taken with the martial art of Zen Budo, which he believed dictates: “Leave no witnesses.”

In 1982 Duffy was told that he had a low sperm count witch would prevent him from having a child. He vented his boiling frustrations on his wife Margaret. Duffy liked to tie his wife up before having sexual intercourse. He told her that it was her – not his – fault that she had not become pregnant. The couple split up twice. On one of her visits to his flat to pick up her mail, Duffy raped her.

Alison Day murder

The 19-year-old was Mr Mulcahy and Duffy’s first murder victim on 29 December 1985, the trial heard.

Alison was on her way to keep her fiancé company while he was working overtime at a printers by Hackney Wick station.

She was late and he was anxious. As he saw another train arrive, he stopped work and ran on to the platform calling her name.

“She was already dead – raped and murdered about 100 yards away,” said Mark Dennis, prosecuting.

Police found her body face down in the adjacent river Lee. Her blouse had been cut into three pieces and used to gag and bind her.

The third piece was round her neck, used as a tourniquet to strangle her, alleged the prosecution.

Mulcahy photographed at a police station in 1984

Duffy was convicted at his trial of her murder, but details of “the full horror of the attack” were not known then, said Mr Dennis.

Alison was the only person to get off the train. Mr Mulcahy grabbed her and Duffy produced a knife, the court heard.

She was manhandled to the end of the platform and down to the river where they took it in turn to rape her, the prosecution alleged.

Mr Dennis said Mr Mulcahy – fearing she could identify them – took out a knife, cut up her blouse and put a tourniquet round her neck.

“He justified the killing to Duffy saying they would be done for attempted murder anyway.

Police evidence

“Moments later, no doubt fearing Duffy’s reticence, he told Duffy they were in it together. He told Duffy to take hold of the tourniquet and give it a twist.

“He said they had no choice. It was the right thing to do.”

Maartje Tamboezer murder

The 15-year-old Surrey schoolgirl was killed three months later on April 17, 1986.

She was last seen after school, riding her bicycle to buy sweets from a shop near East Horsley station.

Her badly-burned body was later found in nearby woods with the watch halted at 5.35pm.

Mr Dennis said Duffy said he had agreed go to the area after Mr Mulcahy promised he could “go first” with the victim.

They lay in wait in trees near a path and, after watching her ride past knowing she would return the same way, they tied fishing line across the path to trip the bike up.

After she was raped, Mr Mulcahy turned on her, saying she had been looking at him, and struck her across the head with a stone and she fell to the ground, the Crown claims.

Mr Dennis said Mr Mulcahy tied the girl’s belt around her neck and told Duffy: “I did the other one. It’s your turn to do this one.”

Following the killing Mr Mulcahy allegedly went back to wipe away fingerprints.

Anne Lock murder

The 29-year-old had just returned from honeymooning in the Seychelles when she was murdered.

She worked for London Weekend Television as a secretary and had been asked to go in on 18 May 1986.

She left her bicycle in the shed at the station in Brookmans Park, Hertfordshire.

She left work at 8.30pm but never returned home.

Mr Mulcahy and Duffy, it is alleged, hid her bike, intending to trap its owner as she went to find it.

“She was seized, led down the railway tracks to a field where she was raped and murdered,” said Mr Dennis.

Her badly decomposed body was found two months later in undergrowth.

One of her socks was inside her mouth and the other had been tied round her jaw. An attempt was made to burn her.

“Duffy was acquitted of this murder on the direction of the then trial judge for want of sufficient evidence.

“He has now admitted his involvement in this offence and last year admitted her rape,” Mr Dennis told the jury.

JOHN DUFFY AND DAVID MULCAHY: KILLING TO BE GOD by Guy Toyn 

David Mulchay was the dominant half of the ‘Thriller Killers’ – an evil sadist who felt ‘Godlike’ when he killed to demonstrate his power over women.

But he slipped through the net which snared John Duffy, even though detectives were sure he was the accomplice of the diminutive sex monster.

Duffy had been nailed by the size four footprints he left at the scenes of the horrific crimes and the distinctive twine he kept which had been used to bind murder victim Maartje Tamboezer’s thumbs.

Despite six days of questioning and meticulous searches of his home, the Operation Hart team set up to track down the killers failed to find similar evidence to put Mulcahy in the dock with him.

Mulcahy had even arrogantly mocked officers when Duffy was jailed, threatening to sue the force for wrongful arrest.

t was not until a third rapist began stalking Mulcahy and Duffy’s favoured hunting grounds at Hampstead Heath, north London, that an extraordinary coincidence would lead to the solution of a case which had haunted those involved in the original inquiry.

And yet throughout an investigation spanning two decades the answer to the riddle was lying in a dusty British transport police store room at Euston station.

When suspicion began to centre on Duffy, the one realistic candidate as his partner in crime was Mulcahy, who was his only friend.

PSYCHIC UNDERSTANDING

The rape victims had told of an uncanny, almost psychic understanding between the two men who must have known each other for years.

