July 2016

Retired lorry driver guilty of sexually assaulting girls as he played hide and seek with them

A retired haulier was yesterday spared a jail sentence after being convicted of indecently assaulting two young girls more than 40 years ago.

George Duff, 65, still denies attacking the girls – both under 13 at the time – as they played hide and seek in a barn on a Speyside farm.

But he was found guilty after a trial at Inverness Sheriff Court and yesterday, Sheriff Margaret Neilson sentenced the 65-year-old to three years probation.

As the offences were committed four decades ago, the Sheriff was obliged to impose a sentence which was applicable in the early 1970s.

Duff, of Milton Farm House, Dulnain Bridge didn’t want to comment after the sentence, which involves having to participate in rehabilitation programmes for sex offenders and remain under social work supervision until 2019.

He was convicted on four charges of abusing the two girls over a period between June, 1971, and September, 1972.

He had denied a total of six charges, four involving one girl and two involving the other.

One charge was dropped after a successful no case to answer plea by solicitor Alison Foggo, and the jury returned a not proven verdict on a second.

But Duff was found guilty of four charges, two each involving a different girl at a farm near Cromdale and in a car near the farm.

One victim occasionally broke down in tears as she described taking part in hide and seek games with Duff in 1971 when he took her high up in the barn into the hay bales.

She said he touched her inappropriately.

She told the jury: “I froze. It seemed like forever. I did not know why he was doing that. It happened several times but not more than four.”

On another occasion, around a year later, she said she was getting driving lessons from Duff and he similarly indecently assaulted her.

His other victim also gave emotional evidence and said she was indecently assaulted by Duff in the barn during a game of hide and seek and again during a driving lesson.

Miss Foggo said: “He is assessed at low or medium risk of re-offending and his ex-wife and other family members continue to support him because they believe in his innocence.”

Sheriff Neilson told the first offender: “I have taken into account you have no previous convictions and you have been of good behaviour since these offences took place over 40 years ago. Therefore I can deal with it by a non-custodial disposal.”

July 2016

Skipton teenager sentenced for collecting and distributing child abuse images

A teenager with learning difficulties has been sentenced to a three-year community order for collecting and distributing indecent images of children.

Jordan Courtney, 18, of Cawder Road in Skipton, was aged 15 to 16 when he downloaded pictures of little boys and shared some of them on his phone.

He pleaded guilty to six offences of possessing and distributing indecent images of children and possession of one extreme pornographic photo.

Prosecutor, Heather Gilmore, told Bradford Crown Court today that police attended Courtney’s home on July 8, 2014, and seized computer equipment after being alerted that illegal images were being downloaded from an IP address at the property.

He told officers he searched for pictures of babies and little boys because he was bored.

His collection included Category A material, which is the most serious.

Courtney’s solicitor advocate, Ray Singh, said the teenager was a youth at the time.

He had learning difficulties and was immature, isolated and sexually confused.

He was at low risk of reoffending and the probation service was able and willing to work with him.

The community order includes a sex offender treatment programme and a 60-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Courtney must also obey a six-month curfew order and sign on the sex offenders register for five years.

The judge made an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

July 2016

Carmarthenshire man admits possessing 287 indecent images of children

A NANTGAREDIG man has admitted possessing 287 indecent images of children discovered at his home.

Lee Darren Fletcher admitted three charges of possessing indecent images when he appeared at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court.

The 40-year-old pleaded guilty to possessing 33 category A images, which is the most severe, in Carmarthen on November 29 last year.

He also admitted to possessing 78 category B images and 176 category C images on the same date.

Prosecutor Alex Scott said: “A warrant was executed at the defendant’s home.

“This came as a result of information received by the police there may be offences involving these images of children.”

The defendant was arrested and conveyed to Llanelli Police Station and a search was conducted at his address.

Two significant exhibits were found, the court heard.

Mr Scott said: “There was an analysis of the equipment found which revealed there was a total of 287 images between the two devices.

“There were 33 category A, the most severe, 78 category B, and 176 category C.”

When the defendant was interviewed initially last year he gave no comment, however, he later accepted possessing the indecent images.

“He admitted they were for his own personal use,” Mr Scott said.

Mitigating solicitor Peter Maxfield Martin said it had been suggested some of the images could be duplicates.

He said it needed to be examined how many unique images were on the computer.

