Latest Offenders Cumbria

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A FORMER councillor has been placed on the sex offenders register after changing his plea on the day he was due to stand trial for child sex offences.

William Kirkbride, 57, of Queen Street, Whitehaven, faced charges of attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence and engaging in sexual communication with a child.

In an agreed basis of plea with the prosecution, Kirkbride pleaded guilty to attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence on October 27 last year.

He had pleaded not guilty to the charges at a pre-trial hearing held on February 8.

A trial was due to take place at Carlisle Crown today.

The case has now been adjourned until June 10, to allow a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the Probation Service.

Kirkbride, who was described as "a man of previous good character" has been bailed until his next court appearance.

Recorder Mark Ainsworth, warned Kirkbride that "all options were open" when passing sentence.

He told the defendant: "The fact I'm giving you bail shouldn't give you an indication of your sentence on June 10. That will be a matter for the judge to decide on the day. All options remain open."

In the meantime, Kirkbride must not have any unsupervised contact with children, must not use any internet sites to have contact with anyone under 18 and must reside at a named address.

Description

A KENDAL man has been put on the Sex Offender Register after he admitted three sex offences involving a child.

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Stephen Wetton, 62, of Garden Street, Kendal, entered guilty pleas to three allegations when he appeared before a judge at Carlisle Crown Court. Those offences were outlined in court as follows:

- That he attempted to cause or incite a child a girl aged 13 - to engage in sexual activity on April 27, 2020.

- That he attempted to cause or incite a child the same 13-year-old to engage in sexual activity on May 5, 2020.

- And that he attempted to sexually communicate with a 13-year-old between April 15, 2020 and May 20 of that year, doing so for his own sexual gratification and knowing or believing that the person was aged 13.

The defendants defence barrister told the court that Wetton was a man of previous good character and requested a pre-sentence report. The defendant is aware that the Sex Offender Register will bite as of today, said the barrister.

Judge Nicholas Barker told the defendant that the period for which the defendant will remain on the Sex Offender Register will be determined by the length and nature of sentence that he ultimately receives.

The judge set the sentencing date as May 26, granting the defendant bail until that day. In the meantime, a background report will be prepared.

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A 20-YEAR-OLD Carlisle man whose unhealthy sexual interest in children was exposed by a paedophile hunter group has admitted having a secret social media account for use with people aged under 16.

Daniel Pearson suffered public humiliation as more than 75,000 watched a video of him being confronted about his offending.

Aged 18 at the time, he had used a social media website to have sexualised conversations with a person he believed was a 13-year-old girl, unaware that it was a volunteer decoy from a paedophile hunter group.

He had to leave his home after the moments when he was first confronted by the paedophile hunters on his own doorstep was live-streamed on the Internet.

Pearson was put back before Carlisle Crown Court this week to face a new allegation, that he flouted a sexual harm prevention order by failing to disclose a Snapchat account that he operated under a false name.

Gerard Rogerson, prosecuting, said the defendant was convicted on August 2 last year of attempting to cause a child aged 13 to engage in sexual activity.

He was given a three-year community order.

This included a sexual harm prevention order, which involves the police strictly monitoring his use of any internet enabled devices and a ban on him having unsupervised contact with any child.

Within an hour of him entering his guilty plea, Pearson was quizzed by police about whether he had any other social media accounts. He was also asked whether he used any aliases in his online interactions.

He denied using any other social media accounts, said Mr Rogerson.

Yet five months later, said the prosecutor, the defendants offender manager arranged for Pearsons mobile phone to be analysed and it was confirmed that he had an undisclosed Snapchat account.

It was illegal from the moment his sexual harm prevention order was imposed. Mr Rogerson said: To summarise his interview, he admitted failing to comply with the notificiation [Sex Offender Register] requirements.

He told police he was afraid to disclose the Snapchat account. The false name he used, he said, was given to him by a landlord so he could be rehoused anonymously.

Mr Rogerson said that Pearson had used the Snapchat account to communicate with people aged under 16 but there was no evidence to show that this contact had been in any way sexual.

Mark Shepherd, defending, said the defendants engagement with his work designed to rehabilitate him had been nothing short of tremendous. He was also attending regular counselling. He comes to this court today knowing that he had made a massive error of judgement, said the lawyer.

Unusually, Pearson, who admitted breaching his court order, had not denied his sexual proclivity and wanted treatment to address this. His background included a childhood trauma, and experience of significant bullying.