One said: ‘They didn’t tell eachother anything. It was two bodies but one brain.’

Another added: ‘The two men seemed to be able to communicate without words – by nodding their heads.’

The pair had been inseperable since they met at in their first days at Haverstock Hill secondary school in North London. Mulcahy would later tell police his friend became ‘almost part of the family.’

As they grew up together Mulcahy began to tower over Duffy physically and mentally, who never exceeded his schoolboy height of 5ft 4 inches and was referred to by Mulcahy as ‘the midget.’

Both youngsters lived near Hampstead Heath and enjoyed ‘spooking’ the courting couples and homosexuals who gathered there.

They developed a love of the martial arts, spurred by the Kung Fu craze of the early 70′s. Together they would relentlessly practice the holds and blows which would later be so effective in trapping their victims.

OBSESSION WITH CRUELTY

They also began to share an obsession with the excitement they found in cruelty and crime.

Duffy’s wife Margaret Mustafa told the Old Bailey how he would rape her during bondage sex sessions and terrorise their German Shepherd dog Toby.

Mulcahy would cheerfully tell the jury how he had bound a 12-year-old cousin hand and foot and tossed him into a bathful of ice cubes because the lad had difficulty getting out of bed.

He bellowed with laughter as he snapped photographs of the boy floundering in the melting ice.

In 1976 the pair were convicted of causing actual bodily harm when they shot four victims with an air rifle for fun.

Shortly afterwards Mulcahy suggested they should rape a woman together. 

Their ‘wicked bond’ had been cemented by deep feelings of sexual inadequacy – Duffy’s irrational hatred of women sprang from a low sperm count which prevented him from fathering children.

Throughout his life Mulcahy had been troubled by difficulties in maintaining an erection which would drive him to escalating sexual depravity and violence in an attempt to arouse himself.

POWER OVER LIFE AND DEATH

‘Duffy was the serial rapist. It was his partner who had that aggressive streak and the one who had the desire to dominate and exercise power and control over life and death,’ said prosecutor Mark Dennis.

‘Mulcahy was getting more out of this. He wanted something more than just rape.  It was the taller man who enjoyed exercising power over their victims, tormenting them, humiliating them on occasions.

‘Mulcahy was an arrogant and cruel character playing with his victims as if the whole thing was a game, getting satisfaction and enjoyment from bullying and picking on the vulnerable.’

According to Duffy, they plotted their first rape because Mulcahy hated the owner of a house in Hendon, north London, and wanted to sexually assault her to ‘teach her a lesson.’

They broke in but the woman failed to come home. Another planned rape at a house in Notting Hill, west London failed to materialise when the woman returned home with a male friend.

In 1981 they escaped with suspended sentences at Alton Magistrates Court when they stole wines and spirits from a store room.  Just over a year later the pair would carry out their first rape attack in a series of crimes which horrified Britain.

THE RAPIST’S KIT

The pair armed themselves with a ‘rapist’s kit’ of balaclavas, knives and tape to gag and blindfold their victims.

Soon the Michael Jackson tape ‘Thriller’ would become another essential part of the kit.

‘It seemed to motivate them as they drove, singing along, looking for victims,’ Mr Dennis said. ’A substantial part of the thrill came from the anticipation of the hunt.’

Several of the rape victims remembered Mulcahy blaming them when he could not maintain his erection in attacks of increasing sadism.

He would stroke the women’s hair tenderly, kiss their neck and ask: ‘Are you a virgin?’ as he removed her clothes.

Running his knife across his victim’s lips he whispering threats to gouge their eyes out or slice off their nipples and revelled in their pure terror.

‘He was no longer satisfied by the sexual aspect, but by power, control, violence and torment,’ Mr Dennis said. 

It was the desire for the ultimate thrill, the power over life or death that would cost three women their lives.

RAPED CLUTCHING A TEDDY BEAR

A 21-year-old who was walking home from a party in Kilburn in north west London clutching a teddy bear, was to become their first rape victim in October 1982.

Using sticking plaster to stifle her screams, they dragged her into a garden where she was stripped, blindfolded and raped.

The victim recalled: ‘I put my hands up and the taller man said: ‘Don’t worry, it is a knife.’

In March of the following year they targeted a 29-year-old restaurant manager who was walking near Finchley Road railway station.

But the woman bit Mulcahy’s hand and despite being kicked and punched she put up such a struggle they let her go.

An American social worker aged 32 was attacked on Barnes Common almost a year later on January 20, 1984. Mulcahy and Duffy, who were in the area decorating Duffy’s parent’s home, stripped and raped her.

Their fourth victim was a 23-year-old grabbed at West Hampstead railway station and dragged across the tracks on June 3 of that year.

She told the court: ‘They had a knife and said they would cut me if I didn’t do as I was told. All I could say was: ”Please don’t hurt me.”

They laughed as they passed the distraught woman afterwards in their getaway car, joking that they should offer her a lift.

GAGGED WITH TAPE

A girl of 22 was gagged with tape after she was seized on Highgate West Hill a month later on July 8.

