February 2014

Pervert bought children McDonalds and gave them alcohol

A SELF-CONFESSED sexual predator set up fake identities on a social networking website to groom children for sex.

Robert Anderson would fantasize about having sex with under age girls and targeted them by pretending to be a teenage boy on a website which is easily accessible to youngsters.

As part of a “sophisticated campaign” of grooming, the 33-year-old from Chandler’s Ford would shower under-age girls as young as 13 with compliments before asking them to strip in front of a web camera.

He even picked some of them up in his car for sexual liaisons in the New Forest, buying them McDonald’s takeaways and plying them with alcohol to win their favour.

When caught by police after a family member of one of the victims found out what had been going on, Anderson confessed to being a sexual predator, Southampton Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Gavin Sumpter said: “He said he began acting out his desires by using social networking websites to contact under age girls and specifically said it was to meet them and have sex with them. He described his sexual fantasies as ‘mental and out of control’.”

The court heard how Anderson is known to have groomed eight girls, aged between 13 and 15.

One of his victims was targeted on the website tagged.com, a social networking site linked to Facebook.

Having contacted the teenager using his false profile, Anderson then began messaging her using the Whatsapp smart phone application, promising her a McDonald’s in exchange for a hug. When they met at the Millbrook branch of the takeaway, he drove her to a remote spot in the New Forest and kissed her.

On another occasion he drove the girl and her friend into the New Forest where she was convinced to perform a sex act on him.

Another girl, aged just 13, was persuaded to talk to him over Skype and ordered to take her clothes off on a webcam. Anderson also talked to her about her “sexy school uniform” and having a drive together.

Anderson, of Baddesley Road, admitted attempting and engaging children in sexual activity and offences of grooming.

Sentencing him to five years behind bars, Judge Peter Ralls said: “Clearly this was a long and serious campaign of sexual offences.”

Anderson was also given an extended supervision period of four years because he was considered a danger and handed a sexual prevention order.

March 2014

Sex offender jailed for abusing young girls

Anderson pictured above in the 1990′s

At the High Court in Glasgow Lord Armstrong sentenced Robert David Anderson to 8 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of the sexual abuse of three young girls from 1991 to 1999.

On sentencing Lord Armstrong made the following statement in court: March 2014

“Robert David Anderson, you have been convicted of five charges which involve the calculating, manipulative and predatory sexual abuse of three young girls in relation to whom you were in a clear position of trust.  So far as the first girl was concerned, the abuse which you perpetrated on her took place when she was only between 4-5 years of age. So far as the second girl is concerned, it took place when she between 3- 9 years of age.

So far as the third girl is concerned it took place when she was between 6-8 years of age. The conduct in respect of which you have been convicted extended throughout the 1990s, from 1991to 1999, and involved a catalogue of sexual abuse including you inducing the girls to masturbate you and perform oral sex on you, digital vaginal penetration and on one occasion penile anal penetration. With the exception of the last of these categories, you abused these girls regularly and repeatedly throughout the relevant periods, to the extent that they came to consider it normal. In the case of two of the girls you threatened them in order to ensure their silence.

I have read a victim impact statement prepared by one of the women concerned and, in the course of your trial, I heard the evidence of all three as to the effect your conduct had, and continues to have, on them, their emotional health and their own relationships.  The lasting effect of your conduct on them may be incalculable. You are responsible for callously robbing these women of the innocence of their childhood and forcing upon them experiences which no child should have.

I have taken account of what has been said on your behalf, and I have also had regard to the content of the Criminal Justice Social Work Report now made available to me.   I note that a risk assessment model included in that report assesses you as presenting with a profile which suggests a moderate risk of re-offending, given your lack of any remorse, refusal to take responsibility for what you have done and your apparent lack of empathy towards the victims of your crimes .  However I also acknowledge that these crimes, having occurred many years ago, are now historic, that you are for the purposes of the sentence which I must impose, a first offender, that you have not come to the attention of the authorities since the events I have described, and that you have had a good work record, including service for your country in the armed forces.

These crimes of which you have been convicted are disturbing and grave.  Society has an abhorrence of such conduct and it is the responsibility of the court to reflect that.  It is important that those who might be disposed to commit crimes of sexual abuse against children, in the way that you did, understand that they are likely to receive significant custodial penalties once brought to justice. I am satisfied that, in your case, there is no appropriate alternative disposal to one of imprisonment.

