Latest Offenders Durham

Description

A rapist who left his victim living in fear has been jailed for nine years.

Anthony Hamilton attacked the woman at her home in 2021, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Hamilton, 39, of Scholars View in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, had denied offences including rape, but was convicted by jurors.

At his sentencing hearing, he maintained the sexual contact was consensual, but Recorder Thomas Moran said Hamilton's victim had "submitted" to him as she was "terrified" of him.

The judge said Hamilton, who represented himself at the sentencing while appearing via video link from HMP Hull, focused on his sense of injustice.

He said Hamilton "painted a very vivid picture of an emotionally unstable" and "self-pitying" man who claimed he had "lost everything".

Mr Recorder Moran said Hamilton's offending had had a profound affect on his victim.

Hamilton must also sign the sex offender's register for life.

Description

A police worker sent an explicit photo of himself to a 'teenage girl' he met online.

Matthew Bowers made explicit sexual comments and encouraged the girl to perform a sex act, during a conversation on Snapchat. Victoria Lamballe, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court that the girl was actually a decoy.

Bowers, who works for North Yorkshire Police, gave sexual instructions to 'Jazz' who let him know she was 13. The 30-year-old gave himself a false name during the chat, and pretended to be younger than he is, the Middlesbrough court heard. The two met on Rambo Chat, but quickly moved the conversation to Snapchat.

Bowers, of Amberley Grove in Darlington, pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in sexual communication with a child. Chris Baker, mitigating, told the court that his client had been in the navy for eight years, before he started working in IT for the force. Mr Baker added that Bowers' family are standing by him.

Judge Howard Crowson told Bowers: "You thought you were talking to a 13 year-old girl, who had been expressing ignorance about sexual matters. The person you were speaking to was an adult - he was a decoy."

The judge jailed Bowers for 28-months. He was made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, which prohibits him from having unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 16.

The order also imposes restrictions on Bowers' online use - he is banned from using virtual private networks; private browsing and cleaning software. He must declare use of remote storage or clouds to the police within three days. Bowers was also made subject to sex offender notification requirements, for the next 10 years.

Description

A dad who discovered that his young daughter had been sent sexual messages online was living "every parent's nightmare".

The parent discovered the highly explicit messages from John Barker, 33, which had been sent to his primary-school aged child earlier this year. The victim had not known Barker before he contacted her.

After contacting police, Barker was arrested and granted bail. But as police investigated, he then went back online and contacted another 'child's' profile, and tried to get them to take part in sex acts with him online.

However, Barker was actually talking to an adult who had set up a fake profile, as part of a child protection group's efforts to catch paedophiles. Barker, who is now of no fixed address but formerly of North Lodge Terrace in Darlington, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child; inciting a child to engage in sexual activity; and two counts of making indecent photos of a child.

On Friday, he stood in the dock at Teesside Crown Court as Judge Jonathan Carroll told him: "A dad found what is every parent's nightmare - that his young daughter had engaged in sexual communication with an unknown male.

"It's the adult world's responsibility to protect and care for our children. The internet and social media is becoming the hunting ground of people like you, who see children as easy sexual targets to be exploited.

"It was abundantly clear that she was young. It is clear that you were seeking to go down exactly the same path with the second user as you did with the child victim."

Barker was jailed for 53 months. He will serve half of the sentence, before he is released on licence. He was also made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, and he will sign the sex offenders' register for the rest of his life.

Description

A predatory sex offender has been jailed for abusing a teenager and downloading more than 100 child sex abuse images.

Christopher Grundy, posting as Boylover44, was caught by an undercover police officer posing as a pervert with similar sexual interests.

The 52-year-old asked the officer to move onto an encrypted messaging service before sharing sickening descriptions of his sexual proclivities with him.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Grundy went on to sexually abuse a vulnerable 17-year-old while he was already on bail for downloading the child abuse images.

Rebecca Brown, prosecuting, said a further check of the defendant’s mobile phone recovered further child sex abuse images.

She said police officers also recovered extracts of conversations with other like-minded people where Grundy spoke off his sexual desires and asked for indecent images of children.

