Latest Offenders Chester

Description

A Chester sex offender has been jailed after trying to meet an underage girl for the purposes of sexual activity.

Ivan Jones, 35, of Osprey Court, previously pleaded guilty to all charges.

Appearing at Chester Crown Court on Monday, September 16, Jones was jailed for a total of four years.

The court heard that Jones, who already had a Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed in January 2022 for previous offences, tried to get a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity in March this year.

Jones also tried to breach his SHPO by arranging to have unsupervised contact with an underage girl in Chester.

The defendant also attempted to send messages to an underage girl requesting images and videos of that girl's breasts, and sent an image of his private parts while trying to request images of another girl's breasts.

Judge Michael Leeming sentenced Jones to a total of four years and extended his SHPO so it was now indefinite.

Jones is now on the sex offenders register indefinitely and, as part of the SHPO, is not allowed to have unsupervised contact with any child under 16, and has restrictions imposed on his internet usage.

Description

A sex abuser who's campaign went on for more than half a century has finally faced justice.

Atherton man Peter James Wilson, 67, began his series of crimes in 1972 and would go on to abuse seven victims over the next 51 years.

Bolton Crown Court heard how his crimes had ranged from incident assault, rape and others.

Judge Abigail Hudson said: “The reality of your offending is that damage you have caused will go on forever.”

Starting in 1972 Wilson began a horrifying pattern of abusive behaviour towards young people that went on for decades.

He subjected multiple victims to deeply traumatising experiences, ranging from inappropriate advances to devastating acts of coercion and rape.

Wilson’s crimes continued over the years as he manipulated and took advantage of his victims, shattering their innocence and trust.

But 2023 marked a turning point, as Wilson was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault involving a child following an incredibly brave disclosure from one of his victims.

This led to a police search of his home where police found two mobile phone devices, a disc enclosed within an envelope, and a small camera containing an SD card and a hidden camera.

Analysis of the camera and mobile phones unearthed videos showing the exploitation of a female child.

These videos fell under the category of first-generation, type A indecent images of children, capturing deeply distressing and sadistic acts.

Upon gathering this information, people were interviewed, and evidence was taken.

This led to the discovery of further victims of Wilson's horrific abuse and Operation Bunker was initiated to manage all 28 counts of Wilsons abuse and his crimes.

Brought before the courts Wilson, of Bowling Green Row, Atherton, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13 by touching.

He also admitted to sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13 by penetration, and creating an indecent image of a child.

But after a trial he was also found guilty by a jury of 23 further sexual offences relating to child and adults including indecent assault and rape.

Judge Hudson commended the courage of Wilson’s victims and jailed him for 27 years with an extended licence period of five years.

He will also be on the sex offenders' register for life and is subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Description

A man who 'clearly poses a danger to children' has been locked up after he tried to abduct a 14-year-old boy in Stockport.

Sheraz Bhatti was sitting in his orange and black Mini car on Jacksons Lane in the Hazel Grove area on March 20 last year when he spotted the boy walking home. He shouted him over to get his attention, a court heard.

Bhatti, 43, then asked him if he wanted to get in the car. He offered to take him home and told him he had drinks to give him. Thankfully the boy continued walking and told his parents what had happened when he got home. They contacted the police.

Officers later found that Bhatti had searched on the internet for a school on the street where he had parked up and spoken to the boy. They tracked down the distinctive Mini as belonging to him and found it parked outside his home in Wythenshawe the following day.

They seized two phones and found almost 300 indecent images of children on them, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Some were category A, the worst kind, with others category B and C.

Bhatti was also found to have four bank accounts which he had not informed police about - which was in breach of the sex offender indefinite notification requirements he was made subject to following a conviction for sexual offences in 2008. He initially denied attempting to abduct the boy, but accepted he was on the scene.

In December last year, he then pleaded guilty to attempting to abduct a child. He also pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, two counts of possessing indecent photographs of a child, one count of distributing an indecent photograph of a child. and failing to comply with notification requirements.

Today (August 16), at Minshull Street Crown Court, Bhatti, of Longhope Road, Wythenshawe, was jailed for four years and three months. Richard Holliday, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: "This incident encapsulates every parent's worst nightmare. Sheraz Bhatti clearly poses a danger to children.

"I would like to thank the boy for his quick thinking in raising the alarm which has helped us bring him to justice and protect other children from any other potential abuse. The Crown Prosecution Service takes offending of this nature extremely seriously and will work tirelessly to bring offenders to justice."

