Latest Offenders Blackburn

Description

In November 2021 he sexually assaulted a young woman at a house in Blackburn.

The victim woke up to find 40-year-old Rashid was in the same bed as her. He then engaged in sexual activity with her without her consent.

The victim was so traumatised that she ran from the scene.

Rashid, formerly of Cheetham Street, Blackburn, and now of no fixed address, was arrested later the same day and charged with rape.

He pleaded guilty to sexual assault by penetration when he appeared in the dock at Preston Crown Court on Monday (15th April) .

Rashid, who has previous convictions for sexual offences and is a Registered Sex Offender, was remanded into custody to be sentenced on 3rd June.

Description

A drug addict who used to spend 200 a day on cocaine looked at sexual images of children.

Ryan Parker, 39, of Whalley Road, Blackburn, said that his offence of looking at indecent images of children was "one million per cent" down to his alcohol and drug addiction.

Burnley Crown Court heard that on March 29 last year, Lancashire Police attended Parker's home address as they had evidence he had been looking at child pornography.

Prosecutor Stephen Parker told the court that the defendant had allowed the police into the address, and admitted to looking at the images under the influence of drugs.

When the police searched the house, they found empty snap bags believed to have contained drugs.

Parker handed over his laptop, mobile phone, and passwords to the devices including to the iCloud database.

The court heard that when the police investigated the devices, they found 506 images of children aged between five to 12 years old were viewed by Parker over a period of three years.

In mitigation, Shirlie Duckworth told the court that Parker had gone on to attend rehabilitation services for drug addiction and child pornography before he had been charged with the offence, a rare occurrence for the courts.

She said: "He is a man of previous good character in his late 30s with a lack of convictions.

"He has accepted and shown remorse for his offences, and there are many people who appear before this court who do not accept their crimes until they are forced to by the justice system."

Parker pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of indecent photographs of children.

Judge Daniel Prowse sentenced Parker to 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, ordered him to take 25 days rehabilitation and 150 hours unpaid work.

He said: "You had 296 of some of the most serious images for this offence.

"You admitted at the scene and provided the police with the devices and passwords you used to look at these images.

"You also engaged with members in groups such as Twitter, Gmail and Kick who then shared these images to you.

"I have read your psychiatric report and I believe you are genuinely remorseful and have taken steps to see why you accessed these images.

"I accept you were on drugs at the time of the offending, and believe your rehabilitation with the Probation Service will work better out of immediate custody.

"But if you do commit any offence again, you will immediately go to jail and you will only have yourself to blame."

Parker was also placed on the sex offender's register for 10 years and handed a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

Description

A 56-year-old cannabis addict who was high on cocaine and alcohol lured a 16-year-old girl back to his campervan after plying her with drink and drugs, before sexually assaulting her.

Neville Chapman, now 60, committed the terrifying crimes in Darwen in September 2019.

He was finally found guilty of assault by penetration following a trial in June 2023, which had been delayed multiple times, and was granted conditional bail by Judge Graham Knowles KC to appear for his sentence hearing in August.

However, Chapman, previously of Bridgefield Close, Rishton, failed to appear for his sentence hearing, which placed him in breach of bail, and instead, went on the run for almost four weeks.

Preston Crown Court heard his disappearance sparked a major manhunt by Lancashire Police, in which underwater search and rescue teams were deployed, and thousands of pounds spent on a campaign to find him.

When he was eventually apprehended in September 2023, he was charged with breach of bail, and a further charge of breaching his sex offender notification requirements imposed upon him by Judge Knowles at the completion of his trial and was remanded into custody.

The notification breach related to Chapman failing to tell the police he was no longer residing at Bridgefield Close, following an argument with his sister, whose home he was staying at.

On Thursday, January 11, Chapman was finally brought back before Judge Knowles to be sentenced for the crime he committed in September 2019.

The court was told that on September 16 that year, Chapman and others had been out drinking and taking drugs in Darwen.

At some time during the course of the evening, a 16-year-old girl joined him and his party, with Chapman plying her with double vodkas, and even cocaine, to the point where, as she described in her victim personal statement, she was “wasted”.

As the teenager became even more intoxicated, to the extent where she vomited in the toilets of a pub they were in, Chapman and his friends decided to leave so Chapman could “get more cocaine”.

They then went back to his campervan, with the girl being taken along with them.

The court heard the teenager was under the assumption Chapman would “give her a lift home”, but this never happened.

As the night wore on, and Chapman’s friends departed, he and his victim were left alone in his campervan.

Judge Knowles said: “You asked her, ‘do you want to go home or stay here with me’?

“Unsurprisingly, she said she wanted to go home but you drove your campervan, and then parked up and clambered into the back with her, where you tried to kiss her, pulled her top down and pulled her pants down.”

Judge Knowles told the court that the girl, “felt disgusted and tried to push him away before vomiting again”.

Undeterred, Chapman continued to try and undress her and then sexual assaulted her.