Fortunately the rapists fled when a neighbour called the police. When the girl was comforted she still had pieces of tape on her wrists, one of which would provide crucial evidence against Mulcahy.

A week later on July 15 two 18-year-old Danish au pairs were attacked on Hampstead Heath as they walked arm in arm laughing together.

One said: ‘He told me to take off all my clothes and lie down. Then he pulled his trousers down to his knees and lay on top of me.’

Three months later the pair were arrested when they were stopped in Mulcahy’s Talbot Horizon with stolen building materials.

A black balaclava was found in the car but the pair escaped with fines after Mulcahy told police he used the mask when he was working as a plasterer on dusty ceilings.

On January 26, 1985 they attacked a 20-year-old German au-pair under a canal bridge at Brent Cross. Her scarf was used as a gag and blindfold as she was bundled towards the nearby bridge.

STRIPPED NAKED

‘The man without the knife sat down and undressed me. He was not rough but he stripped me naked,’ she said.

Once fluent in English, the woman has refused to ever speak or read the language again or tell her husband of the ordeal.

By January 30 the pair were back trawling Hampstead Heath where they selected a 16-year-old virgin.

Duffy told the court Mulcahy was becoming so violent he broke off the attack fearing his friend would kill the girl.

On February 2 they tried again with a French au-pair who was also grabbed near the Heath but the attack was aborted when she screamed and struggled.

Duffy claimed he stopped another attack on a 23-year-old the following month because he was again worried about Mulcahy’s behaviour when the victim was dragged to a flats near the Heath.

Desperate for another victim, the pair selected a 25-year-old solicitor’s clerk on March 1 and raped her on a bench on the Heath.

By now the sexual excitement on the hunt was not enough for Mulcahy, who was having more and more difficulty becoming aroused.

MEETING BY THE RIVER

Four days after Christmas 1985 they targeted Alison Day, who had been due to meet her fiance at his printing firm in Hackney Wick.

The 19-year-old near was snatched at Hackney Wick railway station and dragged to snow covered playing fields nearby.

After both men had raped Alison, she tried to escape and fell or was pushed by Mulcahy into the freezing water of a feeder canal.

Duffy claimed he pulled her out, and Mulcahy was so excited by the incident he raped her again, then tore off a piece of her blouse to throttle her.

He recalled: ‘She was saying things like ”It is only his moustache I have seen, I won’t tell anyone, please don’t hurt me.”

‘I was watching David and the girl. The next thing I noticed was he was putting some material round her neck and starting to twist it.’

Mulcahy later told his accomplice he had killed Alison because she might recognise them. But Duffy said: ‘David actually enjoyed it, saying it gave him power – the decision over life and death.

‘I remember him going on: ”It is God-like – having the decision over life and death.”’

COAT WEIGHED DOWN WITH STONES

Alison’s sheepskin coat was weighed down with stones and she was hurled back into the water. She was found 17 days later, bound and gagged with her hands tied behind her back.

On April 17, 1986, 15-year-old Dutch schoolgirl Maartje Tamboezer was knocked off her bicycle with a length of fishing line stretched across the path – a technique Duffy had learnt from one of his favourite books, The Anarchist’s Cookbook.

The teenager was marched across the fields between Effingham and East Horsley in Surrey and raped by Duffy, who claimed Mulcahy suddenly lost his temper.

‘He was becoming very aggressive – hyper, shouting at the girl,’ Duffy recalled. ‘He then raised his fists and hit the girl.

‘She crumpled to the floor. She was struck on the head, at the side. It was a swinging blow. I noticed he had a rock in his hand, or a stone. She just crumpled up and fell on the floor. I believe she was unconscious.’

GARROTTED WITH HER OWN BELT

Former altar boy Duffy said Mulcahy then ripped off Maartje’s belt and looped it around her throat, telling him: ‘I did the last one, you’ll do this one.

‘He passed me the belt. It had a piece of stick through it which was twisted and he gave it to me in my hand,’ Duffy told the jury.

‘I actually started twisting it while David turned away. I think I just got caught up in it. It is very difficult to explain. I just continued twisting until she was dead.’

Duffy said they both left the scene but Mulcahy returned and set Maartje’s body alight, stuffing burning tissues into her vagina hoping to destroy forensic evidence.

Newly wed TV secretary Anne Lock, 29, still had the suntan from a dream honeymoon scuba diving off the Seychelles when she was ambushed getting off a train at Brookmans Park, Hertfordshire on May 18, 1986.

When the pair spotted her bicycle in the station’s shed they hid in the bushes and waited until she returned.

Duffy said he raped Anne, then Mulcahy threw him the a bunch a keys and he went to collect the car. He told the court: ‘David said he had taken care of it.

‘He was very evasive, like he was playing mind games. He was saying: ”She won’t identify us now”. He was very excitable, buzzing. He was even saying: ”Keep your eyes open for another one.”’

MURDER BUZZ

Anne’s decomposed body was found two months after she was murdered in undergrowth just a mile from her home. She had been suffocated with her own sock.