I have already made an order that you be subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.  In light of the sentence I am about to impose, that requirement will be continued for an indefinite period of time.  The clerk of court will provide you with a  notice of the requirements with which you must comply.

Although the charges of which you have been convicted involve three different women, they comprise, essentially, a single course of conduct, and I will sentence you on that basis by imposing a single cumulo period of imprisonment.  Having regard to all of the circumstances of your case, that sentence is one 8 years imprisonment.

That sentence will be backdated to 21 August 2013 when you were first detained in custody in relation to these charges.”

March 2014

Man spared jail for indecent images of children

A Sidbury man who admitted to possessing a stash of indecent images of children and extreme pornographic pictures including animals ‘out of curiosity’ has been spared jail.

Michael Lorberg, 54, of Furzehill, pleaded guilty to making five indecent ‘pseudo-photographs’ of children and to possessing five extreme pornographic images involving horses and dogs on his laptop when he appeared before magistrates sitting in Exeter last Tuesday (March 25).

He was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment, suspended for a year with a supervision requirement, and ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

Prosecuting, Chris Bittlestone said Lorberg, who has no previous convictions, collected the material, which included pseudo-photographs, ‘out of curiosity’ while he was living in Seaton.

One of the photos involving a child was ranked level four – the second most serious picture that can be made. The others ranged from levels one to three.

When quizzed by police in February, Lorberg admitted to owning the images in what he described as an ‘act of stupidity’.

Vanessa Francis, mitigating, told the court that Lorberg would find jail ‘extremely difficult’.

Passing sentence, district judge Stephen Nicholls, said: “There is credit for your guilty plea and you have no previous convictions.

“I find you suitable for a suspended sentence with a community order.”

Lorberg was also ordered to pay £85 for prosecution costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

March 2014

Surrey paedophile jailed for seven years

A former Warlingham man has been jailed for seven years for sexual abuse of two young girls.

Richard Clubb, of Warren Lane, Pyrford but formerly of Warlingham was convicted of two counts of indecent assault against one female, and one count of sexual assault by penetration against another.

Both victims were under the age of thirteen when the offences took place.

Clubb was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Friday, 21 March.

Det Sgt Steve Richardson from the Public Protection team at Surrey Police said: “Clubb thought he could take advantage of two young girls, and I’m delighted with the lengthy sentence that he received following the guilty verdict.

“Instead of showing remorse for the sexual offences, Clubb denied all charges against him throughout the trial.”

March 2014

Paedophile jailed for 18 years for abusing girl

A paedophile has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for sexually assaulting a girl.

53 year old Stephen Keen was found guilty of assaulting the young girl over nearly a decade until 2011.

Keen, of Collingwood Close, Peacehaven, was found guilty of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against the girl, who is now a teenager.

Detective Constable Katherine Upton said; “This was a very distressing case. The victim whilst helpless endured years of abuse from Keen and it was only in 2012 that she felt able to tell other people.

“We immediately investigated and, working with the local authority childrens’ services, uncovered what had happened to her. The experience is likely to affect her for the rest of her life.

“Keen pleaded not guilty throughout and the courage of the victim in giving evidence, with the support of special measures to help her in court, including the use of her principal evidence by video recording, was key in securing his conviction.

“We encourage victims of such experiences to come to us in confidence, and admire their increasing readiness to do so. Their reports are treated sensitively and professionally and we can help them get access to further support and counselling.”

March 2014

Chatham man jailed for child abuse and downloading indecent images

A Chatham man has been jailed for three and a half years after admitting sexually abusing a girl and downloading child abuse images. 

Trevor Wright told police he initially began searching for the images to track down paedophiles as a self-styled vigilante but as time went on he began stockpiling them for his own use.

Detectives from the Kent Police Child Exploitation Investigation Team raided Wright’s home in Abinger Drive in April last year after receiving information he had been downloading indecent material on-line. 

Images of child abuse, including Level 5 images, the most serious, were found on computer equipment at the address.

The 47-year-old was arrested and said he had become involved in an attempt to find paedophiles and send images out with viruses attached to the email to break their computers.

However, as his obsession increased, he became more and more interested in the images and began collecting them in earnest.

Wright then admitted to sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 13, along with taking indecent images of her.

On October 24, detectives charged Wright with two counts of taking indecent images of children, two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 13, four counts of possession of indecent images of children and six further counts of making indecent images of children.

