Latest Offenders Durham

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A County Durham paedophile plied children with cannabis and infected a 10-year-old with a sexually transmitted disease following an assault.

Dale Edwards forced children to consume cannabis on a regular basis before going on to infect one with an STI. The 29-year-old made threats to the children so that they would not tell anyone about what he was doing, but he was finally caught when a parent became aware.

Edwards, of Wheatley Hill, County Durham, denied sexually assaulting the child but eventually pleaded guilty to the charge two days into his trial at Durham Crown Court. He appeared back at the court on Friday, via link from HMP Durham, to be sentenced for sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 and three counts of child cruelty.

Paul Cleasby, prosecuting, said the offences were committed during the first covid lockdown in 2020. He told the court that the offences involving the cannabis came to light when a child "disclosed" to a parent that Edwards had made them "eat and drink" the drug in a park, and warned them not to tell anyone.

The police then became involved and the children were spoken to by officers, where they explained what had happened. But days later, one of the children, a 10-year-old, told their parent that Edwards had also sexually assaulted them. Specialist police officers then interviewed the child. Mr Cleasby told the court that tests on the child also revealed they had been infected with chlamydia and Edwards was arrested.

The court heard Edwards had 16 previous convictions for 35 offences, including theft, criminal damage, robbery, and attempted burglary. He had no previous convictions for sexual offending.

Chris Baker, defending, said: "Since 2011, other than two relatively minor matters, he has avoided acting in a criminal way. This will be his first substantial custodial sentence. He does have some issues with mental health and he believes he has bi-polar issues. He is, to some extent, vulnerable and self-harms. His arms are heavily marked as a result of this." Mr Baker added: "He wishes to ensure that nothing like this happens again and apologises to the complainants."

Sentencing Edwards, Recorder Thomas Moran, said: "You engaged in extraordinary behaviour by making children consume cannabis, either by smoking, eating it, or blowing it in their face. It happened over a period of a few weeks." Speaking of the child Edwards sexually assaulted, the recorder added: "The child was medically examined and it was found they had the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia, which added to the distress."

Edwards was jailed for 10 years and six months, with an extended licence period of 12 months. He will be on the sex offender's register for life and was made subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. An indefinite restraining order was also imposed.

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A MAN who made his now ex-partner suffer from two years' of his bullying and angry outbursts during their relationship is now behind bars.

Christopher Barfe was given a 32-month prison sentence for his violent and controlling behaviour with his former partner.

But he also received a further, consecutive sentence of two years for sexual offences committed in drink against an underage girl in a separate case.

The 33-year-old defendant, of South Street, Sherburn Village, who admitted some of the offences, but who denied and was convicted of the sex matters after a trial earlier this year, received the total sentence of 56-months at Durham Crown Court, after victim statements were read to the hearing.

Jane Waugh, prosecuting, described Barfes controlling behaviour during the relationship as, persistent, over a prolonged period, with the use of multiple methods and a fear of violence on many occasions, causing significant psychological harm.

His assaults on the fearful woman included hair pulling, kicking and strangulation, and led to the victim moving house to escape the trauma, suffering flashbacks from the ordeal.

He would regularly check her phone, accusing her of infidelity, and he even set up a fake alias account to check her online activity.

When a male associate made a comment saying he liked a picture of her on her Instagram page, Barfe went into a rage, calling her poison, and, the worst woman I ever met.

He put his hands to her throat, choked her until she fell to the floor crying in pain, while on another occasion Barfe took out a gun he owned and she feared she would be shot, while he also told her he would, chop her up.

Among her injuries were a blackened eye and cuts about the head.

Miss Waugh said the offences with the girl involved inappropriate kissing and performing a sex act in her presence.

Barfe denied all the offences at his initial crown court hearing, but subsequently admitted three charges of assault against his ex-partner and on the day of trial, a further count of controlling and coercive behaviour in a relationship.

But he was convicted after a three-day trial of two counts of sexual assault and one of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Brian Russell, for Barfe, said he was only lightly previously convicted and, since being remanded in custody, after the trial verdicts in January, has acknowledged the offences committed against the girl.

He does genuinely appear to have acknowledged the harm he has done, unlike most defendants who wallow in denial.

Mr Russell added that much of the defendants offending was against a background of, his unhealthy relationship with alcohol.

Jailing him, Judge Ray Singh told Barfe: You were, Im afraid to say, a bully.

