Latest Offenders Manchester

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A sexual predator who attacked two women on Metrolink trams has been branded as posing a 'risk to females'. Tahir Ali, 37, groped a student after sitting next to her, and weeks later pressed his body against the bottom of a 16-year-old girl for his own sexual pleasure, in front of her mother.

University student Ali has been banned from using trams indefinitely after targeting his victims who were complete strangers, and had boarded trams at Exchange Square on the Rochdale and Oldham line. Manchester Crown Court heard that he has an 'appalling' criminal history, and has six previous offences of sexual assault on his record.

His lawyer said Ali's deviant behaviour is a 'compulsion' which he has been 'unable to resist'. Remorseless Ali, from Oldham, forced his victims to give evidence in court after he refused to admit his crimes. He was sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty.

Prosecuting, Nick Ross told how Ali’s first victim noticed that he was staring at her while she waited to board a tram at Exchange Square on November 14 last year. When she got on the tram, Ali sat behind her but then moved to sit directly next to her.

Ali then began to move his hands up and down her leg ‘in a sexual manner’, Mr Ross said. He got up when the woman asked him to stop.

Weeks later, Ali boarded another Rochdale bound tram at Exchange Square, on December 22 last year. His 16-year-old victim was with her mother on the busy tram when she noticed a man pressing against her bottom.

When she turned around she saw that Ali’s penis was erect. Ali left the tram at Failsworth, where the girl’s mother shouted at him. He proceeded to board another tram heading back into the city centre.

“It is horrifying that you sexually assaulted a 16-year-old victim as her own mother was present in the tram carriage,” Judge Tom Gilbart told Ali. “You were travelling on the Metrolink system for the purposes of sexual gratification.”

Ali’s first victim said his behaviour was ‘disgusting’. In a statement read to the court, she said: “I don’t feel comfortable sitting on my own on the tram. I was scared at the time that he would follow me home.”

The 16-year-old said: “I felt like I couldn’t do anything to stop the male touching me. I felt like the male had power over me. I don’t want to see this male on the tram again. He is a risk to females. I want him to know that he can’t get away with what he has done to me.”

Mr Ross said of Ali, who was caught out on Metrolink CCTV cameras: “The Crown suggests he is a persistent sexual predator.” His previous sexual assaults include attacks on a woman in a shop and in a library.

When he was interviewed by a probation officer prior to sentencing, Ali continued to ‘completely deny’ his wrongdoing and claimed he’d been ‘set up’.

Defending, David Morton said Ali was enrolled in the first year of a business and finance university course prior to his incarceration. He said of Ali’s behaviour: “These are compulsions that he has been hitherto unable to resist.”
A sexual harm prevention order was imposed indefinitely, to prevent Ali from using the Metrolink system. Ali, of Kelverlow Street, Oldham, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault.

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A MAN who raped a woman and subjected her to a ‘horrific ordeal’ in her Knutsford home has been jailed.

Marcell Koekemoer, of HMP Bristol, but previously of Stretford, was sentenced on Tuesday, April 30.

He was previously found guilty of two counts of rape in relation to the incidents following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.

The case first came to the attention of Cheshire Police in August 2022 when the victim submitted an online report stating she had been raped by Koekemoer.

She told officers Koekemoer had asked to stay at her address in Knutsford two days previously, after being locked out of his own address.

She agreed he could stay, providing he slept on the sofa.

However, during the early hours of the morning, Koekemoer entered her bedroom and proceeded to rape her.

The following morning, he raped her again when she asked him to leave her address.

Koekemoer was arrested in August 2022 and interviewed in relation to the allegations, which he denied.

He was subsequently released on conditional bail while further enquiries were undertaken.

While on bail, Koekemoer went on to commit further offences in the Avon and Somerset area.

Following a joint investigation by both forces, Koekemoer was charged in October 2023.

On top of his custodial sentence, he is subject to an indefinite restraining order and must sign the sex offender register for life.

