Latest Offenders Dartford

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A swimming coach who subjected young boys to horrific sexual abuse under the pretence of improving their sporting performance has been jailed again. 

Michael Drew was an elite swimming coach who worked with boys across south London, east London and Essex for four decades. 

He went on to become president of the British Swimming Coaches Association but was unmasked in 2000 when five boys came forward about abuse he’d subjected them to between 1969 and 1991. 

Drew was jailed for six years in 2001, a sentence which sparked concern about the wider issue of child sexual abuse in the sport. 

In 2022 a sixth historic victim approached police about abuse he had suffered at Drew’s hands in the 1970s. 

On Friday (June 28, 2024) the sex offender, now aged 78, was sentenced to a further two years and three months in prison. 

'Evil’ 

Drew, of Wilmington, Dartford, was a highly respected coach who taught talented young swimmers in areas including Hornchurch, Laindon, Bromley and Crystal Palace.

The latest victim to come forward was abused by Drew between the age of 13 and 15. 

Prosecutor Madeleine Wolfe told Croydon Crown Court that the young boy had relied on his coach to improve his performance as he was competing in tournaments. 

“So when Mr Drew said a medical procedure was necessary in training he did not consider refusing or questioning it,” Ms Wolfe said. 

Drew made the boy perform sex acts while telling him it would increase his level of Vitamin E and swimming performance. 

When he came forward in 2022 the victim told police that he had trusted Drew implicitly he and assumed the abuse was for his benefit. 

In a victim impact statement he described Drew as “evil” and told the court how the abuse had impacted his entire adult life. 

He said: “The biggest regret of this sad criminal offence was that I could not speak about what happened to me. 

“Throughout the 1970s I struggled with the ability to make friends due to the barriers. 

“In my education I found it difficult to concentrate at school due to what was happening to me. 

“I have a sense of guilt for not speaking out sooner. The rational side of me wanted to get it out but the emotional side of me wanted to keep it in.” 

'Madness’ 

After the latest victim came forward Drew was arrested again and later pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent assault. 

His barrister, James Manning, told the court: “Mr Drew tells me he feels ashamed and referred to his behaviour as madness.” 

But Mr Manning urged Judge Daniel Flahive to give his client a suspended sentence rather than sending him to prison. 

Mr Manning said: “He was convicted in 2001 and was given a significant sentence. He spent a long time in custody and the system has worked in that he has not reoffended. He has come out and lived a different life.” 

“He no longer poses a threat to children, or for that matter, anybody.” 

But Judge Flahive decided a prison sentence was necessary to punish Drew.

 Judge Flahive said: “It took [the victim] a great deal of courage to come forward in 2022. 

“He was in his teens in the 1970s and he looked up to you as a swimming coach. 

“You were renowned in your field. The boys thought the world of you and looked to you to help their future careers as swimmers. 

“You took advantage of that.” 

He concluded: “He was a child and he was vulnerable. All of this drives me to the opinion that there has to be a prison sentence here.” 

Drew was sentenced to two years and three months in custody. 

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A pervert tried to meet a 14-year-old boy for sex in an Eltham graveyard only to meet a vigilante paedophile hunting group.

Paul Austin-Roberts, 43, from Wilks Road in Dartford, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on May 12 after being pleading guilty to grooming and attempting to cause a child watch sexual acts.

Austin-Roberts engaged in conversations with what he believed to be a 14-year-old boy, exchanging multiple sexual messages.

He arranged to meet the boy at Falconwood Cemetery, where the supposed teen’s grandparents were buried.

When he arrived there on July 24 last year he was met by members of the vigilante paedophile hunting group The Hunted One.

According to a member of The Hunted One, Austin-Roberts was “very aggressive and determined to get away from the scene.”

Austin-Roberts originally pleaded not guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, but changed it to a guilty plea at a later date.

He also pleaded guilty to attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, and intending to pervert the course of justice.

The pervert avoided prison, as the court handed him a 22 jail month sentence, suspended for 18 months.

He was also ordered to take 100 hours on the sex offender’s programme and 100 hours of unpaid work.

Police have warned against vigilantism after a sting operation by The Hunted One at Bluewater resulted in two passersby getting into a fight with the alleged paedophile.

The Hunted One has said that it will no longer stream sting operations and its website has been taken offline, but the group are still active and posting on social media.

