April 2015

Teenage driver jailed for killing girl while speeding with cannabis in his system

A teenage driver has been jailed for four years for causing the death by dangerous driving of a 14-year-old girl as she walked to school.

Robert Blackwell, 19, was speeding and had traces of cannabis in his system when his Citroen C2 struck Liberty Baker in Witney, Oxfordshire, on the morning of June 30.

He received a text message on his iPhone from his girlfriend shortly before the crash which prosecutors described as the “source of distraction” when he was driving.

Blackwell “completely failed” to negotiate a bend, probably because he was “messing about with his phone”, Oxford crown court heard.

After bringing the car to a stop, Blackwell got out and said: “I am sorry. It’s all my fault. It all happened so fast. I just lost control.”

Liberty, a Year 9 pupil at Henry Box School, died later in hospital from her injuries, while two 14-year-old girls and a 54-year-old man, Paul Cracknell, were also injured in the collision.

Mr Cracknell suffered serious leg injuries and is still being treated in hospital as an outpatient, and has only been able to return to work part-time.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who is standing as an MP for Witney, sent his condolences to Liberty’s family following the crash.

Blackwell was jailed after earlier pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving, Thames Valley Police said.

He appeared tearful as he was taken down to the cells as the packed public gallery remained silent.

Mitigating, Claire Fraser said Blackwell denied being distracted by the text message and said the cannabis in his bloodstream had no effect on his driving.

Ms Fraser said he told a probation officer he knew he had to go to prison, adding: “I need to be punished, I understand.”

Blackwell, of Hayway Lane, Weald, was also banned from driving for five years.

Speaking outside court surrounded by family and friends, Liberty’s father Paul Baker said they were “devastated” by the short length of the sentence.

Alongside his weeping wife Maureen, Mr Baker said: “We are devastated at the sentence which has been handed out today.

“This man’s actions cost my daughter her life and we will have to live with our loss every single day. He is only likely to spend a few years in prison.

“We will never recover from the cruel and heartbreaking way our beautiful daughter was taken from us.

“Our lives will never be the same again.”

Judge Ian Pringle said the young driver’s speed – 44mph in a 30mph zone – was “grossly excessive.”

As he locked up Blackwell for four years, he said nothing he could say or do would stop the “everlasting pain and grief of those who have to live with the loss of Liberty”.

Liberty’s younger brother, 11-year-old Finlay, wrote a statement in which he said there was now “a big hole in our family circle”.

In a poem read to the court by prosecutor Ian Hope, Finlay wrote: “There is a new angel in the sky.

“Those special memories of you will always make me smile. If I could have you back just for a while.

“It’s been a year since you passed away, I still think of you every day in my own special way.

“I hate not knowing for sure what happens when you die. But I really love to believe, there is heaven past the sky.”

March 2016

Paedophile jailed for raping schoolgirl

An Oldham paedophile that sexually abused and raped a young schoolgirl has been jailed.

Taxi driver David Haughton, 54 of Oldham was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of 12 counts of serious sexual abuse which included: grooming, indecent assault and child rape.

The court was told that the victim was just six-years-old when the abuse started and it lasted well into her teenage years.

Haughton denied all the charges against him, but was found guilty by the jury. However, he finally came clean at his sentencing when he produced a letter to the judge admitting his vile crimes. 

The judge sentenced Haughton to a total of 14-years imprisonment

He was told he must register as a sex offender for life and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order

April 2016

Samuel McDonald admits sex assaults on boys in Fife

A man has admitted having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old boy and sexually assaulting a seven-year-old boy in Fife.

Samuel McDonald, 21, pleaded guilty to engaging in unlawful sex with the 13-year-old boy and buying alcohol for him between December 2014 and March 2015.

He admitted sexually assaulting the seven-year-old on an occasion between 22 February 2015 and 9 May 2015.

McDonald, from Lochgelly, pleaded guilty at the High Court in Glasgow.

A mother alerted the police after she found explicit Facebook messages between her 13-year-old son and a man, the court heard.

McDonald discussed online the “sexual activity” he had had with a teenage boy that the boy’s mother then discovered.

The teenager later told officers that “stuff had happened” with an older person in a tunnel at Lochore in Fife.

And, that McDonald made a deal with him on one occasion that he would get an electronic cigarette from him if he carried out a sex act.