“During these chats he demonstrates a sexual interest in children,” she said.

In an impact statement made by the teenage victim, he spoke of how the assaults affected his mental health after Grundy informed other teenagers that he was lying about what had happened to him.

The defendant had claimed to police officers that he had been searching the internet for child abuse in an attempt to track down a person he alleged had sexually assaulted a relative.

Grundy, of Darlington, pleaded guilty to six charges of downloading child abuse images and one charge of downloading an extreme pornographic image involving an animal.

He was found guilty of three charges of sexual assault after he attacked on the teenager between October 28 and 31 last year following a trial.

The judge heard how the defendant had a previous conviction for sexual assault on a teenage boy dating back to the late 90s.

Dr Christopher Wood, representing Grundy, said the father-of-one was on lifelong medication to treat HIV and pointed out that his pre-sentence report had highlighted areas where work could be done with his client.

Judge Richard Bennett branded Grundy’s behaviour as ‘predatory’ as he jailed him for a total of five years for all offences.

“You were much older and he was encountering a number of difficulties in their life,” he said.

“You were aware of that and you were aware that he had a difficult relationship with his mother.

“It is clear that you were sexually attracted to him and used their vulnerability to your advantage.”

Grundy was issued with an indefinite restraining order to protect the victim and ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for life as well as being made subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Judge Bennett added: “In a cynical attempt to get your defence in first, you spread lies about the victim among other teenagers, which resulted in him being threatened.

“I was able to observe the aggressive and angry side of your character when you were giving evidence – you have a short temper.”

Description

A sex offender who served a lengthy prison sentence for repeatedly raping a young girl is now back behind bars for similar historic offences on a boy.

John Patrick Harrop, then 25, and from Darlington, received an indefinite prison sentence for public protection at Teesside Crown Court, in 2012, after admitting six specimen counts of rape and two of sexual assault on a girl under 13.

The judge passing sentence branded him as posing “a very high risk of sexual and emotional harm” to young vulnerable males and females.

That sentence was subsequently varied on appeal to one of ten years, with eight years’ extended licence period.

Durham Crown Court was told he was released from that sentence at the mid-point in the custodial element, and subsequently performed well under probation licence supervision with his risk factor to children lowered to “medium”, as he was said to have since been “re-integrated” into the community.

But, following a further complaint, made in 2021, about Harrop’s past sexual conduct, this time from someone who was a young boy at the time of the abuse, the defendant faced further charges, this time which he denied.

After a three-day trial at the court early last month, the now 37-year-old defendant, of Woodbine Road, Pity Me, Durham, was convicted on unanimous guilty verdicts of three counts of rape and two of sexual assault.

An impact statement was read to yesterday's (Monday May 13) sentencing hearing by his latest victim.

He told the court he felt that the defendant “took my childhood away”, adding: “As I grew older I realised what happened to me was so wrong, without speaking up about it.”

Robin Patton, prosecuting, said there has been no further offending by the defendant, who has undertaken courses under the direction of the Probation Service.

Jonathan Walker, for Harrop, said the offences for which the defendant was previously convicted have “many of the hallmarks” of the offences before the court now.

“They are ugly, horrible offences, but, arguably, not as grave as the offences for which he was convicted in 2012.”

Mr Walker described them as, “relics of the past”, since when the defendant has spent a lengthy period of incarceration.

“He was as close to having been a model ex-prisoner as can be imagined and his behaviour since his release has seen a complete lack of any offences.

“He impressed all of those with a professional obligation to look after him.

“These offences presented themselves in 2021 and he’s now to be separately sentenced for something which was part of the same pattern of sex offending.

“He’s served a lengthy period of imprisonment and this type of warped behaviour won’t be repeated.”

Recorder Tony Hawks said he accepted there was something of “an overlap” in the offences for which the defendant has spent a long time locked up and those for which he is before the court now.

But he said the complainant in this case made no disclosure at the time and the offending only came to light in relatively recent years.

Recorder Hawks said he noted from the probation documents before the court that the defendant continues to deny these offences and so he will receive no discount on his sentence, despite having committed no further offences in recent years.

