July 2015

Luton man Adam Stokes found guilty of manslaughter of his nine-week-old baby daughter

A LUTON father was found guilty of the manslaughter of his nine week old baby daughter today (Tuesday).

Adam Stokes had violently shaken his daughter Scarlett causing massive brain injuries to the infant.

This afternoon Stokes was remanded in custody at Luton crown court while he awaits sentence which take place next month.

Trial judge Mrs Justice McGowan said she wanted the assistance of pre – sentence reports which will be prepared by the probation service who will conduct an interview with 33 year old Stokes in prison.

Stokes was told he will be brought back to the crown court to learn his fate on August 11, but the judge warned him a prison sentence is “inevitable.”

It was in January 2013 when his daughter Scarlett collapsed at their eighth floor flat in Luton having suffered a cardiac arrest

Scarlett was rushed to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital and transferred the same day to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

She never regained consciousness and died there 10 days later when the life support was withdrawn.

Throughout the trial the prosecution said the father was responsible for the appalling injuries she suffered by shaking her with “excessive force,” which caused her brain injuries.

Stokes, from Runfold, Luton pleaded not guilty to the child’s manslaughter.

The trial heard how an ambulance was called to the flat where she lived in with her father Green Court, Green Close in Luton at around 8am on the morning of 14 January 2013.

The court has heard paramedics found her to be “pale, unresponsive, blue, floppy, warm to the touch and in cardiac arrest

Baby Scarlett was being fed by her father at the time she collapsed and a medical evidence was given to the court that a bleed to her brain that had caused her death had been caused by shaking.

The jury heard how, on the evening of Sunday 13 January 2013, Scarlett was rushed to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital after she appeared to stop breathing in the flat.

Stokes said he had been feeding the baby at the time when, after the third ounce, she had started struggling to breathe and had gone “rigid and floppy and her lips and nose had started turning blue.”

He said his daughter was winded and when she was violently sick, her colour returned and she started breathing again.

In the witness, box Mr Stokes said that when his daughter had been born, she had undergone surgery immediately at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

After her discharge from hospital in late November 2012 he said she was brought home to Green Court.

He told the court he fed the baby, changed and bathed her daily, describing it as “the everyday things you do for a baby.”

Mr Stokes described his daughter as a “very, very quiet baby” who didn’t cry often and who sometimes had to be woken up for her feeds.

Following a visit to the GP on 3 January 2013 for her immunisations, he said she wasn’t herself and was very sleepy.

He said she also suffered what he described as “projectile vomiting,” as well as a cold.

On the the morning of Monday January 14 he said he got up around 6.45 to 7am and went into the kitchen and put the kettle on to make up a feed for his daughter.

Mr Stokes said he got his daughter out of her “Moses Basket” and started feeding her as he sat on the corner of his bed.

He said he winded her after each ounce, telling the jury “She was fine with the first two ounces again, then it got to the third ounce.”

Once again he said she suddenly went rigid then floppy.

He told the court his daughter was like “A rag doll.”

Once more he said an ambulance was called and he was given assistance over the phone on how to administer CPR to his daughter.

The father said he checked to see if his daughter’s heart was beating and he told the jury it was, but he said he “couldn’t see her breathing.”

He said he went to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital and later that day to great Ormond Street Hospital, where he learned doctors were treating Scarlett for “trauma.”

Miss Sonia Woodley QC, who defended Mr Stokes, asked him “It’s been suggested by the prosecution that you must have shaken Scarlett very vigorously to have caused the damage she sustained. Did you shake her?”

Mr Stokes replied “No, never ever.”

Asked how he felt when he was told Scarlett’s life support was to be removed on January 24, he replied “It was like my whole world had been ripped apart.”

Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor for Thames and Chiltern Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: “This was a terrible crime, which led to the untimely death of 9-week-old Scarlet Stokes-Craig at her home in Luton.

“On Monday, 14 January 2013, Scarlet’s mother called the emergency services at about 8.30am after Scarlet became unwell while being fed by her 33-year-old father, Adam Stokes. Scarlet was taken by ambulance to the Luton and Dunstable Hospital and, after medical tests, was transferred by ambulance to Great Ormond Street Hospital where she died 10 days later when life support was withdrawn. The cause of death was a serious non-accidental head injury. The prosecution case was that the bleed on the brain was caused by the baby being shaken with excessive force by Stokes. Due to a birth defect Scarlet had spent a considerable amount of her short life in hospital. It is impossible to imagine a more vulnerable victim.

“Stokes denied causing the death of his defenceless daughter and offered no explanation for how she obtained her injuries, but was found guilty of her manslaughter, despite his denials.

“This was an extremely difficult and complex case to prosecute. Without any eye witnesses, we needed lengthy and highly technical evidence from top medical experts to help provide an explanation as to why this little girl died. This evidence enabled the prosecution to piece together what had happened and exclude any possible innocent explanation for her death.