He made him subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order forbidding unsupervised contact with underage girls, as well as notification as a sex offender, both for ten years.

Retraining orders also prohibit him from contacting or approaching either victim, also for ten years.

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A Guisborough man who has lost parts of his brain in a head injury has been sent to jail after breaching a court order.

Darren Drury, 59, was handed a sexual harm prevention order by a judge in 2017, after he admitted making indecent images of children.

But Teesside Crown Court has heard that Drury, 59, broke the order when he was found to have an Amazon account and a Vanquis financial account, that he failed to tell police about.

Prosecutor Jenny Haigh said that Drury had also deleted items from his computer, which is against the terms of his court order; as well as using an online alias "GoodshotMcGraw"

Ms Haigh told the court that offender managers have visited Drury 24 times, and have discussed the terms of his sexual harm prevention order with him, so he must have known what online activity he was not allowed to carry out.

Drury, of of Aislaby Court, Guisborough, pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual harm prevention order and to three counts of failing to comply with notification requirements, at earlier hearings.

Defence barrister Christine Egerton told the court that her client said he had set up the "GoodshotMcGraw" alias years back, for an online poker site; and that he thought police could retrieve items he deleted on his computer from the recycling bin.

Ms Egerton said that Drury had suffered a significant head injury in 2009 and she told the judge that if he looked at Drury's right side he would see "he does not have parts of his skull, he has a metal plate there. He has lots parts of his brain and his cognitive function. He has a brain injury".

But Judge Howard Crowson told Drury he had read his probation report, which found he had a "dismissive attitude" towards the need to comply with orders. The court heard that Drury could be "argumentative" on occasion.

Pointing to his history of breaching court orders, the judge jailed Drury for 12 months, telling him "Let's hope you make it a new resolution to take these orders more seriously in the future".

Description

Today Shannon Anderson age 24 from Seaham appeared at court for sentencing with regards to her guilty plea of sexual activity with a child where she received :

- 2 years imprisonment suspended for 2 years

- 10 years sex offenders register

- No un-supervised contact with any male under 16

Shannon has been given custody of her 1 year old child she already has and will keep the child she is pregnant with at the moment which is due in 7 weeks.

Shannon must inform her family members of her conviction if she wants to see them and they have male children under 16.

Description

A MAN with a previous conviction for sexually communicating with underage girls, briefly lapsed back to his former ways after making contact with what he was told was a 12-year-old female.

Durham Crown Court heard that Darren Thompson had not gone looking to communicate with an underage girl when he accessed an adult internet chat site on his mobile phone on January 13.

But having engaged in chat with someone describing herself as, Bored 18-year-old Tyne and Wear, the user informed him she was a 12-year-old.

Uzma Khan, prosecuting, said, unknown to Thompson, he was actually chatting to an undercover police officer.

He quickly moved the messaging onto snapchat and was sent an image portraying a 12-year-old girl, but he responded by sending intimate images of himself, one after having apparently performed a sex act.

Miss Khan said within days of the chat it was found Thompson had deleted the account, in breach of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), imposed after he received a suspended prison sentence for his previous offending, at Durham Crown Court in 2016.

The terms of the order prohibited him from deleting his internet history.

Thompson was arrested and interviewed, and made admissions over his online activity, at a time when he said he was, feeling low.

Miss Khan said Thompson told police he just wanted to communicate with anyone, and, it could have been a child, or anyone, but he accepted he continued even when told of the supposed age of the girl he believed he was chatting to, on January 13.

He told police he regretted it and told them he wanted counselling to address his sexual attraction to children.

The 36-year-old defendant, of Dorset Crescent, Moorside, Consett, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and breaching a SHPO.

Chris Morrison, in mitigation, said Thompson was using an open forum and his intention was, not to target a minor.

Having become clear he was chatting with what he thought was a 12-year-old he felt deeply ashamed and deleted the conversation and the material on his phone before police, got in touch.

There was no attempt to cover any of his other internet activity.

Mr Morrison said, on any objective view, this was a victimless crime, which could not be considered, persistent.

He added: It was an aberration, a foolish and self-destructive act.

Imposing a 14-month prison sentence, Judge James Adkin told Thompson: The problem is you seem unable to prevent yourself from behaving in this way.

The existing SHPO will remain in place, but Thompson is now subject to registration as a sex offender for life.

Description

THE fall from grace of an ex-Radio 1 presenter is now complete as he is jailed for 12 years for grotesque child sex offences.

