Latest Offenders Cumbria

Description

A driver who targeted 10 teenage girls as they walked to school has been jailed. Adnan Khan had originally been accused of attempting to kidnap the schoolgirls as they headed back to classes following a Covid lockdown in 2021.

However those charges were dropped after he pleaded guilty to harassment and two charges of sexual communication with a child. Newcastle Crown Court heard he made sexual comments to some of the girls and left all of those he approached frightened.

Now Khan, 35, has been jailed for 15 months and was made subject to sex offender registration and a sexual harm prevention order for the next 20 years.

Michael Bunch, prosecuting, told the court: "The offences themselves date back to March 2021 and occurred over the course of half an hour that morning as the defendant targeted female pupils making their way to school in Newcastle."

The first pupil approached by the defendant was 18 years old at the time. It was her first day back after Covid-related closures and she decided to walk to school rather than her usual pattern of catching the bus. As she waited to cross a road, the defendant stopped his car alongside her and repeatedly asked her for her name.

Mr Bunch said: "She responded by pointing out that she was still in school. She moved around the corner to get away from the defendant, who responded by reversing back alongside her and again asking her name. By now, she was worried by the defendant’s behaviour.

"Despite her lack of engagement, the defendant said he would take her to school. When she told him no, he then drove off, leaving her really shaken.

"She contacted her mother by phone to tell her what had happened and later commented that she had been put off from walking to school in the future by the defendant’s conduct."

The next incident happened about half a mile away, where two 16-year-old girls were walking to school together, along with a third female pupil. Khan pulled alongside and was heard to shout, “Girl in the middle, come here, come here”. The three girls ignored him and carried on their way to school, reporting the incident when they arrived there.

The third incident occurred shortly afterwards. Three girls, aged 13,15 and 16, were making their way to school when the defendant pulled alongside. Mr Bunch said: "He shouted across to the two to ‘get in the car’, repeating this a number of times in an aggressive manner.

"When they ignored him and hurried towards school, the defendant drove off. All three girls contacted a parent immediately after the defendant left. All three were left feeling scared and uncomfortable by the defendant’s behaviour."

Around a mile from that incident, Khan came across two girls aged 16 as they headed to school. He pulled alongside and, again, shouted to get their attention.

Mr Bunch said: "Thinking he was needing directions, (one of the girls) moved towards the car, but the defendant then asked her how long she had had braces. Realising that the defendant was not seeking assistance, the two girls walked off, but the defendant continued to follow them in his car, repeatedly shouting towards them. In an attempt to deter him, (one of the girls) produced her phone and said that she was calling police, telling the defendant this three times.

"He was not dissuaded by this threat and continued to behave in the same way for a period before driving off. Both girls spoke to a parent immediately after the incident."

The last incident involved two girls aged 14 and 13 who were walking to school with some male pupils. Khan pulled alongside them in his car and spoke to the girls, referring to them as ‘gorgeous’ and ‘beautiful’.

Mr Bunch said: "At one point, (one of the girls) noticed him leaning out of his window, as though trying to reach out to them. When one of the boys approached and asked him to leave, the defendant responded by saying he was going to ‘s**g’ the mothers of all the boys.

"He turned his attentions back to the two girls, initially referring to them in similar terms to his initial approach, before changing tack and saying that he was going to ‘s**g’ them and make the two girls perform (a sex act) on the boys."

One of the girls suggested she was going to contact the police and Khan left the street. The police were contacted, with the registration plate of the Khan's car also being passed on. It was noted that the vehicle was linked to an address in Cumbria.

An image of the Khan was also available from a video clip recorded during the course of the last incident. The result was that the defendant was arrested the same day.

When interviewed, the defendant said he had spoken to some girls, but only because they had thrown a drink over his car. He denied that he had approached them, that he had invited any of them to get into his car, or that there had been any sexual content to his conversation. He suggested that the complaints were racially motivated.

One of the girls, who is now an adult, read a victim impact statement in court saying she was left worried after the offending and "no longer felt safe or comfortable while visiting the area". She added: "This made me worried about what his intentions may have been to me and my friend.

"We were school friends in school uniform who were clearly walking to school. I was worried to think what might have happened if anyone had got in the car. I believe men who target schoolgirls are dangerous and should be in prison."

Another girl said: "I was taken aback by the man's actions. I was surprised a stranger had stopped their car and spoken to me. Later, at school, I learned the same man had been stopping other girls as well."