A seven-year-old boy was sexually assaulted by McDonald in the same area of Fife, and later told his mum about the incident.

Judge Lady Scott deferred sentence until next month at the High Court in Edinburgh and placed McDonald on the sex offenders’ register.

February 2016

Pervert jailed after grooming schoolgirl online

A 48-year-old sex offender that groomed a schoolgirl online has been jailed

Former baker at the local Sainsbury’s Francis William Turner of Countess Way, Bamber Bridge was found guilty of attempting to meet a girl under 16 years old for sexual contact following online grooming.

Turner had groomed the 14-year-old schoolgirl over a period of 3 months. 

The court was told that Turner had sent a series of sexually explicit and disgusting messages to the child.

Turner was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment and will be required to register as a sex offender.

May 2016

‘Manipulative’ paedophile wins time off jail sentence

A paedophile described as a “manipulative sexual predator” has had his prison sentence cut by two years at the Court of Appeal.

Peter Clegg, 58, sexually abused a girl on several occasions at her home in Hull when she was 12. On one occasion, he threatened her, warning her not to tell her parents before raping her.

Clegg, now of Balfour Street, Bradford, claimed the youngster was “attention seeking”, but pleaded guilty to seven offences, including rape.

May 2016

Paedophile jailed for two years for possession of child abuse images

A man who held a catalogue of ‘horrendous’ child abuse images on his computer has been jailed.

Kevan Walker, 50, formerly of Malthouse Green, Luton, had been charged with six offences relating to indecent photographs of children after Bedfordshire Police received intelligence regarding his online activity.

As a result of this information the force searched Walker’s address and seized items which could be examined for the presence of child abuse material.

May 2016

Suicide pact paedophile jailed for 15 years for preying on vulnerable boy

A man who survived a suicide pact that killed his partner has been jailed for sexually abusing the vulnerable schoolboy they both preyed on.

Stephen Southam (60) pleaded guilty to a series of sex offences upon the child aged 11 to 15, including attempted rape.

Southam was handed a 15 year prison sentence which will see him serve 10 years with five years on licence.

The boy was left so psychologically devastated he tried to kill himself in his teens, Leicester Crown Court was told.

In a victim impact statement he described himself as being left “broken,” suffering panic attacks and unable to sleep – and kept the abuse a secret for many years.

He eventually confided in his girlfriend and then another friend – who confronted Southam’s boyfriend, David Murray, over the telephone.

The friend told Murray they should both hand themselves in to a police station, in August last year.

It resulted in Southam and his partner of 28-years entering into a suicide pact and they both took overdoses, which killed Murray but Southam survived.

James Thomas, prosecuting, said they left suicide a note “indicating nothing had been the victim’s fault.”

It also stated that Southam and his partner were living “in the bottom of a mental cesspit” at the time and “everyone will be at peace.”

Southam, of Talbot Street, Thringstone, Leicestershire, pleaded guilty to five specimen counts of indecent assault, an attempted indecent assault and attempted rape between 1997 and 2002.

Judge Philip Head told Southam he would be eligible for parole after serving two thirds of the 10 year term.

The judge said: “This was a prolonged and extreme campaign of sexual abuse of him.

“He later tried to kill himself at 17.”

The judge said Southam, who also made the youngster watch pornography, was undeterred by the victim’s resistance to the abuse.

He said: “You were acting in concert with your partner, who killed himself when disclosure was made.

“Much of this was committed jointly by two adults upon one child.

“It’s caused grave psychological harm.

“In his victim personal statement he gives a moving account of the dreadful effect upon him and he later contemplated suicide a second time.

“There’s a significant risk to members of the public, particularly young adolescent boys, of you committing further offences.”

Southam was jailed for eight months in 2009 for downloading indecent images of children and supplying cannabis to a 14-year-old boy he admitted having sexual fantasies about.

Sarah Cornish, mitigating, said: “He’s tearfully and emotionally expressed genuine remorse and wants to tell (the victim) he’s sorry and none of it was his fault.

“He accepts all the matters and aggravating features and the complainant has been spared giving evidence at a trial.

Southam was told he will have to sign on a sex offender register for life and was placed on a 15-year sexual harm prevention order.

May 2016

Evil child abuser who targeted youngsters for half a century is jailed

An evil child abuser with a history of abusing youngsters spanning over half a century has been jailed for 14 years.