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A 34-year-old man has been jailed for sexually assaulting a young woman on a train between Birmingham and Manchester

Kristaps Berzins, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to sexual assault at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court

The court heard that despite  the woman wearing headphones, he attempted to engage her in conversation making personal and inappropriate comments.

Berzins remarks became increasingly aggressive eventually escalating to him sexually assaulting the woman.

When Berzins went to the toilet the woman quickly moved to another seat and reported what had happened to a member of train staff who alerted British Transport Police.

He was jailed for seven months and issued with a five year Sexual Harm Prevention order which forbids him from sitting next to or across from, approaching, touching or communicating with any lone female on public transport.

He must also sign the sex offenders register for seven years and pay compensation of £300.

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A 75-year-old man from Eccles has been jailed for eight years after abusing a boy for more than a decade. 

Raymond Willan pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault on a child under 13, two counts of sexual activity with a child aged 13-16 and possession of extreme pornography.

Willan, who has been described as the “worst kind of predator”, was jailed for eight years at Manchester Crown Court on March 12 2024.

The abuse came to light after the victim disclosed it had been happening for several years.

Specialist GMP investigators praised the young victim for his bravery in reporting the abuse.

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A woman was subjected to a ‘humiliating’ sexual assault by a stranger in the Gay Village on New Year’s Eve. Abuzahra Rabea, 27, attacked the young woman without warning as she walked along the street with friends.

Rabea, a total stranger, approached her before he ‘shoved’ his hand up her skirt and forcefully groped her. After the ‘shocking’ attack, Rabea allegedly said he ‘could do what he wants’ and that he can ‘touch who he wants’.

Rabea, an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK on a small boat from France, was on ‘immigration bail’ while his application remained outstanding. He has now been jailed for 18 months.

“Your victim was going about her lawful business, on a night out with friends,” Judge Hilary Manley told him during the sentencing hearing at Manchester Crown Court. “You deliberately approached her in the street, and with no preamble you forcibly shoved your hand up her dress and then groped her genital area with force.

“You were aggressive during and after the incident. This was frightening, humiliating, shocking and violating.

“Like many women and girls, your victim already had experienced sexual violence and assault in her life. What you did exacerbates those previous experiences.

“Women and girls must be able to go about their business, whether they are on their way to school or work or college, whether they are out walking in public or on a night out, without being targeted, assaulted and humiliated, and without fearing it might happen.”

Prosecuting, Phil Barnes told how the victim had been out celebrating the New Year when Rabea approached them, at about 2.20am in the early hours of January 1 last year. Rabea, who was said to be ‘extremely drunk’, was pushed away by the woman who shouted at him. He began to run away but her friends gave chase in a bid to stop him.

At one point they stopped him and Rabea was heard to say ‘sorry miss’ in ‘broken English’. A friend claimed they heard him say he ‘could do what he wants’ and ‘touch who he wants’.

He broke free but was detained a short distance away after the woman’s friends alerted police nearby. In an interview with officers, he denied sexually assaulting anyone and falsely claimed that the victim’s friends had tried to rob him at knifepoint.

“When you were apprehended, you added insult to injury by falsely claiming your victim had in some way committed a crime against you, that was a lie,” Judge Manley added.

“What you did has had a profound effect on many aspects of her life, and there is of course always the fear of something like this happening again. Having read the pre-sentence report I note you have shown little remorse or insight.”

The victim made a powerful statement in court in front of Rabea before he was sent down to begin his sentence. She said: “The night of January 1, 2023 was supposed to mark a new beginning for me. It was my New Year too. Another year where I dared to hope that the nightmares would fade.

“But instead it became another chapter in a story of pain and violation at the hands of another predator.” She said Rabea had seen her as a ‘mere object to satisfy your depraved desires’. She continued: “You didn’t see the years I spent wearing a mask, trying to cover my fear and pain from the world. You don’t see the courage it takes to step outside each day.

“It was my own perseverance that ultimately led to your arrest. The crime you committed against me is no small matter.

“You have added to the memories I struggle to suppress every waking moment. I doubt you care about the lasting impact your actions have had on my life.