That provided a reason why he sought out the company of younger children and social isolation had contributed to his offending. But the defendant was now about to take up a new job.

Recorder David Tempkin QC noted the defendants excellent progress with his existing three-year community order, which includes a sexual offender treatment programme.

He also recognised that Pearson was keen to do the right thing. The Recorder accepted that Pearson had faced difficulties in his community, having had to repeatedly move after publicity about his offending.

The Recorder imposed 16-weeks custody in a young offenders institution but he suspended the sentence for 18-months. At the original sentencing hearing, Mr Shepherd said Pearson struggled with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.

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A CONVICTED sex offender gained access to children by volunteering to play Santa at a Carlisle community church's Christmas party.

Darren McGuinness, 48, who has a previous conviction for downloading images depicting the sexual abuse of children, also helped to organise a family Halloween party at the church hall.

At Carlisles Rickergate Magistrates Court, McGuinness, of Fairfield Gardens, Carlisle, pleaded guilty to two allegations of breaching a sexual harm prevention order: one offence was committed on October 30 last year and the other on December 18 last year.

Prosecutor Malcolm Isherwood said the defendants offences were a breach of an order made in May of 2011 which was meant to prevent him from having unsupervised access to any child.

The sentence was part of his punishment for multiple offences of downloading child sex abuse images.

The wording of the first charge stated: On Saturday, December 18, at Carlisle in the county of Cumbria, without reasonable excuse, [the defendant] did something, namely dressed up as Santa and handed out gifts to children inside a makeshift grotto at the Church Christmas party.

At the time, said the charge, the defendant was aware this would bring him into contact with children that he was prohibited from doing this under the terms of the court order.

The second charge states that he breached his court order by helping to organise and by attending a family Halloween party on October 30.

As with the first charge, he was fully aware that children aged under 16 would be present at the party and that this was something he was prohibited from doing, the court heard.

Mr Isherwood told the court: In the view of the crown, the defendant deliberately placed himself in a situation whereby he was going to come into contact with children under the age specified in the [court] order.

He did so by attending a church and, while there, volunteering to work in the community kitchen without disclosing his conviction.

He then offered to organise a family Halloween party at the church in October last year and in December he helped to organise and run a family Christmas party.

"This included him playing the role of Santa in a grotto. Both of these activities would clearly bring him into contact with children.

Having heard those facts, District Judge John Temperley said that he believed the courts sentencing powers were not sufficient and therefore the sentencing hearing should be at Carlisle Crown Court.

You will get credit for your guilty pleas, the judge told McGuinness.

The judge adjourned that hearing until May 13, when the defendant will be dealt with by a circuit judge at Carlisle Crown Court. In the meantime, the defendant was granted bail.

Records show that the defendant has previously breached his sexual harm prevention order a number of times.

In 2016, the News & Star reported that the defendant flouted his sexual harm prevention order by accessing the internet through his mobile phone when it had no police monitoring software.

In 2020, the defendant was again before a court for breaching his order. He had been allowed to use a computer when he attended a unemployed persons support group in Carlisle city centre.

The order was part of a sentence imposed for 11 offences of possessing child abuse images. After his last conviction for breaching the order, his defence lawyer told the court: He used the computer for entirely innocent purposes.

The lawyer said the defendant, who was planning a caravan holiday in Blackpool for his birthday, had been unable to get work because as soon as he discloses his previous convictions" potential employers show that they are not willing to consider employing him.

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A convicted child rapist from Burneside engaged in explicit online chat with a 12-year-old girl and encouraged her to engage in sexual acts.

Connor Naylor, now 20, was initially sentenced in 2018 for raping a young girl while aged in his mid-teens.

He received a detention and training order as punishment and was placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

But over the course of four months, between March and July, 2020, Naylor struck up an online relationship with a girl he met on a gaming site.

"During the time period," prosecutor Kim Whittlestone told Carlisle Crown Court, "the defendant asked the victim for indecent photographs and also sent them in return."

She claimed to be 16, repeating this to Naylor despite the defendant having been contacted by her father and told she was only 12.

In July, 2020, the girls sister found evidence of the explicit chat

Police were contacted and, when Naylors phone was examined, still and moving images of the girl engaging in sexual activity were found on WhatsApp.

In interview, Naylor, of Hall Park, Burneside, agreed he was contacted by the girls father but said she claimed to be 16 when challenged.

