Latest Offenders Derby

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A former bus driver has been jailed for six years for sexually abusing a teenage boy. Mark Gadsby, who worked around the South Derbyshire and East Staffordshire areas, committed the heinous acts when he was in his 20s, but his sickening crimes went unpunished for years.

The 41-year-old lived a normal life and was even featured in a national newspaper for weight loss before the victim, who was 13 when the abuse started, came forward to tell his story. He had been targeted by Gadsby after being driven to school by him on the bus.

It begun with text messages asking the boy to meet up, before Gadsby began to give the boy lifts in his Ford Fiesta and eventually began to physically abuse the victim on a country lane in Staffordshire. That abuse then progressed to taking place in public toilets and in Gadsby's mother's house when she was out at work, Derbyshire Live has reported.

As well as the physical acts, Gadsby also groomed the victim and threatened to tell others about the abuse, which "ruined his teenage years".

The victim, who is granted automatic anonymity under the Sexual Offences Act, released a statement, saying: I do get upset about it still and I just think why did he need to do that?

Its just the way of how controlling and overpowering and how frightened he made me feel but why would someone want to do that to someone whos 13-14 years old? He was just a big fat sweaty person, no one else would look at him, at 21 years old he shouldve been going out Friday and Saturday nights, not targeting a 13-year-old.

Gadsby, of Cross Side, Ashbourne, was sentenced at Derby Crown Court on April 3. He pleaded guilty to one charge of buggery and six of gross indecency with a child under 16.

Separately he also admitted to two indecent images offences after a number of indecent images of children were found on his phone. As well as his six-year jail term, Gadsby was also given a sexual harm prevention order will have to sign the Sex Offender's register for the rest of his life.

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A teaching assistant sent teenagers at the school where he worked a ‘sex questionnaire’ asking their bra sizes and whether they were virgins.

Kevin Doxey, who worked at Anthony Gell School in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, admitted four counts of engaging in sexual communication with a child at Derby Crown Court.

The 27-year-old had sent a picture of his genitals to one of the victims, alongside a winking emoji and message saying ‘I wish you were here’.

One of his victims told her parents about what he had sent her and they contacted the police, which led them to seize his phone and found more messages to other young girls.

Laura Blackband, prosecuting, said: ‘He obtained the Snapchat details of four girls who were all students at the school and sent a series of sexually charged messages to each of them.

‘The communication included a “sex questionnaire” which had a huge number of questions on them which we say could have led to possible sexual activity.

‘[Victim one] was 15 and she was very distressed by the questions. He would ask her to pick a number and would get her to answer the questions.

‘She initially said no but when she was on a sleepover he texted her a [sexually explicit] photograph of himself with a winking emoji and three kisses.

‘She showed it to one of her friends and she said, “You need to tell someone about it.”‘

Three more victims were identified by police and said they were sent Doxey’s ‘sex questionnaire’.

Ms Blackband said a second victim told of how Doxey asked her ‘weird stuff’ over Snapchat, like asking if he could come and pick her up in his car and whether she was a virgin.

Another girl said she had been sent ‘inappropriate’ Instagram messages by Doxey.

Ms Blackband added: ‘In the questionnaire, he asked questions such as her bra size and “what do you wear in bed?”

‘She said she didn’t want to answer any of the questions but he replied, “You have to.”‘

The final victim ignored the questionnaire but the defendant was said to have ‘badgered’ her, asking: ‘Are you going to answer them?’

Doxey was initially suspended from the school and then left, and was said to have gone to work in a supermarket.

Two of his four victims, supported by their families, bravely read their victim impact statements to the court.

One said: ‘I was at school, a place where I felt safe and confident and all of that was taken away from me by a person in authority. I was a child, he was an adult, a teacher.’

Another victim revealed she tried to take her own life, adding: ‘Kevin was one of the main causes of this.

‘I recently saw him in Morrisons in Belper, I did not know he was working there and it brought back memories and I had to leave the store.’

One of the remaining two statements, which Ms Blackband read out, said: ‘I was only a child at the time, when I look back now it was shocking.’

The other said: ‘School was meant to be a safe place but Kevin took that away from me.’

Doxey told the police the explicit photograph was sent to his girlfriend, but ‘the police looked at thousands of messages between them and not one was of a sexual nature’.

Mitigating, Dan Scothern said Doxey now works for a company called Clear Group.

He said: ‘In his words, “I understand what I have done and the huge amount of damage I have caused not just to the victims but to their families and my family.”

‘He says, “If I could go back and change everything I would.”‘

Jailing Doxey for two years on Friday, Recorder Graham Huston said: ‘I have to deal with you as a persistent sexual predator who used his position of trust to exploit their vulnerabilities.