He noted, however, that the defendant is no longer considered “a dangerous offender”, although he would be sentencing him as, “an offender of particular concern”.

As such, Harrop must serve two-thirds of the eight-year sentence imposed by Recorder Hawks before being eligible for release on parole.

He told the defendant: “If you admitted these offences when you admitted the others you would not be in the position you are in now.”

Harrop will also be subject to lifetime notification requirements as a sex offender.

Description

A sexual predator who abused vulnerable females has been jailed for 29 years after being categorised as a "dangerous offender."

Roy Foster, 63, raped two young girls and tried to rape another. He abducted his fourth victim by tempting her away with the offer of choosing a toy.

Teesside Crown Court has heard that Foster abducted the girl with the intention of committing a sexual offence. On Monday, Foster appeared in court, via video link from Durham prison, wearing a white shirt and a grey pullover.

Ian West, prosecuting, told the court that Foster had four victims - and each girl was vulnerable. He indecently assaulted his first victim and later raped her.

The attacks happened over 30 years ago and in a statement, the victim said: "For years and years, I've kept what happened a secret from my family and friends. It has eaten me alive from the inside out. He's been able to go about his life as he wanted to."

The woman reported Foster to the police in March 2023. The court heard that years later, Foster tried to rape his second young victim, after "plying her with alcohol" when he was drunk himself. "It would seem she was specifically targeted," Mr West said, "because he could rely on her not to resist."

Foster raped his third victim twice. The Middlesbrough court heard that Foster supplied her with drink and drugs. In court, she stood up to speak of her "anger, frustration and sadness" over what Foster did to her.

He targeted his fourth victim by offering her the chance of choosing a toy, if she came with him. The child went with Foster but a member of the public intervened.

Children's toys in bedroom

Mr West said that when police searched Foster's home, they found children's' toys in one of the bedrooms. "He had no children or grandchildren of that age," Mr West said. Foster, of Low Grange Avenue in Billingham, was convicted of all eight offences by a jury, after a trial in January.

He was found guilty of sexual activity with a child; three counts of child rape; sexual assault; abducting a child with the intent to commit a sexual offence; and two counts of attempted rape. Foster appeared to close his eyes for periods of time as the court heard mitigation from Paul Cleasby.

Mr Cleasby said that "there was no evidence that one of Foster's victims was affected by the alcohol he gave her. Alcohol wasn't used to facilitate this offence - it can't be said to have diminished her capabilities. Nothing I say is intended to diminish the seriousness of the offences against her."

Foster's barrister told the court that his client "collected bric-a-brac of all descriptions" rather than just toys for young children. He said that a psychiatric report had found that Foster is of "extremely low intelligence and has a learning disability".

"It's hard to understand if he knew the impact of his offending on others," Mr Cleasby added.

'Sense of sexual entitlement'

Judge Jonathan Carroll told Foster that, "in their different ways, all of your victims had some degree of vulnerability and in one way or another, all of them suffered at your hands. Despite your intellectual limitations, you had sufficient intellect to modify your grooming.

"You still don't recognise your criminal offending. You still continue to display, even at your stage in life, a sense of sexual entitlement."

The judge told Foster that he qualified for an extended sentence because he is a "dangerous offender." Foster was handed a 32-year sentence, made up of a 29-year prison term and a three-year period on extended licence, in the community. He will serve two-thirds of the 29-years before he is eligible for release. He must sign the sex offenders' register for the rest of his life.

After the sentencing, Detective Constable James Limon said: “This case was a collaborative effort by Stockton CID, the Complex Exploitation Team and the Domestic Abuse Unit. Roy Foster is a dangerous sexual predator who targeted and abused vulnerable females, both adult and children, over the last 40 years.

“His youngest victim managed to escape harm thanks to the quick-thinking actions of a member of the public. Had that not occurred, Roy Foster would have likely committed further offences against that child.

Description

A voyeur who recorded women in toilet cubicles for his own sexual gratification has been jailed.