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A pervert who repeatedly raped a young girl more than 20 years ago has been jailed for a decade.

William Rowe, 60, of Queens Road, Dartford, denied three charges of rape, four of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child - but was convicted by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court of all offences except one of indecent assault.

It was the third time Rowe had stood trial for the same offences, which came to light only after his victim was contacted on Facebook by Rowe's brother, Lewis.

During the first trial, a jury failed to reach a verdict and a second trial was aborted due to legal reasons.

Each time, his victim has had to endure giving evidence to the court.

Also in the dock with Rowe, who has a previous conviction for indecent assault in 1984, was his brother.

Lewis Rowe, 49, of Bryant Road, Strood, denied one offence of indecent assault against the same victim and was found not guilty by the same jury.

Jailing William Rowe, Judge Martin Joy said the offences were "brutal" and "a classic example" of the damage caused to child sexual abuse victims.

"What the court could see was a woman who has lived for over 20 years with the fact of having been sexually abused in a very serious way by you.

"it caused her mental health problems, depression, huge distress, loneliness... and an inability to function as a normal and healthy young woman should be able to... judge martin joy"

"It caused her mental health problems, depression, huge distress, loneliness... and an inability to function as a normal and healthy young woman should be able to."

Rowe will serve half his sentence, less a total of 64 days spent on remand, and be subject to a tagged curfew.

Upon his release, he will have to sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

During Rowe's trial, the court heard his victim reported the abuse to the police after Lewis Rowe contacted her on Facebook.

She told how she was horrified at receiving a message from Lewis Rowe, telling her: "You are all grown up now. You have turned into a beautiful young lady."

Michael Riley, prosecuting, said the woman told her boyfriend: "They have found me. One of my abusers has found me."

Mr Riley told a jury of 11 men and one woman: "It was that message that acted as a trigger for her. It brought things back for her. Once she read it she became very upset and distressed."

She then claimed William Rowe had raped her and committed other assaults and Lewis Rowe had behaved indecently with her on one occasion.

Mr Riley told a jury of 11 men and one woman: "It was that message that acted as a trigger for her. It brought things back for her. Once she read it she became very upset and distressed."

She then claimed William Rowe had raped her and committed other assaults and Lewis Rowe had behaved indecently with her on one occasion.

Mr Riley said William Rowe started the abuse after his wife Elaine and their two daughters, Sarah and Vicky, were tragically killed in a fire on a houseboat in Hoo Marina on Boxing Day in 1988.

The first offence was committed, he said, when Rowe told the girl to lie on top of him and made her touch his genitals. He then went further and had intercourse with her, it was alleged.

On another occasion, Rowe took the girl into a cellar, laid her on a workbench and had intercourse with her, said the prosecutor.

Rowe raped her on a third occasion and made the girl perform sex acts on him. After one incident in his car, he told her to keep it secret.

"He said no one would believe her and she would get into trouble and so would he," said Mr Riley.

When arrested, both brothers denied the allegations.

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 A "SCANDALOUS loophole" in the law has forced police to take legal action to ban a convicted paedophile from working with children.

Gavin Seagers (pictured), aged 34, was one of eight British men arrested when detectives busted international paedophile cyber-porn ring The Wonderland Club.

The sting in 1998 was the largest international police operation ever and led to 107 arrests in 12 countries and the seizure of 750,000 images of 1,200 children.

Seagers, a former youth leader at Dartford Sea Cadets, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute indecent images of children.

He was sentenced to two years in prison and freed after one.

Seagers was placed on the sex offenders' register for seven years.

Last month, the Daily Mirror duped Seagers, a computer consultant, into meeting reporters at a flat in Dartford.

Seagers believed he would be tutoring a young boy, after he advertised his services online.

He admitted he should not be left alone in a room with a child.

Seagers denied ever abusing a youngster but said he could not help fantasising about it.

Following the article's publication, Kent police applied to Dartford Magistrates' Court for an interim order, which was granted on May 11.

Seagers, who lives in Swanscombe, was banned from seeking and accepting work, including tutoring, with children under the age of 16.

Deputy council leader Councillor Jeremy Kite said: "It is scandalous this loophole exists.

"I don't think he received a significant enough sentence or was given the right order when he was first convicted.

The interim court order is valid until August 11 this year.