Fletcher was sent to Swansea Crown Court on August 12 for sentencing and was given conditional bail.

July 2016

Huddersfield man admits to having images of child sexual abuse and animal sex 

A man has appeared in court after a police tip-off led to dozens of sick child porn and animal sex images being discovered on his computer.

Police raided the home of Jason Neary, of Howden Close in Cowlersley.

They had received information that the 30-year-old had indecent images for sharing.

The officers executed a search warrant and seized his computer.

On it they found 66 extreme pornographic films and two still images.

These portrayed a person performing sexual acts with a horse and dog.

These were said to be grossly offensive, disgusting or of an obscene manner.

Neary also had in his possession 18 indecent films of children classed as category A.

This is at the top of the scale of indecent images and involves penetrative sexual activity.

In addition officers discovered nine indecent films of children at category B, involving non-penetrative sexual activity.

There were 11 images and nine films of children falling under category C, which are images not covered by the other two categories.

An extreme pornographic film involving a child was also found during the search.

The offences are dated between January 2014 and March this year although the ages of the children involved are not known.

Neary appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where he pleaded guilty to three charges of possessing an indecent image and one charge of making an indecent image.

He admitted to a further offence of possessing an extreme pornographic image portraying a sexual act with an animal.

District Judge Michael Fanning committed him to Leeds Crown Court for sentence.

He ordered a pre-sentence report ahead of his case being heard on August 11.

Judge Fanning placed Neary on the Sex Offenders’ Register and he must now register his personal details with police.

He was also banned from having any unsupervised contact with a child aged under 16.

July 2016

Christian Brothers guilty of abusing boys at Catholic school

Two Christian Brothers have been found guilty of abusing boys at a Catholic school between 1978 and 1983.

John Farrell, 73, and 63-year-old Paul Kelly were accused of a catalogue of sexual and physical abuse against several pupils at St Ninian’s School in Falkland, Fife.

On Friday at the High Court in Glasgow, the pair were found guilty by a jury after a 15-week trial.

Farrell, from Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault and a charge of assaulting a boy with a belt.

Kelly, from Plymouth, Devon, was convicted of four counts of indecent assault and three assault charges, including hitting a boy’s head off sinks at the school.

Their victims were aged between 11 and 15 at the time of the abuse.

They had been standing trial accused of 51 counts of physical and sexual abuse at the school over a six-year period.

The Catholic school was run by the Christian Brothers organisation until St Ninian’s closed in the 1980s.

During the course of the trial, victims told how they were abused by the Brothers while they were at the school.

Three other staff at the school – Edward Egan, 77, Michael Murphy, 75, and 61-year-old William Don – were originally indicted in the trial but the charges against them were dropped.

Both Farrell and Kelly were remanded in custody on Friday ahead of sentencing next month.

Chief inspector Nicola Shepherd, who led the investigation, said: “For a number of years these men, who were placed in a position of trust, carried out prolonged abuse on a significant number of vulnerable young people.

“They betrayed that trust in the most despicable manner possible and subjected their victims to years of suffering.

“It is thanks to the courage of those who came forward to provide us with vital information that we were able to bring Farrell and Kelly to justice for their crimes.”

The trial before Lord Matthews began in April and followed one of the biggest abuse inquiries of its kind ever carried out by Police Scotland.

July 2016

Former lead singer in Bradford punk metal band jailed for seven years for sexual offences

The former lead singer in a Bradford punk metal band has been jailed for seven years for sexual offences including rape, voyeurism and hoarding indecent images of children.

Scott Rogers, 45, who performed at bars and clubs in the city with The Black Lanterns, filmed his perverted abuse of a woman and two girls, aged ten and 12.

During his trial at Bradford Crown Court, the jury saw mobile phone footage of him raping a woman while she was deeply asleep.

The graphic film, taken by Rogers as he abused her, was played on screens in the courtroom as part of the prosecution case.

Today, he was unanimously found guilty of the rape and sentenced to six years imprisonment.

He was also jailed for 12 months, to run consecutively, for taking two indecent photos of a sleeping ten-year-old girl and filming another child, aged 12, with a hidden camera while she took a shower.

He pleaded guilty to those offences before the start of the trial and to possession of indecent images of young girls and a bestiality film of men and women having sex with farm animals.

Judge Robert Bartfield made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order without limit of time banning Rogers from contacting his victims and limiting his use of computers.