‘You have messed with the minds of these young women and you knew what you were doing was unlawful because you had undergone full safeguarding training.

‘I consider the witness statements and the victim personal statements of each complainant very carefully. You caused real harm to each one of them.’

Doxey, of Cromford Road in Wirksworth, will also be on the sex offender register for 10 years and was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

Metro has contacted Anthony Gell school for comment.

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A teenager has told how his childhood was ruined after he suffered years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of a predatory Derbyshire sex offender.

Michael Sutton hit the teenager with a belt as well as sexually assaulting him on repeated occasions over an eight-year period from 2012 to 2020.

The abuse came to light when the 32-year-old was arrested for an offence of taking a child without lawful authority after an incident involving another teenager in Nottinghamshire in February 2021.

In a victim personal statement, explaining the effect Sutton’s abuse had on him, the teenager said: “I don’t feel like I can trust anyone and I have felt like this since he started doing what he did to me. I am always wary around new people and I know that is because of him.

“At first I thought what he was doing to me was normal because I was so young. It was only when I got older that I started to realise it was wrong. Even then, I didn’t feel like I could tell anyone because I felt like no-one would believe me.

“I will never be able to forgive him for what he did to me, he ruined my childhood. I’ll never be able to forget what he did to me and this really upsets me.”

Sutton, of Killamarsh, admitted assault, sexual assault, child cruelty and taking a child without lawful authority. He appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on January 25, where he was jailed for a total of four and a half years.

He was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a restraining order for ten years, preventing him from having any contact with the victim.

Detective Constable Naomi Davies, of the child investigation team, said: “The survivor in this case suffered years of abuse at the hands of Sutton, a predatory sex offender.

“At a time when they should have been carefree and enjoying spending time with their friends and all the usual childhood fun, they were instead left feeling traumatised and hurt by Sutton’s evil actions.

“The physical and sexual abuse may have stopped but the nightmare never ends for the survivor, who will have to deal with the psychological effects of what happened to them for years to come.

“I’m pleased Sutton is now behind bars for his crimes where he belongs.

“The bravery this young person showed in coming forward and telling police about the abuse they suffered is incredible and I’d like to commend them for that, as well as their dignity throughout the legal process.

“If anyone out there is suffering or has suffered sexual abuse of any kind, please don’t suffer in silence. We will listen and support you throughout the whole process without any judgement. Our specially trained officers are on hand to help you, no matter when the abuse took place.”

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Hugo De Sousa of Havelock Road pleaded guilty to the rape and sexual assault of a child, and making and distributing indecent images of children.

The 46-year-old must also serve an additional five years on an extended licence, meaning he won't be eligible to apply for parole until two thirds of the way through his sentence.

The case was brought to court following an investigation after one of his victims reported how De Sousa had raped and sexually abused her as a child.

Having heard that he had been convicted of an uploading indecent images of children to the internet in 2021, the woman decided to set up a fake profile online to try and get him to admit what he had done to her.

Using the fake profile and name, she befriended him on a forum, and he eventually admitted how he had raped a child in the past without realising that person was actually the victim.

At this point she felt she had the strength and confidence to report how he had forced her to have sex with him, and sexually assaulted her.

In her statement to police, the victim told officers how it had affected her schooling, that she still suffers from nightmares and has difficulty sleeping, as well as recurrent thoughts about what happened.

De Sousa was sentenced at Derby Crown Court on Wednesday 1 March, and as well as the jail term he will be on the sex offender register for life and subject to a lifetime sexual harm prevention order.

He will be liable to deportation on his release from prison.

Detective Constable Hayley Beautyman, who was one of the officers involved in the investigation, said: “Hugo De Sousa subjected a child sexual abuse, and he has quite rightly been jailed for his despicable actions.

“In 2021 De Sousa was convicted of various offences in relation to indecent images of children and from that date through proactive investigation and policing, it was found that he had continued to fuel his obsession with such material.  It was because of these investigations that the victim found she had enough courage to come forward and report her ordeal.”

DC Beautyman added: “I would especially like to thank the victim in being brave enough to come forward and report this and to urge other victims of abuse to come forward.

“We have specialist officers committed to targeting serious sexual offences and abuse. We will treat any reports or information you have very seriously, sensitively and with support through the process.”

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Police have released a picture of a man who has been banned from every women's toilets in the UK. Asere Shumba has been jailed after breaching a court order when he was found in the women's toilets at a McDonald’s in Derby.

Derby Crown Court heard how Shumba, of Shakespeare Street, Sinfin, was caught by a female staff member in the cubicles of the ladies' toilet in the St Peter's Street branch just after 6pm on December 28, 2022.

Shumba was already serving a ban for previously taking photographs of women in the lavatories in the Sinfin branch as well as in the former Walkabout bar in the Market Place. His photograph was sent to staff members at the restaurant, which led to his recent arrest and sentence.