Ten years after the murder of Anne Lock, with Duffy safely behind bars Mulcahy must have believed he would never be caught.

But on August 6 of 1996 another rapist sprang from the undergrowth in near Hampstead Heath, sparking a chain of events which would lead to Mulcahy joining his friend behind bars.

Ted Biggs, then 34, was a salesman at a bedding shop in Hitchin, Herts, leading the double life of a rapist by night. 

He attacked 66-year-old woman on the Heath that summer’s night and struck again in Hampstead in September 1998.

Police launched Operation Loudwater to track down Biggs, who would prey on six victims before he was jailed for life.

By sheer chance one of the officers on Operation Loudwater, DC Caroline Murphy met DC John Haye in a pub. DC Haye had been the exhibits officer in the Duffy inquiry.

They quickly realised the two cases had striking similarities in location, and the knife and the balaclavas that were used.

THE NET CLOSES

DC Murphy called Whitehouse prison in Cambridge to make sure Duffy had not been let out on day release and could not be responsible for the offences.

She learned Duffy was in fact being interviewed by psychologist Jenny Cutler, who told her Duffy had given the name of his accomplice as David Mulcahy.

All the surviving exhibits from the original case were re-examined and tested using DNA techniques which were not available in the 1980s. 

Samples taken from the clothes of one of the au-pairs Mulcahy raped on Hampstead Heath showed there was only a one in a billion chance he was not the attacker.

Senior officers then found than in an astonishing blunder a piece of tape used to bind the woman attacked on Highgate Hill West had not been tested for fingerprints before it was consigned to the storeroom at Euston station. 

Their worst fears were realised when four experts confirmed the fingerprint they found on the tape belonged to David Mulcahy.

Tragically, Mulcahy and Duffy could have been stopped after just three rapes.

Mulcahy was convicted of three murders, seven rapes and five charges of conspiracy to rape after a trial lasting more than five months.

The jury of six men and six women had deliberated for 19 hours and 42 minutes over four days.

DUFFY’S CONFESSION

Duffy was convicted of two murders, five rapes, and another sexual assault but cleared of Anne’s murder at his trial.

He later confessed to another nine rapes – including that of Anne Lock – six conspiracies to rape and two burglaries with intent to rape.

Described by the judge who sentenced him in 1988 as ‘a predatory animal’ Duffy is now thought to be one of Britain’s most prolific rapists with up to 50 victims.

At the end of Mulcahy’s trial in February 2001 The late Recorder of London Judge Michael Hyam told him: ‘These were acts of desolating wickedness in which you descended to the depths of depravity in carrying the them out.’

Duffy and Mulcahy will never be released.

March 2014

Wheelchair-bound Exeter man sexually abused seven-year-old girl

A wheelchair bound man abused a seven-year-old girl after persuading her parents to let her have a sleepover at his flat.

Stephen Coles kissed the girl on the lips and took indecent pictures of the semi-naked child as she slept under a duvet, Exeter Crown Court was told.

He was spared jail after a Judge heard that despite suffering from spina bifida he was the full time carer for his wife, who has cerebral palsy and is also wheelchair bound.

Coles won the trust of the victim’s parents, who accepted his offer to babysit the girl. They had no idea she had been abused until she told her mother that she and Coles had “a secret”.

The girl has since shown signs of early sexualisation, including calling herself sexy when she was dancing, the court heard.

Coles, 50, of Ridgeway Court, Exeter, admitted three offences of sexual assault by touching and two of taking indecent images of the child.

He was jailed for a year, suspended for two years and ordered to receive two year’s supervision and pay £100 costs. He was also put on the sex offenders’ register for ten years and made subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for the same period.

Recorder Mr Adam Vaitilingam, QC, told him: ”This was an appalling breach of trust. It is the fear of every parent that someone who they trust with their children should take advantage of them and abuse them in the way that you did.

“I have reservations about whether you truly accept the horror of what you did to that child.

“In your favour, I take into account the difficulties you have with disability and the difficulties of your wife, who must have been truly appalled by what you have done.

“I accept you are her principle carer and she would face substantial difficulties if you went into custody.”

Gordon Richings, prosecuting, said the offences came to light after Coles and his wife started babysitting the girl and agreed to look after her overnight.

He said: ”When she returned she told her mother she and Stephen had a big secret which she could not tell because it would get her into trouble.

“Her mother told her there are no secrets in their family and the girl told her that she and Stephen kissed and gave each other massages.

“She said Coles rubbed her front and back and took off her knickers.”

Mr Richings said police found pictures on Coles’ mobile phone showing the girl asleep with a duvet pulled away and her naked bottom visible.

Bathsheba Cassel, defending, said: ”My client is aware he acted totally inappropriately towards the child and against the trust put in him by her parents.

“He is a man of good character who lost his way temporarily. He is the primary carer for his wife.”

March 2014

A SHOCKING “snuff movie” was found at the home of a young factory worker along with other appalling child abuse images, a court heard.

A judge told Andreas Bauminis: “It is hard to imagine or contemplate a more grotesque, revolting, repulsive and inhuman series of images.”