Wright pleaded guilty to the offences at Maidstone Crown Court on February 24 and was jailed today for three and a half years. He was given a sexual offences prevention order for ten years.

Investigating officer, DC Jo-anne Gordon of the Kent Police Child Exploitation Investigation Team, said Wright’s actions were “fuelled by looking at thousands of images of children suffering the most horrific of abuse”.

She added: “I am pleased that we in the Child Exploitation Investigation Team have been able to bring his actions to justice, and would remind everyone that there is never an excuse for looking at this material, it merely serves to encourage further abuse and continue the suffering of the abused, knowing that others are taking pleasure from their torment.”

March 2014

Indecent images addict jailed for sharing ‘sickening’ child torture images

A man has been jailed for swapping vile images of extreme child abuse with fellow paedophiles around the world.

John Lyle sent pictures and movies which showed children being tortured and raped and exchanged fantasies with chat room users about abusing girls as young as five.

Police found he had sent hundreds of images all around the world by e-mail and through peer to peer file sharing sites including 128 which showed rape or sadism.

Lyle, aged 54, of Salisbury Avenue, Torquay, admitted 12 counts of distributing indecent images of children and 15 of making or possessing them.

He was jailed for two years by Judge Phillip Wassall at Exeter Crown Court.

He judge told him:”These offences were extremely serious and showed sexual activity between children and adults right up to sickening and completely depraved images involving torture and other forms of degradation.

“You engaged in distribution and exchanged fantasies with other people of similar depraved mind sets. You did not do it for money but the most serious aggravating feature is the proliferation of these images through file sharing.

“Ever time an image is recirculated it perpetuates and emphasises the serious sexual abuse which children were put through to create the images. That is why this is so serious that only immediate custody is justified.”

Mr Joss Ticehurst, prosecuting, said Lyle’s computers were seized in a raid in January 2013 after he was traced through his internet provider.

Officers found hundreds of images of child abuse on the computer and evidence he had used two hotmail addresses and peer to peer software to share more than 300 with other users.

These included 115 images or movies and level four, which shows adults having sex with children and 13 at level five which shows sadism, bestiality or other extreme activity.

They also found chat logs with some of those with whom he shared the material which included sexual talk about girls as young as five.

Mr Jonathan Barnes, defending, said there had been no commercial element and the offences arose out of an ‘addiction’ to pornography which he is keen to address through treatment.

March 2014

Man, 72, hid dozens of indecent  movies of kids in his former rented home

A 72-YEAR-OLD man has admitted possessing dozens of indecent films of children

Alan Chapman hid DVDs containing 51 movies in a ceiling cavity at a home he rented in Haslemere Road, Southsea – but forgot to take them with him when he left.

The films were discovered by the owner of the home when he started to do repair work.

Now Chapman, of Malins Road, Buckland, Portsmouth, has admitted five counts of possessing indecent moving images of a child between January 1 and December 31, 2011.

Martyn Booth, prosecuting at Portsmouth Crown Court, said of the man who found the films: ‘The man doing the work was obviously curious about the contents of the discs and that night when he went home he examined them and he was somewhat shocked to say the least at the contents of them.

‘He telephoned a friend of his who is a lawyer and the lawyer recommended that he contact the child abuse team at Netley, and that’s precisely what he did, and a police investigation was launched.’

The DVDs were examined and found to contain two movies at level one – the lowest rating.

Thirty-four were at level two, 14 at level four, and one at the most obscene rating of level five.

Chapman was arrested and questioned.

Mr Booth added: ‘He (Chapman) said that he was interested in 12 to 13-year-olds. He had images of girls of 12 years old and upwards.’

Roderick James, defending Chapman, said the DVDs had been made between 2002 and 2007.

Mr James said: ‘They (the DVDs) had apparently been forgotten about.

‘He had put them up in the ceiling and effectively moved in, and effectively forgotten about (them) when he moved out.’

He added: ‘He had voluntarily ceased this offending some seven years ago.

‘He has lost, as a result of this detection, quite a substantial amount.’

Chapman was given a three-year community order, put under supervision for three years and told to take part in a treatment programme for sex offenders.

He was ordered to pay £350 in court costs and must sign the Sex Offenders’ Register. Addressing Chapman, who has no previous convictions, Judge Roger Hetherington, sentencing, said: ‘You allowed yourself to get into watching child pornographic material and you downloaded from the internet these various images and the rather aggravating feature of that, bad enough though it was already, was that you then deliberately stored those discs in the property by concealing them in the ceiling of the basement, essentially with the intention of looking at them again at some future point.

