Latest Offenders Carlisle

Description

A NORTH Cumbria man who raped three women one as she slept has been jailed for 15 years and deemed a 'dangerous offender'.

Details of 23-year-old James Routledges crimes, and the profound impact and psychological harm on his victims, were outlined at Carlisle Crown Court today (Friday).

One woman raped by Routledge talked about focusing on a mark on the ceiling as he carried out his offending. She later recalled him giving her a hug and kiss afterwards, saying he was sorry, said prosecutor Tim Evans.

The woman also told of her guilt at not initially reporting what had happened. I just pushed it to one side, to a place where I could forget about it, she had said.

The woman later told of reliving the ordeal being like a 'mini-flashback'.

It is so clear, she stated, it feels like it is happening all over again.

A second woman had twice tried to repel Routledges unwanted sexual advances before she was raped. This time she shouted and screamed at him, and told him what he had done was raping her, said Mr Evans. She was crying.

That woman later spoke of feeling unable to trust anyone. It wasnt my fault, she said. But try telling me that on a bad day.

A third woman woke to find she had been raped by Routledge. She later made recordings of conversations with Routledge which involved admissions being made by him.

He carried out this crime having been released under investigation by police who had interviewed him about offending against one of the other two women.

Mr Evans told the court drink and drugs had featured in Routledges conduct.

Routledge admitted raping the three women. It was accepted the rapes were carried out 'without violence'.

In mitigation, defence barrister Judith McCullough suggested 'immaturity', to some extent, had fed into his offending.

There is the possibility that the term of imprisonment will be a lesson learned for this defendant as he grows up and moves further into adulthood, she said.

Routledge, of Wellgate, Scotby, was given a 15-year prison sentence by Judge Richard Archer, who said: To rape one woman is serious indeed. But to rape three women is serious in the extreme.

Judge Archer imposed an extended three-year licence period, concluding Routledge was a dangerous offender who posed a significant risk of committing further rape crimes.

Routledge must serve two-thirds of the 15-year prison term before being consider for release by a parole board, and sign the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Description

Fifty-year-old Andrew Gordon Chapman was visited at his home by vigilantes who then called police, resulting in his initial arrest, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Chapman’s phone was seized and subjected to forensic analysis which revealed what a judge called “despicable and repulsive” WhatsApp chats. In these he discussed the serious sexual abuse of children and his boasts of what he had done to one of two young victims. One was aged just two or three when his crimes were committed.

A jury heard Chapman carried out sexual crimes against two girls and encouraged them not to tell.

He made repeated denials, pleaded not guilty to seven charges and went on trial at the crown court earlier this week.

But Chapman, an HGV driver whose address was given as Warwick Square, Carlisle, was convicted, unanimously, on all seven counts.

During his sentencing hearing this morning, moving impact statements were read which detailed the profound impact of Chapman’s crimes on the victims.

Judge Nicholas Barker said of the “heart-wrenching” statements, as he handed down a 19-year jail term: “You have ripped up their childhood. You have left a stain and a scar upon them that will be there for ever more.”

"You have not shown any remorse at all. Your only emotive reactions were your own sense of indignity at being door-stepped by the vigilante group and upon the verdicts of the jury being returned. I am satisfied you care only for yourself."

The judge also imposed an extended one-year licence period after concluding Chapman — a man without any other convictions — should be deemed an “offender of particular concern”. He must serve at least two-thirds of his sentence behind bars, and his release will only be considered if a parole board deem it is safe.

In addition, Chapman must sign the sex offenders’ register, and comply with the strict terms of a prevention order, both for an indefinite period.

Description

A young man who dreamed of becoming a police officer has been jailed for child sex offences - including a sickening attempt to "blackmail" a 12-year-old schoolgirl into sending him indecent images of herself.

Cameron Longstaff, 20, went online to target the two schoolgirls, telling one he would circulate an intimate image of her that he had acquired if she did not send him more explicit pictures.