The videos were found by police at his home in Willow Hey, Skelmersdale, which he shared with his brother’s family, following information from the Russian Ministry of the Interior about use of internet file sharing sites.

One video showed a girl no older than 11 being sexually abused by a number of men. A 20-minute “snuff” video showed a 15-year-old being raped, strangled with a wire and apparently murdered. It was not clear whether she really died or not, but Judge Denis Watson thought she probably did.

Jailing him for eight months the Liverpool Crown Court judge also ordered the 22-year-old to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years and imposed an order limiting internet use.

Bauminis admitted making indecent photographs of a child, possessing extreme porn and possessing prohibited cartoon images of children. Claire Jones, defending, said a probation report found Bauminis “a remote, introverted individual who shows remorse.” She said he would welcome outside help to curb his behaviour.

March 2014

Pervert who raped two teenage girls is jailed for 11 and a half years

A sex attacker jailed for the ‘brutal’ raping of two teenage girls, deserved every day of his 11-and-a-half-year sentence, top judges have ruled.

James Farnfield, 25, of Kents Road, Haywards Heath, carried out a “brutal, sustained and demeaning” attack on his first 16-year-old victim which left her “traumatised and degraded”, Judge Peter Lakin told London’s Appeal Court.

The other girl, of a similar age, was raped by Farnfield in a toilet and was also left mentally scarred by her ordeal.

Farnfield was jailed at Lewes Crown Court in November 2012 after he was convicted of sexual activity with a child, two counts of rape and one count of assault causing actual bodily harm. He was cleared of a third rape charge.

Dismissing Farnfield’s appeal against one of the rape convictions, Judge Lakin rejected claims that the jury’s verdicts were inconsistent.

“The argument based on inconsistency is without foundation; this conviction is safe,” he said.

Going on to reject Farnfield’s sentence challenge, the judge added: “The total of 11 and a half years cannot be faulted.

“It was entirely appropriate for these extensive and very serious sexual offences involving both victims”

March 2014

Man jailed for 22 years for sexually abusing teenage girls

A man who sexually abused three young girls over a seven-year period between 2004 and 2011 has been jailed for 22 years.

Tony Chandler, 46, formerly of Ash but now of McInnes Street in Lincoln, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Monday after being found guilty by a jury in February.

He was convicted unanimously on 18 charges, including three of rape, 11 of sexual activity with a child, two of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

The offences were committed against three girls aged between 12 and 15. The court heard Chandler was caught after one of the victims was urged to tell her mother and the police by someone she had confided in.

Sentencing, Judge Neil Moss said Chandler’s offending had triggered behavioural changes and suicidal thoughts in all three victims, and even self-harm.

“These are the lifelong, damaging results of what you’ve done to these young girls,” he said.

Judge Moss added Chandler targeted the victims “predominantly” when they were aged just 13 or 14.

During his trial, the court heard how Chandler was arrested in 2006 when the first victim came forward, but he was not charged.

“She made a complaint when she was still a teenager and it was investigated by police but there was no prosecution,” Judge Moss said.

“The consequences for her can’t really be underestimated.”

He was eventually prosecuted when the two other victims made accusations in 2011.

Jurors at the trial were played a recording of a police interview with one of the victims who said Chandler would lock her in a room and rape her on the floor.

“You destroyed many years of their young lives,” the judge added.

‘Maintains denial’

Andrew Turton, defending, said that despite his conviction Chandler maintained his innocence in respect of all 18 counts.

“All I can say about this matter is that apart from having no previous convictions and a good work record, he maintains his denial of all these offences.

“This makes it almost impossible to mitigate to any great degree.

“He is 46 years old and faces a substantial period in prison. He is resigned to that.

“I only ask you take his previous record into account.”

Chandler was jailed for 22 years in total, 19 years concurrently for three counts of rape and a further three years consecutively on the other 15 charges.

He will sign the sexual offenders register for life and will be subject to a sexual offences prevention order upon release from prison, barring him from any contact with youngsters under the age of 16 without consent.

March 2014

Man jailed over sex invitation to girls (12)

A Monaghan man who is said to be unable to control his behaviour after suffering damage to the frontal lobe of his brain has received a five-year jail sentence for inviting two schoolgirls to take part in a sexual act with him.

Peter Clarke (69) of O’Neill Street, Carrickmacross, was found guilty of two counts of sexual exploitation after a trial at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court last September.

Clarke had denied inviting the then first-year students to participate in a sexual act at a location in Dundalk on September 9th, 2011.

Judge Rory MacCabe yesterday sitting at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin said Clarke was at a high risk of similar offending. He imposed a five-year prison sentence to begin from the date of conviction on September 24th last.

He suspended the final three years for three years on condition

Clarke comply with all directions of the Probation Services.

The trial had heard the two 12-year-old girls were sitting outside a cafe during a break from school when Clarke approached them.

Clarke approached the girls and made a “colloquial” invitation to sexual activity after placing a €5 note on the table. He walked away but came back and repeated the invitation before driving off in a green Jaguar car, the court was told.