Description

A vile paedophile instructed women to sexually abuse their own children in ‘disturbing’ online chats. Persistent offender Kevin Watson has been locked up again for another series of disgusting crimes.

Police discovered the ‘extremely graphic’ chats on devices which he’d tried to hide when they checked up on him. After they made the grim discovery, Watson, 61, from Stretford, was hauled back before the courts and is now serving another jail sentence.

The sex offender realises he has ‘come to the end of the road’ and is ‘determined to make long lasting change’, according to his lawyer.

Minshull Street Crown Court heard Watson had previously been handed a sexual harm prevention order when he was locked up and in 2020. He thought he was chatting to who he believed to be a 13-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl, but in fact they were undercover police officers posing as children to snare paedophiles.

Last year, Watson was jailed for two years for breaching the order. Officers from GMP’s sex offender management unit attended his home and asked him to hand over electronic devices for inspection.

Watson handed over some of them, but after searching on his wireless router the officers realised there were a further two devices which he hadn’t disclosed. Two further devices were found hidden behind a gas meter and under some drawers in his bedroom.

By the time he was sentenced to two years, the devices had not been fully examined. But they eventually were and officers discovered further incriminating material.

“On these devices the police discovered text message threads between the defendant and four females,” prosecutor Joshua Bowker said. “All of the chat threads were extremely graphic and disturbing.

“They included the defendant instructing these women to commit sexual offences against their own children.” He added: “These four females are unknown, the police cannot identify who they are. They appear to be from other countries.”

Police checked up on Watson again in April this year, and he handed over a phone and laptop to officers. They discovered that he had been accessing ‘teen chat rooms’ on five separate dates, which he was banned from doing as part of the sexual harm prevention order.

Watson pleaded guilty to four counts of publishing obscene articles, and breaching a sexual harm prevention order. Defending, James Hudson said of the defendant: “He knows full well, if he continues on this path, sentences will just get longer and longer.”

Mr Hudson said Watson lives a ‘fairly lonely and solitary life’, and said his ‘daily consumption’ of alcohol affected his ‘judgement and control’. Watson is ‘determined to make long lasting change’ and ‘knows he can’t continue in this way’, Mr Hudson added.

Recorder Geoffrey Lowe sentenced Watson to a further two-and-a-half years in prison. “You are acquiring a very unenviable record for sexual offences,” the judge told him.

Description

Today, Friday 26 July, a man has been sentenced to 19 years in prison after being found guilty of historical child sexual abuse in Liverpool.

Raymond Andrews, 57 years, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of two counts of rape and six counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged 13 to 15.

His heinous offences was committed in Liverpool between 2014 and 2016.

Andrews, who is from Liverpool but has been living in Oldham, was also issued a restraining order, Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be required to sign the Sex Offender Register for life.

Description

A teenage rapist who loitered outside a gym before kidnapping a lone woman at knifepoint has been jailed.

Arselaan Nawaz, 17, had cycled to the car park in Oldham at around 6.30am and waited until the woman arrived in her car. He was seen on CCTV ‘loitering’ around the area as she parked further away from the entrance to the gym.

Due to the time of day she was alone as she got out of the car. Nawaz approached her and told her to hand over the keys to her car whilst brandishing a knife, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

He then ordered her into the backseat as she pleaded with him to let her go. He told her he would ‘kill her’ if she shouted or tried to run. He drove them to an industrial estate before getting into the back seat of the car where he ‘kissed’ her.

Summarising the case, the presiding judge said Nawaz left the woman with a bruise to her neck before ordering her to remove her clothes and putting on a condom.

Nawaz then raped the woman as she wept, telling her to “shut up and stop crying”. After the attack he demanded her mobile phone, and used her sock to clean the interior of the car.

He then ‘arrogantly’ kissed her before leaving with her phone. He was later arrested, and found to have put his SIM card into her phone.

The 17-year-old was convicted of rape and possession of a knife following a trial.

Description

A 'monster' who sexually abused three girls was told by one of his victims: "I lost my childhood because of you." Colin Ruscoe, 64, has been locked up for 10 years for a series of sickening crimes. A jury found him guilty following a Manchester Crown Court trial.

He was convicted of six counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity; two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13; sexual activity with a child; and assaulting a child under 13 by penetration.

Ruscoe, from Longsight, was told of the impact his crimes has had on his victim as they bravely faced him in court. Two of the women read statements in person.