“We have worked closely with the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit since this investigation was launched and as a result of the hard work and diligence of the prosecution team, a just outcome has been achieved for baby Scarlet. I hope that the conviction will in some way help her extended family come to terms with this tragic event. However, no matter how long the prison sentence is, I acknowledge that nothing can make up for the loss of Scarlet. Our thoughts are very much with her extended family at this time.”

June 2015

Child rapist jailed for sexually abusing young girl over six-year period

A former Dairy Crest worker has been jailed for 14-years for the multiple rape of a young girl

Pensioner John Charles Vickers of Newport, Shropshire was found guilty of seven counts of rape on a child aged under 16-years-old that date back several decades.

Vickers was 39-years-old when he started sexually abusing the female victim.

The vile attacks took place over a six year period beginning when she was 10-years-old and until she reached 16-years-old.

The court heard that another adult had witnessed at least one of the rapes but chose not to intervene or report Vickers to the police. The victim was around 12-years-old at this stage and the abuse continued for another 4-years unobstructed

The judge reduced Vickers original projected sentence from 17-years to 14-years imprisonment due to the ill health of the defendant. 

Vickers will be considered for release after serving a minimum of 7-years.

Vickers will be required to sign the sex offenders indefinitely upon his release from prison.

July 2015

Paedophile jailed after police find indecent images of children on 7 computers

Dean Vandenhaas. Picture supplied by Sussex Police

A sex offender who blamed his family for indecent images of children found on his computer changed his plea to guilty on the day of his trial.

Dean Vandenhaas, 45, of Lennox Street, Bognor Regis, has now been jailed for 15 months after admitting making indecent images of children.

He was sentenced at Chichester Crown Court on July 10 after admitting 15 counts of making indecent images of children in categories up to and including the most serious and ten counts of possession of extreme images.

Detective Constable Helen Curtis said: “Right up to the point at which the jury was about to be sworn in, Vandenhaas consistently blamed family and friends for the existence of the thousands of images of abuse found on no less than seven different computer and storage devices at his address.”

Police said Vandenhaas pleaded not guilty to all offences up to the morning of June 1 when his trial was due to start and only at that point changed his plea to guilty.

As well as the prison sentence, he was also served with a sexual harm prevention order to last indefinitely, severely restricting his access to computers and children, and the court made a destruction order for the seven different computers and related items containing illegal material.

Vandenhaas will also be a registered sex offender for ten years on his release.

July 2015

Man admits child sexual images charge

A man has admitted possession of indecent images of children and images of an extreme nature

Simon John Barker, 49, of High Street, Gwersyllt, near Wrexham admitted one charge of possessing an indecent film and a second charge of possessing 15 extreme images

At Mold Crown Court, Barker admitted making an indecent video of a child.

The court heard that 660 films had been found by police but he had only been charged with one, because that film involved a child.

Judge Rhys Rowlands ordered him to register with the police as a sex offender and bailed him pending sentencing for August

July 2015

Indecent photos found after insurance worker leaves mobile phone in toilet

AN Admiral Insurance worker was discovered to have thousands of indecent images on his mobile phone, after accidentally leaving it in a toilet cubicle at work, where it was found by a colleague.

The phone was returned to Timothy Coulson, of Parc Wern Road, Sketty, after he returned to the washroom to look for it, but images of girls aged 8 – 14 had already been found by the colleague who had accessed it in a bid to find out its owner.

But it wasn’t reported until 18 months later, after the colleague who discovered it shared concerns with other workers, and decided to contact police.

The 39-year-old appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing, after pleading guilty to nine charges of possession of indecent pictures of children.

They included 246 in category A, depicting the most serious abuse, 262 in category B, and 705 in category C, although the court heard the images were representative of in excess of 28,000 found on his mobile phone.

Prosecuting, Tom Scapens said Coulsen had admitted the charges, and added: “There were numerous images on the device, from nude images to those at the other end of the scale, which he described as ‘pretty unpleasant'”.

Mitigating, Steve James said Coulson had undergone psychiatric assessment, which concluded there was a probable underlying autistic spectrum disorder and he had expressed real remorse.

He added: “He denies there is specific sexual stimulus but saw it as a challenge to access illicit material….He has sought private treatment, and realises there is a victim regardless of his situation.”

The court was also told that doctors who had assessed Coulson concluded he would struggle in a prison environment, with one adding ‘constant suicide watch would be essential in his case’.

Sentencing, Christopher Vosper QC made Coulson subject to a three year community order, with a supervision order and was placed on the sex offenders register.

July 2015

Convicted sex offender considers appeal over sacking

A former council senior planning officer, convicted of downloading child abuse images, is re-considering appealing his dismissal.

Kingsley Drinkwater (51), was fined £1000 and placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years after he pleaded guilty in February to the charge.