Derby Crown Court heard on Friday, May 20, how John Brian Hall, 69, of Jubilee Street, New Mills, began an abhorrent campaign during the 1960s and 70s and at one point he was later believed to have become involved in a paedophile ring.

Having already served jail sentences for indecencies and buggery, Hall was once again brought to justice on Friday, May 20, for sentencing for his oldest known offences from more than 40 years ago involving two male youths.

Judge Robert Egbuna told Hall: “Your ardour and pursuit of young men has not diminished in my view and a trial jury convicted you on April 19 of a series of sexual assaults against two young men.

“Offences of indecent assault, gross indecency and buggery were part of a campaign and you didn’t care about the victims who you knew were vulnerable.”

Hall committed more than 90 indecent assaults, acts of gross indecency and buggery between October, 1964, and September, 1975, against the two boys all represented as nine counts.

The defendant was convicted of two counts of indecently assaulting the first boy on more than ten occasions on each count, and with a further count against the same victim of committing an act of gross indecency on more than ten occasions.

These offences were committed between October 7, 1964, and October 8, 1972.

Hall was also convicted on five counts of indecently assaulting the second boy on more than ten occasions on each count and with a further count of committing buggery against this same youngster on more than ten occasions.

These offences were committed between September 12, 1971, and September 13, 1975.

The first boy was subjected to having his penis touched, oral sex and being present while the defendant masturbated while he was aged seven to 15.

The second boy was also subjected to having his penis touched, being forced to touch Hall’s penis, oral sex, being ejaculated upon and being subjected to buggery while he was aged 12 to 15.

Hall was also recently convicted at High Peak magistrates’ court of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order by having contact with a child without informing the parent of his status on the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Judge Egbuna told Hall: “You are evil and you would leave the first youngster in a bedroom and come back later having plied yourself with alcohol and you would abuse him and you would play with his penis.

“This would progress to sucking his penis and then you would lie back on the bed and ejaculate all over the bed and the victim recalled the smile on your face as you stroked his hair.

“He described being abused week after week from the age of seven and this went on until her was 15-years-old and you were in your 20s.

“The effect was devastating and it was visible to all when his video was played and he described the effect of the abuse and he became uncontrollable and he went into a trance and the police should be commended for coaxing him back.

“He has been left unable to trust men and he drank for a long period of time.

“The effect on the second victim when he saw you as a grown-up was that he urinated and wet himself.

“This abuse occurred in the 1970s when he was aged 12 to 15. You groomed and corrupted him from a young age and robbed him of his innocence.

“You squeezed his testicles, performed oral sex touched him and you would ejaculate in his mouth and penetrated his anum with your penis.

“And the abuse went on with acts of buggery and other abuse for a longer period of time.”

The court heard how Hall has previous convictions involving youngsters for buggery and indecent assault from 1981, buggery from 1984, an indecent assault conviction in 1990, and a further previous conviction in 1995, as well as a buggery conviction from 2001.

Judge Egbuna also highlighted that abuse had taken place between 1997 to 1999 at Hall’s former flat in Droylsden where other men went intending to abuse young children for which Hall was jailed and made subject to a SOPO.

He told the defendant: “It’s clear you have been offending since you were 17 years-old.”

He added: “It’s clear the harm caused to one of the complainants was immeasurable and it was extreme. You are manipulative. Your pre-sentence report views you as a person of on-going high risk of harm to children with a very high risk of re-conviction for sexual offences.”

Judge Egbuna sentenced Hall to 14 years of custody and he will continue to remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

The judge also commended Derbyshire Constabulary’s handling of the case given the trauma suffered by the victims.

May 2016

Convicted rapist plied schoolgirl with alcohol before having unprotected sex with her

A already convicted rapist who groomed a schoolgirl and plied her with drink to have unprotected sex with her is behind bars again today.

Carl Bishop, 37, took advantage of the girl to satisfy his perverted desires despite being warned against it and knowing she was underage.

Today he was branded a public danger and given an extended prison sentence.

He invited the teenage girl to a Stockton home where he gave her drink until she was violently ill, Teesside Crown Court heard this morning.

Prosecutor Richard Bennett said Bishop was told the victim’s young age at least three times and “there was a background of grooming”.

He only stopped when another young girl intervened.

Bishop was cleared of rape charges after a trial earlier this month, but found guilty of an alternative charge of sexual activity with a child.

In 2005, he was found guilty of raping a young woman and jailed for five years.