Mark Page paid money to sexually exploit vulnerable Filipino children for his own depraved sexual gratification.

The 63-year-old pervert even haggled over the price when he was arranging to have sex with a teenage boy and a 12-year-old girl.

Teesside Crown Court heard how he signed up to an online dating agency, Filipino Cupid, before engaging in sexually explicit conversations with a young girl and offering to pay them to perform sex acts.

Page then travelled to the Philippines with the intention of fulfilling his sexual fantasies of sexual abusing young girls and a teenage boy.

Judge Paul Watson QC told the defendant that he was a serial sexual offender over a three-year period.

He said: The offence for which you have been convicted involve the grotesque sexual abuse of young children for your own sexual gratification.

You took advantage of their poverty and deprivation in an under-developed country where children are routinely forces through deprivation into acts of prostitution.

Your sole purpose was to engage children, as young as 12, in vile sexual activity to satisfy your perverted appetites.

"It did not matter to you that you were robbing them of the innocence of their childhoods, it did not matter to you what long-term trauma and emotional damage you were leading them to.

"You obviously delighted in their humiliation and the satisfaction of your own corrupt sexual desires. This was, in my view, the very embodiment of depravity and only a substantial custodial sentence can be justified.

The judge told Page that if his offences had occurred in this country he would have been facing charges of rape where sexual activity took place.

The defendant was found guilty of four charges of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence between August 2016, and April 2019. He was cleared of a fifth charge.

Hiding behind his charity work and radio businesses, Page made regular visits to the Far East but also took full advantage of Skype calls to fulfil his depraved sexual behaviour by paying children to perform sex acts online.

He used a number of aliases to set up dating website profiles and Skype accounts in an attempt to mask his true identity, the jurors heard during the trial.

Page shared a number of messages with a woman called LovelyZamora7 while he was making arrangements for children to be sent to his hotel when he travelled to the Philippines.

In a series of explicit messages before his arrival and after he stayed at a hotel in the Makati area, Page asked the girl to arrange for him to have sex with a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy.

Jo Kidd, prosecuting, said payments made from Pages credit card showed the cash had been sent to an account based in the Philippines.

Records from Western Union showed how Page made 164 payments to individuals in the Far East, including Thailand and Philippines, over a number of years.

The jury heard there was a number of messages between Page and the girl where they are discussing how much it would cost to meet up.

Several hours later, there was another message from Page simply saying thanks babe.

Throughout the trial Page, of Snowdrop Close, Stockton, maintained that his online accounts had been hacked as someone tried to frame him for the sex crimes.

He was also made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Description

A dangerous sex offender who targets children is campaigning to be chemically castrated, a court was told when he was sentenced to ten years

Ashley Colville, 31, formerly from Peterlee, has briefed his defence team to push the Prison Service to speed up his castration using drugs.

He was previously top of of the list, his defence barrister Shada Mellor told Teesside Crown Court.

Colville has five convictions for 17 offences relating to child sex and breaches of court orders.

Prosecutor Tom Mitchell said that a woman police officer monitoring his behaviour after his release from prison found that he had an illegal mobile phone from which 350 messages had been deleted.

Technical experts discovered that he had been in touch with a person claiming to be the mother of a girl who she sexually abused as they messaged.

Police were unable to trace the named woman despite a nationwide hunt, said Mr Mitchell.

Judge Jonathan Carroll dismissed Colvilles claim that it was a fantasy, saying that he was convinced that Colville believed that he was in touch with a like-minded woman who was sexually abusing her child.

Miss Mellor said that Colville, who appeared over a videolink from Durham Prison, had been in custody for 27 months after having been re-called for breaching his licence which would not count towards his new sentence.

She added:He is willing to engage in chemical castration.

He says that is because he does not want to spend the remainder of his life in and out of prison.

He is fighting for this assistance. He asked those instructing me to campaign on his behalf to find out which prisons are able to offer him the medication.

He was top of the list but for various reasons including the epidemic he ceased to be so.

The judge told him: In my judgment you believed that you were talking to an adult female and that she had a a female child and that she was engaging in sexual abusing that child

Over a number of hours you engaged in quite repugnant conversations with her , a form of conversation that is shocking to any right-minded person.