“Until we can walk the streets without fear, until we can hold our heads high without the threat of sexual assault looming over us, none of us are truly safe.” The court heard that Rabea was first known to the authorities in the UK in 2017 when he entered the country in a ‘clandestine’ manner on a small boat from France.

He applied for asylum in the UK in 2022 and was on ‘immigration bail’ while his application remained undecided. He had no previous convictions on his record in this country.

Defending, Neil Ronan said that Rabea, who is originally from Egypt, had fled his native country after suffering a ‘vicious and violent attack’. He appealed to the judge to spare Rabea jail, noting that the probation service had deemed him to present a ‘low risk of reoffending’.

But Judge Manley said the offence was too serious for a suspended sentence. “Appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody in a case like this,” she added.

Rabea, of Cable Street, Manchester, pleaded guilty to sexual assault. He will serve half of the 18 month jail term in prison, and was ordered to sign the sex offender’s register for 10 years.

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A paedophile 'systematically' groomed a young girl for years. Dale Pendleton-Briers, 32, 'pretended it was just a game' when the abuse first started, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

The abuse was non-recent and involved a victim who Pendleton-Briers targeted from a young age. She 'knew what was happening was wrong and asked Pendleton Briers to stop repeatedly', but the abuse continued.

When the victim was a teenager, she accessed counselling due to her declining mental health and eventually challenged Pendleton-Briers.

Several years after, she reported the abuse to her family and the police, who launched an investigation. When Pendleton-Briers was interviewed, he denied the allegations and said his victim had made them up. He said she had told him she 'intended to ruin him.'

A review of his mobile phone by police revealed he'd searched for extreme pornography and the sexual abuse of children. Last September, Dale Pendleton-Briers, of Latham Road, Manchester, was charged with 28 offences of sexual abuse of a child; and possession of indecent images. He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual assault of a child under 13; one of assault by penetration of a child under 13; four counts of sexual assault; two of sexual assault by penetration; and one offence of possession of extreme pornography.

He was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Thursday (January 25) to 12 years in prison. He was made the subject of an indefinite restraining order; an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order; barred from working with children; and ordered to sign the sex offender register for life.

DC Herminder Hira of Cheshire Constabulary said: “The victim was supported from the moment they made the call to us right through to the court process. As well as our specially trained officers, we have a network of support services which we can direct the victim to, to get professional help and advice.

“I hope seeing justice done today will help the victim with their ongoing journey to recovery. I would like to acknowledge the bravery they have shown and their belief in the Criminal Justice System. Trauma no matter how long ago is still very raw and the toll it takes should never be underestimated.

"I hope others are encouraged by this victim's bravery to come forward, no matter how long ago the abuse took place. It doesn't always have to end in a court case, just telling someone and being believed is a vital step for anyone who has suffered in this way."

Senior Crown Prosecutor Lydia Durkin, a specially trained lawyer in the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) unit of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: "Dale Pendleton Briers used his victim almost as some sort of experimental toy for him to do whatever he wanted with. What he systematically failed to acknowledge was that his victim was a human being who did not want any of this to happen.

"She has had many years of counselling that has helped her see this as the dreadful destruction of her youth. She gained the skills to end what was happening to her and finally told the police and he has been brought to justice for his crimes.

"The Crown Prosecution Service would like to thank her for her persistence and courage in supporting this prosecution. We hope all the efforts she is making to rebuild her life."

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A teenager who tied up and 'bound' a boy on vile YouTube videos was caught out by a school after the headteacher recognised the victim as one of their pupils.

Romeo Smalley has been jailed after sexually assaulting the boy having posted two videos of him online while he was restrained, Manchester Evening News reports.

The 20-year-old's barrister tried to claim that it was a 'game that young people play', but Smalley, who was 18 at the time of the offence, admitted his actions were sexually motivated, at Manchester Crown Court.

The two videos lasted a little over six minutes and just over five minutes. In one the boy was tied up with tape and was seen trying to escape. Officers also found 'other videos of concern', which he was not prosecuted for.