The 27-year-old was spotted heading into the women's toilets at the St Peter's Street branch and officers were called. Shumba was arrested at his home address later that evening.

In December, when Shumba was arrested, a different court heard a statement from a female member of staff in St Peter's Street. In it, she said "I recognised him and he followed me upstairs and made some conversation with me. I thought he was going to sit down and order some food but instead, I watched as he walked into the female toilets."

That staff member said there was a woman in the toilets and when they entered she said 'I think there's a male in one of the cubicles acting suspiciously' so she banged on the door and the defendant replied 'what do you want?' They said to him 'you are in the female toilets, you need to get out' and he replied 'I thought this was the male toilets?'."

Serena Varatharajay, prosecuting, said: "He was convicted on June 9, 2021, of voyeurism and that offence was for him hiding in a toilet and taking photographs of a female in cubicle next door. His phone was seized and on it was found images of people.

"On December 28, last year, the defendant was in McDonald's in Derby and was seen entering the female toilets by a female staff member. She asked him to leave and he replied that he thought it was the male toilets."

In January 2021 Shumba had been handed a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after being convicted of two counts of voyeurism. On two occasions he had filmed women using the female toilets, once at a McDonald’s restaurant in Surrey and then he was caught again at the former Walkabout bar in Derby.

Shumba was banned from entering any women’s toilets or changing rooms but breached the conditions of the order when he once again entered the female toilets late last year. At that hearing, the same court heard how Shumba locked himself in cubicles then filmed the victims as they went to use the facilities.

On the first occasion, he was spotted and ran out the fast-food outlet, chased by the woman who told how she felt “violated” by what happened to her. And the second time, in Derby, he was identified, arrested by police, slipped his handcuffs and ran off.

Chasing officers caught him and seized his mobile phone on which almost 400 upskirt-style photographs were discovered. Jailing him for 20 weeks, Recorder Graham Huston said: "You now understand that the breaching of that order leads to custody and you have now been remanded for the last eight weeks.

"You will then be on a 12-month licence after that and should you be arrested in similar circumstances you can expect to be returned to custody."

Lauren Fisher, mitigating, said her client had pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual harm prevention order at the earliest opportunity. She said he had completed all of the unpaid work, treatment programmes and probation service requirements from his last sentence.

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They saw him pleasuring himself at his front window.

A pervert deliberately exposed himself to two teenage girls as they walked to school. Derby Crown Court heard how the pupils walked past the Derbyshire home of George Torry to see him stood at his front window pleasuring himself sexually.

One of the shocked teens then called her mother who contacted the police and the 66-year-old was arrested. The defendant appeared via video-link from HMP Nottingham for his sentencing hearing this week which was told how he has previous convictions and that, at the time of this offence, he was the subject to a suspended sentence order, imposed just five months earlier, for breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

Jailing him for 10 months, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: "Mr Torry, you were given a chance back in June and to a certain extent you took it. You did most of the unpaid work, did some of the rehabilitation sessions and I appreciate now that things were going on in your life which may have given rise to the way your behaved.

"It was highly likely someone was going to see what you were doing. I don't know if it was a cry for help or not but this was done in front of children on their way to school on a public highway."

Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said Torry was initially handed a sexual harm prevention order back in 2006 as part of his punishment for an offence or offences which were not revealed in court. He said in June of last year, the defendant was handed a 10-month sentence, suspended for two years, for breaching it.

The prosecutor said at around 8.20am on November 10, two pupils aged 14 and 16 were walking to school and when they walked past Torry's address in Dimple Road, Matlock, they saw him. Mr Jones said: "He was standing in the window and they could clearly see the area between his thighs and chest.

"He was (pleasuring himself sexually) and they were shocked. One of the young girls telephoned her mother who made contact with the police and the matter was reported.

"Both girls were spoken to and were described as 'shocked and fearful' because they walk that way to school every day. This happened just five months after his last offence."

Torry pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and to being in breach of his suspended sentence order. Katie Hodgkinson, his barrister, said her client had lived in Cyprus for eight years where he found a wife and returned to the UK with her and their son, now aged 11, to take advantage of the free health care system here in the UK.

She said: "He went 16 years without breaching or offending and something must have happened to affect his thinking. Three close friends died during the pandemic and he was then no longer able to reside with his young son. He has had to move five times in a short period of time and this was not a specific targeting of his victims."

As well as the jail term, the order will carry on for another seven years.

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A dangerous Derby sex offender asked an underage girl if he could buy her bras and knickers knowing full well he was not allowed unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 16. Derby Crown Court head how Colin Garrod also gave her money and found a way of making the messages he sent to her phone disappear so what he was doing would not be discovered.