After he was later dismissed by Midlothian Council for failing to inform his manager of the charge he originally appealed.

He told the Advertiser: “I did appeal. They seemed to take none of my personal circumstances into it.

“But my circumstances have changed now. I don’t know if I would gain much from it. I had thought I had nothing to lose. But to be honest the stress of the wait has come back to me.

“It probably looks worse than it is. There is a whole lot more to this.

“It’s something I still don’t understand why I did it.

“I’m in a difficult situation. I’m trying to get myself back together. I have had a terrible time since 2008.

“It doesn’t look good and I know it. But it was a minor offence that I have been fined for and that’s it.”

In February this year Mr Drinkwater pleaded guilty to downloading indecent photographs of children on August 23, 2013, at his home in Edinburgh.

He told the Advertiser that his life had been “hell” when he committed the offence.

He said: “I have lost my daughter, I get limited access.

“I’m trying to put my life back together. I have lost pretty much everything. It’s been hell. My house was repossessed. And at the moment I can’t afford to pay the rent on my current house.

“I have been climbing mountains for the last 10 years, particularly the last four years. Every time I think I think I have got clear something else happens.

“And right now you have presented me with another mountain to get over.

“I have dreaded it since February that something would happen, but there is a lot more to it than just what it says on the charge sheet.

“There is people that deserve to be handled in this way. But I haven’t been involved in anything, just looking at stuff on the internet.

“There was no offence against any person, just looking at stuff and deleting it.

“Because I was at such a ridiculously low point at the time I wasn’t thinking about what I was doing.

“Believe it or not I’m a decent person who tries to help others and always does the right thing, but I was so low at the time. My mind wasn’t with it. I could have done anything.”

A spokesperson for Midlothian Council said: “Midlothian Council does not comment on individual disciplinary matters.”

July 2015

Hartlepool man stole eight-year-old girl’s knickers from swimming baths changing rooms

A pervert stole a little girl’s knickers from the changing rooms of a swimming baths and claimed he did so to carry out DNA testing.

Christopher Wallace was in the communal changing area in the Mill House Leisure Centre, in Hartlepool, when he snatched the eight-year-old’s pants as she went to shower with her mum.

The 33-year-old then left the centre, but was caught after the child’s mum reported the incident to leisure centre staff.

Justices were told that Wallace was “paranoid” and was interested in internet conspiracy theories which he claimed made him want to pinch knickers to carry out DNA testing on them.

Prosecuting, Bob Moore told Hartlepool Magistrates’ Court: “A lady and her eight-year-old daughter went to the shower area, leaving her daughter’s bag which contained her daughter’s clothing.

“The defendant, Wallace, entered the cubicle and stole the child’s knickers from the bag. He then left the leisure centre with them.

“The mum and daughter returned to the area and noticed that the knickers were missing. She reported it to centre staff.”

It was not revealed in court how Wallace was caught but he was later interviewed by the police, and he said he had committed similar acts in the weeks running up to the offence.

Mr Moore said: “He was interviewed about the situation and he admitted the offence of theft.

“He said when he was in the leisure centre while he was getting changed, he noticed a pair of child’s knickers on the floor in the cubicle next door.

“He went on to say that it was for doing DNA testing and to do that he steals children’s underwear.

“He said he picked them up and took them from the leisure centre with him.”

Wallace, of Whinchat Close, in the Throston area of Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to one count of stealing a pair of pants.

His solicitor, Dave Smith, mitigating, said: “Something which may prove helpful to the court is the motivation behind the offence.

“It is clear that his primary motivation is not sexual gratification.

“My client has long had substance difficulties, this beginning with cannabis earlier in his life.

“The use of that was replaced by use of so-called synthetic cannabis, which is a legal substance, but which is substantially stronger than its organic counterpart.

“In relation to the use of the substance my client has become quite paranoid in the way he views the world and he’s become involved with conspiracy theories, particularly on the internet.

“This offence relates to that, in that it was set against a background of conspiracy theory he found himself occupied with.

“Once he had obtained the items, he accepts that there became a secondary motive as alleged. That wasn’t the primary motive. The Probation Service do have concerns and he will work with them.”

Chairman of the bench Doreen Goode sentenced Wallace to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order which bans him from having contact with any female child under the age of 16 unless given consent, and prohibits him from entering any communal changing rooms unless granted permission by the Sex Offender Management Unit.

He was sentenced to a two-year community order with a requirement to comply with a sex offender treatment programme, and ordered to pay £85 costs, a £180 criminal court charge and £2 compensation for the pants.

July 2015

Victims see justice decades on from abuse by Fife paedophile

A 70-year-old Fife man has been found guilty of sexually abusing young girls in offences dating back to the 1960s.

During a trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, three victims told how they were abused by former school janitor John Dewar, with one of them saying she may have been as young as three at the time.

The jury delivered unanimous guilty verdicts on all three charges.