She added that she was left worried about what might have happened if she had been on her own and got lifts to and from school in the days that followed. She said the incident made her aware "there are men out there who pose a danger to me".

Another girl said: "When the incident occurred I felt absolutely terrified. I was 14 and wearing a school uniform and it must have been obvious we were two girls walking to school.

"The fact he was calling me gorgeous and beautiful and would not go away made me afraid he wanted to get sexual enjoyment out of kids. The face he had a car and leaned out of the car made me additionally fearful of what might happen.

"There were boys there as well who were older than me and this didn't seem to deter him from targeting us. I felt a nervousness that I had not felt before. I had always felt safe After the incident I no longer wanted to walk to school.

"I became afraid of the idea there might be more men out there who might have similar bad intentions and I would not know who they were." She added that she believes men who make such remarks to passing schoolgirls "should be put in prison and should not be allowed near children."

Khan, 35 now and 30 at the time, of Bridge Street, Appleby, Cumbria, has 30 previous convictions, including for supplying drugs in 2010, fraud in 2016 and drink driving and threatening behaviour in 2020.

Recorder Mark Giuliani said Khan didn't live in the North East and "had no business being here" during what was a Covid lockdown. He added that he had taken a circuitous route to come across the children, who were heading to school for the first time after the lockdown.

Recorder Giuliani said: "You went out of your way to target children who were on their way to school."

Sue Hirst, defending, said it had taken four-and-a-half years for the authorities to "get round to bothering to charge him", with the delay causing him stress. Miss Hirst said the case had then been "significantly over-charged", adding: "These offences were never attempted kidnap. The height of it was he was inviting them to get in his car. He never got out of the car, he never touched them.

"It was a man behaving foolishly and inappropriately in a public place with lots of people around. He struggles to explain his behaviour. He knows he should not have made the comments to the girls.

"They were stupid and inappropriate but absolutely nothing was going to come of the comments and no one was at risk. He was making ill-advised compliments, if that's what they can be called, and asking if they wanted to go in his car.

"He asks me to convey tot he court and the girls that he is very sorry." Miss Hirst said Khan has since got married and he now has a baby.

Description

A former employee of the Ministry of Defence has lost his job and been placed on the sex offenders register after sexually assaulting a colleague at an airbase Christmas party.

Mitchell Tarbit, who describes himself online as having previously worked at RAF Lossiemouth as an exercise rehab instructor, appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court and was sentenced for touching the bottom of a woman against her will.

Description

A MAN who downloaded indecent images of young boys has been ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Martin Ballantyne, 27, entered guilty pleas to the following offences when he appeared before Workington Magistrates’ Court:

• Making 29 Category A indecent images of a child – the most serious category of child abuse images
• Making 11 Category B indecent images of a child
• Making 17 Category C indecent images of a child

Outlining the case, Pamela Fee, prosecuting, said Ballantyne was arrested at his home on March 14 last year and was in possession of a mobile phone.

Data on the phone was analysed and indecent images of children were located on the device. Among the Category A images were different images of boys aged between 10 and 12, seven and nine and five and seven. Descriptions of the images read out in court are too graphic to report.

During police interview, Ballantyne initially gave ‘no comment’. He later made ‘significant’ statements and told police he had been ‘looking at stuff’ on Twitter. He said he thought they were all over age.

He later admitted he had been ‘looking at stuff’ and had been ‘looking at young guys’. He then said he had been ‘looking at little boys’.

Ballantyne told police when he gets low, he ‘looks at Twitter’.

John Cooper, defending, said: “It’s 57 images in total. It’s quite clearly not right. Compared with a lot of cases we deal with, it’s a relatively low number.

“Some cases we have here have hundreds or thousands of images.”

Magistrates adjourned the case until June 4 to allow a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the Probation Service.

Ballantyne, of Ennerdale Road, Maryport, was ordered to register with police as a sex offender.

Description

A SEX OFFENDER from Cumbria who had secret sexualised conversations online with a 15-year-old has been jailed.

When police arrived at Billy Sowerby’s home address, they found him hurriedly attempting to eradicate any evidence of his wrongdoing by deleting his phone's WhatsApp application, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Despite his initial denials, the defendant, 35, was also found to have other devices which he had failed to tell the police about.

Sowerby, of Croft Close, Kirkby Stephen, who was once described as a "danger to children" by a national children's charity, admitted four breaches of his existing sexual harm prevention order.

They consisted of him contacting the 15-year-old, deleting his internet history, and failing to notify his offender manager of two social media accounts.