But one day her mother found him in her daughter's company, unaware of his previous child sex offences, or that there was an order in place forbidding him from any contact with children under 16. And after that, the mum discovered how the defendant would send her daughter messages before she went to school saying he would "do anything for her" if she "gave him a hug".

Jailing Garrod for 20 months, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: "You are 62-years-of-age, you are 63 next month and you were handed a sexual harm prevention order because you pleaded guilty to serious offences and you were sent to prison. You came out of prison and you didn't commit any further offences for quite a while and managed to stay out of trouble.

"But then, in July last year, you breached it in a significant way which involved you gaining the confidence of an underage girl and what is clear is that you made a determined effort to make sure you had some kind of relationship with this girl, unsupervised, knowing full well you should have told someone. You cannot be doing what you were doing with any girl under the age of 16, without telling people about the order."

Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said the defendant was handed a sexual harm prevention order in 2017 when the he was jailed for 14 months for offences of sexual assault, distribution and possession of indecent images of children and voyeurism.

He said the victim's mother was unaware of either the order or his previous convictions and one day in July 2022 found him alone with her underage daughter. The prosecutor said: "She discovered that her daughter had been in contact with the defendant by phone and texts.

"She discovered the defendant would contact her before school saying he would do anything for her if she would give him a hug and saying he loved her. He asked if he could buy her bras and knickers, bought her a phone charger and would give her money.

"He also activated on her phone (an app or method which would lead to) disappearing messages so people could not see the contact they were having. It was discovered that on one occasion he took her to a shop and when she asked if someone else could come with them he said 'no' and that he would only allow her to come with him.

"He was arrested and explained that he was helping the young girl. He said he knew the risk of breaching the order and he said the comments about being in love with her were 'a joke' as was him saying he would do anything for her if she hugged him."

Garrod, of Wilson Street, pleaded guilty to breaching the terms of his sexual harm prevention order and appeared in court via a video-link from HMP Nottingham. Katie Hodgkinson, his barrister, said her client had admitted his breach at the very first opportunity.

She said: "There was contact between them, there was no physical contact and no other allegations were made. He wanted to help somebody, not harm somebody and he knows he did not tell people about his previous convictions out of shame and stigma.

"He had a compulsion and a desire to assist."

As well as the jail sentence, the sexual harm prevention order remains in place.

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He had horrific abuse movies and hundreds of disgusting cartoons

A vile pervert kept depraved films of children being abused in a file he simply called 'Keep Out'. The horrific file also had hundreds of cartoon depictions of material that was similarly vile.

Paul Taylor had search terms for underage images and bestiality when police analysed devices that they took from his Swadlincote home, Derby Crown Court heard. The 33-year-old was also found to have images of adults engaged in sexual acts with animals when he was arrested.

When questioned by the police over the sick material, Taylor, of Meynell Street, Church Gresley, said he had "no idea what's going on". Justin Ablott, his barrister, told the hearing: "There is a pre-sentence report that has been prepared." Judge Shaun Smith KC replied: "It's sad, not bad, he clearly needs help and help is available."

Handing him a three-year community order, Judge Smith said: "What you were doing was very wrong. People think that if you are just looking at the pictures then no-one is being hurt, but they are.

"The people in the images are being hurt and that is really serious. People like you look at them and because you do the people taking them carry on taking the pictures.

"When someone looks at them it gets them into trouble and here you are in the crown court. You have held down a good job and here you are looking at a potential prison sentence."

Serena Varatharajah, prosecuting, said police executed a search warrant at Taylor's home on February 17, 2021, and seized a mobile phone and a laptop. She said analysis of both was carried out and the abuse images were found in the 'Keep Out' folder, reports DerbyshireLive.

Miss Varatharajah said in total there were two moving images of the most serious category A which typically show adults engaged in sexual intercourse with underage children. The prosecutor said there was one video of category B, one category C, two extreme pornographic images and 625 prohibited images.

These typically are cartoon recreations or reenactments of real child abuse. Miss Varatharajah said: "The search history was looked at and there were searches for 'bestiality' and for sexual conduct with children.

"He was interviewed and said he had 'no idea what's going on' in terms of the images but confirmed the mobile phone was his and then answered 'no comment' to the questions he was asked."

Taylor pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, one count of possession of extreme pornography and a further count of possessing prohibited images. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Smith made him the subject of a five-year sexual harm prevention order under the terms of which he is not allowed to delete his internet history and must let the police know of any social media accounts he has or creates along with their passwords.

He was also placed on the sex offender register for five years and under the terms of the community order must take part in a sex offender awareness course and attend 45 rehabilitation sessions with the probation service.

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A man who murdered a pregnant woman and three children in Derbyshire will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he was sentenced to a whole life prison term.