Dewar, of Durris Drive, Glenrothes, was found guilty of using lewd and libidinous practices and behaviour at his home in Cardenden between March 26 1969 and March 25 1973 against a girl then aged between eight and 12.

He was also found guilty of, on various occasions between September 10 1979 and September 9 1985 at the Janitor’s House in Viewforth Gardens, Kirkcaldy, of using lewd and libidinous practices and behaviour towards a girl then aged between three and nine years old.

The third charge was that between May 18 1980 and May 17 1982 at the same location he used lewd and libidinous practices and behaviour against a girl then aged over 12 and under 16.

The three victims gave evidence and one said of the sexual assault: “I’ll never forget that. Never.”

One said she later had nightmares of a man being in her room.

Depute fiscal Ronald Hay told the jury that the evidence of the “three brave women” had told of “abhorrent allegations”.

He described Dewar as “an opportunist” who took advantage of situations “for his depraved sexual gratification”.

Sheriff Craig McSherry called for reports and Dewar will be sentenced on September 2.

July 2015

Sexual predator’s secret offending is uncovered by young victim’s dad

A SEXUAL predator who preyed on at least two young girls is behind bars after the dad of one of the victims went to the police.

Pervert Patrick Clancy, pictured, groomed one girl from the age of four and raped her when she was a teenager in 2002.

This offence never came to light — until the 49-year-old Knightswood deviant targeted another girl, aged 11, in 2013.

The second victim’s father discovered Clancy had been sexually abusing his daughter for six months.

The father thought her mood swings were part of growing up, not realising it was confusion, anxiety and fear from Clancy’s sexual assaults.

The dad went to the police and they began an investigation — one that uncovered the historic rape on the other girl.

Speaking to the Post, the father, who we cannot name to protect the identity of the victims, said: “When I discovered what had been happening I had to make a hard choice. Do I go and deal with this myself, or do I go to the police?

“At the time, the first option would have helped me a lot, but if I had ended up in prison I wouldn’t have been there for my daughter.

“On top of that, the police investigation uncovered the historic rape he had carried out on a young girl and now she has some justice too.”

Clancy denied all charges, including two accusations of using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices towards a girl between August 1992 and September 1999 at two addresses in Glasgow.

One of those was his house and the abuse started when the victim was aged just four.

He was also charged with raping the girl when she was aged 15 at his house. In the most recent offence involving the second girl, Clancy was further charged with sexually assaulting the 11-year-old at his home between July 2013 and December 2013.

A trial began in January this year after Clancy was reported to police last July.

The jury of 15 found him unanimously guilty of all four charges in May and Clancy returned to Glasgow High Court last Monday for sentencing.

The dad of the second victim said: “Throughout the trial he barely looked up and showed no remorse for his crimes against these innocent children.

“When he took the stand to answer questions from the judge he began to cry, and when she asked him what he was crying for he said he was sorry.

“The judge asked for what, and he replied ‘for myself’.

“At this point my wife collapsed, and I couldn’t stay inside the courtroom.”

Friends and family have been on hand to support the victims through the trial, which began in January. The allegations were reported to the police last July.

July 2015

South Shields sex offender spared jail after failing to tell police his whereabouts

A sex offender from South Tyneside who failed to keep police informed about his whereabouts after being released from prison has narrowly avoided being put back behind bars.

Jonathon Ridley spent two years in a young offenders institution after being convicted of sexual activity with a child in 2010.

When the 24-year-old moved into Ridge House, in Beach Road, South Shields, in May he failed to tell the police about his change in address – to comply with sex offence requirements.

When he failed to attend a police station to inform them of the move, an officer attended the property to confirm he lived there.

Newcastle Crown Court heard he had already failed to comply with the sex offenders register twice before resulting in a fine and then a 16 week prison sentence.

It was after his release from prison on May 13 that he failed to notify the police of his new address.

Neil Pallister, prosecuting, said: “He accepted he should have registered when he left prison but accepted he hadn’t. He didn’t put forward any excuses in interview why he hadn’t registered.”

Ridley, of Ridge House, South Shields, admitted failing to comply with the notification requirement under the sex offences act.

He also admitted a further charge of failing to surrender at magistrates court.

Nick Peacock, defending, said: “This is a different breach, a less serious breach. He was maintaining contact with the police. He told them where he was living although he didn’t know the full address.

“The police checked the hostel to see that he was living there and indeed he was living there.

“This isn’t an offence where immediate custody should be at the forefront of the courts mind. He was due to start a job when he was arrested. He has recently established communication with his family.

“This is someone the court could try to chance on because he knows what is going to happen if he doesn’t.”

Judge Deborah Sherwin told Ridley: “You are bound to note by the police where you are living in the community and you must know that by now.

“You must understand if you don’t get things right this time you will go back to custody for a longer period.”