The court heard that Sowerby was given the order in 2016 when he was given a three year jail term for his first set of sexual offences.

They involved him sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 16 and engaging in sexual activity with a child.

His latest offences came to light after police visited the defendant at his home and found him in the process of deleting his WhatsApp from a phone. When challenged about this, he claimed it was to protect somebody he had contacted.

Police later confirmed that he had been messaging a 15-year-old girl.

When police arrived at his home, he claimed to have no other digital devices other than the phone he was handling.

But when the officers said they would search the house, he went to his bedroom and retrieved another iPhone while there was a third device he had access to in the living room.

His messages confirmed he was providing the teenager with vapes, but he asked the girl to not tell her parents about this. There was also evidence he talked with her about sex and asked intimate questions.

“Her mother was completely unaware of this contact,” said the prosecutor in court, pointing out that the girl said the conversations left her feeling uncomfortable.

The prosecutor said the defendant’s online communications – and his searches online – revealed his “high level of sexual preoccupation.”

“This was determined offending for the gratification of his sexual interests,” said the barrister.

Gerard Rogerson, defending, said Sowerby was aware of how serious his situation looked, bearing in mind his record, but the defendant recognised that the girl was going through a difficult time in her life.

“He chose to speak to her about some of the issues that were causing her difficulties,” said the barrister. “He was trying to encourage her to be herself and not to change or bend to the will of other people, particularly her peers.”

He had wanted to make himself available to the teenager as somebody she could speak to, trespassing on to the remit of her parents by offering a “kindly shoulder to cry on,” said Mr Rogerson.

The barrister added that Sowerby’s online searches – including about the age of consent in different European countries – were motived by simple curiosity after the issue was mentioned in a media article he had read.

Sowerby did not even own a passport, added Mr Rogerson.

Recorder Ciaran Rankin said Sowerby’s chats with the teenager were at times “highly sexualised” in their nature, as were some of his online searches. The judge said: “I am afraid I do not accept that your communication with [the girl] was at any stage entirely innocent or from laudable motives.

“And I don’t accept that your searches were entirely out of curiosity. They were all clearly very highly sexually motivated.”

Sowerby - said by the NSPCC in 2016 to be danger to children - was jailed for five years.

It will be up to the Chief Constable to decide whether to apply to the court to have the defendant’s sexual harm prevention order extended beyond next year, when it is due to expire.

Description

A CONVICTED rapist flouted the rules of his being on the Sex Offender Register by not disclosing his usernames for three online accounts.

Wigton man Robert Long, 29, who admitted all three offences, became a registered sex offender after he was convicted in 2017 of raping a 16-year-old girl.

The judge who jailed the defendant for eight years commented that the then 21-year-old defendant had shown no compassion for his victim, who was left “shaking, bruised and bleeding" after the vicious attack.

He first made contact with the girl via Facebook.

As a result of that conviction, Long’s online activities are closely monitored by the police because his name is on the national Sex Offender Register. This obliges him to tell the police about any online accounts he opens within three days.

At Carlisle’s Rickergate court, the defendant, of Springfields, Wigton, accepted failing to do this for three identified accounts.

He should have told his police offender manager of his account user names within three days, as required under the terms of his registration.

The accounts involved were with Twitch, Instagram, and Apple Gaming.

Lauren Heasley, defending, said the breaches of the defendant’s sex offender registration requirements were not “malicious.” She told magistrates: “Two of the account names related to older accounts.”

These were not closed when Long was jailed and not accessed.

The failure to register the third account with the police – the one for Apple Gaming – was the result of an oversight, said Miss Heasley. She added: “He is trying to rebuild his life, which is difficult given the offences on his record.

“He is a farm worker, doing gruelling hours, from 5.30am to 6.30pm, with 14 days on and two days off.” The defendant also has a settled address and lives with his mother and her partner, added the lawyer.

Deputy District Judge Simon Blakebrough adjourned sentencing until March 26, saying that there should be a pre-sentence report to assess risk, given the nature of the serious offences on Long’s record.

He told the defendant to cooperate with the Probation Service.

Throughout his police interview following the original rape offence, Long denied any wrongdoing, claiming the sex was consensual. He took the case to a trial, which concluded with the jury finding him guilty.

Long did however admit other offences in 2017, these being meeting a child following sexually grooming, engaging in sexual activities with a child and having sex with a child.

Police described him as is “a dangerous and predatory man,” who used social media to meet girls to commit sexual offences.