Damien Bendall pleaded guilty to murdering his then partner Terri Harris, her 11-year-old daughter Lacey Bennett, her 13-year-old son John Paul Bennett, and Lacey's 11-year-old friend Connie Gent.

He previously denied the murders but changed his pleas when he appeared at Derby Crown Court on Wednesday, where he also admitted raping Lacey.

The judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, said the sexual offence was committed "in the grossest breach of trust" as the 11-year-old's life ebbed away.

He said "just punishment" required that Bendall be kept in prison for the rest of his life in relation to each count of murder, and he also imposed another whole life order for the rape.

Lacey and John Paul were Ms Harris's children from a previous relationship, and Connie had been at the house in Killamarsh, near Sheffield, for a sleepover.

Connie was only due to stay for one night, but managed to get permission from her mother, fatefully extending her stay by another night - coinciding with the attacks, the court heard.

Bendall, 32, is believed to have gone around the family home looking for his victims individually, and then attacking them in different rooms in order to kill them, the court was told.

He murdered the four victims at the house he shared with Ms Harris, 35, in what prosecutor Louis Mably KC told the court were "brutal, vicious and cruel attacks" on a "defenceless" woman and three children.

Mr Mably said Bendall attacked them with a claw hammer which he used to hit them over the head and on the upper body.

"Their skulls were smashed in" and "it was perfectly clear none of the victims stood a chance," Mr Mably added.

He continued: "One of the dreadful facts about this case is that during the attacks, the defendant raped 11-year-old Lacey."

Ms Harris and the three children were found dead in Chandos Crescent on 19 September last year.

After Bendall killed them, he took John Paul's games console, then went to Sheffield in a taxi, and there he exchanged the device for drugs, said Mr Mably.

Bendall would later tell police he had consumed "three to four bags of cocaine and then blacked out".

In an interview with officers at Ripley police station after he was arrested, Bendall told them: "I used the hammer."

He added: "Bet you don't usually get four murders in Killamarsh do you - well, five (murders), because my missus was having a baby."

Mr Mably said: "On the night of Saturday September 17, 2021, stretching into the early hours of September 19, the defendant brutally and viciously murdered his then partner, Terri Harris, who is aged 35 - and was in the early stages of pregnancy.

"He also murdered Terri's two children, by a previous partner, her 13-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter Lacey, and he murdered Connie Gent, also aged 11.

"She was a friend of Lacey's who just happened that evening to be staying at Lacey's house for a sleepover."

John and Lacey's father, Jason Bennett, said that the murder had "destroyed" him and that life now seemed "pointless".

In a victim impact statement, he said: "It's like my heart has been shattered into a billion pieces never to be repaired. I'm a shadow of my former self, I am nothing... I have lots of love around me but the love I crave off my beautiful kids, I can't have that, that's a hole that can never be filled."

Connie's father Charles Gent said no sentence would ever be sufficient justice for his daughter's death adding: "The man who carried out the crimes can only be described as truly evil and should never be free from incarceration, just like the families of the victims in this case will never be free from their life sentence as a result of the shocking and abhorrent crimes he committed on a defenceless woman and children."

After sentencing, Andrew Baxter from the CPS said: "It is hard to put into words the scale of Damien Bendall's barbaric and horrifying actions. He went through the house looking for the victims until he had killed them all, raping one of the children in the attack.

"What he did left two families utterly devastated by grief and a community in bewilderment and shock."

Earlier, Mr Mably told the judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, that prosecutors were seeking a whole life term for Bendall, given the gravity of the offences.

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A Derby child sex offender has been jailed for downloading Twitter to his mobile phone. Derby Crown Court heard how David Lee failed to tell the police who were monitoring him he had even bought the phone as he was supposed to.

Then, when he did finally tell them, they discovered he had downloaded the social media app on to it. Both of these put him in breach of a suspended sentence order and a three-year community order, the latter of which was handed to him by the judge who has now sent him to prison.

Judge Shaun Smith KC said: "I gave you a chance back in 2020 and it looked like for a long time you were taking it. You have now committed two offences during that order. In November last year you got another chance (at the magistrates' court with the suspended sentence) and you breached that. You know what it is all about because you have previous convictions for offences like this.

"And once month after being given that (second) chance you were uploading things on a phone you were not supposed to have. You knew what you were doing because you have a history of offences such as indecent images."

Mark Knowles, prosecuting, said Lee, of Ashbourne Road, has previous jail sentences for making and downloading indecent images of children. He said in 2020, Judge Smith handed the 58-year-old the three-year community order for such offences.

He said that was breached when he failed to tell the police where he was living and the defendant found himself in front of the magistrates' court in October 2021 where he was handed a suspended sentence. But in November of last year, just a month later, Lee disclosed that he had the phone.