Judge Sherwin handed Ridley a six month jail term, suspended for 12 months.

He must also complete 100 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation order for 35 days.

July 2015

Former Scoutmaster jailed for sexual abuse of schoolgirl

A man has been jailed for three years for sexual abuse of a schoolgirl.

Leeds Crown Court heard the girl had known Simon Karl Townsend for some time but when she was 13 he began talking to her about his own sex life with his partner and what they did together.

Andrew Semple prosecuting said on subsequent occasions when they happened to be at the same premises he progressed to putting his arms around her, kissing her and telling her she was beautiful.

The complainant told police later that then turned to Townsend, 32, touching her breasts and telling her she had “nice boobs.”

Mr Semple told the court the girl said she felt uncomfortable but did not know what to dosince he was an adult. He then made her perform a sex act.

As the weeks passed he progressed to asking her to carry out other sex acts which she did on two occasions.

In May this year Townsend, who was a Scout leader in the 10th Holme Valley (New Mill) Scout Group, had returned from a camp in Harrogate and he committed a further sex act.

None of the offences has any connection to his work with the Scouts.

Mr Semple said Townsend also asked the girl to send him naked pictures of herself on her phone, she did not do so but sent him some of her in her underwear and there was an exchange of sexualised texts between them.

It was those texts which led to the prosecution. On May 5 a friend of the girl’s saw some of the messages on her phone and as a result another person told a teacher and the offences came to light.

Townsend told police he had fantasised about the girl but denied sexual activity but his DNA was found on an item of her clothing.

Andrew Dallas representing Townsend said he was highly remorseful and realised the damage he had done to his young victim and that he had to be punished.

He had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and accepted he had formed “an inappropriate emotional attachment” to her.

“This was just the defendant carried away imagining himself in some of kind of relationship and now fully understands what he did was terrible and wrong.”

His work with the scout movement and other charities portrayed him in a more positive light than the offences.

Townsend, of Highfield Avenue, Meltham, admitted two charges of sexual activity with a child, three of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

In addition to the jail term he was ordered to register indefinitely as a sex offender and to pay a £900 criminal charge.

July 2015

Former Hethersett Academy teacher jailed for possession of indecent images of children

A disgraced former Norfolk teacher was jailed on Wednesday for 10 months for possessing hundreds of indecent images of children.

Andrew Bayliss, 31, who used to teach at Hethersett Academy, was also placed on the sex offender’s register for 10 years, after he admitted possessing indecent images of children and one count of distributing a single indecent image to his partner.

Bayliss, of Priory Lane, North Wootton, also admitted possessing prohibited cartoon images and extreme pornographic images, when he appeared at Norwich Crown Court at an earlier hearing.

None of the offences involve any pupil at Hethersett Academy or the community but the court heard they were images he had downloaded from the internet.

Chris Youell, prosecuting, said police were tipped off by Facebook after Bayliss sent an indecent image to his partner.

When his home was searched it was found that Bayliss had a few indecent images on his phone but almost 700 on his laptop.

Mr Youell said that some of the images featured children as young as two.

During a police interview in January 2015 Bayliss admitted using a false social media account and name to distribute the images.

Mr Youell added as soon as the allegations came to light Bayliss was suspended from his job and had been sacked after he pleaded guilty to the charges. The court heard that his career as a teacher was now over.

Andrea Clarke, for Bayliss said that his life lay in ruins and he would not be able to teach again.

“His life is in tatters. He had been a highly respected teacher.”

She said he was the main carer for his partner, who had a number of health problems.

She said that since his arrest Bayliss no longer used the internet apart from banking.

Jailing him, Judge Stephen Holt said: “Your life is in ruins and its entirely your fault. You will never teach again and now have a serious conviction.”

He added: “The message has to go out that possession of this sort of material inevitably leads to a custodial sentence.”

He also made Bayliss subject to a sexual harm prevention order which will monitor his use of the internet.

After Bayliss was arrested, the head of Hethersett Academy Gareth Stevens issued a statement to parents to reassure them that none of the offences involved any pupil.

He said: “Mr Bayliss started working at our school in April 2014, and was suspended from school in November 2014, as soon as the allegations first came to light.”

Headed by Detective Sergeant Andy Barker, the team of four Detective Constables and an intelligence officer, aim to identify victims who are being or have been abused and work with agencies to put safeguarding measures in place.

Det Sgt Andy Barker, said: “A child is victimised not only when they are abused and an image is taken but every time that image is viewed by someone.

“We hope such a case sends a strong message out to such offenders that the internet is not a safe anonymous space for accessing indecent images or grooming children. They leave a digital footprint and we will find it.”

July 2015

A Dumfries man who admitted being in possession of extreme pornographic images has been jailed for six months.

Euan McKean, 28, downloaded more than 2,000 indecent pictures of children, Dumfries Sheriff Court heard.