Description

A WEST Cumbrian man who completed a Probation Service course to rehabilitate sex offenders is back behind bars after he returned to using the internet to look for child abuse images. 

Benjamin Kennedy, 34, who downloaded 11 indecent child images, blamed his return to offending on poor mental health and drinking too much.

Carlisle Crown Court heard that the defendant, of Haig Road, Whitehaven, had earlier admitted the indecent child images offence as well as twice breaching his previously imposed sexual harm prevention order.

Prosecutor Tim Evans outlined the offending.

The background was that Kennedy was convicted in April 2021 for engaging in sexual activity with a child and causing a child to watch a sexual act. This led to him being given a community order and the sexual harm prevention order.

He was back before the court in November 2022 for downloading indecent child images.  He was given an eight-month jail term, suspended for two years. Mr Evans then outlined the most recent offences.

On August 17 last year, the defendant disclosed to his offender manager that he had a new Samsung phone, which was equipped with “E-safe” police monitoring software.

Police were later alerted that the software was subjected to a “forced stop.”

Two days after this, on November 4, the police asked Kennedy to come to the station with his phone so it could be checked. It became clear there had been a “deliberate deletion” of messages on the phone’s Snapchat application.

It had been set up to automatically delete messages after 24 hours – a clear breach of the defendant’s sexual harm prevention order.

This led to a deeper investigation of the phone, said Mr Evans.

This was when the downloading of the 11 illegal images was discovered. There was also evidence, said Mr Evans, that the defendant had been requesting sexual images from other users.

Kim Whittlestone, defending, said the Snapchat offence resulted from the application automatically deleting messages after 24 hours and Kennedy should have known this and acted accordingly.

“He failed to do so,” said the barrister.

Regarding the other offending, Miss Whittlestone said Kennedy was struggling with his mental health, feeling he was “unable to move forward” with his life. His father had been “targeted at work,” said the defendant.

This included an assault, causing stress within the family.

The barrister added: “This impacted on his mental health, and he began to drink… and this led to him committing further offences.” The defendant had been feeling lonely and isolated, said Miss Whittlestone.

The barrister accepted that Kennedy completed the Probation Service New Horizons Programme for sex offenders.

Miss Whittlestone added: “He knows the pain and suffering he has inflicted on his family and hopes that, when released from custody, he can re-engage with the Probation Service and put offending behind him.”

Judge Nicholas Barker said the defendant was now a “persistent sexual offender.” The purpose of the three-year community order he was previously given allowed him to work extensively with “highly trained professionals.”

The suspended sentence order imposed in January 2023 could not have been a clearer warning to the defendant of his need to reform. The judge said: “There are no interventions that the Probation Service can do.

“Essentially, they have been working with you between April 2021 and November 2024 to address your offending behaviour, but you have not done so. The court can’t come to any considered view that there is a prospect of rehabilitation.”

Judge Barker jailed the defendant for 15 months. Kennedy will be on the Sex Offender Register for seven years.

Description

A rapist who abused two women more than 40 years ago has been described as a "monster" and "cowardly creature".

Raymond Harrison, 73, was working as a farmer in Keswick, Cumbria, when he became to know his two victims, who he groomed with sweets and cigarettes.

He was handed a 20-year prison sentence in 2021 but his conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal.

He was convicted of 13 sexual assault charges, including raping a girl, at a retrial at Carlisle Crown Court and was jailed for 14 years and 61 days.

Jurors heard how in around the turn of the 1980s, Harrison touched the girls sexually when he was alone with them.

The prosecution described how he first raped one girl in a garage after pinning her to a stone wall and continued the abuse for many months. He continued to rape her multiple times during the course of many months.

He told her it was their secret and she should not tell anyone.

The court also heard Harrison indecently assaulted a second girl by kissing and putting his tongue in her mouth and by touching her intimately under her clothing.

Neither girl felt they could initially complain but eventually made statements to the police in 2017.

'Manipulative, narcissistic man'

Statements from the two victims were read by prosecutor Kim Whittlestone.

The rape victim said Harrison "robbed" her of her childhood and self-esteem.

"He is a dangerous man and a manipulative, narcissistic, controlling, delusional and cowardly creature," she said.

"The deep-rooted anger, frustration and despair is incalculable. He has destroyed my life and any sense of normality."

The woman Harrison indecently assaulted, said she would have once listened to a "heartfelt apology" and for him to help for himself.

"I now never wish to hear your name again and hope you spend the rest of your days in total misery," she said.