Mr Knowles said: "He was supposed to register it but he had not and when he was interviewed said he did not register it as he kept forgetting to do so. During the interview he admitted he had downloaded Twitter to the phone."

Lee pleaded guilty to breaching both the community order and the suspended sentence order and has previous convictions from 2014, 2017 and 2020.

Sarah Phelan, his barrister, said: "He has attended court with a bag knowing there is likely to be a long custodial sentence. He is a man who has particular mental health problems including being medicated for anxiety and depression."

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A woman who was sexually assaulted at Derby bus station has finally got justice after a protracted battle. Daniel Oakes, 19, of Bass Street, Derby was jailed for 26 weeks after pleading guilty to one charge of sexual assault on a female. Judge Taaffe, sentencing, also ordered Oakes to sign on the sex offender register for the next seven years.

The female victim rang Derbyshire Live to explain how she had been groped by a man wearing an ankle tag while waiting for a bus. The 25-year-old said she was left shocked by the incident, which happened at around 9am on Thursday, September 22. On complaining about the sexual assault, she was told to "stop being childish". When she pushed her attacker away, she was threatened with being thrown out of the bus station for being aggressive.

Police initially suggested the case be closed as no suspect could be identified, despite the fact that the victim took photographs of the offender and that he was wearing an electronic tag around his ankle. She said she’d been left feeling "isolated and alone" by the incident. The force is now reviewing its handling of the case.

She said: "I experienced a significant lack of help and support from not only the police, but the security staff at the bus station, who dealt with the matter very poorly. I was treated like the crazy one. I needed help and none was given."

After Derbyshire Live contacted the police with the photos supplied by the victim, the force reopened the investigation. The photos were released in a public appeal for information and Oakes was arrested shortly after. He pleaded guilty at a hearing at Chesterfield Magistrates' Court five days later. The victim told the story from her point of view.

She said: "A young man I'd noticed loitering around on the phone as I was sat down then came and sat next to me. Not even a minute passed by and I felt a brushing on my hip area. Initially I thought nothing of it and I thought it was his bag or clothing brushing passed me. I reached down to brush it off and felt his hand on my bottom/hip area.

"I immediately jumped up and asked him what on Earth he was doing. To his shock I went straight to security and informed them I had just been sexually assaulted, to which their reply was 'we will keep an eye on him'."

Not satisfied by this response, she went back to confront him herself.

“I made a scene. I asked him why he thinks it’s acceptable to touch a woman he doesn’t know like that. I pushed him away and he pushed me back. That’s when security came over and threatened to remove me from the building for being aggressive. I was then told to get on my bus and to stop being childish. The bus stop was very busy at this time but no one, apart from one student from Derby College, was willing to help or even believe me.

"I feel unsafe and paranoid now, and my sense of awareness is heightened. I have seen the bus station security guard since and he has not once said sorry to me for threatening to remove me from the station or for the lack of help."

She claims that the man was also told to get on his bus but explained that he was just "bus watching". She believes he should have been removed from the bus station for this fact alone.

The fact that the man had a grey tag around his right ankle meant that he was a recent offender. There are two types of electronic tags issued by courts in the UK - curfew tags, which check if an offender is where they’re meant to be at certain hours of the day, and location tags, which monitor an offender’s location 24/7.

The woman also offered her opinion on the fact that the case was put forward to be closed but then reopened with no extra evidence provided. She said: "Even though I had a very good image and description of him, they chose to avoid trying to attempt to serve justice. I felt he would have been easily traceable with the tag on his ankle.

"I'm happy he's now been convicted, but it shouldn't have taken third-party intervention to have got to this point."

Derbyshire police initially said: "Following a report of a sexual assault at Derby bus station a full and proportionate investigation was completed. All reasonable lines of enquiry were followed during the investigation, however, after no offender was able to be identified the case was filed.

"We take reports of sexual assault seriously and would urge anyone who may have been a victim of such a crime to contact us in order for the matter to be investigated and support offered to them – no matter the outcome of the investigation."

However, since the offender has been convicted, the force provided a new statement. A spokesman explained that to "file" a case is to say that all proportionate lines of enquiry have been followed and no suspect has been identified.

The statement reads: "An allegation of sexual assault was reported to have taken place at Derby bus station on September 22. An officer, after being allocated and reviewing the information available, including images taken by the victim, had put forward the case to be filed due to there not being enough evidence to pursue.

"All crimes, before they are filed, must be reviewed by a sergeant, however, this had not yet taken place in this instance. The crime had therefore not been filed at that point. Once the review of the information took place, including the photos, it was deemed that the images were of good enough quality for an identification to be made.