‘That all happened some years ago and it does appear that you may have forgotten about them because you left that property in 2011.’

An order was made for the 51 indecent movies to be forfeited and destroyed.

March 2014

Man who had sex with 13-year-old girl is jailed

A MAN who had sex with a 13-year-old girl has been jailed.

Travis Lines, 23, wept in the dock at Bristol Crown Court today as a judge was told he “fancied the girl straight away” and had two sexual encounters with her.

Lines, of Stafford Road, Weston-super-Mare, pleaded guilty to two charges of having sexual activity with a child.

Jailing him for two-and-a-half years, Judge Michael Roach told him: “The child, at the time, was 13. You, at the time, were 22. There was a nine year disparity between you and her.

“You pleaded guilty on the day of trial. It is regrettable that you only accepted your guilt on that occasion and not earlier.”

“These offences are far too serious to allow for any other sort of sentence.”

Lines was told to register as a sex offender indefinitely.

Rupert Lowe, prosecuting, told Bristol Crown Court Lines kissed and groped the youngster, who cannot be named, in his car.

Mr Lowe said: “She was flattered by his attention. She didn’t have the sense, maturity or courage to say no.”

The court heard that, later, Lines and the child had sex but she had stopped it as she realised it was not right.

Following a complaint to police, Lines conceded he had sent the girl a photo of his private parts by mistake.

In interview, he admitted being alone with the complainant but said they had just chatted and nothing had happened. He also told police he believed the girl was aged 17, the court heard.

The judge read a victim impact statement in which the girl said what happened had affected her relationship with her family and her schooling.

Ian Halliday, defending, said Lines had been attacked after the matter came to light and had been “running scared” ever since.

Mr Halliday said if he was sent to prison he would spend his time watching his back, rather than engaging in a programme to stop him re-offending.

He told the court: “He’s been beaten. He’s lost friends as a result. He may lose his occupation.”

March 2014

West Norfolk man jailed for indecent images of kids

A West Norfolk sex offender, was found to have breached his court order when police checked his mobile phone and found he had downloaded three indecent images of children, a court heard.

Adrian Whiley, 37, was already on the sex offenders register for downloading indecent images of young children to his phone in March, last year, Norwich Crown Court was told.

Chris Youell, prosecuting, said that officers went to make a routine check on Whiley in September, this year, as he was on the sex offender’s register and when they checked his Smart phone they found he had been searching the internet for images of children and had three indecent images on his phone.

Whiley, of Town Close, East Winch, near King’s Lynn admitted making the indecent images and the court heard this put him in breach of a six month suspended jail term he was given in March, for a similar matter, where he had looked at images featuring children aged one to nine years old.

Judge Anthony Bate imposed the suspended jail term and added a further six months for the new offence and said that he had flouted the order by downloading the images. He also ordered that Whiley remain on the sex offenders register for seven years and be subject to a sexual offences prevention order.

John Morgans, for Whiley said that he had a number of difficulties and mental health problems.

“There are issues and limitations that he faces. Any time in custody is going to be particularly difficult.”

March 2014

Former Leigh man jailed for sexually abusing four-year-old girl

A FORMER Leigh men who sexually abused a four-year-old girl was today, Monday, jailed for five years

The offences involving the little girl took place more than a decade ago but it was only in October 2012 that she revealed to police what had happened to her.

Her attacker, Anthony Cope, was arrested and denied the claims but he was convicted after a trial earlier this year.

A jury at Liverpool Crown Court convicted him of nine offences of sexual assault and jailing him Judge Alan Conrad, QC, said he was satisfied that the offences occurred regularly.

He ordered 46-year-old Cope, now of Truro, Cornwall, to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Emily Cook, defending, said that Cope, who has no previous convictions, maintains his innocence.

He is the carer for his elderly mother, who will have to go into a nursing home if he is jailed, and his partner and their two children will find life difficult without him, she said.

March 2014

22-year-old man jailed for sexual activity with a child

A man who twice had sex with an under-age girl has today, Thursday, 20 March 2014, been jailed for two years.

Ashley Bond took the 14-year-old girl to a Travel Lodge Hotel in Borehamwood where they had sex.  Then days later they had sex in his bedroom at his home.