Conviction following retrial

After the 2021 conviction was overturned the following year, Harrison was the subject of a retrial at Carlisle Crown Court in 2023.

He was found guilty of three indecent assault charges and acquitted of 13 other allegations.

The jury could not reach a verdict on 10 additional charges, which then became the subject of the trial held this month.

He denied four charges of rape of a girl, two charges of indecency with the same child - who the 2023 jury concluded he indecently assaulted - and four indecent assault charges relating to the second girl.

The jury unanimously found him guilty of all charges.

'Deeply corrosive effect'

Judge Nicholas Barker told Harrison: "The courts now understand the deeply corrosive effect that sexual abuse has on the development of children and how that stain is left long into their adult lives and will never be washed away.

"By contract, Raymond Harrison, you have yourself been able to live a life of undeserved respectability.

"You should for the last 40 years or so not have been known as a good, honest farmer, but the sex offender you really are."

Harrison must serve two-thirds of the jail term before being eligible for release and must sign the sex offenders register for life.

Description

A CONVICTED child sex offender has been charged with breaching the terms of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and failing to comply with his notification requirements.

Louis Killip was jailed for 18 months in August 2023 after he attempted to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempted to engage a child in sexual communication between November 16 and December 3 2020.

On that occasion, the 52-year-old was also made the subject of a SHPO and notification requirements after he used Snapchat to solicit images and send pictures of his penis to who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.

The defendant, of Vernon Street, Barrow, has now been charged with four counts of failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders register, one count of breaching his SHPO and a further count of making one indecent photograph of a child.

Court charges indicate Killip failed to notify police of a number of alias’s and names used on Facebook, Google Instagram and TikTok on January 23 this year.

He is also said to have failed to produce an internet enabled mobile device upon request to the police on January 21.

The Crown Prosecution Service further allege Killip made one indecent photograph of a child on November 11 2024.

Killip offered no indication of plea to the offences at South Cumbria Magistrates’ Court on January 25.

Magistrates sent the case to Preston Crown Court where he will next appear for a plea and trial preparation hearing on February 26.

They remanded the defendant back into custody ahead of the hearing due to his previous record and character, as well as deeming he would be likely to offend.

Description

Jordan Emms, 38, of Barrow, was locked up for three years at Preston Crown Court on December 16 after being found guilty of sexual assault by touching and causing/inciting a child to engage in sexual activity following a six-day trial in November.

The offences do not relate to his employment at Thwaites School, near Millom.

A Cumberland Council spokesperson said: “We can confirm Jordan Emms was employed as Headteacher at Thwaites School.  He was appointed following confirmation of successful references and relevant checks.

“The safety and wellbeing of pupils is always a priority. As soon as we were made aware of the allegations against him, immediate steps were taken to suspend him from the school.

“We can confirm that these offences do not relate to his employment at Thwaites School.”

Records online show Emms was replaced as headteacher at the school in Hallthwaites, Millom, in August 2023.

Preston Crown Court heard the offences took place in Ulverston and related to incidents involving one victim.

His Honour Judge Gioserano also imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for seven years and ordered for Emms to be placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

Description

A FORMER Whitehaven Rugby League player has been put on the Sex Offender Register after he sexually assaulted a woman outside a town centre bar.

The victim of 37-year-old Dion Aiye’s unwanted sexual touching was waiting outside the Whitehaven nightspot with a friend at 1am on May 26 when the defendant reached around her body from behind.

He sexually assaulted her over her clothing. She immediately pushed him away, telling him to get off her, said prosecutor Gerard Rogerson.

“The defendant was readily identifiable because he was wearing a pink cowboy’s hat,” said Mr Rogerson.

After being rebuffed, Aiye remained standing nearby.

“The woman's friend said she looked somewhat shaken by the incident,” continued Mr Rogerson. When door staff asked if she wanted to pursue the complaint she said yes.

The defendant later pleaded guilty to a single charge of sexual assault.

Mr Rogerson went on to read aloud an impact statement from the victim, who said the assault caused her a “great deal of anxiety.”

She feared bumping into the defendant, whose rugby league career meant he was a well-known in Whitehaven, which is the sort of town where “everybody knows everybody else’s business.”

The woman said the assault, outside the Shakers bar on Duke Street, had affected her concentration at work and she no longer socialised as much because she feared it might happen again.

The court heard that Aiye had two previous convictions, dating from 2021 and 2022, a battery and a harassment offence, though the latter did not involve the victim being put in fear of violence.