Naylor admitted four offences: causing a child aged under 13 to engage in sexual activity; causing a child to watch a sexual act; and possession of indecent photographs of a child.

Eight images were classed in category A - the most serious - and 50 in category C.

Carlisle Crown Court heard Naylor was deemed to be "emotionally immature", suffered from Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), had been bullied at school and been unable to form age-appropriate relationships.

A probation officer concluded he was "remorseful and reflective", and had made no attempt to minimise his criminal conduct.

"Of course Mr Naylor needs to be punished," said Jacob Dyer, defending. "It is significant, perhaps, he did not have the input he needed at a much earlier time, following the commission of the (rape) offence."

Judge Simon Medland QC acknowledged Naylor's personal difficulties as he handed down a 32-month custodial sentence.

He imposed an extended three-year licence period, concluding that Naylor continued to pose a risk of serious harm to members of the public.

"You may not agree with what I have done," said Judge Medland, addressing Naylor's parents in the court public gallery. "I thought it was the right thing to do, and the necessary thing to do."

Naylor was made subject to the strict terms of a prevention order and must sign the sex offenders' register, both indefinitely.

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A CONVICTED online sex offender from Workington has been handed a suspended jail sentence for twice breaching his sexual harm prevention order.

Stephen McCue, 63, who was originally prosecuted after he was the subject of an online a paedophile-hunters sting, admitted two counts of flouting an order designed to curb and monitor his online activities.

He committed both offences between July 6, 2020 and May 20 last year in Workington, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The first offence involved him possessing and using an 'internet-capable smartphone' which he did not disclose to Cumbria Constabulary as required under his sexual harm prevention order imposed in January, 2020.

The second offence consisted of him deleting his internet browsing history from that smartphone again something that was prohibited by his court order.

After hearing the details, Judge Nicholas Barker imposed a 14-month jail term but he suspended that term for two years. As punishment, McCue must observe a 7pm to 6am curfew for three months.

When originally prosecuted, McCue, of Salterbeck, admitted attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity over a number of days. He believed wrongly that he was communicating with a 13-year-old girl.

He engaged her in a series of explicitly sexual conversations and even suggested that she might like to show him round the city where she said she lived. He also encouraged the girl to perform sexual acts, and told her he was doing the same.

His defence barrister said McCue was not a sexual predator and had not set out to deliberately find a child online. "He was looking for females he found attractive," said Mr Burke, adding that McCue had issues with loneliness.

He was caught after an only sting by the Child Online Safety Team.

Commenting at the time of his sentencing, an NSPCC spokesman said: "McCues case shows just how easily predators can target young children through social media. McCues intention was the incitement of sexual behaviour for his own warped gratification.

"The case highlights just how dangerous the internet can be for young people.

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Kevin Askew admitted to sexually assaulting the 13-year-old girl

A man who sexually assaulted a child has been jailed.

Kevin Askew, who is also known as Sean, admitted to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl, with police stating that all the offences took place in Lancaster.

Askew, of Far Moss, Northside, Workington, has been jailed for six years, and has been ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life. He has also been given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, which "significantly limits his interaction with girls under the age of 16".

Askew initially denied any wrongdoing but pleaded guilty when presented with the weight of evidence compiled against him by detectives in West Child Protection Team.

A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: "We hope this case and its outcome will encourage other victims of sexual abuse no matter how historic to come forward.

You can do so knowing you will be listened to, believed and that Lancashire Police will do everything in our power to keep you safe and bring the perpetrator to justice.

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A WHITEHAVEN sex offender who has been banned from accessing any social media website secretly used a computer at the towns library to bypass the restriction.

At Carlisle Crown Court, a judge jailed 59-year-old Keith Skillen after hearing about how he persistently and deliberately breached a sexual harm prevention order imposed in 2018 for serious sexual offending.

The defendant, of Broom Bank, Whitehaven, admitted six separate breaches of the order.

Kim Whittlestone, prosecuting, said that Skillen was given the sexual harm prevention order in 2018 for offences of distributing indecent images of children. His previous 19 criminal convictions also included an offence in 2015 of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

The 2018 order included a prohibition on Skillen owning or having access to any device capable of accessing the internet. Nor is he allowed to ever access social media.

But in March last year police were notified that Skillen had been doing that. When interviewed about this in April, he made no comment. Police at that point again explained the terms of his order.