"I lost my childhood because of you," one of them said. "The impact of what you did caused so much distress and hurt. I wanted to end my life. My relationships have been affected and I no longer trust men. You were dishonest and a coward."

The second woman said: "You caused me so much pain, anger, hurt and made me hate myself and hurt myself to try and block it out. You are a monster. I was a child. My mental health suffered greatly and I found it difficult to talk about it. I tried to end my life six times in six months. Today, because of you, I have no trust in men."

The third victim told Ruscoe: "This was not something I wanted or consented to. How could I... I was just a child? I have never felt so isolated and alone. The last few years I feel like I have been on a rollercoaster blindfolded. It's a numbness I've never felt before.

"I have been getting flashbacks multiple times a day and they've started to turn into nightmares. I am now free and you can never hurt me again."

Mitigating for Ruscoe, who has no previous convictions, Simeon Evans said: "He continues to maintain his denials. He has a number of health issues. He does not have much of a life."

Sentencing, Judge Kate Cornell told Ruscoe: "It was hard to listen to their account and the impact on them of your actions has been profound. They felt confused and disgusted by what happened and feared they would not be believed.

"It was clear to the jury who unanimously found you guilty that the girls were telling the truth and I too agree. You continue to deny your guilt. It's clear you are capable of being a kind man, but that can't take away from the darkness. How you behave in public is far from how you behaved with those girls."

Ruscoe, of Cornford Avenue, was jailed for 10 years. He was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

Description

A depraved man who left people “traumatised” by handing out graphic images of children on trains has avoided prison.

Perverted Steve Blackthorne, 38, of Winchester, has been sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to making and distributing indecent photographs/ pseudo-photographs of a child. Blackthorne will be put behind bars if he offends again in the two year timeframe.

He has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years, and issued a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years. Investigating officer, Detective Constable Phil James, said: “Such was the level of Blackthorne’s depravity that the images he had collated left those who inadvertently happened upon them deeply traumatised.”

Winchester Crown Court heard a train guard was handed six pages of A4 sheets by a passenger left by a men who got off the train at Basingstoke on January 23, 2022. The pages contained horrific indecent graphic images of children - 16 Category A pictures (the most severe), five Category B and 16 Category C.

Court heard the train guard was left in tears, who reported it to British Transport Police officers at Southampton Central railway station. On January 31 of that year, a cleaner found another batch of images when he pulled down a folding table. They were left horrified and upset, reporting it to his manager.

Those pages contained 16 Category A, five Category B and 16 Category C indecent images of children. CCTV footage found Blackthorne left the printouts on the train. Officers arrested him on March 14 at Basingstoke railway station.

His mobile phone contained 60 Category A, 27 Category B and 81 Category C images, with further pictures being discovered on the laptop he was carrying. Another portable computer was found at his address, containing even more sickening images.

Blackthorne admitted during a police interview that he printed out the images out at work from a work device. DC James added: “No one in their right mind would ever willingly choose to see these sickening images. Blackthorne showed no shame in his perversion even transferring the images to a work computer so he could print them out at work to look at at his leisure.”

Description

James Paterson (07/04/1992) of Cheadle, Stockport was found guilty at Bolton Crown Court of two counts of sexual assault by penetration and three counts of sexual assault involving three different victims in March 2024, and was sentenced yesterday (Thursday 11 July 2024) to 10 years in prison.

He must service two-thirds of this before being considered for release.

In addition, he received an extra three years on licence and has been placed on the sex offender’s register for life, with lifetime restraining orders in place for the victims.

At the time the offences were committed both Paterson and the women were colleagues, working at a company based in Didsbury, South Manchester. The company would reward employees by organising social events after work hours. Back in June 2019, a night out came out of one of the events which meant meeting up in the City Centre. When going back to a flat to continue to celebrate before sleeping, one of the victims woke up to being penetrated without consent and then later being touched inappropriately despite turning down the advances on each occasion.

Telling a friend and colleague later that day it was reported to her workplace.

A few months later in September 2019, another event was organised in Didsbury where Paterson offered to drop another woman off home afterwards. After going in a short time later further advances were made which were abruptly rejected. Waking up later that morning to Paterson crouched down beside her bedside before seeing him on top of her, again sexually penetrating without consent.

Once safe, she later reported the concerns to her workplace. This was subsequently passed onto our officers some time later and in June 2020 following an investigation Paterson was arrested, denying the claims outright.