"The images were placed on an appeal and the person, we now know to be Daniel Oakes, was identified, arrested, and charged. There are clear processes in place for how crimes are filed – and a sergeant review is an important part of the oversight of the cases. A review into the initial investigation of the incident is ongoing by the officer's line manager who will assess if further advice or support is required."

“We are sorry that the service this victim received did not meet the level that she, or we, would expect and a review into the circumstances of the initial investigation are ongoing – after which any further advice or support that may be identified will be delivered.”

A spokesperson for Derby City Council, which looks after the bus station, said: “We are aware of the incident in Derby bus station on September 22 and have cooperated with Derbyshire police as part of their investigation.”

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David Twiname, 74, of Wingfield Road, Alfreton was charged with 28 sexual offences, including multiple rape charges, many of which relate to children under the age of 16. The first of the offences date back to the 1970s.

He appeared at Derby Crown Court in September 2021 after denying 10 counts of rape, five of which related to a child under the age of 16, and five counts of indecent assault.

Twiname was bailed pending a trial and a jury found him guilty on all counts in February 2022.

He had previously admitted several other offences including the indecent assault of another child under the age of 16, extreme animal pornography and sexual offences with a dog – the most recent of which happened in 2019.

He was sentenced to 31 years’ imprisonment at court today (Thursday 13 October).

Twiname’s wife, Judith Button, 59, was handed a two-year sentence suspended for a period of 21 months and given rehabilitation and community service orders.

Button, also of Wingfield Road, Alfreton had previously admitted charges of two sexual offences relating to children dating back thirty years and two charges relating to sex with a dog, between 1987 and 2004.

A second woman, Antoinette Holroyd, 78, of Alfreton Road, Underwood had also admitted indecently assaulting a boy under 16 and received a 21-month sentence suspended for a period of 21 months, and a rehabilitation order.

Both Button and Holroyd have been added to the sex offenders register for a period of 10 years.

Detective Sergeant, Dan Saunby said:

“The was an extremely complex case which spanned decades and impacted the lives of all those affected, some of whom were just children at the time of the offences.

“I would like to thank the survivors involved for their bravery and stoicism over the last few years, and whilst nothing can ever undo the harm that Twiname, Button and Holdroyd caused – I really do hope that today’s sentencing will allow them to move forward with their lives.

“Twiname is not only a paedophile, he is also a master manipulator who encouraged others to partake in his depraved fantasies. In denying several of the charges he prolonged the suffering of those he abused by forcing them to endure a trial. Thankfully the jury saw through his web of lies and found him guilty.

“To anyone reading this who may have also suffered sexual assault or abuse, whether now or in the past, please do speak to someone. There is help available, whether you wish to involve the police or not.

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A former canoe instructor from North West Leicestershire has today (Friday) been found guilty of non-recent indecency offences on young boys.

Michael James Hudson worked as a canoe instructor in North West Leicestershire between from the 1970s into the 2010s.

In 2020 the force received a report from man reporting he had been indecently assaulted on a number of occasions by Hudson when he was a teenager.

That investigation then led officers to contact another victim, who did report the offences against him to a third party in 2017 however wasn’t able to support the investigation at the time.

Following contact from officers he too agreed to support the case and provide evidence against Hudson.

After a lengthy investigation Hudson was charged with 10 counts of indecent assault on boys under the age of 16.

Today 81-year-old Hudson of Sycamore Drive, Moira, admitted his involvement in all the offences and was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison. 

Detective Sergeant Anna Blockley from the force’s Child Abuse Investigation Unit (CAIU), said: “We are pleased Hudson has now been found guilty of the offences.

“This was in no way easy for the victims and has been a deeply traumatic time for them.  I applaud their courage in coming forward.  I hope this outcome will now help them move on with their lives and reassure them that their concerns were taken seriously, no matter how long ago the offences occurred.

“Hudson was an instructor at various canoe clubs in North West Leicestershire between the 1970s and 2010s.  We strongly believe there may be other victims of Hudson out there who for whatever reason haven’t come forward and reported the offences. 

“If this is you then we encourage you to come forward.  Please be assured your report will be dealt with by specialist officers who will support and guide you throughout the process.”

The Child Abuse Investigation Unit historic crimes team deal with all non-recent reports where the offences have occurred against children.  A dedicated team of officers help and support victims, and also liaise with partner agencies to ensure that support continues even after the case has been dealt with.

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A Derbyshire pensioner and registered sex offender who paid to live stream the sexual abuse of children has been jailed.

David Stevenson, 70, from Chaddesden, was arrested by National Crime Agency officers in May 2020 after an investigation revealed he paid individuals in the Philippines and Ghana to carry out child sexual abuse.

These included a 32-year-old Filipino woman who was arrested in February 2020 for the production and possession of indecent images of two children, aged six months and 10 years.