The youngsters said the experience left her feeling vulnerable, scared, and angry.

The other girl was so afraid she stayed indoors with the curtains closed, and asked her parents to always lock the doors.

As he imposed a year-long jail term on the defendant, of Hurley Road, Little Corby, Judge James Adkin told him that despite positive character references, the "overwhelming" evidence of his guilt from the trial revealed a darker side Longstaff's character, including his interest in child pornography.

"There is a predatory aspect to this," said the judge. "You felt it necessary to humiliate a young girl because she would not comply with your demands."

Longstaff denied two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity; three of downloading indecent child images; one of possessing such images; and two counts of distributing it.

A jury convicted him of all the offences.

The court heard how Longstaff had amassed a large collection of sickening child pornography images, both still images and videos.

Of these, 33 were classed as the most serious kind. The trial was told how Longstaff - 16 when he committed most of the offences - used a social media site under a false name, targeting the two 12-year-olds, urging them to share indecent images of themselves.

When one refused he threatened to distribute an intimate image of her that he had acquired, later sending it to a Russian website used by child porn perverts.

Victim impact statements revealed how the girls were affected. The first girl was left suffering from sleep problems, and her school-work suffered.

The second girl - in court with her mother for the hearing - said: "I was hiding in the house with all the curtains drawn because the [the defendant] said he would come to my house."

Her mother said: "My daughter was only 12 years old and she was very scared by what happened. ..We had been an open house until then, but after the incident, my daughter insisted on locking all the doors all the time.

"She still feels uncomfortable now being at home alone."

Kim Whittlestone, for Longstaff, said her mitigation was limited because the defendant continued to protest his innocence. Character references showed he was a hard-working young man, supported by his family.

"He worked at the family cafe but had aspirations to join the police force," said the barrister.

"He was undertaking a college course which would have enabled him to enter the police force once that was passed."

Miss Whittlestone said most of Longstaff's offending happened when he was 16 and that there was a suggestion he had not acted alone.

At the time, she said, he was struggling to fit in with his peer group. Longstaff wept as he was led away to start his sentence.

His name will be on the Sex Offender's Register for a decade, and he will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Description

A Carlisle dad-of-three has been jailed for three years after admitting having sex with a teenage girl.

Jack Stanley Mitchell, 27, was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court today after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual activity with a child.

Judge Peter Davies heard Mitchell's criminal conduct occurred over a period of several months early last year.

But, while Mitchell had eventually admitted his wrongdoing when brought to court, he had "persistently failed" to admit the offences when questioned by police.

Sentencing him, Judge Davies told the married father-of-three: "There must be custody."

Mitchell, of Abbey Street, was ordered to sign the sex offender' register and will be barred from working with children or vulnerable adults - indefinitely in both cases.

Mitchell was also made subject to the strict terms of a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

Description

A former Cumbria Police worker has been jailed for possessing and distributing indecent images of children.

David Robinson, 46, used his computer to hunt out images and videos of child sex abuse, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

His conversations with other paedophiles were of the "most sickening nature", Judge Peter Hughes QC said.

Robinson, of Waldegrave Road, Carlisle, was jailed for six years after admitting 20 counts of possession and distribution of indecent images.

The court heard how Robinson had offered to buy a child online in order to abuse them as well as decorating a room in his house for a child before applying to become a foster carer for young boys.

The hearing was also told a number of the images were of children as young as five and were of the most serious "Category A" type.

Judge Hughes said: "Robinson had presented one face to the outside world, another deeply unattractive one online."

Robinson was employed as a front counter worker at Cumbria Police when he was arrested last October. He was immediately suspended and left the force in January.

Det Insp Doug Marshall said: "This prosecution reflects the serious nature of the images which Mr Robinson was viewing and distributing.

"Images of this nature have been created via the suffering and abuse of children and they are criminal offences."

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders' register and given a sexual offences prevention order for life.