He also had graphic images depicting sexual activity between people and animals.

The images were described as “shocking” by Sheriff George Jamieson, who also placed him on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

At an earlier hearing McKean admitted committing the offences at his home between April 2013 and January 2015.

July 2015

School worker jailed for multiple sex offences against children

A school worker from Thatcham who indecently assaulted a 13-year-old schoolgirl and sexually assaulted another has been jailed for six years.

Craig Grineau, 25, who worked as a learning facilitator at Prior’s Court autism school near Hermitage, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Friday.

In April last year Grineau indecently assaulted a 13-year-old girl, and while on bail sexually assaulted another, aged 15, in July by touching her and emotionally blackmailing her.

Neither of the girls were pupils at Prior’s Court, but were both considered to be vulnerable by Judge Stephen John, sentencing.

The court heard that during the Easter holidays last year, Grineau invited the 13-year-old – who he knew to have a history of self-harming – to his house.

While she was there, Grineau gave her a tour of the house including the bedroom, where he undressed her and had unprotected sex with her, saying that what he was doing would help her.

Three months later and while on police bail, Grineau also invited the 15-year-old girl to come to his home.

He gave the girl alcohol, kissed her and touched her underneath her clothing.

Grineau then attempted to take her upstairs, but she refused and left.

After that day, Grineau emotionally blackmailed her by sending texts saying he would kill himself if they didn’t have sex.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge John said: “For a young man now aged only 25 – 24 when you committed these offences – you present a worrying picture.

“The fact that you have twice offended with young girls despite having been in a relationship with your fiancée for five years, that has not deterred you from an unhealthy interest in young girls.

“You are highly manipulative. I am satisfied that you pose a significant risk of serious harm to young girls.”

He added: “The damage to both girls is assessed as likely to be significant granted that they were both vulnerable and experiencing serious emotional difficulties at the time.”

The court have his address as Bullingdon Prison near Bicester in Oxfordshire.

Grineau was sentenced to five years in jail for the rape and 12 months for the sexual assault to run concurrently, and he will serve at least two thirds of the sentence in custody.

Following his release, Grineau will remain on extended license for four years, and he has been barred from working with children in the future.

April 2010

Father, 16, who shook his baby to death jailed for two-and-a-half years

A teenager who shook his seven-week-old daughter to death was jailed yesterday.

Joshua Bacon lost his temper as he tried to feed Caitlyn Smith and handled her so violently that he caused a catastrophic brain injury.

He was yesterday found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars.

The 16-year-old father had taken Caitlyn to hospital with her mother Danielle Smith, 16, in January last year.

After the girl was admitted with a minor urinary infection, Miss Smith stayed with her on the first night before leaving Bacon to care for their daughter alone for another two days.

But on the morning Caitlyn was due to be discharged, she was found dead in her cot after Bacon told a nurse that she had vomited and gone limp.

Bacon, a painter and decorator from St Helens in Merseyside, insisted that he had done nothing wrong and felt no remorse.

Recalling the tragedy on January 12, he told Preston Crown Court: ‘I tried to feed her, but she didn’t take it, so the nurse told me to try again soon. The second time, she didn’t take it again, so I winded her and she was sick on me.

‘I tried feeding her again, but half way through she started coughing and being sick again.

‘So I put her down beside me and started watching TV, but the next time I looked at her she was pale and floppy. I don’t regret anything because I didn’t do anything wrong.’

Medical staff at Ormskirk Hospital in Lancashire found Caitlyn lying on her back on Bacon’s bed with no signs of life.

‘Her head continued to swell, a result of damage to her brain. Despite everything possible being done, her condition continued to deteriorate, with no hope of recovery,’ Alan Conrad QC, prosecuting, told the court.

Caitlyn was transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool and died four days later. X-rays also revealed Caitlyn had two broken legs and 13 rib fractures that had been sustained two weeks before she died.

The injuries were described as the kind caused by a car crash or long fall on to a hard surface.

Last night, Miss Smith, now 17, attacked the sentence handed down to her former partner.

She said: ‘I think the sentence is absolutely disgusting. What excuse can you give for killing a baby?

‘I’ll never be able to forgive him. I feel let down that you can kill a baby and all you’ll get is two-and-a-half years.

‘I don’t trust anyone any more, every time I hear a baby cry I look up thinking it’s Caitlyn. A momentary loss of control is not an excuse for killing a baby.

‘I’ve got to live the rest of my life without holding my daughter.’

Judge Caroline Swift had earlier told the jury to acquit Bacon of murder after deciding it would be impossible to be sure he intentionally killed the baby.

Sentencing Bacon, she said: ‘You became irritated and lost control to the extent that you shook her and mishandled her so that her head struck the mattress of the bed.

‘You did so at a time when you were surrounded by people who could have given you support.

‘I accept that your violence lasted only a matter of seconds, a few seconds was all that it would take to cause a devastating brain injury.