In September 2010 Colville pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of a 16 year old girl in a shop, and in January 2014 he pleaded guilty to 11 offences of possessing indecent photographs of children

In April 2015 he pleaded guilty to breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order when he had a phone which he had not declared. He was jailed for five years for inciting a girl for sex

He was jailed for 54 months in July 2018 for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order by attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child

In November 2020 a woman with four children including a 14 year old girl received a Friendship request from him on Facebook. The police officer visited his home on 16 November 2020

Colville, formerly of Cotswold place, Peterlee and later the Nelson Street Bail Hostel in South Bank, Middlesbrough, was sentenced to 10 years with six years custody and four years on extended licence after he pleaded guilty to two breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was convicted of arranging or facilitating a child sex offence

The SHPO will last for life and he must register as a sex offender for for life

Description

A former Countdown contestant who encouraged the abuse of a child in the US has been jailed for 12 years.

Craig Chittenden, 33, of Willington, County Durham, persuaded a woman to abuse her daughter as he watched.

He was caught after arranging a visit online to abuse a child in the UK, but was snared by an undercover officer. When police visited his home, they found almost 1,000 indecent images.

At Durham Crown Court, he admitted seven sex offences.

Chittenden, of Hall Lane Estate, appeared on the Channel 4 show as a 22-year-old student in 2010, and enjoyed a winning streak before he was beaten in the semi-final.

'Emotionless and detached'

Police in Durham were alerted by FBI special agents in Dallas, Texas, that he had been exchanging messages with a suspect who had been abusing her child while he watched. She has also been jailed.

Chittenden pleaded guilty to a charge of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sexual offence, inciting the sexual exploitation of girl under 13, possessing extreme pornography, distributing indecent photographs and three counts of making indecent photographs.

Prosecutor Jane Waugh said Chittenden shared 24 indecent images of children during a conversation with another paedophile in February 2020, where he discussed the kidnapping, rape and murder of a young child.

She said when arrested and interviewed by detectives, he dismissed the discussions as "fantasy and escapism".

'Fallen down a rabbit hole'

The court heard that when police visited his home they found almost 1,000 abuse images and over four hours of video footage, as well as extreme animal pornography.

Multiple devices were seized and examined which revealed Chittenden had been making contact with paedophiles in the US and inciting sexual acts on young children.

Chittenden described a planned visit to the south of England to abuse a child as a "fantasy" and that he had "fallen down a rabbit hole" into new areas of abuse.

Sentencing, Judge Ray Singh said Chittenden had "remained emotionless and detached".

"There was a clear interest in sadistic torture, extreme violence and sexual offences towards children," he said.

"In my view you are a dangerous offender."

Det Con Georgina Lewis from Durham Police said: "Chittenden is a sexual predator who tried to hide his crimes online and encourage like-minded individuals in the USA to carry out sex acts on children.

"This was a complex investigation but thanks to the collaborative investigative efforts between Texas police and ourselves he was left with no option but to plead guilty."

Description

A perverted sports masseur who sexually assaulted female clients after asking them to strip naked has been jailed.

Steven Goss groped the women during treatments at his sports massage business, which he ran for six years in County Durham.

The 54-year-old had already been jailed for 21 months for the same type of offending, but was hauled in front of a judge once again after more victims came forward.

Goss, of Mount Pleasant, Dipton, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for seven counts of sexual assault.

The offences were committed between 2014 and 2017.

The court heard Goss ran a sports massage business and would carry out sexual assaults on lone female clients, sometimes when his wife was also working at the premises.

He would "lock the door" when massaging the women and would ask some to be "fully naked" or "semi-naked" during the treatment.

The court heard Goss sexually assaulted one woman during a two-hour long massage, despite her only expecting an hour-long treatment.

Goss made "inappropriate sexual comments" to another woman before sexually assaulting her as he was "wrapping towels" around her.

Another victim made a number of trips to see Goss for massages, and said she was sexually assaulted during "75% of her visits to him".

The court heard that victims were left "embarrassed", with one woman "regretting not reporting it sooner".

Another had become "withdrawn".

One victim read out a statement in court where she said she had "supressed what had happened" and was left feeling "worthless".

She said she thought she would "never be believed" and that her recovery will be a "long journey".

Tony Davis, defending, said Goss had a "distinguished career in the Armed Forces", but has now "lost his reputation and livelihood".

He said he will "forever carry the stigma" of being a sex offender and can no longer work in the sports therapy industry.

Mr Davis added that over the six years of working as a masseur, Goss had massaged around 5,000 people, a "great many" of which "spoke of no inappropriate behaviour".