He continued: “She said she felt a tightness in her chest and couldn’t breathe.

“She eventually managed to push you off and got out and started walking away.”

At this point Chapman tried to follow the girl in his van, despite being intoxicated himself, until she turned down an alley and ran home.

The teenager told her mother what had happened, and the police were called, but when he was arrested, Chapman told officers: “Look at the size of her, if I wanted to rape her there would have been nothing she could do about it.”

Judge Knowles went on: “You are 60 now, and you have been a cannabis user for most of your life.

“You struck when she was isolated and alone with you in your van in the early hours, with little likelihood of anyone coming to her aid.

“You blamed her in your interview and blamed her outright for what happened.

“You pose a risk to young girls, and the sentence I give you must be an extended one.”

Chapman, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to a bail act offence and breach of the sex offender notification requirements.

He was found guilty after trial of two counts of sexual assault - one by penetration, and was jailed for 10 years and eight months, with a three year extended licence period, giving a total extended sentence of 13 years and eight months.

He was also told to sign the sex offender’s register for life.

DS Mark Parrington, of the East Child Protection Team, said: “This was a particularly nasty offence committed against a 16-year-old girl while she was clearly in a vulnerable state.

“This offence has very much had an impact on her, made all the worse by Chapman forcing her to re-live her ordeal during a trial.

“We take all offences of this nature extremely seriously and do everything in our power to put the perpetrators before the courts.

"I would ask anyone who has been the victim of a sexual offence to contact the police, knowing they will be believed and listened to.”

Description

The brave victim of a dangerous paedophile who raped and sexually abused her over a period of five years when she was a child has said the justice system 'needs to change' when it comes to investigating serious sexual assaults.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons and who is now an adult, stood up in court and read a lengthy personal statement in which she detailed how she thinks the justice system is more geared to supporting perpetrators of sexual abuse and rape than it is to supporting victims.

Preston Crown Court heard how David Sallis committed the heinous crimes between 2004 and 2009, when the woman was between the ages of eight and 12 and he was aged around 27.

Sallis, of Whalley Banks, Blackburn, was sentenced for five counts of rape, and assault by penetration, all of which he pleaded guilty to an at earlier hearing.

Francis McEntee, prosecuting, told the court the abuse began when the child was just eight years old, and would take place at various locations including in Bury and Peterborough.

The abuse stopped when the child turned 12, but she was too afraid to report the crimes to the police until several years later.

Mr McEntee said: The Crown say this was a lengthy and sustained period of the worst kind of sexual abuse, and the pre-sentence report shows a complete failure to appreciate the magnitude of what he had done.

The defendant seeks to minimise his actions, but there was a real and severe psychological harm caused to the victim.

Mitigating for Sallis, Ayesha Smart said he had last committed a crime before this campaign of sick sexual abuse in 1998, and had worked every day in prison since being remanded in custody.

However, in a statement read to the court, Sallis victim detailed how she had been left anxious and traumatised by the abuse but refused to let it define her or her future.

She said: Its been a very long process and I can hand on heart say I can 100 per cent understand why victims of rape and sexual abuse dont come forward.

The system is flawed. Had I not had the support at home or the support from the officer in charge of my case I would not have been able to fight.

We have a system that supports paedophiles more than victims. The person who committed the vilest crimes has had the most support.

The only person who picked up the phone and explained things to me was the officer in charge of my case.

I am yet to receive any support from victim support and am yet to be assigned a support officer.

I didnt even know the date of this sentencing, I found out from the Crown Prosecution Service.

Do I not deserve an explanation, or do victims just need to be left in the dark? Things need to change.

I should not have to wait for a call from the officer so he can explain what the next steps are.

The NSPCC published a report into child sexual abuse statistics which showed one in 20 children in the UK had been sexually abused.

More recent statistics from Rape Crisis show that one in six children have been abused.

We are told about how many women and children are victims of these crimes, but never about how many men commit these crimes.

We are told about how many victims of harassment there are, but never about how many men are committing the harassments.

We are told statistics about teenage pregnancies, but never about the boys and men getting these women pregnant.

Men arent even part of it. A change needs to be made.

In sentencing, Recorder Michael Maher praised the victim for her bravery, and addressing Sallis he said: Your sexual deviancy robbed her of her formative years and damaged her adolescent and adult life.

I have listened in total to her victim personal statement and the profound impact it has had upon her.

While you have pleaded guilty I dont accept that you have any remorse.

I believe you are dangerous as defined by statute and you do pose a risk of significant harm.

Sallis, 47, was jailed for 14 years and three months and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order until further notice.

He must also sign the sex offenders register for life.

DC Phil Scott, of East CID, said: The victim has shown tremendous courage throughout this process. The way she dealt with such a heinous crime has been truly inspirational. Most people could not comprehend what she has lived through.

I welcome the sentence handed down Sallis, which reflects the seriousness of his crime.