‘You were an immature 16-year-old at a borderline learning disability level. Those factors must have made it difficult for you to adjust to the responsibility of fatherhood and putting the needs of your child before your own.’

Bacon, now 17, was sent to a young offenders’ institution but could be free in six months due to time he has spent on remand.

Ormskirk Hospital has defended the care it gave Caitlyn, saying there was no reason to believe the girl, who had been born five weeks prematurely, was at risk from Bacon or anyone else.

Jonathan Parry, chief executive of Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust said: ‘A thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding this incident was conducted last year which found that the care provided by the Trust was as good as it should be.’
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Murphy, of Lancashire Police, who led the investigation, said the sentence reflected the fact that there were ‘no winners’ in the case.

He added: ‘Joshua has never accepted responsibility and has never explained his actions. Only he knows what really happened.’

April 2007

Mum helped to trap paedophile with bogus texts

A mother helped trap a paedophile who was preying on her child by sending him bogus text messages.

Mark Northam, 46, thought they were from the 13-year-old against whom he had already committed two offences.

His saved replies were later handed to the police.

Ieuan Bennett, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court: ‘He thought he was sending them to the girl and it was obvious that he wanted to continue things and have a sexual relationship with her.’

As Northam, of Splott, Cardiff, was led to the cells to begin a three-year sentence, the child’s distraught mum shouted after him: ‘Rot in hell!’

Another member of the family said: ‘He should have got life for hurting a young girl.’

Northam had pleaded guilty – just a few days before his trial was due to begin – to being involved in sexual activity with a child.

Before that, he had spent months saying the claims were not true, adding to the victim’s trauma as she prepared herself to have to give evidence and face cross examination, her relatives said.

Jailing him, Judge John Curran said there had to be credit given for the guilty plea.

But he told Northam that while he may have spared the child the courtroom ordeal, it was well known what huge emotional and psychological effects such offending had on victims.

‘It is something they rarely forget, so the court has a duty to deal firmly with anyone who takes advantage of a child in this way,’ he said.

As well as being jailed, Northam was put on the sex offenders’ register for life and banned from ever working with children. And the judge warned he could be jailed a second time if he failed to register his details with the police when he is released.

Mr Bennett said the child had been too frightened at first to say anything when Northam touched her sexually and then made her touch him.

She later told the police she felt ‘sad and horrible’ after it happened.

The court heard these were his first sex offences, although he had been convicted of violence in the past.

July 2015

Chatroom paedophile caught by police officer posing online as 13-year-old girl

PREDATORY paedophile John Steventon was caught by an undercover police officer who posed as a 13-year-old girl.

The 50-year-old grandad befriended ‘Lucy’ on social networking site Netlog before chatting with her over Skype.

He repeatedly asked the youngster for photographs of her breasts and tried to persuade her to perform a sex act on herself in front of the camera.

Prosecutor Paul Farrow told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court: “A police officer from the paedophile unit at the Metropolitan Police was posing as a 13-year-old girl called Lucy.

The defendant sent a friend request and told her he was 48. They soon started a private chat.

“The officer described the defendant as displaying classic grooming techniques.

“He was asking if she had a boyfriend or a girlfriend and started to talk about kissing and cuddling.

“He made requests for photographs and was keen to talk about his private parts. He asked her to show him her breasts.

“Later, the defendant sent five pictures of himself sitting in his underwear. He continually asked for photographs. He told her he would send her a naked photograph if she sent him one of herself, topless.

“The defendant also sent four graphic indecent images of the sexual abuse of children aged between 10 and 16 years old.”

Police arrested Steventon in June 2013 and found more than 350 explicit photographs and videos of children and animals on his computer. Officers also discovered a chat history of a similar nature with three other young girls.

Steventon, of Rowan Close, Biddulph Moor, pleaded guilty to four charges of attempting to cause or incite a girl aged 13 to engage in sexual activity. He also admitted three offences of distributing indecent photographs of a child; six offences of making indecent photographs of a child; and possession of extreme pornographic images between 2012 and 2013.

Nicola Bell, mitigating, said: “These offences bring shame and humiliation. There was an element of loneliness in this defendant’s life for some considerable time. Since the breakdown of his marriage he’s had no real relationship.

“There’s a worrying escalation when the chat becomes extremely sexualised and that is something the defendant carries real remorse and shame in relation to.”

Judge Paul Glenn jailed Steventon for two years and made him subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He said: “This was a classic case of grooming. Your chats became increasingly disgusting and graphic and you were targeting what you thought was a young child. To deny a sexual attraction to children beggars belief. You’re a grandfather and I am prepared to accept you are ashamed of yourself – and so you should be.”

July 2015

‘Predatory’ paedophile jailed for 17 years for abusing young boys

A “PREDATORY and manipulative” paedophile has been jailed for 17 years after an 11-year campaign of abuse.