He was given a community order with unpaid work.

Marion Weir, defending, said that without seeking to minimise the sexual assault, the defendant, of Richmond Terrace, Whitehaven had ceased touching the woman as soon as he was asked to do so.

“From his point of view, it was a stupid decision taken in drink, which he bitterly regrets,” said Miss Weir.

“It has had a significant impact on him as well. Clearly, he appreciates the impact on the victim. He is no longer playing at Whitehaven Rugby League Club and his contract there is no longer in place.

“The future career he would have had in rugby league is in peril and he knows Your Honour’s primary concern will be that he was already subjected to a court order…. He has taken on board that some of his behaviour needs to change.”

Judge Michael Fanning noted that the defendant had a “limited record” for what was essentially domestic abuse but otherwise had had not been in trouble previously.

The judge told Aiye: “It’s a concern that within two months of being sentenced for those offences, you are at a night club where you simply presume you can touch up a young female because you have a sense of entitlement.

“Nobody in their right mind would presume that is something they are entitled to do. She pushed you away and said: ‘What the hell are you doing?’

“Not surprisingly, she was very upset by what you did and nervous about going to nightclubs again. It must be down to a sense of entitlement.

“I don’t know whether it’s because you’re a sportsman, or because you were in drink. Either way, you know it’s wrong.”

The judge accepted that the assault was at the “lower end of the scale” for sexual offences, though it would not feel that way for the victim. Judge Fanning imposed an 18-month community order with two requirements.

The first is that the defendant must complete 200 hours of unpaid work in the community and the second that he must complete five rehabilitation activity days so he can address the reasons for his offending.

Aiye will be on the Sex Offender Register for five years.

Description

A WEST Cumbrian man arranged to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex, unaware that the meeting was a sting organised by paedophile hunters.

The "teenager" that 42-year-old Cleator Moor man Leroy Sheehan was communicating with was in fact and adult decoy working with the Online Child Safety Team, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The defendant, of Henry Street, Cleator Moor, admitted attempting to communicate sexually with a child and attempting to facilitate a child sex offence by meeting the “child” in Whitehaven.

Tariq Khawam, prosecuting, described what happened.

He said volunteers working with the paedophile hunter group use fake child online profiles to flush out adults who have a sexual interest in children.

This involved the creation of fake profiles.

In July of last year, the group created a Facebook profile for what appeared to be a 14-year-old girl, complete with a photo. On June 13, Sheehan sent the person a friend request.

He told her his age and said he was feeling “low,” after recently losing his partner. Mr Khawam said: “The witness said she was sorry to hear that; and she said she was 14.”

In subsequent messages, Sheehan asked if they could communicate on WhatsApp. Telling her she looked older than 14, he asked for a topless photo. He went on to discuss having sex with her.

The contact then agreed to meet Sheehan at Whitehaven railway station. When he arrived there, he was confronted by the Online Child Safety Team volunteer and two of her colleagues.

After making a “citizen’s arrest”, they called the police. The defendant had no relevant previous convictions, the court heard.

Tim Evans, defending, said that while Sheehan did not comment during his police interview, he had been honest with probation staff. A background report spoke of a “rapid deterioration” in his mental health and two suicide attempts.

At the time of his offences, he was drinking four litres of vodka a day, and he consumed eight litres of whisky over a period of days, as he tried to “drink himself to death.”

“None of that is an excuse but that is the background for what is described as the disinhibitory impact on his offending,” said Mr Evans.

The report explained that Sheehan, grieving after the death of his partner, was in a “very dark place” when he committed the offences.

The barrister added that Sheehan, who had a mild intellectual disability, was far from being a classic predatory online sexual offender of the sort often seen in the courts.

Judge Michael Fanning recognised the defendant’s psychological difficulties and the loss of his partner a week before the offending.

“It’s clear you were drinking vastly to excess,” the judge told Sheehan, accepting that this would have disinhibited the defendant. The judge continued: “But you are 42, three times the age of this supposed 14-year-old girl.

“You thought you were engaging with a genuine 14-year-old girl." Sheehan intended to have sex with her and there was no indication of him being influenced by alcohol when he went to Whitehaven to meet her. 

“You knew what you were doing,” added the judge.

He jailed Sheehan for two years and eight months and ruled that he must be on the Sex Offender Register for a decade and subjected to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

Description

A HIGH-RISK sex offender from west Cumbria is back behind bars after online monitoring software alerted police to his latest spate of offending.