He must sign on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period.

Rogers, a former sales rep, who lived at Bay View Avenue, Hornsea, Humberside, got pleasure from having sex with someone asleep or unconscious, Judge Bartfield said.

His victim found the film of him raping her months later and was extremely distressed.

The photos and film of the young girls were discovered on his phone.

Photographing and filming the children were “disgraceful” acts to indulge his sexual fantasies, Judge Bartfield said.

Rogers, who previously worked in Bradford for a communications company, performed at the Download Festival 2013 at Castle Donington with The Black Lanterns.

The group built up an underground following after forming in 2010. They played at the Bradford Gasworks and described their music as “venomous.”

July 2016

Pervert jailed for rapes

A pervert who humiliated a woman when subjecting her to brutal rapes has been jailed for eight years.

Lee Jenner had sex with the victim despite her begging him to stop, a jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard.

The 43-year-old father, formerly from Tunbridge Wells, now of Grimsby, Humberside, was convicted of three rape charges by a 10-2 majority.

Jenner, who denied all the allegations, was acquitted of another rape charge.

After his arrest, indecent images showing girls in school uniform were found on his computer. Some of them were in the highest category of seriousness.

He admitted making indecent images of children.

Recorder James Dawson was told the father-of-four did not work following a serious back injury while working as a school cleaner some years ago.

Jenner was a radio ham who had registered with a scheme to assist emergency services.

Recorder Dawson told him: “These offences of rape are extremely serious. They were almost certainly you trying to control her in some way and humiliate her. That you did.

“She lost confidence. You made her life a misery.”

He added: “You were a man of good character. I take that into account.”

Jenner was sentenced to nine months concurrent for the indecent images offences.

“These are real children in those photographs and they have to be protected,” said the judge.

A sexual harm prevention order was made and Jenner’s name will appear on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

July 2016

Former Coventry City Academy kit manager pleads guilty to sex offences

A former member of staff at Coventry City’s Academy has pleaded guilty to a number of sex offences – none of which are connected to the club.

Tony Shiels is due to be sentenced next month after admitting four counts of making indecent photographs of a child.

He also pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to two counts of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.

The offences were committed between September and October last year.

Shiels was arrested by West Midlands Police in November and was suspended by the Sky Blues, where he was Academy kit and transport manager.

The 53-year-old, whose last address given to the court was Lime Tree Road, Ward End, Birmingham, will be sentenced at the same court on August 3 and has been granted bail.

July 2016

Leamington Man Jailed For Child Sex Offences

22-year-old Neil Taylor from Leamington has been jailed after admitting 13 counts of child sex offences.

The former army cadet force instructor was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Warwick Crown Court.

Taylor admitted one count of sexual assault, one count of grooming and meeting a boy under the age of 16 and 11 counts of making indecent images of a child.

He’s also been ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years, and been subjected to a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

July 2016

Former Somerset college IT technician downloaded indecent image of children

A former IT technician for the Somerset College of Arts and Technology has been given a community order after he pleaded guilty to creating indecent images of children.

Prosecuting, Emmi Wilson told Taunton Crown Court that a colleague had noticed Sean McMenamin, 27, of St Augustine Parade, Taunton, making inappropriate sexual comments about a young boy on his Twitter account and reported the matter to police.

When police searched McMenamin’s property they found 192 indecent images of children on his computer and a USB stick – 34 of which were classed as ‘accessible’.

Of the 34 accessible images found, seven were classed as Category A – the most serious, eight were category B and 19 were category C.

The images had been collected over a four year period.

When the defendant was interviewed by police, he said the comments on the Twitter account had not been made by him, but later admitted that he was responsible for them.

Defending, Susan Cavender, said McMenamin was a young man with difficulties, who had lost his job as a result his arrest.

She said it would be unusually difficult for him to cope in prison and suggested he would benefit from a specialist course for sex offenders. A pre-sentence report listed him as a ‘medium risk’ to children.

Sentencing him, Judge Peter Towler said: “Any prison sentence I could give you today would be too short to make a lasting difference to you, a rehabilitation course will benefit you and reduce the likelihood of you re-offending.”

He said that of the 34 accessible images, the ones classed as ‘inaccessible’ – files which had previously been deleted – could have been available to him because of McMenamin’s ‘higher than average’ IT skills.