Benjamin Mercer preyed on several young boys in Hornsea when he was aged between his mid-teens and mid-twenties.

His victims were as young as five years old and his offences ranged from touching to rape.

Mercer, formerly of Cliff Road, Hornsea, faced 15 charges – including three of rape, sexual activity with a child, gross indecency and indecent assault – which he denied.

But the jury of 11 men and one woman took just a few hours to find Mercer, 41, guilty of 12 of the 15 original charges. They also found him guilty of a 13th, the lesser charge of attempted indecent assault.

Sentencing Mercer, who now lives in Brighton, Judge David Tremberg, said: “You have been predatory and manipulative and viewed your victims as objects, putting your needs and desires over their welfare.

“You exhibited a capacity to act with premeditation and opportunistically.

“You tested these young boys to see how vulnerable they were.”

Six of the charges related to one victim, which the judge deemed to be some of the most serious.

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July 2015

A 27-year-old pervert is facing sentence after a jury convicted him at Maidstone Crown Court of sex offences.

Robert Barnes, of Nicholson Way, Sevenoaks, denied three offences of sexual activity with a child, two of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity by sending indecent images to her and one of meeting a child following sexual grooming.

He will return to court on Friday, August 14 for sentencing.

Judge David Griffith-Jones QC ordered that Barnes be on a tagged curfew until that time

July 2015

Face of teenager who raped three girls

A TEENAGE girl who tried to kill herself after being raped by an 18-year-old cried in court as she spoke of how the trauma had changed her life.

The girl – one of THREE teenagers raped by 18-year-old Connor Givens – has barely slept since the incident, “does not feel the same around anyone anymore” and cannot have a normal sexual relationship. She said trying to take her own life “was the only way I felt I could get out of this mess.”

“My family was good in supporting me but I do not feel the same around anyone anymore.”

“I did not tell anyone until a year after it happened. It’s supposed to be a big relief. I felt everyone was judging me; that I was a liar for not telling them earlier,” she said.

Givens, of Valentine Court, off Barcroft Street, Cleethorpes, was sentenced to seven and a half years in a Young Offenders Institute for three rapes, after being found guilty of two and admitting the third.

“You have, as a result of this offending, thrown away a promising career in the Armed Forces. You have only yourself to blame,” commented Judge Mark Bury on sentencing.

He ordered the 18-year-old to be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life, and as he was led away from the dock, the suited youth winked at family members.

Prosecutor Simon Reevell told the court: “These were deliberate and cruel offences.”

The court heard how in 2013, the first victim went to a party. Alcohol was drunk, the then 16-year-old asked her for sex and was emphatically told no.

The party ended, the victim and a friend looked for a room to sleep in and they found an empty room. Later, he came into the room, grabbed the teenager, and raped her. Sometime later he told a friend: “She tried to be a bitch to me. I got her back.”

Before he was arrested, in the same year, the youth met up with another teenage girl and a friend of hers.

Drinking took place and the youth raped her and then tried again. He was arrested and told police non-penetrative consensual sex took place.

On another occasion, while on bail, he was at a party. Another teenager was affected by alcohol and went to lie down on a bed.

“It was apparent she was intoxicated. He raped her,” continued Mr Reevell.

The girl’s mum saw a diary entry about the incident and the defendant, who was now 17, was interviewed again.

The second victim told the court how “every aspect” of her life had changed since her ordeal.

Her statement said she had hardly slept properly since the rape, how her family has had to move and how relationships have been spoilt.

She suffers mental health problems and is being treated for post-traumatic stress and has tried to kill herself twice.

“I can’t have normal sexual relationships,” she said.

“I don’t know how to deal with having a proper relationship now,” she said.

The girl added she wanted the offender to be punished and hopes he learns from it.

Mitigating, Charlotte Baines said her client initially did not accept the verdict of the trial for two of the cases, leading to some “very negative comments” in a pre-sentence report.

Her client had changed his attitude to the three ‘complainants’ and to women in general, leading to the guilty plea for the third matter.

“He’s ashamed of what happened. He’s beginning to recognise the effect of what he has done to the complainants,” she said.

The lawyer said her client had “bundles of character references” saying these matters aside, he respects others, is honest and has integrity.

He was forging a career in the Armed Forces but this was now a closed door.

Sentencing, Judge Bury noted how the 18-year-old had manipulated his first victim, before committing an “extremely painful rape” with “no regard to her feelings”.

“What you said afterwards to her friend was disgusting,” he continued.

Of the second victim, who had spoken in court, he said: “You took advantage and raped her when she was unable to give consent and fight you off,” he said.

“That offence was serious. There was a significant breach of trust.

The third case was at another party where the victim was drinking and taking cannabis, putting her in a state where she could not look after herself.

Judge Bury added the 18-year-old could be released on licence after serving half of his sentence.