He met the woman in a nightclub, they started to have consensual sex at a friend’s home but she told him to stop and pushed him away.

Then living in Hemlington, Middlesbrough , Bishop stopped her from leaving, pushed her to the floor, grabbed her by the throat and hair and raped her in the living room.

She described him to a jury as “evil” and “like Jekyll and Hyde”.

The court heard how he had numerous other offences on his record including robberies, burglaries and assaults, as well as reports of domestic violence and a harassment warning in 2012.

The Probation Service deemed him a high risk of serious harm.

Katy Rafter, defending, said Bishop regretted his latest offence – despite still denying it and claiming he thought the girl was 16.

She said he had made “substantial progress in managing himself” since 2005.

He now recognised his behaviour was “wholly inappropriate” and was willing to tackle the risk he posed, though he had done such work before and reoffended.

“I don’t accept that he poses a significant risk of serious harm,” said Ms Rafter.

“The offence of rape was over 10 years ago. There’s been no problems in the interim.”

Judge Tony Briggs told Bishop: “It is perfectly clear that you knew full well her age.

“It is plain on the evidence that you were keen on her.

“During the course of that evening you plied her with drink or drinks.

“You were warned not to engage in sexual activity with her, but in the end you did.

“She was quite clearly under the influence of alcohol.

“You had ample opportunity to consider what you were going to do.

“This was not an incident of impulse. It is quite clear that it required a degree of thought on your part.

“It is really quite staggering that you decided to behave in this particular way and commit this serious offence.”

He ruled Bishop posed a significant risk of causing serious psychological harm to others and was a dangerous offender.

Bishop, of Freeford Road, Newcastle, was jailed for seven years with an extended four-year licence period.

He was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

May 2016

Court told man had ‘ghastly’ images of young children

After the police had information that someone had uploaded an indecent image of a naked young girl, they traced the sender’s address to Rugby.

The IP (Internet Profile) address was found to be that of a computer belonging to Christian Conopo’s father, a judge at Warwick Crown Court heard.

But his father was not responsible – and Conopo, 23, of St Anne’s Road, Rugby, pleaded guilty to nine charges of making indecent images of children and one of distributing an image.

Prosecutor Ben Gow said that after the IP address of the computer from which the image had been uploaded had been traced to his parents’ home the police went there and seized a laptop and two phones.

On one iPhone they discovered six images classed as being in category A, the most serious category of offences.

There were also 30 category A movies, as well as a ‘disgusting’ category B movie.

Further still images were also found on the computer, including seven in category A and three in category C, defined as showing children in naked or indecent poses without sexual activity, added Mr Gow.

Sarah Holland, defending, conceded: “The descriptions of these images are quite frankly ghastly.”

There was no pre-sentence report on Conopo because 
he had failed to keep an appointment with a probation officer.

But Miss Holland told the judge: “I would seek to persuade you that probation intervention could be of assistance, both for public protection purposes and because he has no previous convictions.”

Agreeing to adjourn the case for a pre-sentence report to be prepared, Judge Richard Griffith-Jones rejected an application for Conopo to be granted bail.

Remanding him in custody, the judge told him: “The very strong likelihood is of a custodial sentence, but there is material which needs investigating which may affect its length.”

May 2016

“Sexual predator” jailed for six years for offences against teenage girls

A SEXUAL predator who subjected two teenage girls to sickening abuse during a game of spin the bottle has been jailed for six years.

Kieran Hartley-Anderson met two girls under 16 years old, one of whom he already knew, when they came for a day out in Southend in May last year.

Hartley-Anderson, now 23, of Wool Pack, Shoebury, took the girls to a beach hut in Shoebury where they spent the night.

The following day he started a game of spin the bottle, leading to several hours of sickening abuse.

May 2016

Police officer jailed for secretly filming females

A PERVERT police officer who filmed up female’s skirts while on duty is behind bars today – after he was caught STALKING a teenage girl through a busy shopping centre.

PC Aidan Thompson followed the girl for 40 minutes while taking videos on a secret camera hidden in a plastic bag.

Following his arrest on October 6 last year, officers discovered covert recordings of FOUR other victims saved on memory sticks at the home he shared with his wife, a court heard.

May 2016

Pervert pleads guilty to three counts of possessing indecent images of children

A HOOK man has pleaded guilty to possessing over 100 indecent images of children, including 13 videos.