He added it was a sad fact that in cases of this kind, the possession of almost 200 indecent images of children was ‘a reasonably low number’.

McMenamin was sentenced to a 36 month community order, and ordered to take an accredited programme for internet sex offenders. He was also made to sign a sexual harm protection order, and the sex offenders register for five years. He will also have to pay £85 in costs and a victim surcharge of £60.

July 2016

Taunton child sex abuser Clive Seaman jailed for 21 years

A child abuser who made his victim’s life a “pure hell” has been jailed for 21 years.

Clive Seaman, 60, of Taunton, was found guilty of 10 counts of sexual abuse by a jury at Exeter Crown Court.

The assaults happened in the 1980s and included three that would now be classed as rape of a child.

Appearing in court, his victim said she “could not cope with the continuing psychological trauma caused by her childhood memories”.

Seaman started grooming the girl when she was 10 and the sexual abuse began when she was 11, the court heard.

Judge Graham Cottle, said: “You did to her and made her do to you exactly what you pleased and demanded. Her young life must have been pure hell.

“You got away with this for years. Now justice finally catches up with you. The passage of time does not diminish the seriousness of these offences.”

Seaman denied that any sexual activity of any sort had ever taken place.

The abuse took place in the 1980s but the court was told Seaman got away with it for three decades because of two flawed police investigations.

The girl had complained to police at the time and again in 2006 but no action was taken on either occasion. She went back to the police in 2012.

In a victim impact statement read by the judge, the girl said she felt she had missed out on her childhood.

“I am on high levels of medication for depression. I feel my life can now move forward and I am now excited by the future,” she said in a statement.

July 2016

Sick former Plymouth school caretaker jailed for 18 years for repeatedly raping girl

A former school caretaker who repeatedly raped a girl has been jailed for 18 years.

Sick Dean Rossington, a prominent Communist Party member in Plymouth, sexually abused the girl for six years, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

Rossington started to kiss her as part of a truth or dare game before progressing to full sex, at first monthly and then almost every day.

She began self-harming at the age of 13 as a release from the pain, the court heard.

Jailing Rossington for 18 years for a string of offences, Judge Ian Lawrie QC, told him: “You bribed her with gifts of tobacco and money as thank yous.

Rossington used to work in a caretaking role at a city primary school. The offences are not connected with his employment.

Rossington, from Plymouth, pleaded guilty to specimen five counts of rape and one of sexual assault against the teenager from 2009 until this January.

He accepted his guilt on the third day of his trial after a previous hearing this week was aborted.

Rossington had earlier admitted assaulting her causing actual bodily harm on a single occasion.

The court heard that the touching at first happened once a month, before happening almost every day. She added that she told him she did not want any sexual activity.

The woman added that Rossington told her: “Nobody needs to know. Nobody gets hurt.”

She said the situation “exploded” when he grabbed her by the throat and started punching her in January.

Rossington was heard by the jury and court staff to call the victim a “bitch” as he watched a video recording of her police interview.

In an emotional statement read to the court, the girl said that from the age of 13 she started harming herself, cutting her wrists and arms with razor blades and pencil sharpeners every couple of days.

She said: “I drew blood. It felt like a kind of release.”

The teenager added she had mood swings, and that she still suffered flashbacks and had trouble sleeping.

She said that she felt strong urges to get drunk – which she had managed to resist.

The teenager added she felt uneasy around friends and even feared that strangers knew of her past.

She added: “I have a strange combination of emotions. I feel very tired at the same time as feeling very restless.”

The victim bravely sat at the back of the court with family and friends to face her tormentor.

Judge Lawrie praised her bravery in attending court.

All 12 members of the jury chose to return to court to hear the sentencing.

One unusually passed in a note which asked the judge to take account of Rossington’s heartless remark from the dock.

July 2016

Brave victim speaks out to slam sentence handed out to sex attacker

A MAN who had sex with an underage schoolgirl and attempted to sexually assault an ex-partner has avoided jail – despite a judge describing him as “not in control of himself and prone to violence”

Daniel Mills admitted three sexual assaults against a girl of 14 and a physical and attempted sexual assault against former partner Philippa James.

The 25-year-old of Horsebridge Avenue, Badsey, near Evesham, appeared before Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins on Wednesday, the day he was due to be released from HMP Hewell for previous offences.