Gardaí tracked him down by tracing the distinctive car and Clarke said he couldn’t remember making the propositions but admitted he could have.

The court heard Clarke had 15 previous convictions including three for sexual assault.

He is currently serving two concurrent five-year prison sentences in the Midlands Prison for two sexual assaults committed on May 12th and September 10th, 2011. He also has four convictions for public indecency for offences committed in April 2011, October 2007 and on February 2nd, 2007. His third conviction for sexual assault was committed on February 2nd, 2007.

Roderick O’Hanlon, defending, told the court

his client was involved in a significant road traffic incident 20 years ago and suffered damage to his frontal lobe.

He said he had suffered brain atrophy and operated on a “mildly mentally handicapped basis”.

“He has an inability to properly control himself as regards sexual matters, particularly, it would appear, with younger females,” Mr O’Hanlon said.

March 2014

Malmesbury man warned to expect jail for downloading child abuse images

A MALMESBURY man has been warned to expect a jail sentence after he admitted downloading movies of child abuse from the internet.

Martin Wicks also had scores of prohibited images of children as well as pictures of bestiality when his computer was examined, Swindon Crown Court heard.

The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to five counts of making and one of possessing indecent images of children when he appeared before a judge on Friday.

Wicks, formerly of Corn Gastons, also admitted possessing extreme pornography and prohibited images of children.

The court heard he had 451 pictures and movies of child abuse, downloaded between May 2008 and August last year.

He also had 132 prohibited images of children on the machine when he was arrested on August 8.

Paul Grumbar, defending, said although his client had no previous convictions, he accepted he was facing a jail term.

He said “He lives in his van, his marriage had broken down, that is how he came to be looking at the computer. He is not a very educated man.”

But Recorder Alastair Malcolm QC insisted the sentencing judge would need a report if only to determine the length of sentence.

He warned Wicks: “I want to make it perfectly plain that the offences that you have pleaded guilty to are such that almost inevitably you will go to custody.

“I have asked for a pre-sentence report because of your previous history.

“The effect of the pre-sentence report may well affect the length of sentence passed on you and they may have alternative suggestions, but I don’t want to raise your hopes it will be anything but custody.”

Wicks was bailed until April 25.

March 2014

Man, 76, avoids jail over 6,500 child abuse images

A 76-year-old man who was caught with over 6,500 indecent photographs of children on computer equipment told police he gained no sexual gratification from the images, a court has heard.

Frank Malone – who suffers from a range of illnesses – was placed on three years probation after admitting a total of 15 charges at Belfast Crown Court.

A total of 6,674 indecent images of children were discovered on laptops and a memory stick belonging to Malone, along with 157 images of extreme pornography.

Belfast Recorder Judge David McFarland told the visibly frail pensioner: “Had you been younger and in better health, I would have considered a custody sentence.”

Malone, from Annadale Avenue in Belfast, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of making an indecent photograph of a child, three counts of possessing an indecent photograph of a child and two counts of possessing an extreme pornographic image on dates between October 8, 2012 and January 13, 2013.

Crown prosecutor Kate McKay told the court that on January 15 last year police carried out a planned search at Cromac Wood Court in Belfast looking for items connected to making and possessing images of children.

The court heard that while over 6,000 of the images of children were at the lowest scale, 210 were in the highest two categories.

In addition, a total of 157 images depicting bestiality were discovered and formed the basis of the extreme pornography charges.

In addition to probation, Malone was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

March 2014

Wood Green teacher banned for life over sexual relationship with female pupil

A headteacher who had an affair with a 15-year-old pupil who he later got pregnant has been banned from teaching for life.

Philip Barnwell, 36, plied the girl – known only as Pupil A – with alcoholic drinks, took her to the seaside, and let her share his bed, a professional conduct panel was told.

The relationship continued after the girl left the school and she fell pregnant with the teacher’s baby at 17, the hearing heard.

An investigation in to the relationship was halted after Mr Barnwell was sacked from the school in 2008 as the girl refused to be interviewed and Mr Barnwell did not comment.

However, details of the affair resurfaced when Mr Barnwell applied for another job in teaching and he was ordered to face a professional conduct hearing.

The panel ruled while Mr Barnwell was employed at Woodside High School in Wood Green, north London, between 2007 and 2008, he had an inappropriate relationship with the Year 11 student.

This amounted to unacceptable professional conduct, it said.

Mr Barnwell insists he is innocent and denies he had an inappropriate relationship with the girl.

However, Alan Meyrick, deputy director for teacher regulation at the Department for Education, banned him from the profession for good.

He said: ‘Mr Barnwell abused the position of trust that he held and he engaged in sexual activity with Pupil A.

‘This is very serious misconduct. I am satisfied that Mr Barnwell’s actions were both deliberate and, at times, carefully planned.’

Mrs Mary Speakman, who chaired the hearing, said: ‘The relationship is said to have involved the teacher frequently spending time alone with Pupil A in school time, communications by text and MSN between them, pre-arranged meetings outside school and overnight stays.’