Smalley can be heard asking viewers to 'like and subscribe' in one video. A judge said it was clear that he was 'sexually aroused' in one of the clips.

Prosecutor Peter Wilson said Smalley had an interest in 'restraint' and 'bondage'. The 20-year-old from Oldham said he was 'aroused by the thought of people being tied up', rather than being interested in children sexually.

The abuse happened after he gave the boy a mobile phone so they could message each other on Snapchat. In one video he said he would be paid money if he completed the 'activity'. The boy said he 'didn't like' being tied up.

The court heard how the boy was told not to tell his parents. Smalley was arrested and denied sexually assaulting him. He claimed it was the boy's idea to film the videos and that the child had suggested posting them on YouTube 'for a laugh'.The boy said Smalley 'never did anything funny'.

"What you did was very serious," Smalley was told by Judge Tom Gilbart. "You have taken advantage of a much younger person.

"You sexually assaulted him on two occasions. There was evidence of grooming and manipulation in what you did."

The boy's mother said the crime had affected him 'hugely'. "Romeo was devious in how he did this," she said. "He [the victim] thought it was him that had done something wrong." Defending, Howard Bernstein claimed it was part of a 'game'.

"This was a game that young people play," he said. He said Smalley's sexual motivation 'raised it from an innocuous game to a sexual offence'.

Mr Bernstein said Smalley, who has no previous convictions, has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and is 'lacking in maturity'. He said Smalley has been in custody for the past eight months.

"He has been bullied in prison, he is finding prison extremely difficult," he said. Smalley, of Longfellow Crescent, Oldham, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

He was sentenced to three years and three months in prison, and ordered to sign the sex offender register for life.

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A man raped a woman after spraying her with his aftershave, telling her: "I want you to smell like me." Abdul Qadir, 21, met the woman on a social media dating site.

After exchanging details, he invited her to his flat. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told her friends and family where she was going, before getting a taxi to the property in Stockport.

Qadir and the woman chatted and kissed on the sofa, before he sprayed her with his aftershave. She said it was 'weird behaviour'. He then took her to his bedroom, before touching her intimately.

The woman said he was rushing and that it was 'too much', Minshull Street Crown Court heard. Qadir pulled off her leggings and underwear before raping her.

"You said no, I should have listened," he told her after the attack. After the woman reported Qadir to the police, he told them: "I met the girl on social media, I asked her to take her leggings off, she said 'no', I had sex with her... I got carried away."

Qadir, of Buxton Road, Great Moor, was jailed for three years and two months. He earlier pleaded guilty to rape.

Daniel Calder, prosecuting, told the court Qadir met the woman online last year. They exchanged numbers and chatted on WhatsApp. They then arranged to meet at his flat.

"They kissed and then the defendant sprayed her with aftershave, telling her 'I want you to smell like me'," Mr Calder said.

"He then gave her a tour before they sat on his bed and kissed again. He then attempted to remove her clothes before she told him it was too much and that he was rushing."

Qadir asked the woman if she was on the pill before taking his clothes on and getting a condom. "She told him they were not going to have sex," the prosecutor continued.

He told her he was 'horny' and climbed on top of her. After being raped, the woman went to the bathroom and told her family what had happened.

The woman recorded Qadir on her phone admitting he had raped her and apologised. He later sent her messages asking if she was okay.

Qadir was arrested that afternoon. He told police what he had done, saying he got 'carried away'.

'What happened to me will always be with me'

In a statement, the woman said the incident is always on her mind, adding: "I keep thinking about how I could have stopped it. I just want to forget about it and move on with my life.

"I was looking forward to the date. Now it takes me back to what happened and I relive the trauma all over again. My sleeping pattern is all over the place, for a while I struggled to eat and I worry about strangers.

"Something so private and personal was taken from me and I will never get it back. What happened to me will always be with me - it feels like a physical scar."

David Bruce, for Qadir, said the fact his client pleaded guilty showed 'courage rarely seen in cases such as this'. "This is a relatively young man with no previous convictions," he said.