In July 2020, a social gathering was taking place in Wilmslow and when it came to an end they went to sleep in separate rooms. Waking up to being touched inappropriately under her clothes, she ran downstairs to tell a friend in horror. Upon being confronted he left. Once they knew he was under investigation a further report was made to our officers to help with enquiries and ensure safeguarding as well as further prompt action.

He was later found guilty of the offences in court and sentenced.

Description

A man has been jailed for multiple historical sexual offences committed against minors, including a number in the Swansea and Neath Port Talbot area.

Gavin Corcoran, 44, who most recently lived in Manchester, previously resided in Morriston, Swansea.

In 2020 a 14-year-old girl came forward to police to report that Corcoran had sexually assaulted her when she was 10 years old.

Two other women then came forward and disclosed sexual abuse by Corcoran on numerous occasions when they were children.

Gavin Corcoran was charged with the above offences in 2021 and remanded into custody after failing to attend his trial later that year. He has remained in custody ever since.

In 2022, a fourth victim came forward to Greater Manchester Police disclosing that Corcoran had sexually assaulted her. He was charged with two further offences relating to this victim. 

On May 21 2024, Gavin Corcoran was found guilty on all eight counts of child sex offences against the four separate victims.

He has today been sentenced to 21 years in prison extended for four years and will be on the sex offenders register for life.

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Norman Williams (08/05/1965) from Atherton, was jailed for his offending against three victims.

Williams was found guilty by a jury at Bolton Crown Court in March 2024 of 10 counts of indecent assault, 6 counts of rape, and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Today (Tuesday 25 June) he was sentenced to 25 years in jail. 

Two of the victims were groomed by Williams when they were approximately 12 years old and he gave them items including cigarettes, alcohol and money.

During a four-year period which began in 1998, Williams went on to sexually abuse them at two addresses where he lived in Atherton.

A third victim was also sexually abused by Williams at his home.

Detective Constable Chris Waddicar of GMP’s Major Incident Team, said: “Firstly, I want to thank the victims in this case for coming forward and being courageous enough to allow us to conduct a thorough investigation.

“Williams’ offending was depraved – he picked on vulnerable young children who were unable to defend themselves. 

“As an investigation team, we hope today’s sentencing can give them some reassurance that justice has been served and their perpetrator is locked up behind bars where he can no longer harm vulnerable members of our community.

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An evil paedophile threatened his young victim into remaining silent, saying she would be taken into care if she ever told anyone.

Andrew Meehan was jailed for 14 years at Leeds Crown Court this week after he was found guilty by a jury of multiple offences against an 11-year-old, and a further offence against a 15-year-old.

The court heard that Meehan initially “tested the water” with the girl and would show her sex toys and made her watch him masturbate.

He then began a campaign of abuse, sexually touching her and making her perform sex acts, telling her to “just do it”. The girl later said she cried herself to sleep.

But in a move that the judge described as being “mean, nasty and manipulative”, Meehan then targeted the girl over social media, pretending to be a 13-year-old boy and befriended her. He then then convinced her to send him explicit images, which he later shared to humiliate her.

The girl later tried to confide in others, but retracted her claims when Meehan said she would be taken into care and her family would disown her.

He later sexually assaulted the older victim by touching her bottom after making sexual comments.

Meehan, now of Orchard View Road, Chesterfield, was found guilty of assault of a girl under 13 by penetration, rape a girl under 13, cause or incite a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, sexual assault and possessing an indecent image.

Little mitigation was offered due his denials of the offences, but it was heard he had never been in trouble before.

He was told he must serve the-thirds of his sentence, rather than the usual half, before being considered for parole, and was put on the sex offender register for life.

Description

A former cadets leader has been jailed for non-recent sexual offences against two young girls.

Simon Taplin was sentenced to four and a half years’ imprisonment when he appeared before Portsmouth Crown Court on 3 June.

He had previously been found guilty of two counts of indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 16, on 20 February at the same court.

Taplin, 64, of Springfied Close in Lavant, was charged with five further counts of sexual assault of a girl under the age of 16 and was found not guilty by the jury.

An investigation was launched in September 2020, when a third-party report came into Sussex Police that a woman had been sexually abused by Taplin as a child.

His victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, met him at the cadets, with him using his position of power to abuse her.

The first incident occurred in 1996, when his victim was in her teens. Taplin continued to sexually abuse her numerous times over the next four years.

As part of the investigation, another woman bravely came forward and stated she was abused at around the same time by Taplin.