The panel also heard how the girl stayed at the head teacher’s home and shared his bed, while on another occasion they spent two nights together in the Royal York Hotel in Brighton during term-time.

After she left the school in September 2008, they ‘appeared very close’ when spotted in a park together, the hearing was told.

Later that month, Mr Barnwell took her to a hotel for the night and the next day the pair had to go to a clinic as the girl needed the morning-after pill.

The hearing was told how Mr Barnwell spoke about his relationship with the girl to another pupil who was in her academic year. This pupil gave evidence, along with two teachers.

According to the Sunday Mirror, a classmate said: ‘He told me that they were in a relationship and loved each other.’

She also told the hearing: ‘My friend slept in the bed with Mr Barnwell.’ She added that gossip about the “inappropriate relationship” was all over school.

Mr Barnwell was suspended from his post in July 2008 while the police and the school held investigations into his conduct. 

By this time, the pupil had just finished her GCSEs. He was eventually dismissed.

Mrs Speakman told the hearing: ‘Our factual findings, taken together, provide an abundance of evidence to establish that Mr Barnwell had a relationship with Pupil A, one of his school pupils, which was totally inappropriate and involved sexual activity.”

The panel, run by the National College for Teaching and Leadership, heard the girl – described as ‘bright and hard working’ – came from a broken home. She had little contact with her natural mother and none with her father.

Mrs Speakman added: ‘Parents and others must be able to entrust children, particularly those who are vulnerable because of family or other circumstances, to the care of teachers, confident that teachers will observe professional boundaries towards those whom they teach.

‘We conclude that the evidence in the case demonstrates conclusively that Mr Barnwell’s conduct renders him incompatible with remaining as a member of the profession and that a prohibition order should be imposed.’

Mr Meyrick, acting on behalf of Education Secretary Michael Gove, said that the head teacher’s attitude showed ‘a lack of acknowledgement of the seriousness of his behaviour, the damage caused to the collective reputation of the profession and the way that it undermines public confidence in the profession.’ He said he had seen no evidence of insight or remorse.

Mr Meyrick banned Mr Barnwell from teaching in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

Mr Barnwell, who was present for part of the hearing, denied the facts of the case and denied he had had an inappropriate relationship with the girl.

Asked about the case earlier, he said: ‘I am innocent, but as the term “inappropriate relationship” is not clearly defined in either the school handbook or in government guidelines, I feel that, regardless of any actual evidence, I will be found guilty as charged.’

He was given 28 days in which to appeal against the decision to the High Court.

March 2014

Man, 76, from Middlesbrough admits inciting a child for sex

A PENSIONER who pleaded guilty to inciting a child to engage in sexual activity had his case adjourned by a judge.

Kevin Escritt struggled to hear the proceedings at Teesside Crown Court, despite using a hearing loop, and was allowed to leave the dock and approach the judge’s bench in order that he could do so better.

The 76-year-old, of Eddison Way, Hemlington, Middlesbrough, was due to be sentenced, but Judge George Moorhouse adjourned the case after hearing of a new development which he said put a “different picture” on the whole case.

Escritt was bailed and will reappear at court on April 21.

March 2014: Clarke still lives in Great Yarmouth. Clarke wears female clothes during social events and calls himself Kirsty

February 2010

Jail for Yarmouth sex offender

A sex offender who sexually assaulted a 16-year-old after inviting him into his home in Great Yarmouth was jailed for a year and placed on the sex offender’s register for 10 years.

Kevin Clarke, 31, was also banned for life from working with children.

Norwich Crown Court heard that Clarke had previous convictions for sex assaults on young boys.

In 2003, he was jailed for 31 months after being found guilty of indecently assaulting three boys under 16. Clarke met the boys through Hethersett Scout Group and the village’s Methodist Church.

Andrew Shaw, prosecuting, said in the latest assault Clarke met the victim outside his home in Walpole Road, and invited him into his home to see his pet gerbils.

Mr Shaw said that when the youth went in the house with Clarke, he then assaulted him.

Michael Clare, for Clarke, said he did not mean to cause any upset and stopped as soon as he realised the boy did not want anything to happen.

March 2014

Wicklow priest jailed for ‘systematically’ abusing boy

A Wicklow priest has been jailed for seven years after he was convicted of ‘systematically’ sexually abusing a boy over five years starting when the boy was 12 years old.

Denis Nolan (61) with an address in Tinahely, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty to sexual assault on a date between January 1st, 2007, and June 30th, 2007.

He also pleaded guilty to five counts of defilement of a child under the age of 15 years between July 1st, 2007, and August 25th, 2009, and five counts of defilement of a child under the age of 17 between August 26th, 2009, and August 25th, 2011.

All defilement charges occurred in the Presbytery, Rathnew where Nolan was curate at the time. The victim, who is now 19, waived his right to anonymity.