"He made a mistake, a bad mistake... an unlawful mistake. He acted out of character and he does show remorse."

Mr Bruce said Qadir came to the UK Kingdom from Iraq when he was 16, before going into the care system. His application for asylum was turned down and he was planning to rea-appeal before he was remanded into custody.

Judge Angela Nield told him: "She did not wish to engage in intimate sexual relations with you. She told you 'no' on a number of occasions. She was a stranger and vulnerable. It's clear that you fully understood what she was saying because you subsequently, and very quickly, apologised to her.

"There is no doubt what happened to her. You told the police you would tell them the truth - that you had raped her."

Qadir was jailed for three years and two months; ordered to sign to the sex offender register for life and banned from contacting the woman. The case will be referred to the Home Secretary who will decide if and when he is deported.

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A predatory transgender woman who incited a man to sexually abuse a "vulnerable and innocent" young child has been jailed.

An investigation found Naomi O'Brien, of Tameside, had directed a man from Wales to abuse the four-year-old in March 2023.

The 31-year-old was convicted of five offences and jailed for four years and three months at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court.

Greater Manchester Police said the child had suffered a "terrible ordeal".

O'Brien's crimes were uncovered through what the force described as a "tenacious and lengthy investigation of 1,865 messages" which proved her conversations with the man were "not simply a case of role play or fantasy".

In July, "calculating and deviant" Jonathan Walker, of Merthyr Tydfil, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for sexually abusing the 4-year-old, along with engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and possession of indecent images, South Wales Police said.

'Significant result'

O'Brien, of Ashton-under-Lyne, knew Walker had "an interest in sexually abusing a young boy on the direction of her," Det Insp Zoe Marsden, of GMP's Online Child Abuse Investigation Team said.

She was convicted of three counts of intentionally encouraging and assisting another to commit a sexual assault against a child, and two counts of intentionally encouraging and assisting another to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

O'Brien was also given a sexual harm prevention order for four years and four months, and placed on the sex offenders register for life when she was sentenced.

Det Insp Marsden said it was a "significant result" for this case and also "other children in the community who could have been subject to similar offending by a predatory female who was inciting others to commit acts of sexual harm".

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Multi-millionaire tech entrepreneur Lawrence Jones has been found guilty of raping two women in Manchester in the 1990s.

The former UKFast chief executive was convicted in January this year of sexually assaulting another woman in 2013, which could not be reported until today because of court restrictions.

He has already spent 10 months behind bars after being remanded in custody earlier this year following that conviction.

But the 55-year-old is expected to be sentenced for all three offences on 1 December following the conclusion of a second trial.

Jones, who set up the web hosting provider with his wife Gail in 1999, was once considered one of the most influential technology magnates in the UK with an estimated wealth of about £700m, according to the Financial Times.

UKFast employed around 500 staff and had more than 5,000 clients including the NHS, the Ministry of Defence and the Cabinet Office, earning Jones an MBE in 2015 for services to the digital economy.

Allegations against him were first made in 2019, when a former employee told police he had sexually assaulted her during a business trip to London.

In May 2019 Jones was investigated under caution where he answered "no comment" to all questions.

'Let me see your knickers'

During a trial in January this year, prosecutor Eloise Marshall KC told jurors Jones and his former employee - a victim referred to by police as Woman A - had gone up to a penthouse suite which had two separate bedrooms but a shared seating area.

Ms Marshall described how Jones made numerous advances on the woman.

At one point, he said to her "let me see your knickers" and placed his hands on her body, the trial heard.

"This caused her dress to ride up and as she was trying to pull it down and get away, he was trying to get on top of her," Ms Marshall said.

The woman managed to free herself from Jones and lock herself in one of the rooms, according to the prosecutor.

She later left UKFast and was reportedly paid a £13,000 settlement "for her silence", Ms Marshall said, and was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

Jones had denied the accusation and claimed the woman had become drunk in the hotel bar and was "flirtatious".

"I put my hands on people's shoulders but only people I thought I had a really good relationship with. There's nothing sexual about what I was doing," he told the court in January.