Pawanjit Singh, also known as Robbie, snuck into female toilets and hid in cubicles before using his mobile phone to secretly record his victims as they used the toilet next to him.

He captured 26 clips and six images of numerous women in several different pubs in the North East in September 2020.

In May 2021, the 35-year-old was caught by a woman as he was in the act of recording her in the female toilets at Washington Service Station.

The woman confronted him, and subsequently contacted police.

The investigation progressed when police accessed Singhs mobile phone and, after interrogating the device, uncovered the voyeuristic content.

Singh was charged with 27 offences of voyeurism and appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates court in April where he pleaded guilty to all counts.

Last Thursday (May 2), Singh of Henry Street, Shiney Row, appeared at Newcastle Crown Court and was sentenced to one year in prison.

He will spend ten years on the Sex Offenders Register, was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and was ordered to have his devices destroyed.

Talking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Kate Bain, of Northumbria Police, said: We would like to thank the woman who turned out to be Singhs last victim after she witnessed and challenged his offending meaning the scale of his depravity was uncovered.

Singh secretly filmed women in what should have been a totally private space, without their knowledge or consent. He showed no respect for these women whatsoever and saw them only as tools for his own sexual gratification.

Description

A former successful businessman and charity worker has been jailed after he groomed and groped a teenager.

Grant Findley told the schoolgirl he could be her "sugar daddy" when she turned 16 and told her she wouldn't be allowed a boyfriend.

Findley, 42, of Stream Valley Farm, Burnhope, Durham, denied ten counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of meeting a child following sexual grooming.

However, he was found guilty by a jury and at Durham Crown Court today (Tuesday, April 9) Judge Jo Kidd sentenced him to three years in prison.

The judge told him: "You conducted yourself previously with great hard work, perseverance, and intelligence.

"You were on the face of it a generous and kind man.

"That reputation and that behaviour masked your pursuit of a child in order to satisfy your sexual interest in children.

"Your perception of women was clearly in my view warped and misogynistic."

The victim bravely read an impact statement in court and said: "Because of Grant did to me I now really struggle to trust people especially men.

"I now struggle to sleep, suffering repeated nightmares where I relive what Grant did and said to me.

"I have found the last few years incredibly draining. When Grant was doing it to me it made me feel dirty.

"My anxiety has got so bad I can't face answering the door.”

Findley must also sign the sex offender's register and be subjected to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.

Description

A sex offender prohibited from having unsupervised contact with children has now twice since become involved in relationships with young mothers who were unaware of his past convictions.

Phillip Yarrow was made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after being convicted of sexual communication with a child and attempted sexual activity with a child, online grooming of a girl aged 13 to 15, in February 2019.

Durham Crown Court was told that the terms of the SHPO included forbidding him having unsupervised contact with any child under 16 where the parent or guardian has no knowledge of his convictions.

He was also made subject of notification requirements as a sex offender in which he must inform his risk manager if he lives at any address for more than 12 hours.

Jon Harley, prosecuting, said a complaint was received by a woman, with a daughter aged under four, who was using a dating app in December last year.

She began messaging the defendant, who was described as “32 and from Coxhoe”, for two weeks, before meeting him close to her address on January 2, after which he went back to her home, although her daughter was not present as she was staying with her grandmother.

Mr Harley said Yarrow did not stay over, but the following day, at 4pm, Yarrow went back to the woman’s home at 4pm, when he daughter was present.

He stayed for two hours but had little contact with the girl and was never alone with her.

Mr Harley said that the next day he went over at 7pm, but this time did stay over at the address, having watched tv.

The following morning he left after the woman booked him a taxi, and that would be the last time she saw him.

Mr Harley said throughout the defendant’s contact with the woman there was no mention of his previous convictions.

When it came to light he was interviewed by police and accepted responsibility for the offence.

The court heard Yarrow, 32, of Grange Crescent, Coxhoe, pleaded, or indicated he was guilty, when he appeared before magistrates last month.

Mr Harley said the defendant now has three convictions for ten offences, all sexual of some description.