On September 16 last year, when police made an unannounced visit to Skillens home, the officers discovered that he had acquired two Amazon Fire Tablets constituting two further breaches of his order. The defendant again refused to comment in interview, though he was given police bail.

Miss Whittlestone said: It was on November 4 of this same year that the police received information from Whitehaven Library that they were concerned that this defendant had been accessing social media sites.

The resulting investigation confirmed Skillen had been using a library computer to look at Facebook and Instagram.

Sean Harkin, defending, said the breaches of the sexual harm prevention order represented a relatively low risk and all that an Amazon Fire Tablet allowed a person to do was watch TV.

There's no suggestion that he did anything untoward on social media," said Mr Harkin.

His phone was checked in April and again there was some interrogation of that and there was no suggestion of anything untoward there. The lawyer said Skillen had suffered neurological damage form a stroke.

This left him isolated and unable to have meaningful relationships and thus more likely to use the internet to find company.

Judge Nicholas Barker told Skillen that he rejected his claim to have not properly understood the conditions of his sexual harm prevention order. You could not have been under any misapprehension following your arrest on April 15, said the judge.

Skillen accessed social media sites between February 8 and April 14 and from that point on, after he was visited by the police, he must have been well aware that he was banned from such sites. Yet he went on to use a computer at Whitehaven library to continue accessing such sites, doing so on September 8, October 6 and October 29.

Judge Nicholas Barker accepted that Skillen was himself vulnerable and faced challenges after he suffered a stroke in 2006, but it was clear that the two-year jail term he was given in 2018 had not deterred him from continuing to commit offences.

Jailing Skillen for 16 months, the judge said: There is not what I consider to be a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

Given the defendants previous offending record, and his claim to not understand the terms of his sexual harm prevention which suggested an unwillingness to work closely with his sexual offender supervisor, only an immediate jail term was appropriate, said the judge.

Skillen is already on the Sex Offender Register as a result of his previous offending, the court heard.

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A serial sex offender described as a risk to children has been jailed for breaching a court order by carrying out internet searches for pornography.

Michael Graham was jailed in 2010 for child abduction and again in 2015 for outraging public decency in a library.

He was also under a sexual harm prevention order but admitted breaches by trying to access pornography.

Appearing at Carlisle Crown Court, the 33-year-old, of Monks Close Road, was jailed for two years.

Graham was jailed for five years in 2010 for abducting two girls in a park who he lured to an isolated area on the promise of showing them "some dens".

In 2015, he received a four-year jail term for outraging public decency by performing a sex act in Carlisle library.

He was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

'Worrying sexual history'

The court heard Graham had already flouted that order four times before he fell foul of the authorities once again at the beginning of this year.

During a visit to his home, police found a mobile phone and PlayStation Vita which he had not declared to police or the probation service.

Graham admitted two sexual harm prevention order breaches and a breach of a sex offender notification requirement.

The hearing was told the defendant had been "lonely and isolated" and his only contact with the outside world was through a computer.

However, Recorder Tony Hawks said: "You have a worrying sexual history of offending.

"You have got to understand that if you don't stop breaching these orders you are going to spend most of your adult life in prison.

"You have a serious problem that needs to be addressed."

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A DEVIOUS Workington man created a false online profile using photos of a woman he knew so he could have sexual contact with a schoolgirl.

Mark Adams, 39, made an attempt to persuade a '13-year-old girl' he was chatting to on a social media website to commit sexual acts, unaware that the person he was communicating with was actually an under-cover police officer, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The defendant was jailed after he admitted four counts of sexually communicating with a child and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Damian Nolan, prosecuting, said Adams, of Rowe Terrace, Workington, fabricated a profile for a gay 21-year-old woman and used this on a dating website.

He was attempting to attract the attention of young girls, said the prosecutor.

The defendant engaged in sexual communication with a user, believing her to be a 13-year-old female, said Mr Nolan, pointing out that the police operative had made clear at an early stage that the person he was talking to was aged 13.

The two also exchanged telephone numbers. The communication between the defendant and the girl went on for four days in 2020 on February 4, 5, 6 and 7.

The defendant repeatedly requested indecent images of [the child] and also sent naked images and encouraged her to engage in sexual activity, said Mr Nolan.

On February 7, he made a more specific request for the girl to undress and engage in a sex act and then made two attempts to make WhatsApp phone calls to the child so he could listen to what she was doing.

Mr Nolan continued: Clearly, the defendant was wanting to drive the conversation from start to finish.