He admitted three counts of sexual assault against a 14-year-old girl between December 12, 2012 and January 31, 2013.

He also admitted attempting to sexually assault Miss James, then aged 32, and physically assaulting her and causing criminal damage to a bathroom door on Sunday, October 11 last year.

But, despite the prosecution calling for a lengthy jail term, Mills was handed a three-year community order.

Miss James, who waived her right to anonymity to speak to the Worcester News, has hit out at Mills’ sentence, saying the “monster” should have been jailed.

Cathlyn Orchard, prosecuting at Hereford Crown Court, said Mills had known the underage victim since she was nine or 10 years old and had ‘always known her age’.

Towards the end of 2012 they began texting each other. She was invited into his bedroom where the two had consensual sex using a condom. Mills told her not to tell anyone they had sex.

The girl was invited to a party at New Year where she drank alcohol and had sex with Mills for a second time in the bathroom.

The two met again at his house ‘during school time’ and had unprotected sex though she was on the contraceptive pill.

Miss Orchard said: “She described the relationship as ‘controlling’ and he started waiting for her when she was coming home from school.”

When contacted her again she reported him to police. He was arrested on August 28, 2015.

The second victim, Miss James, had been involved with Mills for six months, the court heard.

Miss Orchard said the relationship was fine to begin with but ‘went wrong when they decided to make their relationship official’. He was described as ‘paranoid about her ex-partner’.

Mills also started to tell Miss James what she should wear and about how much make-up she could put on, stopped her going on social media and would tell her she did not need other people in her life, only her parents and him.

On October 11, Miss James’ former partner had dropped their children off at her house but she told them to tell Mills that she had picked them up at her mum’s house instead.

But Miss Orchard said Mills overheard, adding: “After hearing this he came running down the stairs and, in her words, went crazy, spitting in her face, slapping her, pushing her over a washing up bowl and putting his hands around her throat.

“The children were in the other room but would have been able to hear him shouting at her that she was lying to him and that she was having sex with her ex-partner.”

He then pulled her trousers and underwear down and attempted to sexually assault her.

She locked herself in the bathroom as Mills kicked the door, bending her over the sink and banging her head off the mirror.

As the argument continued outside he snatched her mobile phone and told her she would not be contacting her mum or ex-partner to tell them what he had done.

Mills’ record shows 25 convictions for 53 offences, 12 for offences against people, one for a sexual assault (July, 2010) for which he received a two year prison sentence, 11 public order offences, two drugs offences and seven driving offences.

He shared an indecent photograph of a friend’s girlfriend on Facebook and made negative comments which led to a community order in March, 2013.

In January he was sentenced to 14 months in prison for battery and after various suspended sentence orders were activated.

Michael Aspinall, defending, argued that there was no ‘serious risk of significant harm’ from Mills and that sex with the underage girl was consensual with no aggravating features.

Mr Aspinall said: “He accepts he gets very jealous and he’s immature. He needs to change. He’s willing to do anything to change. He’s had enough of going in and out of prison.”

Judge Pearce-Higgins said Mills’s behaviour suggested ‘a young man not in control of himself and prone to violence and with disregard for women’.

Mills was sentenced to a three year community order to include a sexual offending programme and anger management, restraining orders to protect the victims and a criminal behaviour order.

The prosecution had argued Mills be sentenced to four years in prison.

A sexual harm prevention order will also be put in place which, if breached, can result in a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

“Punishment is one aspect of sentencing but rehabilitation is also very relevant” Mr Pearce-Higgins said.

Mills must sign the sex offender’s register for five years and pay a victim surcharge of £60.

Mills must return to court before the same judge within six months to see what progress he has made.

VICTIM SAYS “MONSTER” SHOULD BE IN JAIL

A BRAVE mother whose ex throttled and attempted to sexually assault her said the woman-beating ‘monster’ should have been jailed.

Philippa James courageously waived her legal right to anonymity after her former partner, Daniel Mills, was sentenced to a three year community order by Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins at Hereford Crown Court on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old had understood Mills would receive a custodial sentence and says she is surprised and disappointed he has now walked free, thanking the judge as he left the dock.

July 2016

Ex-top cop convicted of abusing three children and a woman walks free from court

An ex-top police officer has walked free from court despite being found guilty ofsexually abusing three children and a woman.