Jonathon Fell, 27, whose previous offending earned him a 45-month jail term in 2021, is now under the terms of a strict sexual harm prevention order designed to restrict his online activity.

But at Carlisle’s Rickergate court, Fell, who has lived in Carlisle and west Cumbria, admitted eight new offences, including two allegations of downloading indecent child images and two of possessing child abuse images.

He also pleaded guilty to four allegations of flouting his sexual harm prevention order by accessing online platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.

Prosecutor George Shelley said the indecent child images involved were classified as Category B, the second most serious kind, and Category C, of which there were eight images.

In one online conversation, said Mr Shelley, Fell spoke to a person about the age of their child, asking for the age.

His original offending, the court heard, involved sexually abusive behaviour towards babies and other very young children.

He spent days looking for victims online, on one occasion giving nine-year-old boy detailed instructions on sexually interfering with his three-year-old sibling. After that conviction, police described Fell as “manipulative.”

He had lied to both them and other agencies about his online activities, they said. All eight of Fell’s latest offences were committed in the Cockermouth area.

“This defendant is a high-risk sex offender,” said Mr Shelley.

“His previous convictions of a sexual nature involved child contact and it is reassuring that the [police] e-safe monitoring software has flagged these matters up at a very early stage.”

Fell, of Mawsons Court, Cockermouth, asked his lawyer Duncan Campbell to apply for his release on bail. The court heard Fell had 11 previous sexual offences on his record.

Mr Campbell told magistrates it was not "inevitable" that Fell would be jailed for his offending when the case goes to the crown court.

The defendant no longer had access to his digital equipment as it was seized by the police.

“He was fully aware that the e-safe monitoring equipment was on his electronic equipment and that everything was monitored,” said Mr Campbell, suggesting Fell did not hide what he was doing.

Magistrates remanded Fell in custody.

He will be sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court on January 14 next year. In the meantime, probation staff will prepare a background report for the sentencing judge.

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A ‘MANIPULATIVE and abusive’ predator sexually assaulted a child over 100 times making her feel like she would ‘never be normal again’, a court heard.

Darren Richmond, from Barrow, was jailed at Preston Crown Court on November 25 after admitting nine child sexual offences - including two charges of rape.

His Honour Judge Andrew Jefferies KC said the defendant caused ‘indescribable pain and suffering’ to the victim.  

Prosecutor Olivia Beesley said: “At times he placed a dog lead on his neck to choke himself and said if she didn’t do as she was told, he would do the same to her.

“He would also threaten that he would kill himself if she told anyone.”

Ms Beesley read the victim’s impact statement into the record.

The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said: “It is clear how much this has affected me, but it is difficult to put into words. I even struggle to say his name.

"He has taken away my relationship with sex.

"I will never be normal again. I’ll just have to find a way to deal with it.”

The 41-year-old was also sentenced after admitting four offences of attempting to sexually communicate with a child online.

Ms Beesley told the court Richmond contacted girls, which were decoy profiles, on the ‘Sweetmeet’ application.

“He offered to send a photo of his genitals after they had identified themselves as 13 or 14-year-old girls," Ms Beesley said.

"He then asked them for photos. When clothed photos followed, he asked for topless ones.”

Officers arrested Richmond after being contacted by a North East-based paedophile hunter group called the ‘Child Online Safety Team’.

In mitigation, Richard Vardom said his client’s guilty plea was his best form of mitigation.

“The defendant has a manipulative and abusive past which has clearly caught up with him," Mr Vardom told the court.

“These are quite repellent offences against a young girl.

“He originally pleaded not guilty but a short time before trial, he changed his plea to guilty."

Judge Jefferies jailed Richmond for 16 years, as well as an additional five years of extended licence due to the seriousness of the offences.

Before passing the sentence, he told Richmond: “She estimates you sexually assaulted her over 100 times. I do not accept you are remorseful. You are still in denial.  That will only change with serious reflection on those who work in the prison service.

“I have come to the conclusion there is a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm. You are a dangerous offender.”

Detective Constable Faye Huddleston said: “I’d like to acknowledge the bravery of the victim for reporting these offences to the police. I can only imagine what a horrendous experience this was.

“I am pleased with the sentence given out by the courts today.

“Richmond is a predator, and I can only hope that seeing him go to prison for a substantial amount of time can bring some comfort than justice has been done.

“Cumbria Constabulary is committed to thoroughly and compassionately investigating all reports of rape and serious sexual offences, no matter how much time has passed.