"I gave hugs to people, that's the sort of person I am."

Jones was found guilty of sexual assault but was acquitted of sexually assaulting and raping a fourth woman at Manchester Crown Court.

Women reported feeling 'woozy' and 'floaty'

In 2021, a second woman (Woman B) came forward and accused Jones of raping and sexually assaulting her in 1993, when she was a student at the University of Manchester and Jones was in a relationship with her friend.

She told the court that her body felt "floaty" after having one glass of wine that Jones had poured while the pair were at his flat.

In the years after the assault, she said she had told friends what had happened to her, but did not feel able to report it to police at the time.

A year later, a third woman (Woman C) - who did not know the other complainant - told police she and her partner had become friends with Jones in 1993, when he played music in pubs and bars across Manchester.

She accused Jones of rape after she had felt woozy and laid on her bed after he told her to smell a bottle of liquid he was holding.

In 2019, she told her husband and a friend about the offence and three years later in 2022, she reported the incident to Greater Manchester Police.

Jones was convicted of raping Woman B and Woman C after pleading not guilty at a trial which lasted three weeks.

Jurors were not told about his previous sexual assault conviction.

Mrs Jones held her hand over her mouth as the unanimous verdicts were read out in court, and two of the defendant's daughters were in tears in the public gallery.

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Jordan Morgan, 29, spoke to the girl on the social media app and told her he was 15.

He then arranged to meet her in Preston, Lancashire, on 14 May before taking her to woods off Banbury Drive and raping her.

Morgan, from Murray Street, Salford, was jailed at Preston Crown Court after admitting rape and grooming.

Lancashire Police said Morgan was identified following mobile phone and social media analysis and arrested at his home.
CCTV and clothing recovered from his home placed him at the scene and his DNA was present on an apple juice bottle officers found in the woods.

PC Koryann Stevens said: "He is clearly someone who presents a very real danger to children by his perverted sexual interests and calculated and planned behaviour.

"He lied to the victim in this case as part of his grooming behaviour, with the ultimate aim of carrying out a serious sexual assault on her.

"This is clearly an offence which has had a profound impact on the young victim and her family."

Morgan was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order, which prevents him from having any unsupervised contact with any child under 16, and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

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A rapist held a gun to his victim's head and threatened to 'smoke' him if he dared to report his horrendous ordeal. Ashley Cleary abducted the man and repeatedly raped him in the street, before forcing him into his home where he raped him again.

Before fleeing, remorseless Cleary, 39, put a gun to the man's head and told him: "If you tell anyone, I'll smoke you." His DNA was found on the man's underwear and when police went to arrest him, Cleary was discovered hiding in a loft, Bolton Crown Court heard.

Now Cleary, a dad from Salford, has been jailed for 21 years after being found guilty of a catalogue of crimes, including rape and kidnap. Prosecutors told how the victim knew Cleary as he was a regular customer at his place of work.

In December last year Cleary arrived at his work in Salford and was behaving in an ‘intimidating and threatening manner’, prosecutor Daniel Calder said. At one point Cleary opened up his coat to ‘expose what appeared to be a handgun’, the prosecutor said.

The victim stayed at work with colleagues for a time after Cleary had left, to try and allow time for him to leave. But when he went outside, Cleary was still there.

At one point Cleary took hold of the man’s arm and told him: “You’re going to drive my car home.” He ‘felt compelled’ to go with Cleary, due to what had happened earlier but the ‘car’ was a ruse.

Cleary, who was also armed with a hammer, led the man down an alleyway and repeatedly raped him during several incidents. He launched a barrage of homophobic abuse as he committed the sickening crimes, labelling his victim a ‘f****** dirty little queer’.

At one point, Cleary told the terrified man: “Come on, we’re going to yours.” They made their way to the victim’s home, where Cleary placed the handgun on a side table.

Cleary then proceeded to rape the man in his own bed, as he continued to subject him to homophobic abuse. He then forced his victim to ‘reassure’ him ‘that he wasn’t gay’, Mr Calder said.