At St Albans Crown Court, Bond, 22, of Bourton Close, Stoke Lodge, Bristol, pleaded guilty to two offences of sexual activity with the girl.

Sally Mealing-McLeod prosecuting for Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the first offence happened on 30 November 2012.

The court heard there had been text messaging between the pair in the days leading up to the offence.  The girl and a friend had arranged to go to the cinema in Borehamwood together and it was decided the defendant, who at the time was living in Hatfield, would meet them outside a Nando’s and go with them.  All three went to the cinema, but the prosecutor said they all left early.  At a nearby Tesco store alcohol was bought.

The defendant then booked a room at the Hotel and they made their way on foot and went to the room.  There, said Miss Mealing-McLeod, they watched TV and were drinking. She said there was also some hugging and kissing taking place, but it was when the victim’s friend was out of the room that Bond had sex with her.  The girls eventually left the hotel around 4am that morning after parents collected them.

The court heard on 03 December the defendant had sex with the girl at his home in Hatfield.  Again, said the prosecutor, it was entirely consensual on the the girl’s part, but she was to tell police officers later that Bond understood she was 15 on the first occasion and 14 on the second.

Angela Kerner defending said in the days leading up to the first offence, Bond had thought the girl was older and it was just before they had gone into the hotel that she told him she was 15.  The barrister said on the second occasion he knew she was 14.  She said Bond had been ignorant of the law and wrongly had thought that if the girl was consenting “it would be all right.”  She added: “Of course he was wrong about that.”

The court heard that Bond had left school with three A levels and six GCSE qualifications.  But he suffered ill health in the past with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and had been prescribed anti depressants.

Judge Steven Warner told him: “These are serious offences. She was 14 and she was vulnerable and you took advantage of that for your own gratification on two separate occasions.”

He jailed Bond for two years and made him the subject of a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO). His name will also go on the sex offenders’ register for the next 10 years.

March 2014

600+ indecent pictures and videos of children found on Grimsby man’s computer

HUNDREDS of shocking images were viewed by a Grimsby man.

More than 600 indecent photographs and videos of children were discovered on the laptop and hard drive of Darren Cardy, 40, Grimsby Crown Court was told.

Gordon Stables, prosecuting, said police executed a search warrant at an address in St Michael’s Road, Grimsby, following reports that Mr Cardy’s internet connection at his previous address had been used to access indecent pictures.

A total of 680 indecent images and photographs were found on Cardy’s hard drive and laptop, including a number classed as “level five” – the most explicit possible.

He was arrested on May 21 and told officers he had “found” the images while “looking at other stuff on the internet”.

Cardy also said he had “been stupid” and “a total idiot”.

He was handed a 36-month community and supervision order.

Cardy was made subject of a Sexual Offenders’ Prevention Order and made to sign to Sex Offenders’ Register.

October 2012

Alum Rock child sex offender fails in bid to overturn camera ban

A PERVERT who abused two boys and covertly filmed children as young as two has failed to persuade top judges to overturn a ban on him owning a camera.

Zabair Mahmood, 40, of Parkfield Road, Alum Rock, suffered from such “distorted thinking” that he did not believe what he had done counted as sexual abuse, London’s Criminal Appeal court heard.

Mahmood was jailed indefinitely for public public protection – a sentence reserved for dangerous offenders and which is almost identical to a life term – at Birmingham Crown Court on May 17, 2007.

He was also hit with a sexual offences prevention order banning him from owning or using a camera after his release. Mahmood challenged the terms of the prevention order, arguing before Lord Justice Richards, Mr Justice Openshaw and Judge Neil Ford QC that it was unfair for him to be prevented from taking pictures.

The court heard that, as well as committing vile sex offences against two 12-year-old boys, police discovered Mahmood had been secretly filming children and compiling a cache of sick videos at his home.

Gareth Patterson, for the Crown, told the court: “There was evidence of the appellant repeatedly and covertly filming children from as young as two.

“He would film persons up to 16 years of age and used this footage to create compilation films which also featured programmes about paedophiles and child murders.”

Arguing that the prevention order should remain in place, the barrister said: “The evidence justifying the order included the facts of the offences themselves, occurring as they did on a repeated basis over many years and involving more than one victim.” Mr Patterson also referred to the “distorted thinking of the appellant who did not think what he had done was sexual abuse”.