“I would encourage anyone who has been victim of a sexual offence to contact police so that our officers can investigate.”

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A FORMER Cumbria police worker previously jailed for sharing illegal images of children being sexually abused has been handed another lengthy prison sentence for similar crimes — and again branded a dangerous offender. 

David Robinson, now aged 56, was punished in 2015 for possessing and distributing indecent photographs of youngsters.

Robinson’s online chat with other paedophiles was of the “most sickening nature”, said a judge who imposed six-year custodial term. The judge concluded Robinson was a dangerous offender and imposed an extended licence period.

Carlisle Crown Court heard Robinson had offered to buy a child online in order to abuse them. He had decorated a room in his city home for a youngster and applied to be a foster carer for young boys.

The sentencing judge concluded Robinson — a front counter Cumbria police employee who was suspended and later left the force — “presented one face to the outside world, another deeply unattractive one online”.

Robinson was released from custody in October, 2020.

But he went on to commit new offences which were uncovered when a police constable conducted a home visit. “As part of that visit she looked at Mr Robinson’s Motorola mobile phone,” Gerard Rogerson, prosecuting, told the crown court today (fri).

Police noted there were WhatsApp chats between Robinson, latterly of Garfield Street, Carlisle, and men from Indonesia.

However, some WhatsApp messages and call logs had been deleted. “This frustrated attempts by police to see the history of those conversations,” said Mr Rogerson.

Robinson had also engaged a “disappearing messages” function on WhatsApp. This, along with the chat deletions, were in breach of a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) imposed as part of his 2015 punishment to restrict his online use.

Indecent images of children — some in the most serious category A — were also found during an initial examination of Robinson’s phone. More illicit child pictures were located when the device was further analysed.

Robinson admitted a total of nine offences relating to breach of the SOPO, making indecent photographs of children and possession of extreme pornographic images which were also found.

Defence solicitor Jeff Smith, mitigating, said the “mistake” made by Robinson was to return to Carlisle on being released from custody in 2020. “He has been very isolated, very depressed. His doctor has prescribed antidepressants which he found very difficult to deal with,” said Mr Smith.

“He knows that custody is inevitable. He knows he will have to address the problems that he had.”

Judge Nicholas Barker imposed a 40-month prison sentence. Robinson must sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years with a new and indefinite prevention order imposed.

“I am satisfied that the reason you deleted the messages was because the context of those messages was of a sexual and indecent nature, relating to the sexual abuse of children,” concluded the judge.

Judge Barker also announced that Robinson should again be classed as a dangerous offender, and, as a result, he imposed an extended three-year licence period.

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A REGISTERED sex offender failed to notify police that he had been staying at a friend’s address with a child present.

David Cowan, 44, is the subject of sex offender notification requirements as a result of convictions for sexual offences, Workington Magistrates’ Court heard.

Pamela Fee, prosecuting, said the defendant must inform police within three days if he resides at an address where a child under 18 resides or stays.

But Cowan failed to notify police that he had stayed at an address with a child in Whitehaven, on or before September 27.

The court heard that police had arrived at Cowan’s address to carry out an unannounced visit. Officers located Cowan at the home address of a friend, who has a child, and was also at the address.

Cowan and the woman were previously in a relationship but now remain friends. The defendant had stayed at her address ‘a couple of times’ since August and her child had been present on those occasions.

During police interview, Cowan admitted breaching the requirements by staying at the property while a child was present and failing to notify the police.

Cowan accepted that he had signed and received a copy of the notification requirements but ‘hadn’t grasped’ the requirements at the time.

He said he hadn’t had any unsupervised contact with the child. He said he sleeps in the spare room and ‘has a good relationship with the child’.

Cowan had been staying at the address ‘a couple of times a week’, according to the woman.

Ms Fee said there had been ‘repeated breaches’ and a child had been present, so there was some risk involved.

Cowan, who was not legally represented, said: “I just didn’t really understand it. I got out of prison, had no medication or anything. I just signed away. I didn’t check it or anything.”

When asked how a custodial sentence would affect him, Cowan replied: “It would take me right back to the beginning again, with my mental health.”

Cowan, of Corkickle, Whitehaven, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to failing to comply with notification requirements of the Sex Offenders’ Register.  

Passing sentence, Christine Williams, chair of the magistrates’ panel, said there was ‘no evidence’ that Cowan was a risk towards minors.

Cowan was given an 18-month community order with 26 programme requirement days and 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He was also given a four-month curfew and must pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.