After committing another rape, Cleary got up and retrieved his gun, before putting the barrel to the man’s head. “If you tell anyone, I’ll smoke you,” he told him, before he left the property.

The victim left his home in his bare feet, wearing only a dressing gown, and visited a friend to tell them what had happened. The police were alerted and Cleary was arrested at his home on Christmas Eve, where he was found hiding in a loft.

Tests revealed the presence of Cleary’s DNA on his victim’s underwear. Cleary, of no fixed address, denied all wrongdoing, and at trial claimed he and the man had engaged in consensual sex.

But a jury rejected his lies and found him guilty of seven counts of rape, one count of kidnap, one count of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and one count of threatening with an offensive weapon. Cleary said 'I'm innocent by the way' as he was sent down to begin his sentence.

In a statement read on his behalf, the victim said: "I felt like it was never going to end. He used and abused me for his own benefit, for reasons of his own that I will never understand."

The court heard how Cleary has racked up 34 previous criminal offences. He was once hauled before the courts following an incident where he turned up at a pub armed with an axe.

Defending, Rachel Shenton said Cleary still maintains his innocence. She said he had been due to work on the day of the incident as a labourer but that his shift was cancelled due to bad weather and he instead went on a ‘drinking binge’.

Ms Shenton said Cleary has suffered from a number of ‘long standing’ issues, including anxiety and depression and ‘intellectual difficulties’. She said Cleary, who has a female partner who stands by him, would find prison ‘particularly difficult’.

Judge Nick Clarke KC handed Cleary a 25 year extended sentence, after declaring him a 'dangerous' criminal. He will serve at least two-thirds of a 21 year prison sentence, before the Parole Board decide whether it is safe for him to be release.

He will then be monitored for a further four years on licence.

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A man "groomed" a girl and had a sexual relationship with her, leaving her with “persistent and longstanding” mental health problems.

Christopher White, from Radcliffe, began contacting his victim over the social media platform MySpace in 2006 when the girl was aged 13.

The two later began a relationship when she was 14 and he was 22.

Johnathan Savage, prosecuting, told Bolton Crown Court last week that White met with the girl in person in Radcliffe town centre where they drank alcohol and smoked cigarettes together, while her mother believed she was out with friends.

After the relationship became sexual, White and the girl began staying at his mother’s house, as well as in hotel rooms in Manchester. They also bought a tent so they could spend time camping out, the court heard.

Mr Savage explained that White tried to prevent the girl from developing friendships outside the relationship by sending messages to those she knew “to put her distance between her and friends".

The relationship came to an end after her 16th birthday.

White was charged with having a sexual relationship with a girl under the age of 16 after being interviewed by police in 2020 after the victim came forward.

Mr Savage added: “She felt like she had been groomed into a relationship by him, that relationship had damaged her.”

A victim impact statement read to the court by the prosecution said the victim had suffered “persistent and longstanding” damage to her mental health.

In her statement, the victim, who is now an adult, wrote that she had “spent the last 10 years in the deepest depression".

However, Mr Savage added, she felt she had been able to rebuild her life.

Colin Buckle, defending, described White as being “childlike” and “presenting like a teenager” despite now being aged 39.

"He was operating in a child like state", Mr Buckle said.

"To send him to custody now would be an unmitigated disaster for Christopher White."

Addressing White, of Redbank Road, Radcliffe, Judge Abigail Hudson said he was an “isolated and lonely man” whose employment was “a vital link between you and the outside world".

She added: “Your attraction to the victim was connected to her availability rather than her youth.

“I don’t accept that you were in any doubt of her age.”

Judge Hudson sentenced White to two years and eight months and ordered him to sign the sex offenders register.

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A paedophile sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy as he played out on his bike. The child was approached by 21-year-old Kai Huston, while he was out near his home in Salford on a summer’s afternoon.

The boy’s bike had broken and Huston offered to help, Manchester Crown Court heard. He asked the child "if I fix this for you, will you do something for me?" before sexually assaulting him.