She advertised live streamed abuse online and was linked to a video showing a prepubescent girl performing sex acts.

NCA investigators seized three devices after arresting Stevenson, and established that he’d made more than 200 payments totalling £5,500 between February 2018 and May 2020.

When interviewed, he claimed he had only been engaging with adult women - predominantly in the Philippines but also in Africa – and denied any interaction with children.

He was released under investigation while the devices were forensically examined.

Officers found 71 indecent images of children (IIOC) in categories A-C (A being the most severe), with evidence Stevenson had searched for terms such as ‘nude Filipino schoolgirls’ and ‘young petite sweeties’. He had also visited sites called ‘teen sex galleries’, ‘young teen strip’ and ‘African teen’.

Stevenson also made sexually explicit comments about young girls during a chat with another user on a messaging service.

In a further interview, he admitted regularly forwarding money via international transfer to women in the Philippines and that he had been in an online relationship with a woman there for the past 17 months.

He admitted paying the 32-year-old Filipino woman, who he described as a sex worker, but denied viewing any child sexual abuse material.

He also admitted using the search terms but claimed that the sites were largely fantasy, and implied that many of them contained images of adults purporting to be children.

In January 2018 Stevenson was convicted of engaging in sexual communication with a child, for which he was also given a seven-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and a six-year Sex Offender Notification Requirement.

There is evidence that he deleted files from one of the devices examined by NCA investigators following his arrest in 2020, which was a breach of the SHPO.

Stevenson was charged with six counts of making IIOC, one count of possessing IIOC and one count of breaching his SHPO. He pleaded guilty to all the charges at Derby Magistrates’ Court on 28 April this year, and was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment and given a seven-year SHPO at Derby Crown Court today (26 September).

NCA Operations Manager Graham Ellis said: “Stevenson was under the illusion that he could sit at home and view abuse of children thousands of miles away, for his own pleasure, without fear of being caught.

“Those engaged in live-streaming child sexual abuse are exploiting vulnerable victims, and present a grave risk to children wherever they are.

“The Philippines remains a hub for this type of offending. The NCA works closely with law enforcement partners there to identify and pursue those responsible for facilitating abuse, and to protect victims.”

The NCA collaborates with the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Centre to help combat this type of offending.

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A university student from Derbyshire violently raped a woman and left her fearing she would die at his hands. Derby Crown Court heard how Matthew Brown head-butted, punched and then choked the victim unconscious as he sexually and physically attacked her.

The 27-year-old then denied what he had done, which forced the brave victim to come to court and relive her ordeal by giving evidence in the witness box. But after hearing both sides of the story the jury found the Ashbourne man guilty of three counts of rape.

Jailing him for 16 years, Recorder Jason Macadam said: “You violently attacked and sexually assaulted (the victim) in a number of ways. The jury were sure the account given by the victim was a true account - that violence was meted out when you carried out this sex attack.

“(In your pre-sentence report) you still sought to minimise your assault, accepting that sexual activity took place and that (during it) you were violent towards your victim.

“Mr Wilson (his barrister) tells me that you feel awful about what you did but you could have spared the victim the ordeal (of giving evidence). You did not, you had a trial and during it you ran an entirely different account which did not accept culpability for the crime you committed.“(The victim's) account of what happened was horrific. She said you raped her in a number of ways and during it you assaulted, headbutted and punched her.

“She said you choked her to the point of unconsciousness, she said she believed she would not escape and that you would kill her. I have described her as stoical and she has to be congratulated that this has not had greater consequences on her.

“I found you to be quite deliberately dishonest when you gave your account to the jury. You present a threat of risk or harm to females.”

A trial earlier this year was told that the rape took place at a house in Derbyshire. Prosecutor Jonathan Dee said during it the victim was raped in a number of ways and also assaulted while she was being sexually attacked.

He said: “It was a prolonged and sustained incident and there was violence. She (the victim) is not present in court but I have spoken to her family (who were in court) and they tell me she is getting on with her life but she is understandably very concerned about being alone at night.”

Having heard all of the evidence a jury found Brown, of Shirley Common, Shirley, guilty of three counts of rape.

Roger Wilson, mitigating, said his client “has hope of rehabilitation” when he is released from his prison sentence.

He said: “He was a university student at the time, he was studying medicine and pharmacology at the University of Nottingham. He feels awful about what he did, he regrets it and feels bad about his behaviour. The victim is obviously getting on with her life and he hopes she has not been scarred hugely by this.”

The 16-year sentence is made up of 12 years plus a four-year extended licence. It means Brown will be eligible to apply for parole two thirds of the way through the custodial element - that is to say eight years into his sentence. He was also handed a lifetime sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offender register for life.

To protect the anonymity of the victim, comments have been disabled on this story.