Mahmood’s lawyers argued the prevention order meant he would be barred from owning a mobile phone because almost all phones now had a camera function and submitted that was unfair. But, dismissing the appeal, Lord Justice Richards said his challenge had been brought too late and his complaints “are not points we should entertain at this late stage”.

April 2014

Mum speaks out about vile Canvey pervert who abused her daughter

A MOTHER has spoken of her crippling guilt after not believing her daughter when she said she was being abused by a twisted paedophile.

Michael Brignull, 60, of Thorney Bay Caravan Park, Canvey, was last week locked up for 11 years for a catalogue of sickening offences against a friend’s daughter.

The girl’s mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the paedophile had “ripped her family apart”.

The 43-year-old had known Brignull for 27 years.

She said: “We were so close Mick used to come to our house for Christmas dinner and my children used to stay with him for school holidays.

“He was a surrogate grandfather to them.”

The victim, now aged 17, was at her brother’s 18th birthday party, when she told a family friend she was being abused by Brignull.

Her mum said: “My first reaction was ‘oh my God, she is a bloody liar’. I thought she was jealous her brother was getting all the attention because it was his 18th.

“I 110 per cent did not believe her.”

The next day the mother confronted her then 16-year-old daughter.

She said: “I said to her ‘put your coat on, we are going to the police station’. She was hysterical and refused to go. Then a few days later she wrote me a letter explaining what Mick had done to her.

“She said she didn’t want to talk about it, so I wrote her a letter back. We carried on like that.

Writing letters back and forwards to each other.

“Then I took the letters to the police.”

In March 2012, Essex Police officers went to the family’s home.

The woman said: “They said ‘we understand you don’t believe your daughter’.

“Then they produced a cropped picture they had found on Mick’s laptop. It was a picture of my daughter being abused.

“I was devastated I had not believed her and this could go on without me ever suspecting. I kept saying over and over, ‘this cannot be true’.

“Then I started to remember little things. The children used to go to Mick’s for the holidays, but one day he said he could no longer take my son because he was naughty, so my daughter carried on going alone.

“She said a couple of times she didn’t want to go, but I thought she was just being difficult. I keep thinking that was an excuse to get her there alone.”

It is believed the victim was abused for much of her childhood.

The victim’s mother added: “I found out later my daughter didn’t want to tell me what was happening because she didn’t want to upset me.

“This has ripped our family apart and to my shame I didn’t believe my little girl.”

The victim has since moved away from Essex with her family.

Police described Brignull as a “dangerous man who wormed his way in to a family”.

Investigating officer, Det Con Mark Matthews, from Essex Police, said Brignull was someone who “threatened the safety of others”.

Brignull was convicted of possessing indecent images of a child, taking indecent images of a child, causing a female to engage in sexual activity without consent, sexual activity with a female child under 16 and two counts of attempted rape.

Det Con Matthews, said: “He is a dangerous man who wormed his way into this family and then abused his position of trust over a prolonged period of time.

“He effectively became the children’s unofficial surrogate grandfather after which he then took them to his caravan and sexually abused them.

“He posed a danger to many, but now that he is behind bars he can no longer threaten the safety of others.”

July 2013

Bogus cop who assaulted youngsters fails to lift ban

A child sex offender with a history of impersonating police officers has failed to overturn an order banning him possessing high visibility jackets and radios.

Clayton Taylor, formerly known as Miller McLeod, has a history of committing disturbing offences in which he dressed as a policeman and assaulted youngsters.

His legal bid to vary the order was heard by District Judge Pamela Baldwin, who agreed he could only have the items in the course of legitimate employment – such as a construction site.

The 21-year-old, of Tunbridge Street, Ribbleton, Preston, had the order imposed – along with a suspended six-month jail term – after he posed as a police officer in Blackpool and committed two assaults.

He wore a stab vest, a police utility belt, and had handcuffs and a radio when he carried out the attacks. He handcuffed and sexually assaulted a boy on a playing field in 2008.

Lancashire police prosecutor, Chris Keogh, told the judge: “The radios were used by Taylor – then known as Miller McLeod – to enable him to commit offences. They allowed him to indulge in this sort of misbehaviour impersonating a police officer.”

The judge said: “There is a need for this order to remain to protect the public from sexual harm.”

Taylor was not available for comment at his home.

April 2014

Anglesey man guilty of child and animal abuse images offences

AN ANGLESEY man had 13 child sexual abuse videos when north Wales police searched his home after a tip from Interpol, a court heard.