The court heard that following his original conviction, in February 2019, he was dealt with back at court for making indecent photos of children and failing to comply with notification requirements as a sex offender, in June 2021.

Mr Harley said the latter offence was for staying at an address for more than seven days where the female householder, with two young daughters, was not informed of Yarrow’s past conviction.

There was also said to be a further breach of the SHPO in July 2022 by the defendant.

Martin Scarborough, for Yarrow, said he had found work, through an agency, at a glass factory prior to being taken into custody which prevented him from being able to seek to make the employment full-time.

Mr Scarborough said, relating to the latest offence, his client had little contact with the child, and none while unsupervised.

Judge Jo Kidd said not for the first time Yarrow has chosen to engage in a relationship with a mother of a young daughter having failed to inform them of his offending history.

She told him: “The sentences you have received have increased with each further breach and, so, the sentence I will pass now will be an increase on them.

“You have a clear history of disobedience of court orders.”

She said it appears that up to now, he has not stepped back from his, “risk-taking behaviour.”

Imposing a 20-month term of imprisonment, she warned the defendant if he commits further offences during his licence period, upon his release at the mid-point, it is likely that he will be readmitted to prison to serve the remainder of the sentence.

Description

A man who used a young girl for his own sexual gratification, repeatedly raping her, remains in denial despite being convicted at trial recently.

Jamie Michael Shields was today (Monday, January 22) sentenced to a term of 18 years’ imprisonment for what a judge described as, “a multiplicity” of, “extremely serious offending.”

The 28-year-old defendant was initially charged with three counts of rape, offences he denied at a plea hearing at Durham Crown Court, last March.

A trial in the case was fixed for October, but a further two rape offences were added to the charge sheet and the trial was put back to December.

Following a three-day hearing, in the week before Christmas, Shields, of South View, Evenwood, was convicted on all five counts and remanded in custody pending sentence.

Claire Anderson, prosecuting, read an impact statement to the sentencing hearing provided for the court by the victim’s mother.

She said her daughter found the whole ordeal traumatic, causing her mental health difficulties, for which she has sought help from a specialist agency.

It has led to her daughter being in “a low mood”, missing a lot of schooling and becoming “increasingly distressed”, leading to behavioural issues.

She is now said to also have trust issues with men.

The court heard it had left her mother feeling as if the life of her once “happy little girl” was “in ruins”.

Miss Anderson said the defendant has four convictions for four offences, but all were of a dissimilar nature.

She added that an aggravating feature of the offences was Shields having told the victim not to say anything about his actions or she would get into trouble.

Derek Duffy, representing Shields, told the court: ”There’s very little that can be said on his behalf.

“He does not accept that this has taken place.”

Judge James Adkin told Shields: “You were convicted on abundant evidence of a number of offences.

“You used her (the victim) for your own sexual gratification.”

Judge Adkin said there has been some “significant impact” on the “vulnerable victim”.

He told Shields: “There was a multiplicity of offences all aggravating the criminality.

“It’s extremely serious offending.”

Imposing the 18-year sentence Judge Adkin told the defendant he must serve at least two-thirds before he will be eligible for release on parole.

He made Shields subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and registration as a sex offender, both to run for life.

A restraining order also prohibits him from contacting or approaching the victim, also for life.

Description

A convicted sex offender is back behind bars after repeatedly breaching the terms of his court order.

Colin Luke harassed and stalked people living and working in Langley Park over a four-week period in October last year.

The 69-year-old exposed his genitals to shoppers at the village’s Premier Store on one occasion, and then repeatedly harassed staff at the Co-op store and a hair salon.

He visited both businesses an excessive number of times, commenting on the appearance of staff members and invading their personal space.

He also talked to several children in the village and visited a children’s play park, which breached the terms of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) prohibiting him from having any contact with children.

Luke had only just been released from prison when the offences occurred, after serving a sentence for the abduction and sexual assault of a schoolgirl in Bowburn in 2014.

Officers from Durham Constabulary’s Public Protection Unit launched an investigation and Luke was quickly arrested.

He was later charged with six offences, including exposure, stalking, harassment, and breaching a SHPO, which he admitted.