When she was a teenager, it was heard that she was abused by Taplin where he used his seniority to take advantage and sexually assault her during a cadet event.

In addition to the custodial sentence, Taplin was also put on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Detective Constable Jason Berney, of the Safeguarding Investigations Unit said: “I would like to express my gratitude for the bravery of the victims who came forward and gave evidence to police and in court.

“This bravery has secured Taplin’s sentence and it means a man who abused his power to take advantage of girls is now behind bars.

“I hope that any victims of sexual abuse are encouraged to come forward to report any crime or wrongdoing. We will investigate, no matter how long ago it was.”

Description

A paedophile from Derbyshire who sexually abused a girl when she was aged just eight has been handed a 14-year jail sentence.

Derby Crown Court heard how the victim had to relive her ordeal at the hands of Wayne Lilley giving evidence at a trial where he was found guilty of charges against her.

In a victim impact statement, the now teenager said what happened to her “impacts every part of her life” and that she did not report the abuse at the time as the defendant told her he would hurt her if she did.

And while he was on bail and under investigation for the sexual offences, the 39-year-old twice physically assaulted a woman he was in a relationship with and broke her wrist. Handing him a 13-year jail term, plus an extra 12-month extended licence, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: “The victim impact statement outlines all of the ways this has affected this young lady.

“She is almost unrecognisable from the girl she was. She has gone from being a well-liked and popular student who was getting great school reports to one that is now so damaged.

“She is being bullied at school and suffers night terrors and nightmares. You stole what remained of her childhood.”

Vanessa Marshall KC, prosecuting, said Lilley refused to accept he carried out the sexual abuse. She said following a trial earlier this year, after hearing all of the evidence, a jury found him guilty of sexual assault of the girl.

The prosecutor read the victim’s statement, which was made by her mother. In it she said: “Our lives have been turned upside down. She was well-liked and now she is in crisis every day.

“The kids at her school heard rumours about what had happened to her and began bullying her. She moved school and now finds it incredibly difficult to make new friends.

“She suffers psychological issues, is sometimes not eating and other times overeating and even now is anxious around men she does not know even looking at her.”

Miss Marshall said Lilley, of Station Road, Bolsover, was arrested in January 2023 and bailed. But that month and then, in May last year, he assaulted his then partner, the second attack being captured on someone's mobile phone and was played at this week’s sentencing hearing.

He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm and actual bodily harm in relation to those attacks. Siward James-Moore, mitigating, said his client still maintains he is not guilty of the sex attacks but pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to the physical assaults.

As well as the jail sentence, the judge handed the defendant a lifetime sexual harm prevention order and placed him on the sex offender register, also for life.

Description

A victim of a convicted child sex offender has spoken out for the first time about her harrowing ordeal.

The girl was just a child when Michael Griffiths sexually assaulted her, permanently shattering her trust in others forever.

Griffiths, 34, from Tameside, was jailed for 11 years and three months for his crimes in October 2023. They include 17 counts of sexual activity with a child.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, one of his victims has revealed how the trauma she endured continues to devastate her life.

“I knew it was wrong,” she said. “I couldn’t do anything about it. I didn’t tell anyone for a year. My behaviour was off and I was stressed. I couldn’t tell anyone why; I just said it was school.”

Griffiths sexually assaulted the girl on three occasions over the course of several years. Though she was desperate to tell others what had happened, she worried nobody would believe her.

“I was just scared of him,” she added. “[During one assault] I just froze. I didn’t know what to do.

“I did want to tell people. He probably got more comfortable after he realised I wouldn’t say anything. It made me feel disgusted; it was revolting and I couldn’t do anything about it."

The victim says the assaults have impacted every aspect of her life – from relationships to school grades.

“[It’s affected] literally everything,” she added. “My school grades did drop a bit because of him.

“I don’t think I can ever look at anyone and not think they have malicious thoughts. I don’t think I can ever fully trust a person again because of it.

“My counsellor has been a big help. I had really bad anxiety when it all came out. It just felt so unreal; I wasn’t expecting it to come out like it did.

The victim says she is slowly starting to rebuild her life. “I’m doing a lot better than when it came out and when it happened,” she said.

“I feel like I’ve come to accept it now. I know I can’t change it and it wasn’t my fault and there’s nothing I can do about it now.

“It belongs in the past. Now I just do what I can to move on.”

Griffiths was also convicted of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and causing a child to engage in sexual activity.