Laurie John Sutton, of Ashlea, Hook, submitted his plea at a hearing at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

The 53-year-old pleaded guilty to all three counts of possessing indecent images of children, after he was caught with 107 images.

24 of these were described as ‘category A’ images – which includes the rape of children

Sutton also pleaded guilty to possessing a total of 13 videos of various categories, including three ‘category A’ images.

He is been put on conditional bail until June 7, when he is due to reappear in Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court for pre-sentencing.

April 2003

Families celebrate after pervert jailed

May 2016

Pervert recontacted girl, 11, after mum’s warning

Facebook sex predator Callum May re-contacted an 11-year-old girl two months after the youngster’s mother had warned him off

Pervert May, 42 — who was later trapped after a relative of his target posed online as another underage girl — used the alias ‘Malcolm Gavin’ for his seedy advances.

The mother of the primary school girl he’d tried to groom said how May refused to take a telling when he she told him to leave her daughter alone.

She said: “I couldn’t believe he got back in touch.

“I thought he would have been scared off but he messaged her again asking how she was.

“That’s when I knew we had to do something and her cousin set up a fake Facebook profile.”

May had recently arranged a late-night meeting with someone he thought was a female of 15, unaware that he had actually been communicating with an adult male.

He was confronted by the man at the rendezvous location in Greenock’s Barrs Brae area and was startled as he realised he was being filmed on a camera phone before running off.

The girl’s mum revealed how May got in touch with her daughter in June last year – at a time when her profile picture showed her as a 10-year-old.

She said: “He messaged her asking how old she was, even though it was clear from her picture she was a young girl.

“Thankfully, my daughter is very sensible that way and told me straight away that he had got in touch

“The name of the person messaging her said Malcolm Gavin but I knew from the pictures it was Callum May.

“He knew fine well she was a young girl. My daughter was only 11 at the time.

“I know a lot of young girls that age can look older but my girl looks her age — she doesn’t wear make-up or anything.

“I was absolutely sickened.”

The mother added: “The fact that a grown man wants to talk to an 11-year-old girl is disgusting.

“I was fuming because I know young girls can be easily led. If it was a more vulnerable girl god knows what could have happened.”

May, of Tasker Street in Greenock, sent indecent images of himself and lewd messages to the person he thought to be a 15-year-old female called ‘Jamie Russell’.

He is due to be sentenced on June 8 after being convicted of that offence and of contacting the 11-year-old. The girl’s mum said: “He’ll probably just get a slap on the wrist, but I hope he doesn’t.

“A message has to be sent out to people like him who think it’s ok to contact wee girls.

“I was furious because my daughter was quite scared about it.”
In a message to other parents the mum said: “I would say, be aware, because Facebook is full of weirdos.

“Monitor your child’s activity and know their passwords.

“I know that they’re not meant to be on Facebook under the age of 13 but everybody does it, so it’s a matter of making sure you know who your child is talking to on it.”

May 2016

Man avoids jail after being caught with over 1,000 child abuse images

A north-east geologist caught with more than 1,000 indecent images of children – some as young as two – has avoided jail.

Aidan Karley was also found with a number of photographs classed as “extreme”.

The offences took place over the course of 11 months, between February 2013 and January 2014, at an address in Danestone, Aberdeen.

The 50-year-old – who is self-employed after being made redundant from an Aberdeen oil and gas firm – previously admitted the offences and appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for sentence yesterday.

Fiscal depute David Bernard told the court that police had found Karley’s laptop when they searched his house in Danestone after receiving a tip-off.

A number of folders containing 1,364 indecent photographs stored on the device were discovered.

Of the images recovered, 18 were classed as level five – the most severe – 216 were level four, 77 were level three, 25 were level two, and 1,364 were level one.

The court also heard that 13 videos, totalling three hours and 18 minutes, were found on Karley’s computer, and 20 images of extreme pornography, featuring bestiality, were also discovered.

Mr Bernard said the photos and videos featured mostly girls, aged between two and 15.

Defence agent Iain McGregor told the court first-offender Karley, of 90 Montrose Street, Brechin, understood the “extremely serious” nature of his crimes, and urged the court to consider an alternative to jail.

Sheriff Graham Buchanan said Karley was on the verge” of being locked up but instead imposed a community payback order.

He told the geologist: “It goes without saying that these are disgusting offences and as you have heard you have come very, very close to a custodial sentence.