He appeared at Durham Crown Court today (January 10) where he was jailed for two years and four months.

Description

A dangerous sex offender who targeted young and vulnerable victims is tonight starting a lengthy term behind bars.

‘Predatory’ Neville Jones, of Pearson Street, Spennymoor, was found guilty by a jury last month of 17 sexual offences including one rape, and several counts of sexual assault on a child under 13.

A judge described the impact of one of the 40-year-old’s crimes as having “arguably the most significant impact that I have ever seen” on the victim.

His victims, three girls and one boy who cannot be named, were all under sixteen when he committed his crimes.

Two were aged under ten when he sexually assaulted them.

One of his brave victims said in a statement read to Durham Crown Court on Friday (December 1): “As I grew up and got older, I realised what he had done to me as a child.

“I trusted him. He groomed me.

“I have no trust in men anymore – they are only interested in one thing. Neville Jones used me for that.

“This had a big effect on me because that I trusted people even less.

“I didn’t have many friends growing up and I think that’s why he targeted me.”

Jones’ first crimes date back 20 years and a court heard he had continued to offend since.

Prosecutor Mr Robin Turton read out the personal impact statement of another of his victims, which said: “He was telling me how great I was and how he would look after me.

“I have gone through lots of different types of therapy.

“I was scared to leave the house. Trying to live a normal, successful, and productive life has been impossible.

“He left me frightened and feeling flat.

“I feel that he got off lightly. He was out there living his life.”

The court heard Jones is now a father himself, although he has no relationship with his child.

Appearing via video link from prison he spoke only to confirm his name.

Sentencing him, Judge James Adkin described Jones as “predatory” and “scheming”, and said he presents a “high risk of harm to children”.

“What you did to those children hasn’t only ruined their lives, you have left a trail of misery for the parents of your victims in your wake,” he said.

“I have taken into account how you targeted the vulnerable, how you caused immense harm.”

The judge determined he is a ‘dangerous offender’ and handed him an extended determinate sentence of 38 years.

He will serve at least 22 years before a parole board will determine whether he can be released.

Description

A sadistic rapist has been jailed after carrying out a horrific raft of sexual offences inflicted upon a vulnerable woman.

Richard Morland recorded more than ten hours of his sexual abuse on a number of digital devices over a protracted period of time.

A judge told the defendant that his sickening offending was some of the worst she had ever witnessed after watching some of the disturbing video footage.

The depraved 47-year-old also broke into the home of another woman in the early hours of New Year’s Day and spent six hours hiding inside waiting for her to return but eventually left after stealing several pairs of worn-underwear.

Morland was captured on ring doorbell footage when his victim returned home to find her patio doors smashed open.

When police arrested the defendant, they carried out a search of his Shildon property and recovered a length of rope, a roll of tape and several pairs of unwashed underwear stuffed in a drawer, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Judge Jo Kidd branded Morland a dangerous offender as she passed a 27-year sentence for the horrific sexual abuse he inflicted on his victim.

“He repeatedly raped her and that is aggravated significantly by the fact he recorded those crimes,” she said.

“I had the opportunity of watching a short excerpt of the particular rapes set out in the charges, they make for the most disturbing viewing.

“What is clear is that his behaviour towards his victim was punctuated by physical force against the background of her screaming, crying, and trying to push him off. She was repeatedly telling him how much he was hurting her.

“One final image shows her cowering against a wall, a broken victim. He would also tell her he was going to tie her up and used that threat to terrorise her.

“This is one of the most perverted, sadistic, expressions of violence towards a woman that I have ever seen.”

Morland, of Shildon, pleaded guilty to several rapes on the same victim, and trespass with intent to commit a sexual act when he broke into the house in Newton Aycliffe.

Robert Woodcock, prosecuting, said the defendant’s abuse was ‘bullying, sadistic, and misogynistic’ when he outlined the catalogue of offences, which occurred over a protracted period of time, including repeatedly raping the woman.

He said that Morland used his victim’s past suffering against her in an attempt to force her to engage in sexual activities.