"Those conversations with her refer to [the girl] being in school uniform and on the way home from school.

But on each and every day the defendant requested sexualised activity, either the sending of images or [the child] to perform sex acts on herself.

The court heard that the woman whose photo Adams had used in his fake profile knew nothing about it and was left deeply distressed when police told her what Adams had done.

Throughout three police interviews, Adams denied any wrongdoing.

He suggested somebody may have accessed his online profile to commit the offence.

Anthony Parkinson, defending, said Adams was assessed as posing a low risk" of reconviction and a medium risk of causing serious harm in the future. There is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation," said the barrister.

He said Adams advanced hopeless theories to explain what he did are a result of his shame and embarrassment.

The barrister added: These offences took place almost two years ago and since his arrest hes had to leave his family home and he and his partner are in a strained relationship. He is living in privately rented accommodation and has inevitably suffered that this type of offence brings with it and a loss of employment.

Judge Nicholas Barker that until this offence the defendant lived a crime-free life and was in continuous employment. But he had set up the fake profile in order to engage sexually with other people, said the judge.

You set up a profile which presented yourself as a 21-year-old female who was gay and was interested in meeting young girls.

It was abundantly clear his communication with the 13-year-old was highly sexualised, highly determined, persistent, demanding and controlling, despite him quickly having learned that she 13.

The judge jailed Adams for 27 months, saying only immediate custody was appropriate given the determined nature of the offences and the deceit involved.

The defendants name will be on the Sex Offender Register for a decade and he was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which forbids him from having any unsupervised access to girls aged under 16.

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Paul Shakespeare 66 and of Scaleby Close, Upperby in Carlisle appeared at Gloucester Crown Court to be sentenced for one count of rape and one count of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.

A pensioner has been jailed for raping a teenage dog walker more than 30 years ago after a DNA breakthrough.

Predatory Paul Shakespeare, 66, was told by a judge he faced a "belated day of reckoning" as he was locked up for nine years for attacking the then 18-year-old woman.

The court heard he targeted his victim as she strolled with her pooch on Cheltenham's Honeybourne Line, in April 1990.

The teen had been walking along a public footpath when she was approached by the stranger who threatened her with a wooden stick adapted with a protruded nail.

She was then dragged her the bushes and subjected to a "terrifying" rape while in a "paralysis" of fear, the court heard.

Shakespeare then threatened to kill the victim if she reported him and fled the scene.

Full DNA was recovered but despite numerous public appeals, including a Crimewatch reconstruction in 2008, he continued to evade justice for decades.

The victim told the court today that her life was never the same after the attack and she even attempted suicide with an overdose to erase the pain she carried forward.

She said that "It was the most scared I have ever been. I did not know if I would live or die."

But she was finally able to see her attacker face justice after Shakespeare was arrested for a separate incident in August last year and a subsequent DNA sample provided a match.

He initially tried to claim the sex was consensual but pleaded guilty to one count of rape and another of possession of an offensive weapon before the case came to trial.

"A belated reckoning"

Jailing him today at Gloucester Crown Court, Judge Michael Cullum said: "Today is a belated reckoning - some 30 years later.

"Any young woman would be traumatised for life by what you did.

"I am so relieved this day has finally come for the victim. Thirty years she has been denied justice and lived daily with the nightmare that you inflicted on her.

"That nightmare of course does not end with the sentence.

"She knew that this day would come and her remarkable faith in the system of criminal justice has been borne out. At least she and all women will be safe for you for a considerable period of time."

The court heard the defendant had a sharpened stick with a nail driven through it that he used as an adapted weapon and had 'eyed up' several women in the area before choosing a victim to rape.

"You know you are a rapist"

Judge Cullum added: "You were walking around waiting for a victim.

"This was planned. When you found your victim, you threatened and frightened her into the paralysis of compliance.

"You then twisted the situation and said she had waited for you.

"She would surely doubt and question her own actions - over which she would have had no control and no choice at the time.

The judge added that the victim was "stripped of her clothing and dignity" and told Shakespeare: "You embarked upon an attack that had nothing to do with consent - but everything to do with your physical power over her."

The judge added: "She was raped while walking a dog with people around and in daylight.

"Fortunately your physical limitations now mean people are going to be protected from you.

"This was not anything like consensual and as a result of your actions your victim tried to end her own life.

"That day you went out to rape. You did rape and you know you are a rapist."