Sentencing Goss, Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, said he had committed "serious sexual offending".

Goss was jailed for four years and will be on the sex offenders' register for life.

A lifelong sexual harm prevention order was also made as well as a lifelong restraining order.

Description

A County Durham paedophile who branded himself a "proper perv" has been caged for making and distributing child abuse images.

Lee Aston was found in possession of sickening indecent images when police went to his home on September 15, 2020.

The 40-year-old had vile images and videos stored on a mobile phone and committed the offences between October 2018 and September 2020.

Aston appeared at Durham Crown Court on Tuesday to be sentenced for charges of making and distributing indecent images.

The court heard that police went to his home and seized a Sony mobile phone, which was later found to contain child abuse images and videos.

Aston had 11 images and 56 videos in category A, 49 images and nine videos in category C, and 13 images and 10 videos in category B.

Aston, who had no previous convictions, had also distributed some images and videos to other paedophiles via the Telegram app.

The court heard that conversations were also discovered, where Aston had branded himself a "proper perv".

When arrested, he admitted what he'd done and said he would access the material at home and that some depicted children between the ages of "four and five-years-old".

He also admitted sending abuse images via social media and said what he was doing made him "feel sick".

John Nixon, mitigating, said Aston, of Rowan Court, Spennymoor, had offered an "early guilty plea" and had shown "remorse and regret".

He said when young, Aston's parents had both died and he now suffered from depression and had alcohol issues.

Mr Nixon added that Aston was at a "low risk" of reoffending and had "worked all his life".

Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, jailed Aston for 18 months and made him subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

He will also be on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

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A SEX offender taken in by a woman to give him a chance on release from prison, tried to entice her daughter to snuggle in with him on the sofa on the first night, a court heard.

Joshua Bate, who is now said to identify as a female, Lily, was jailed for seven years in 2015 for rape of a young woman after entering her flat and removing her clothing.

Durham Crown Court heard that after release on licence, Bate sexually assaulted a school girl on a bus and was jailed for a further six months, in 2020, while also having to serve the full remainder of the original seven-year sentence.

Chris Baker, prosecuting, said Bate was released from prison in the Midlands on New Years Eve and after joining a Facebook group, was invited to stay at the home of a woman in County Durham, who thought he/she should be given a chance.

Having travelled by train northwards, Bate was met by her at Durham station and went to stay at her home, on January 3.

The plan was for Bate to sleep on the sofa and not to go upstairs, where her daughters were in their bedrooms.

Mr Baker said during the first night, the womans 12-year-old daughter went into her bedroom and showed her messages sent from a phone, registered as Lilys.

In them the girl was invited to creep downstairs and to snuggle in under the covers with Bate, where they could lie, face to face.

Bate also asked the girl: Do you mind if my hands wander and we kiss on the lips. Dont feel awkward. This is our secret

She was also told to only come downstairs if her sisters were asleep.

The girl replied that Bate was, being a paedo and blocked further messages.

Mr Baker told the court that on seeing the messages the girls mother got out of bed and contacted the police as well as confronting Bate, who was arrested.

When interviewed, Bate admitted having sent the messages and said they were sexually motivated.

Bate regretted it and said it would have been, limited to kissing and cuddling, but accepted posing a risk to children and being unable to control himself/herself, in the presence of children.

In her victim statement, the girls mother told the court she now regretted the snap decision to allow Bate to stay at her home, adding: He says he wishes to change sex and identity.

Hes a sex offender no matter what changes he makes.

I feel hes a danger to everybody, but particularly vulnerable people and younger girls.

Bate, 25, now care/of HMP Durham, admitted inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Peter Sabiston, mitigating, said the defendant has not sought to minimise the offending and, there was clearly immediate remorse when confronted.

It was a simple and short grooming incident, a short incitement.

Mr Sabiston said Bate, accepted there would have been some sexual contact, but certainly not serious and penetrative activity.

Judge Ray Singh said he considers Bate poses a significant risk of serious offending and, therefore, passed an extended 40-month prison sentence, to protect the public.

It means Bate must serve two-thirds of the sentence before being eligible to apply for parole and may have to serve the entire 40-months.

On release, Bate will be subject to five years extended licence period.

Bate was made subject of a lifetime restraining order relating to the girl, plus indefinite registration as a sex offender, while also being subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, again indefinitely.

Description

A PREDATORY sex offender lured an underage girl into his home before raping her, a court was told.