“Although it could be said that you richly deserve a prison sentence, I’ve taken the view that the public interest will be better served by imposing a sentence that will allow you to address the issues you have which led to your offending.”

Sheriff Buchanan sentenced Karley to 180 hours unpaid work and placed him under supervision for three years.

He also put him on the sex offenders register and ordered him to complete the Tay Project, a rehabilitation programme.

May 2016

Sacked museum curator had ‘tens of thousands’ of indecent images

The sacked curator of a Worcestershire museum and Former Tory councillor who stole an exhibit signed by Winston Churchill has been caught with “tens of thousands” of indecent images on his computer at home, a court heard.

The images of children was found by police who went to Neil Thorneywork’s home to arrest him for theft and fraud relating to the Broadway Tower museum near Evesham.

Thorneywork, aged 61, of Medway Road, Evesham, admitted 25 counts of having indecent images.

Judge Nicolas Cartwright, sitting at Worcester Crown Court, gave him a two-year community order, which will include structured activity to tackle his deviant interest.

The former curator at Broadway Tower was also ordered to pay £500 court costs and given a five-year sexual harm prevention order limiting his use of computers and contact with children.

Michael Conry, prosecuting, told the court that police went to his home to arrest Thorneywork in relation to matters dealt with by a previous court.

But officers saw him mouth to his wife to dispose of his USBs – and police later found tens of thousands of indecent images on his computer equipment.

They included 115 Category A images of children – the most serious kind – 105 Category B and 159 Category C.

Most were moving images and featured girls aged 11 to 13.

Judge Cartwright told Thorneywork the children on the images he had were victims of abuse, even though it might have happened on the other side of the world.

“Think how anyone would react if their wife, as a girl, their sister, their mother or their daughter, was abused to satisfy the demand of people like you,” added the judge.

But he said that, if he jailed Thorneywork, he would serve only a few months and a community order would address his offending.

In February, Thorneywork pleaded guilty to one charge of theft and one of fraud and was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £1,750 compensation to Broadway Tower Country Park.

On that occasion, Worcester Crown Court was told that Thorneywork had been sacked from Broadway Tower in January last year, setting off a dispute with the managing director, Annette Gorton.

During his work there one of his tasks had been to take copies of a certificate of recommendation signed by Winston Churchill and presented to Albert Lowe, of the Royal Observer Corps, for his bravery in an air crash in the county in 1943.

But he took the exhibit. It has since disappeared and Thorneywork did not know where it was.

The earlier court hearing was also told that Thorneywork produced a receipt to persuade Miss Gorton that a bomb power indicator – a Cold War device for measuring the force of a nuclear explosion – on display at the museum belonged to him.

The museum then bought it back from him for £1,250 to keep it on show after he was sacked – but the receipt was found to be bogus.

May 2016

Leeds scout leader jailed for abuse of young boys

A Leeds scout leader who sexually abused young boys in the 1970s and 1980s has been jailed for 16 years.

Peter Ridsdale abused his victims on many occasions at his home, his allotment and on a trip away.

He would buy them food and others gifts, some of which he would bring back from his time away in the navy.

Ridsdale, 77, of Strawberry Avenue, Garforth, was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court after admitting seven serious sexual offences, 15 indecent assaults and nine offences of indecency with a child.

The court heard the offences took place against three victims in Leeds between 1970 and 1982 when the boys were aged were aged between 11 and 17 years old.

Describing the offending, judge Tom Bayliss, QC, said: “It was characterised throughout those many years by grooming and a breach of trust.

“I acknowledge that I am now dealing with a very different man than one from many years ago.

“One of the reasons it is so serious is that has had a lifelong affect on your victims. You not only robbed those boys of their childhood, you robbed them of a normal life.”

May 2016

Pervert admits possession of child rape images

Ryan Adam Brady, 21, of Heaton Street, Blackburn appeared before Magistrates and pleaded guilty to making 42 indecent class A images of children between March 22 and October 22 at Skelmersdale.

Class A images show the rape or torture of children

Brady also pleaded guilty to making 34 category B images and 73 category C images.

Brady was given a 26 week prison sentence, suspended for two years. He was ordered to attend a rehabilitation programme and carry out 100 unpaid hours of work.

He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and an £80 victim surcharge and to register with the police for ten years at Blackburn Police station.