Geraint Evans, aged 49, of Cae Dafydd in Bryngwran, received a 16 weeks suspended jail term with an “internet sex offender treatment programme.”

He was also fined £200 with £535 costs, a five-year sex offences prevention order was made, and he has to register as a sex offender for a time.

Evans admitted making indecent images and possessing a bestiality video.

Caernarfon crown court was told the search term “child porn” had been used and a file sharing network.

Judge Merfyn Hughes QC told Evans :”I am not at all convinced you realise the seriousness of what you did.” 

April 2014

Jail for Merseyside teacher who preyed on young boys in the 1970s

A former Merseyside teacher who preyed on young boys was jailed for two years over a prolonged series of sexual assaults.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how Michael McCue, now aged 80, abused a 14-year-old boy while teaching at Huyton’s former Page Moss school during the 1970s.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had since fallen into alcoholism and depression because of the abuse he suffered and came forward after seeing the media attention surrounding Jimmy Savile’s sexual offences on children.

He told police how McCue had started abusing him when he was 14 years old, after catching him smoking, before ordering him to his office where he forced him to take off his clothes and perform sex acts.

He then repeated the indecent assaults every six weeks or so, warning the teenager he would tell his mum he had been smoking and spread rumours about his sexuality if he revealed the abuse.

Paul Treble, prosecuting, said on at least one occasion McCue had seen the boy in the corridor, and simply told him: “you know what I want”, before taking him to his office.

He also coached the school football team and told him he would be dropped if he didn’t keep it a secret, the court heard.

Judge Andrew Menary QC said: “This was, I am sure, a part of a scheme then being created by you to allow you to have some sort of hold over this young boy.”

He added that the assaults were “part of a systematic pattern and definitely involved a significant degree of planning and preparation.”

McCue, now of Dolphin Road, Currie in the Scottish county of Midlothian, had earlier been found guilty of 12 charges related to the sexual assaults, which were carried out over a period of two years.

He later admitted a 13th charge following a story in the ECHO.

Judge Menary pointed to the fact he had previously been found guilty of abuse on at least four other young boys.

He said: “There are probably more than that, but it’s now difficult to tell.”

He said if all of the offences had been revealed at the same time he would have jailed the pensioner for up to seven years, but instead had to give a reduced sentence.

McCue was ordered to sign the sexual offence register for life, was given a sexual offences prevention order banning him from interacting with children under the age of 16 or changing his name without notifying authorities.

April 2014

Pervert sent sexual messages to police officer who pretended to be 13 year old girl

A man who sent sexual messages to a Cumbrian police officer thinking she was a 13-year-old girl has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Stephen Williams was “lonely” while working in Kendal, away from home, when he found the “schoolgirl” on a social media website on which people aged over 18 can find “adult companionship”.

He sent her messages which became increasingly sexual and ended by getting her to watch him as he performed a sex act in front of his webcam.

Only later did he discover that the “girl” was in fact a policewoman posing as a child.

At Carlisle Crown Court, Williams, 34, of Clayford Way, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual behaviour.

He was given an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and put on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

April 2014

Child abuse images man armed with paintball gun told partner he “wanted to die by making police shoot him” 

A 34-year-old man who had indecent images of children on his laptop caused an armed siege in a residential street by attempting to get shot by firearms officers as part of a “suicide mission”, a court heard.

Matthew Anderson, of The Medway, Daventry, appeared at Northampton Crown Court after an incident on December 1 last year when he threatened police with a paintball rifle and pistol.

The court heard police attended an address in Abbey Road, Daventry, after Anderson’s partner rang 999 and said he wanted to die by “making police shoot him”.

Mary Loram, prosecuting, said officers attended the premises and found Anderson to be in possession of what they believed was a large machine gun and pistol.

She said: “The officers were not entirely convinced that the weapons were replicas and reacted accordingly.

Ms Loram said the officers took shelter behind a garden wall and heard Anderson loading and unloading his guns.

Eventually, Anderson was arrested after he admitted they were paintball guns.

After pleading guilty to being in possession of imitation firearms he was sentenced to 10 months in prison. He was also sentenced to a further six months in prison, to be served concurrently, after he pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children and extreme pornography.

Recorder Rachel Brand QC said officers “must have been terrified” and said prison was the “only appropriate way” to deal with Anderson.