Barrie Hawkyard, 68, was convicted of eight sexual assaults on Friday.

The Greater Manchester Police officer rose to the rank of superintendent and later became a police consultant and accident investigator.

He also worked for the Cheshire constabulary when it had responsibility for parts of Wirral

Hawkyard, of Brownhills, Market Drayton in Shropshire, attacked his victims, some when they were as young as 13, in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

He denied any wrongdoing when arrested and maintained his innocence during a three-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court, claiming the assaults never occurred.

The pensioner was cleared of rape and two counts of indecent assault, but found guilty over a further eight counts of indecent assault.

During the trial, Robert Wyn Jones, prosecuting, told the jury that Hawkyard groped his victims, touched their breasts in a sexual way and kissed them on the mouth.

He was found not guilty of raping and two counts of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the 1960s. Hawkyard was convicted over indecently assaulting a girl when she was aged 16 or 17 in the late 1960s, after driving her to a location behind a garage and rubbing her breasts.

Mr Wyn Jones said: “It went on for a couple of minutes and she was stunned into submission and silence by what he was doing to her.”

He was also found guilty of assaulting another victim when she was around 13 in the 1970s, in the presence of another girl. Mr Wyn Jones said: “She remembers he would put his arms around them both and fondle their breasts.”

During the trial, Robert Wyn Jones, prosecuting, told the jury that Hawkyard groped his victims, touched their breasts in a sexual way and kissed them on the mouth.

He was found not guilty of raping and two counts of indecently assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the 1960s. Hawkyard was convicted over indecently assaulting a girl when she was aged 16 or 17 in the late 1960s, after driving her to a location behind a garage and rubbing her breasts.

Mr Wyn Jones said: “It went on for a couple of minutes and she was stunned into submission and silence by what he was doing to her.”

He was also found guilty of assaulting another victim when she was around 13 in the 1970s, in the presence of another girl. Mr Wyn Jones said: “She remembers he would put his arms around them both and fondle their breasts.”

July 2016

Paedophile theme park enthusiast faces jail after trying to meet children for sex at Paultons Park

A MARRIED theme park enthusiast faces jail after being snared in a paedophile hunter sting trying to meet children for sex at an amusement park.

Andrew Sealey, 39, admitted having a text message discussion engaging in sexual activity with three children he thought were aged 14 or 15.

However, when he arrived at Paultons Park theme park in Romsey, Hants, he discovered he had actually been speaking to adults posing as a boy called ‘James’ and two girls called ‘Jilly’ and Alice’.

Southampton Crown Court, Hants, heard he even gave instructions to the ‘children’ and was well aware they were under the age of consent.

Sealey, who appeared via video link from prison wearing a grey round neck sweater, admitted eight counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted one count of attempting to meet a child, namely ‘James’, following sexual grooming at the theme park on May 28 this year.

Sealey, of Milborne Port, Somerset, was filmed arriving at the theme park with his wife and security had to intervene in the car park. He was later arrested by police.

Sealey, who appeared via video link from prison wearing a grey round neck sweater, admitted eight counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted one count of attempting to meet a child, namely ‘James’, following sexual grooming at the theme park on May 28 this year.

Sealey, of Milborne Port, Somerset, was filmed arriving at the theme park with his wife and security had to intervene in the car park. He was later arrested by police.

The group behind the sting are known as Not Of Criminal Element – which is run by a man called Shane Brannigan.

Sealey denied a further count of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, namely ‘Jilly’.

Sealey was told he would be sentenced on August 4 and was remanded in custody.

Judge Peter Ralls QC, who adjourned the case for sentencing, told him: “Mr Sealey, you have heard all of that and your pleas have been accepted.

“The crown are not going to pursue count nine and that offence will lie on file.

“I’m asking to a pre sentence report to understand a bit more about the case, so I’m adjourning the sentencing until August 4, and I think it’s appropriate you should be produced at court that day.” He told him he could expect a custodial sentence.

Sealey runs an online blog on the website Theme Park Tourist.

July 2016

Walney man had thousands of sick images of children

A WALNEY man who had more than 2,500 indecent images of children on his computer has been given a chance by a judge who said he was “not beyond redemption”.

Joshua Leslie Nicholas, 23, of Kennet Road, Walney, was in court over five charges of possession of indecent images of children.