Dealing with the second victim, he said Morland had superimposed her face onto video footage of him raping and sexually abusing his first victim.

Mr Woodcock said the defendant's behaviour in the property had left her feeling scared and unable to relax in her own home.

Syam Soni, mitigating, said his client regrets the impact that his offending had on the two victims.

Morland was told he would serve 22-years in prison before being released on a five-year extended licence period.

He was also made subject of an indefinite order to sign on the sex offenders’ register.

Description

A man already serving a long prison sentence for sexual violence, has received a further jail term of 11 years for multiple rapes on another woman.

Mark Newton received a 14-year and three-month sentence, with five years’ extended licence period, after being branded as, “posing a high risk of causing serious harm to women”, by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court, in March, 2021, for subjecting two victims to sexual and physical violence.

He was back before the crown court, this time at Durham, today (Friday November 24), to be sentenced after admitting four further counts of rape, one of attempted rape and two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm weeks before a scheduled trial for the offences.

The court heard the now 32-year-old defendant, previously of South View Gardens, in Annfield Plain, near Stanley, has an earliest possible release date for his previous offences in January 2030.

But he may have to serve until October 2034 before being eligible for release on parole, before now starting his sentence for the latest offences before the court.

His offending with the victim in this case happened during the period of him committing the offences for which he has already been convicted, but did not come to light until after he was taken into custody.

Dr Chris Wood said the rapes were accompanied in some cases by physical violence, in one case placing his hands tightly around his victim’s neck and telling her: “I hope you have said goodbye to the kids”.

It caused her to black out, but when she came around Newton dragged her to a bedroom and tried to rape her, but she struggled and attempted to climb out of a window to escape.

She repeatedly told him she did not want sex, but he told her: “You’ll do what I say. You’ll live by my rules.”

It was only after Newton was taken into custody for the other offences that the victim came forward and gave a detailed account of the abuse she suffered.

Dr Wood said she was left “mentally and physically traumatised” by her experiences and now does not go out or have a social life.

She described herself as, “always looking over my shoulder” and struggles to sleep, often suffering panic attacks, and is trying to work through her problems with therapy.

Dr Wood said when interviewed, Newton was, “effectively in denial”.

David Callan, in mitigation, said once medical reports confirmed the defendant was fit to plead, he made his admissions, several weeks before the scheduled trial.

He said Newton suffers with adhd, even as an adult, for which he receives medication.

Mr Callan said since his client was transferred from HMP Northumberland to Durham Prison he now has, “a positive attitude” to seeing out his sentence.

“He’s taking it on a day at a time basis and just wants to get his head down and await going before the Parole Board.”

Judge James Adkin said he has no doubt that the defendant fits the criteria of being, “a dangerous offender”, posing a highly significant risk of committing further serious offences, particularly with women.

He told Newton: “You have now shown yourself capable of serious sexual offences against three women.”

Imposing an 11-year prison sentence with three years’ extended licence period, the judge said it should run consecutively with the defendant’s existing sentence.

He will have to serve at least two-thirds of the 11-year sentence before being eligible for release by the Parole Board.

Description

A predator who arranged to meet an underage teen for sex has now been sentenced – after a joint North East police investigation.

Joseph Lee, 46, is now behind bars after he travelled to Framwellgate Moor to meet a 15-year-old girl he arranged to have sex with online.

However, what he didn’t know was that officers from the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU) and Durham Constabulary would be waiting to arrest him instead.

NEROCU detectives worked alongside officers from Durham Constabulary’s Online Child Abuse Investigator Team, to carry out their operation on April 26 last year, and thanks to their partnership working Lee is now no longer a danger to children.

When interviewed Lee, of Drum Lane, Chester-le-Street, offered no explanation of why he did what he did and offered no guilty plea.

However, due to the extensive evidence file compiled by officers, a Jury found Lee guilty of Arranging/Facilitating the Commission of a Child Sex Offence earlier this year on October 27 at Durham Crown Court.

Today (Monday), he appeared at the same court and was sentenced to four years imprisonment, a ten year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be placed on the Sex Offender Register indefinitely.