Det Sgt Fergus O’Brien told the court that when the victim was 12, he approached Nolan with a view to carrying out some odd jobs to gain extra money

After he started doing odd jobs in the presbytery, Nolan asked him to go to his family home in Tinahely and there assaulted him.

Nolan told him it was “what adults do” and not to tell anyone. On arrival back in Rathnew, he gave him €10 and €15 after abuse in the presbytery and then €40 as the abuse escalated.

When the child’s mother confronted Nolan, he said he had been giving him money because he was afraid of her son.

The HSE also visited Nolan in March 2010 and told him that if there was any contact between him and the victim he was to inform them. However, he didn’t contact them again and the sexual abuse continued.

Judge Michael O’Shea said Nolan was in a “position of trust” and “should have been a protector [of the young boy] and not a predator. He was just a child – innocent in the ways of the world”.

He said the victim was “exploited by the systematic sexual abuse”, adding the victim impact report was harrowing in the effect the abuse had had on the young man in question.

“I describe the abuse and defilement as being disgusting, horrific, embarrassing and humiliating,” he said, adding that the abuse was “cold and calculating”.

He sentenced Nolan to seven years in prison for each of the five charges of defilement of a child under the age of 15 years and 3½ years on each of the remaining six charges, with the sentences running concurrently.

Nolan, who is already on the sex offenders register, is to have three years post-release supervision.

Leave to appeal was refused.

March 2014

Caistor man jailed for multiple sex offences against young boys

A Caistor man has been imprisoned for 11 years after being found guilty of a string of child sex offences.

Shane Snell, of Burnetts Yard, appeared at Grimsby Crown Court last week facing 21 charges and was found guilty by unanimous verdict of 14 charges.

The charges included indecent assault on a boy under the age of 14 years, gross indecency between a man over 21-years-old and a boy under 16-years-old and engaging in penetrative sexual activity and non-penetrative sexual activity with a boy aged between 13 and 15.

The offences took place on a number of occasions between 1999 and 2006 in Grimsby.

The 36-year-old has been placed on the sexual offenders register for life and has also been given a sexual offences prevention order.

Snell’s first appearance in court was at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court on June 28 last year where he was given bail.

March 2014

Chester child sex attacker jailed for 18 years

A SEX predator has been jailed for 18 years after he repeatedly abused children inside public toilets in Chester.

Alan Robert Grimes, a self confessed loner with a previous conviction for an indecent assault on a young boy in 1984, yesterday pleaded guilty to a string of rape and sexual assault charges on children over an 11-month period.

The sex offences came to light after it was discovered that Grimes, 46, had exchanged a text message with a member of a paedophile ring in South Yorkshire, Chester Crown Court heard.

While it was not sexual in nature the text message did make reference to young boys.

Police inquiries led to investigations from social services which later revealed that Grimes, of Meynall Place, Blacon, Chester, had been repeatedly abusing children.

Grimes would take children inside a toilet cubicle where he would touch them sexually over their clothing and perform sex acts on one of them.

Grimes sat with his head bowed throughout the sentencing where he pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, six counts of sexual assault, and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was arrested on December 19 when he initially denied the offences but later admitted them saying he felt shame for what he had done.

The court heard the incidents had heavily impacted emotionally upon the children. Grimes had also been disowned by his family as a result.

Reports stated that Grimes had behaved in a manipulative and predatory manner, while Judge Roger Dutton, sentencing in the case, told Grimes he had groomed the children in order to indulge in his own sexual desires.

Judge Dutton said he had no alternative but to sentence Grimes to an extended prison sentence, deeming him a serious risk to children in the future.

Judge Dutton said:“You committed the most serious and foul offence and a horrible breach of trust.

“It is quite clear you were effectively grooming these children.”

Peter Moss, defending, said: “Mr Grimes has never sought to shy away from his offences and feels deep shame.

“He is a man who is somewhat a loner and has not had a single adult relationship in his life.

“He has learning difficulties and finds it hard to converse with those outside of his immediate family. With respect he is operating at a level below his age.

“His family, understandably as a result of these offences have completely disowned him. It is a desperate issue for him to live with.

“Disowned by his family as he is, upon his release from what he knows is a significant inevitable custodial sentence, given the loner that he is he knows that it is going to be difficult following his release.”

Judge Dutton Sentenced Grimes to 18 years in prison, with possible release after ten years subject to whether he is deemed safe to be released in to the community.

For the rape charges Grimes was also sentenced to five years imprisonment to run concurrent to the 18 year sentences for the other charges.

Judge Dutton added: “It is clear from reports that you are deemed to pose a high risk of harm to children within the community and I am very concerned about the future risk to youngsters. There is a serious likelihood of you committing grave offences in the future and work must be done in order to change your thinking and behaviour in order to protect the public.”

March 2014

Montrose man jailed for having child abuse images

A Montrose man who admitted downloading child abuse images over an eight-month period has been jailed for two years at Dundee Sheriff Court.

Steven Paton, 41, of Provost Reids Road, Montrose, pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children on his computer and to distributing the photographs.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard Paton had been using his computer to access adult material before curiosity led him to access other material.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register.