Now Huston has been declared ‘dangerous’ and locked up. Prosecutors told how Huston had previously been arrested by police after he was found to have uploaded a category A indecent image of a child - the most serious type - on Snapchat in July 2021.

He was caught but then released under investigation. Then two years later he sexually assaulted the boy, aged 12 at the time.

The child was playing out on a residential street in Salford, on a Thursday afternoon in July. It was a school day, but he was at home because teachers were on strike, prosecutor David Toal said.

He had been riding his bike, but the chain had broken and he was trying to fix it. Huston got out of an Uber nearby.

He then 'ushered' the child to a 'more secluded location' in a nearby alleyway, and offered to help fix the bike. Huston then crouched and put his arms around the child.

He touched the boy on the 'bottom area' and his lower back. Huston told him 'don't go anywhere' and said 'if I help you with this chain, will I get something back?'

He also asked: "If I fix this for you, will you do something for me?" During the incident Huston had asked the boy how old he was, and he told him he was just 12.

The boy was 'frightened' during the assault and at one point tried to leave. As he tried to run away, Huston 'grabbed' him by his T-shirt, but he was able to break free and escape.

The police were alerted, and Huston was caught. Defending, Hugh Barton said Huston's motivations in approaching the boy had initially been 'entirely innocent'.

"This was not him out looking for someone or targeting an individual in that way," he said. Huston has been diagnosed with autism and experienced a 'desperately difficult' childhood, Mr Barton told the court.

He said Huston was a 'vulnerable figure' and 'in many ways a damaged one'. Huston, from, Salford, pleaded guilty to distributing an indecent image of a child, and sexually assaulting a child.

Sentencing, Judge Alan Conrad KC declared Huston a ‘dangerous’ offender. It means he will serve two-thirds of a four year sentence in prison, before he will be monitored for an additional two years on licence.

Huston was ordered to sign the sex offender's register for life.

Description

A 'dangerous offender' who plotted to sexually abuse a 12 week-old baby at a Manchester city centre hotel has been locked up.

Mark Whalley, 71, who was also found in possession of a sickening library of child abuse images, was brought to justice after a National Crime Agency investigation was launched following intelligence received from law enforcement agencies thousands of miles away in Norway.

The NCA said Whalley was arrested before he could even get into the lift in a foyer area of the hotel during an undercover operation. No baby was at the hotel.

He told officers who swooped on him that he was at the unnamed hotel because he was having an affair, but went on to plead guilty to a raft of charges. Whalley, of Wharf Close in Manchester city centre, has now been jailed for six years and eight months.

The NCA said after receiving intelligence from Norwegian law enforcement partners, agency investigators found Whalley had discussed his sexual interest in children under 12 years of age on an encrypted online platform.

He had shared indecent images of children with other users on the site, and described the extreme abuse he wanted to engage in, said the NCA in a statement.

It was discovered Whalley used the platform to message an individual who said they had access to a baby, and discussed a meeting, said the agency.

The NCA said in a statement: "Whalley was arrested by NCA officers on suspicion of child abuse offences before he could get in the lift at the hotel. At this point, he told officers they were mistaken and attempted to pass the meeting off as an affair.

"After initially pleading guilty to making and distributing indecent images of children, he later pleaded guilty to an additional count of arranging a child sex offence.

"Whalley had arranged to abuse the baby while subject to a separate investigation in which indecent images of children had been recovered from his devices in 2021."

Whalley pleaded guilty to arranging a child sex offence; two counts of making indecent images of children; possession of extreme pornographic images and three counts of distribution of an indecent image of children. He was sentenced for all of the offences at Manchester Crown Court on 23 October 2023.

Daniel Waywell, NCA Operations Manager, said Whalley was 'a dangerous offender who had clear intentions'. "As a result of close collaboration with colleagues here in the UK and overseas, we were able to intervene and arrest him, and he will now spend years behind bars for his crimes," he said.

"The NCA works tirelessly to ensure that children are protected from sexual abuse, identifying the offenders who pose the highest risk and ensuring that they are held accountable."