Mr Tom Hynes, prosecuting, told Barrow Crown Court that Nicholas’s activity was discovered after Cumbria police were informed by an agency outside the UK.

He told the court that Nicholas had amassed a huge number of images.

The court was told that Nicholas preferred images of girls around eight years old.

He had 495 category A images, the most obscene category of sexual material relating to children.

He was also in possession of 279 category B images, and 1,906 category C images.

Nicholas also owned a short video of a six-year-old girl, though it was not sexually explicit.

In total Nicholas had 2,681 images on his computer.

Sharon Watson, defending, said her client was aware that he had a problem and he was ashamed of that fact.

She said: “Mr Nicholas knows that he has deviant interests. He is making it known that he wants to work with professionals to solve his problem.”

Nicholas frequently broke down in tears as he sat in the dock, his parents looking on.

As sentencing began, Judge Beverley Lunt spoke directly to Nicholas.

She said: “You should be crying for these young children being raped and abused in these images.

“They are real people and real children. Your case is a very, very worrying one.”

However, Judge Lunt decided to show restraint in her sentencing.

She said: “At 23 I like to think that you are not beyond redemption. I will give you a chance.”

Nicholas was given a three year community order.

During this time he has to undergo a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement, he is to attend an internet sex offence group programme, and he was issued with a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

He has also has his name added to the sex offenders registry for five years.

He will also be restricted by a 28-day curfew, to ensure he is at his home between 8pm and 7am

August 2008

Paedophile preyed on 14-year-olds

A paedophile electrician indecently assaulted and took pornographic photographs of 14-year-old girls.

Guy Anthony Longhurst was found guilty at Lewes Crown Court yesterday of string of offences which took place between 1994 and 2002.

The 44-year-old, formerly of Bethune Road, Horsham, but now of Wisbech had stood trial after pleading not guilty to a total of 19 charges.

He was a cadet leader at the College of Richard Collyer, in Hurst Road, Horsham.

He created a ‘secret room’ at the college for a girl, who was 16 at the time, but who was not a student.

The girl is now an adult woman who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The jury found Longhurst, an electrician, guilty on 16 charges of indecent assault against two girls under the age of 16 and three of taking indecent photographs.

He was initially arrested on January 31 2007 after one of his victims, who is now in her 20s, approached Sussex Police.

Other offences all related to two 14-year-old girls. One fell victim to Longhurst between 1994 and 1996, while the other was attacked between 2000 and 2002.

He was found guilty of indecent assault and taking indecent photographs of children.

July 2016

November 2012

Rainham man jailed for sexually abusing girls in the 1970s

A 48-year-old man has been jailed for a year by a judge at Basildon Crown Court after being convicted of sexually assaulting two young girls over 30 years ago in Great Wakering.

Philip Everest, of Rothbury Avenue, Rainham, denied raping one girl and was cleared by the jury. However, he was found guilty of indecently assaulting her on November 24, 1978.

He had also denied offences of indecent assault and indecency with a child committed in 1980 but was found guilty of both.

Judge Ian Graham declined to impose a sexual offenders prevention order because of the age of the offences.

Prosecutor Jacqueline Carey had told the court that the case related to incidents involving two girls aged under 10 back in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

One complainant said she had been indecently assaulted and the other said she was assaulted a couple of years after the offences on the other girl took place.

July 2016

Paedophile admits grooming after being confronted during online sting

A Wincanton man has admitted attempting to groom a 13-year-old girl after vigilante investigators set up a fake online profile of the victim and filmed themselves confronting him outside his home.

Paul Platten, aged 38, of Balsam Fields, appeared before Taunton Crown Court via a video link from HMP Bristol.

He admitted one count of attempting to incite a child to sexual activity on March 17 this year, and again on March 19 and 20.

He also admitted a charge of attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child between March 8 and June 12.

The alleged offences arose as a result of an investigation by a London-based group, called The Hunted One, which generated a fake profile of a 13-year-old girl which the defendant accessed through an online app.

The group posted their video online, showing them confronting Platten over his crimes.

During the course of the three months he sent her naked photographs of himself, sent her explicit messages and asked her where she lived and said he intended to meet up with her.

The case was adjourned until August 19 for a pre-sentence report, with Judge David Ticehurst warning Platten that “all options” were available for sentence.

Platten was remanded in custody and ordered to sign the sexual offenders register.