Robert Anthony Ryan, who was on bail for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at the time, met the rape victim at a bus stop before using a pretext of seeking her assistance to persuade her to go with him to his nearby home.

Durham Crown Court heard that once inside the attack took place, despite the girls protests and telling him how old she was.

Robin Patton, prosecuting, said following the attack, Ryan told the shaken girl not to say anything about it, and escorted her back to the bus stop, where she was physically sick.

Despite informing a family member of the incident three years later, the victim did not report it to police for several years, and only after she had begun counselling due to the anxiety she still suffered long after the attack.

Mr Patton said when arrested in 2020, Ryan said the girl willingly had sex with him, and maintained that lie through the court process until the day of his trial, shortly before Christmas.

It was only then that the now 42-year-old defendant, of Lawson Street, Trimdon Colliery, admitted the rape.

The court heard he has other sex offences on his record from 2009 and 2016.

Sentence was adjourned until yesterday to allow for preparation of a background report on Ryan by the Probation Service.

His sentencing hearing was told of the long-term effect the incident has had on the victim, who moved away from the North East when she reached 16, as a result.

Her victim statement outlined the mistrust she now has in other people, generally, but with men, in particular, and the anxiety she has suffered since.

The court heard the probation report classes Ryan as posing a significant risk to the public, generally, but specifically to young females.

Robert Mochrie, for Ryan, said two of his past offences were committed close in time to each other and indicate, there was something going on in his life when these events occurred, but with nothing of this nature in recent years.

But Judge James Adkin said he considers Ryan as being a dangerous offender, particularly to younger females.

Theres a pattern of targeting children for sex and the author of the report points to him behaving in an unpredictable, uncontrolled, predatory way.

Judge Adkin imposed a prison sentence of eight years and one month, of which Ryan must serve at least two-thirds before being eligible to be considered for release by the Parole Board, but he may have to serve the full term behind bars.

On release he will then be subject to four years extended licence period.

He was also made subject of lifetime conditions of both a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and notification requirements as a sex offender.

A lifetime restraining order also prohibits contact with the rape victim.

Description

Detectives hunting on the run rapist Daniel Hassan were able to pinpoint his exact whereabouts when he placed his fast food order.

Northumbria Police detectives tracked down a wanted rapist after he ordered a 19 kebab from Just Eat.

Sexual predator, Daniel Hassan, met his victim on an online dating site and arranged to meet for a date.

The pair met up but Hassan became violent when a comment from the victim sparked an unexpected reaction.

Hassan, 43, repeatedly punched and kicked his victim to the head and body before raping her.

Despite her cries for help, he attacked her again causing more injuries to her face and chest and a laceration to her head.

Hassan left the address as the victim reported him to police and an investigation was launched by the Northumbria Police Safeguarding unit.

The victim could only identify the man as 'Danny' and that he was originally from Manchester but that proved enough for the specialist investigators to track him down.

Despite deleting his dating profile, officers were still able to recover a photo of the suspect and using state-of-the-art technology, the image was a match for Hassan and was believed to be located in the village of Hauxley, County Durham.

There was not a precise location of his whereabouts at that time but it was the moment Hassan ordered a takeaway through Just Eat, that officers were able to pinpoint his exact location and arrest him on suspicion of rape and assault.

During the interview he denied committing any offences and refused to answer any further questions but he was subsequently charged with two counts of assault and one count of rape.

Hassan was remanded in custody and a trial was set for January 17, at Newcastle Crown Court.

However with continued enquiries carried out by the team, Hassan was presented with irrefutable evidence and pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial.

Leading the investigation was Detective Constable Dayna McNally who has praised the victim for her bravery and hopes the outcome gives a strong reassuring message that we will find those committing violent sexual crimes and put them before the courts.

DC McNally said: "I can't imagine how much of a traumatic experience this has been for the victim and she absolutely did the right thing reporting it to police.

"Even with the limited information we knew about Hassan, we have been able to track him down and provide strong evidence of his crimes to the point he has been unable to deny it any more.

"All the victim wanted was to find someone to connect with but this was the vile man she was faced with.

"But now, women are safe from Hassan as he remains in custody awaiting sentence and will no longer be a risk to those looking for companionship."

Hassan of Hessewelle Crescent, Haswell, County Durham has been remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on March 11.

Description

An online sexual predator who tried to groom a fake 14-year-old girl and sent her a disgusting explicit video of himself was trapped by a paedophile hunters group.