"I had to pretend to myself it did not happen"

In a statement, the victim said she relived the trauma daily and would never be able to "forgive or forget."

She added: "I felt embarrassed, violated and dirty and did not want to share this with anyone.

"To cope I had to pretend to myself it did not happen and I did not share my dark secret.

"Each day I lived in fear and was fearful of my personal safety. I lost all confidence and had some very dark moments. I suffered nightmares and panic attacks for at least a year after the incident.

"Every night when I went to sleep I relived that night."

The victim said she also tried to take her own life with an overdose and hit "rock bottom".

She said she spent her life putting up barriers and felt like she was "broken and damaged goods".

"It does not get easier," she added. "Still after time had passed I felt dirty and unworthy and thought about what happened every day.

She said she relived her "intrusive" trauma by taking part in Crimewatch in 2008 but the appeal yielded no results.

But last year she received a knock on the door telling her her rapist had finally been identified.

She added: "I honestly don't know how I felt. Being raped will haunt me for the rest of my life. It was the most scared I have ever been. I did not know if I would live or die. I was petrified wondering if this man is going to kill me.

"I can not ever forgive and certainly can never forget. If I could take something to erase my memory I would. I know what happened made me a different person and stopped me being the person I want to be.

"Finally admitting what he has done does not take away the devastating impact for years of evading arrest. He never came forward and left me broken and unable to cope for many years.

"I hope he hears this statement and understands what his actions did for me. I only hope he is remorseful, to not just me but to his family."

"A deeply horrifying incident"

Shakespeare, of Carlisle, appeared via video link today and told he would serve at least two thirds of his sentence but would remain on the sex offenders register for life.

His defence team said he had "started to show remorse" for what he did and deserved credit for pleading guilty and avoiding the need for a trial.

Officer in the case, Detective Constable Simone Bowley said: "I would like to commend the victim as her bravery and courage has been phenomenal right from the day this horrific crime took place, through to present day.

"She has had to wait for more than 30 years for Shakespeare to admit his abhorrent crimes. The case has been reopened and reviewed over this time, and she has continued to work with us in the hope that one day he will be caught and brought to justice.

"This was a deeply horrifying incident which happened to a teenage girl who was walking her dog on a late Sunday afternoon. The impact of this crime was felt within the wider community too, as people were fearful of what took place day.

"We all had hope that we would be able to identify the man responsible for this, and I am glad that day has finally come."

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A WEST Cumbria man must sign the sex offenders register with immediate effect after admitting a raft of crimes against a person he thought was aged only 13.

William Beech, 51, faced a total of 13 charges when he appeared in front of a judge at Carlisle Crown Court.

During a short hearing, Beech pleaded guilty to 12 of those.

Three of the offences he admitted concern attempts to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. Four involve attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child; three are attempts to cause a child to watch a sexual act; one was attempting to communicate sexually with a child; and he also admitted making indecent category C photographs of a child.

Beechs crimes were committed on a number of different days around the turn of November last year.

They are said to involve communication with a vigilante group decoy the defendant thought was a 13-year-old girl.

Judge Nicholas Barker adjourned the case and ordered the preparation of a probation service pre-sentence report which will give background on the defendant and his offending.

Beech is due to be sentenced at the crown court on February 4, and must sign the sex offenders register in the meantime.

The precise duration of those requirements will be determined on that date, said the judge.

Beech was granted bail on condition that he both lives at Hilton Terrace in Whitehaven, and has no unsupervised contact with any person aged under 18.

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A CONVICTED sex offender used specialist software to turn his phone 'incognito' and downloaded illegal images of children.

Carlisle Crown Court heard of Lloyd James Christopher Ditchburns disturbing past as he was sentenced on Tuesday for fresh offences.

In 2014 as a juvenile, Ditchburn was punished for distributing indecent images of youngsters.

Then, in 2020, came a conviction for making more perverted pictures and outraging public decency as he committed a crime known as 'up-skirting'.

On September 1, 2021, there was a routine meeting between him, his probation officer and a detective constable tasked with risk monitoring, prosecutor Brendan Burke said of the latest crimes.

The officer asked him for his phone, opened it and it immediately became clear he was running incognito software.

This was in breach of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) imposed for past crimes.

So, too, was 24-year-old Ditchburns use of social media specifically a platform used by children as it had no age requirements.