Brazen and perverted Lee Mouland was "undeterred" when the decoy girl told him that she was aged just 14.

He told her that she was "hot" and he wanted to "kiss and cuddle" her even though they had not even met, Hull Crown Court heard.

He encouraged her to commit sex acts and told her: "You might enjoy it. You will grow to love it, trust me."

Mouland, 32, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause a child to watch a sex video and attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity, in Goole.

Amber Hobson, prosecuting, said that a paedophile hunter group set up a decoy account using the name of a teenage girl.

Mouland contacted the fake girl between November 26 and December 6, 2020 and contact progressed to WhatsApp at his request because he was speaking about pictures.

Telephone details were provided. The fake girl told Mouland that she was 14 but he was "undeterred" by this.

"The conversation very quickly progressed to this defendant saying that he would like to kiss and cuddle the child," said Miss Hobson.

Mouland told the decoy girl that she was "hot" and that he wanted to travel to Scotland to see her.

He sent a video to her of him committing a sex act and he encouraged her to do so too.

He told her: "You should try it. You might enjoy it. You will grow to love it, trust me.

"Try it tonight. You will be amazed how nice it feels."

Mouland was later arrested.

"This defendant, in messages, clearly displayed grooming behaviour," said Miss Hobson.

"There is a significant disparity in age here."

Richard Butters, mitigating, said that Mouland had previous convictions but nothing of this sort.

He cooperated with police from the moment that he was arrested.

"There is no suggestion that he had any intention to meet," said Mr Butters.

"It was words only. He has loathing of his own behaviour. He even said to police that he knew her age.

"He was trying to make her lower her guard so that she would carry on speaking to him. He has expressed his remorse.

"How he got himself into this beggars belief. It's entirely out of character."

Father-of-two Mouland was "completely isolated" at the time after the death of his father and he was in a very bad relationship which was making him extremely unhappy.

"Around this time, he was going through the most dreadful time in his personal life," said Mr Butters.

"He was smoking far too much cannabis. He was going through a bad patch generally."

Mouland had confessed: "I'm pretty disgusted with myself."

His present girlfriend was heavily pregnant and was due to give birth next week.

"He is scared to death of an immediate custodial sentence," added Mr Butters.

Judge John Thackray QC told Mouland: "There was no victim because the child didn't exist but you didn't know that.

"As far as you were concerned, you were communicating and sending a video of yourself to a 14-year-old girl.

"The offences are obviously very serious. You were obviously very much older, in your 30s.

"You admit you were using grooming techniques. The most serious offence is you sending the video.

"The offences are so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified."

Mouland, of Chester-le-Street, County Durham, was jailed for eight months.

He was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Description

A SEX offender, who twice denied to police that he owned a mobile phone, had been accessing internet sites online, using aliases, in breach of a court order.

Steven Watson was made subject of prohibitions relating to his use of the internet as part of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), imposed for offences committed in 2011.

The order was replaced by the newly introduced Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), superseding SOPOs, in March 2015.

But Watson was back in court after being found to have breached the order and his notification requirements as a sex offender.

It followed an unannounced visit by police to Watson’s home in August 2020, when he claimed to have lost his mobile phone, after being asked to produce it for examination.

Durham Crown Court was told that more than seven weeks later he again told police he did not have a mobile phone, but claimed he planned to acquire one shortly afterwards.

Police phoned him by landline in October 2020, to inform him his annual registration as a sex offender was imminent.

But days later an anonymous caller told police Watson had met a woman in Upon his subsequent arrest he showed police a mobile phone which he claimed to have been in possession of, for only a matter of days,

That phone was examined and evidence of him making searches for pornography emerged.

Watson admitted he had been looking at teenage pornography, but claimed it was available on legally-permitted sites.

Prosecuting counsel Katie Spence said it transpired that Watson had used various aliases, in breach of the SHPO, in making online searches.

Watson finally confessed that he had owned a phone for much longer than he had previously told police.

He claimed that in accessing dating sites he sometimes forgot password information and so created new details.

The 39-year-old defendant, who has been living at a charity-run men’s hostel in Plawsworth, near Chester-le-Street, admitted doing acts in breach of the SHPO and failing to comply with the notification requirements as a sex offender.

Judge Ray Singh, who described them as, “persistent breaches”, imposed concurrent prison sentences of 32 months.

Watson will remain subject of the orders on release.