Initially in interview, he spoke of 'accidentally' switching on the incognito mode. He then started making very full admissions, said Mr Burke. He said police monitoring software on his phone had crashed.

That gave him the confidence, effectively, to start doing what he wanted, including installing the incognito software.

The police monitoring software reactivated itself but he found a way to disable it. He went on to say he was using it to access the (social media) platform, in particular a group called schoolgirls 12 to 18.

He further admitted distribution and exchange of images, added Mr Burke. He ended the interview by saying that he needed serious help.

Ditchburn, of Vulcans Lane, Workington, had further downloaded two indecent images of children classed in category A the most serious and eight in category C. He admitted two SHPO breaches and making the illegal pictures.

Anthony Parkinson, defending, said Ditchburn had been in custody since September but hadnt begun rehabilitation work due to the pandemic. He was willing to engage.

But Judge Nicholas Barker noted that previous offers of help had not been taken, and jailed him for 32 months. It is clear to me that you have an underlying and deeply unhealthy attitude to children as objects of sexual desire, said the judge.

Ditchburn must now sign the sex offenders register for life.

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A convicted sex offender who went illegally off the radar for a month has been handed a lengthy jail term for his 12th breach of a court order.

Mark King, now 49, was made subject to sex offender registration requirements by a judge in 2012. That was part of his punishment for an offence of exposure. It means that upon his release from any prison sentence, until February 2022, King must declare a fixed address; or, if homeless, must notify police of that fact within a specified time.

But in recent years, homeless King has committed a host of breaches in different areas of the UK and received jail terms which have increased in length.

In 2018, King was jailed for a breach that came to light after he was found sleeping rough in a Penrith park. The following year he was handed a 28-month sentence in the Midlands. And at Carlisle Crown Court today he was imprisoned again for a breach that occurred after contact was lost with him during October.

He was released from police custody in relation to a seven-day remand for theft and breach of order, prosecutor Tim Evans told the court. He was given 50. He indicated he was going to travel to Birmingham. He didnt in fact get there. In effect, he simply slipped off the radar until the end of October when he was arrested.

King admitted flouting notification requirements and was sentenced by Judge Simon Medland QC, who noted it was his 12th such breach in less than a decade.

Judge Medland jailed King for 30 months, seeing no alternative to a lengthy prison term and telling the defendant: It just doesnt seem to get through to you that the courts must take this seriously.

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A 'DESPICABLE' man who sexually assaulted his female victim in an alleyway has been jailed.

Nathan McPoland was sentenced to two years and three months in prison after admitting carrying out the attack between Cavendish Street and Slater Street in Barrow during the early hours of March 9, 2019.

Despite pleading guilty at the Crown Court, McPoland had denied the assault or being in the town centre at all when interviewed by police.

The 23-year-old’s actions have been labelled ‘despicable’ by Hindpool councillor Joanne Tyson.

Cllr Tyson has also praised the victim for speaking out and reporting McPoland to the police.

Cllr Tyson said: “I was disgusted by the sentence given for such a serious crime against this poor woman. She was very brave to come forward and report the crime, and follow through with the process to get this man off the street.

“It was despicable that McPoland initially denied the crime which must have added to the woman’s distress.

“I am glad he has been jailed and I give thanks to the Police for securing the conviction but the sentence is not long enough for something so serious.”

Detective constable Matthew McFall, of Cumbria Crime and Safeguarding team, thanked the victim for coming forward.

He said: “I would like to publicly thank the complainant for coming forward to report this matter to the Police.

“I have no doubt her actions have helped safeguard others.”

McPoland will now also be subject of the sexual offenders’ notification requirements and a restraining order for a period of 10 years.

Cumbria PCC Peter McCall said he was disgusted by McPoland’s crime and hopes his punishment will bring closure to the victim.

Mr McCall said: “I think any type of sexual assault is an appalling crime.

“This sort of sentence should send out a message that sexual assault is unacceptable.

“I am pleased to see a significant sentence for this crime, which I hope brings some sort of closure to the victim.

“I hope that anyone who suffers from sexual assault will come forward to the police as they will take any matter seriously, as shown by the sentencing of this man.”

Mayor of Barrow Cllr Helen Wall said: “It is a deeply unpleasant and upsetting thing to happen to someone – it is very distressing.

“It is not what we want happening in the town and I hope other people will realise it is a criminal offence and you will end up in jail if you do commit sexual assault.

“I am glad that the woman was listened to and police investigated the offence.”