Latest Offenders Ipswich

Description

A man was jailed yesterday (Tuesday 18 March) for 19 years in connection with non-recent rape and sexual offences.

Barrie Clarke, aged 66, was brought to justice after his offending in North Hertfordshire from the late 1980s and early 1990s was exposed to police in 2023.

Clarke, of Artiss Close in Bildeston, Suffolk, was convicted on 15 January this year following a seven-day trial at Cambridge Crown Court.

The jury found him guilty of rape and eight counts of indecent assault against one victim, who was as young as eight at the time.

He was also convicted of indecently assaulting a second girl under the age of 15. He denied all the offences.

Description

A man caught trying to meet a teenage girl to engage in sexual activity has been jailed for nine years and six months.

Officers who arrested Giles Croucher, of Grove Lane, Ipswich, last June, found three white lace thongs, condoms and two phones in his car.

During his trial, Ipswich Crown Court heard how Croucher had claimed he was on his way to "catch out" and "confront" undercover police officers, who had been posing as a teenager online.

But a jury found him guilty in December 2024 of attempting to engage a child in sexual communication and attempting to cause or incite a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity.

During Croucher's trial, the jury heard how he had been in contact with an online account whose user was claiming to be a 14-year-old girl, but was actually an undercover police officer.

Croucher, who was 49 at the time of his arrest, was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday, placed on the sex offender's register indefinitely, and fined a £228 surcharge.

Description

A sex offender who attempted to groom three teenage boys has been jailed for three years.

John Paul Card, 76, admitted breaching a previous sexual harm prevention order on three separate occasions and approaching the boys to start “unsettling” conversations.

Ipswich Crown Court heard that Card was convicted of offences of sexual touching and sexual activity with a child in 2011 and had subsequently been made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order restricting his contact with boys under 18.

In February this year, Card approached a 16-year-old boy at the Old Cattle Market bus station in Ipswich and asked if he would mow his lawn.

John Card has been sentenced to three years in jail (Image: Suffolk Police)

He took down the phone number of the 16-year-old who agreed and Card later messaged him to say he would visit the boy at the pub he worked at, which unnerved the boy because he had never told him he worked at a pub.

Card messaged the boy on several occasions asking him to mow the lawn but after the boy Googled the sex offender’s name he contacted the police.

In 2023, Card pursued a 15-year-old boy who had spread leaflets about his fundraising plans for a school trip to Ecuador.

The leaflet only asked for a £1 donation to a GoFundMe page, but Card turned up at the boy’s address with £40 in cash.

The boy personally thanked him and Card later posted him a letter offering more money and said he would like to help him fundraise for other projects.

A victim impact statement from the boy’s mother was read out in court: “My son was subject to persistent pestering by Mr Card in what should have been a positive and rewarding endeavour.

“The harassment has taken a toll on his emotional wellbeing and the incident left him feeling unsettled and wary of future interactions with strangers.”

On top of this breach, which he was arrested and bailed for, he approached a 17-year-old boy at a bus stop in 2022 and sat “uncomfortably close” and left the boy concerned.

This boy also Googled the defendant's name then reported him and Card was arrested and bailed for this offence.

Judge Richard Kelly said during these conversations Card used subtle but calculated probes into boundaries and sexual preferences, which left the boys “shaken”.

He sentenced Card, of Jervis Close, Holbrook, to three years in prison.

Card was also given a suspended sentenced in 2020 for similar offences and this was partially activated concurrent to the three years.

Description

A man from Ipswich has been sentenced to 21 years imprisonment after being found guilty of a series of sexual offences.

David Miller, aged 44 and of Hervey Street in Ipswich, was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court today, Thursday 20 June, following a nine-day trial after he pleaded not guilty to all offences. A jury found him guilty unanimously on all counts on Friday 14 May.

Miller had denied 16 offences – these were two of rape, two of indecent assault, four of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, seven of sexual activity with a child, and one of sexual activity with a child but was convicted by the jury. All offences relate to three children and took place between December 2002 and December 2019.

Miller was first arrested in October 2020 and following detailed and thorough investigations he was charged in October 2022.

He targeted vulnerable adult women with a view to abuse their children, all of whom were boys.

Description

A dangerous, and predatory Ipswich man with a string of convictions for child sex offences has been jailed for 40 months after admitting sending a naked picture of himself to an undercover police officer posing as a 14-year-old boy.

Jailing 52-year-old Dean Carey, Judge Richard Kelly, described him as a dangerous offender with an entrenched pattern of predatory behaviour towards children.

Carey, of Foxhall Road, Ipswich, admitted attempted sexual communication with a child and attempted breach of a sexual harm prevention order.

In addition to being jailed he was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders' register.

The court heard that Careys previous convictions included making indecent images of children in 2016 and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

In 2020 he was jailed for four years with an extended licence period of six years for inciting a male under 16 to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication with a child and possessing indecent images of children.

The court heard he was released from custody in September last year, just four months before his latest offending. Following his arrest he was recalled to prison with a release date of 2029.

Ipswich Crown Court heard on Friday ( May 17) that Carey, formerly of Halstead, Essex, had made contact with an undercover police officer posing as a 14-year-old boy on Grindr earlier this year.

Carey had suggested moving their chat to WhatsApp and had then ended contact with the boy saying: I would if I could, but I cant. Sorry.

Several weeks later Carey had made contact with the undercover police officer posing as the boy again and the conversation had quickly turned sexual.

Carey had sent the boy a naked picture of himself and asked him to send him a picture of him in his underwear and school uniform.

He had also discussed meeting up with the boy, but no plans were made.

Description

A 55-year-old man from Ipswich has been jailed for the illegal filming or photographing of children and adults.

Ian Butcher, of Woodbridge Road East, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday, Monday 12 February, where he was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment.

He was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years, which places restrictions on his use of any computer or device capable of accessing the internet and the storing of digital images. He must notify police of any purchase of such devices and allow officers access to inspect any devices or storage immediately on request.

Butcher had pleaded guilty at a previous court hearing on Friday 6 October to the following four offences:

• one count of taking an indecent photograph of a child (namely taking six videos)
• one count of making an indecent photograph of a child (namely the possession of 16 indecent images)
• two counts of voyeurism (in both cases recording the private act of an adult)

The offences relate to eight separate victims, aged between 12-years-old and 32-years-old. Six are children and two are adults.

The incidents - which occurred over a period of 19 months - involved cases of children being filmed while getting undressed in a changing room; the possession of indecent images of children; and adults being filmed whilst showering.

The first incident was reported to Suffolk Police at the beginning of December 2022 by a teenage girl, who said she had been filmed by Butcher over the top of a cubicle in the changing rooms at a swimming pool a number of years earlier.

Detectives immediately began an investigation and Butcher was first arrested just over one month after this first disclosure, on 13 January 2023. Following his arrest, Butchers phone was seized and officers from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team were then able to analyse its contents.

A folder was found in the image gallery of his phone, which contained 11 videos, all of which were voyeuristic in nature and all but two appeared to have been filmed in changing cubicles at swimming pools. The remaining two appeared to have been filmed in a domestic setting.

There were also 20 screenshots, where the videos had been played and then a photo captured when nudity was visible. 16 of these were of children and four of an adult.

Eight victims were subsequently identified, but six remain unidentified. Of these at least three appeared to be children, with the others of an indeterminate age.

The court heard that Butcher had been a Scout leader at the time the offences had been committed, and he had been involved with the Scout Association for almost 40 years, reaching the level of Assistant District Commissioner. Some of the victims in these cases were children who were participating in scouting activities.

Detective Constable Santiago Nield, from the Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: Ian Butcher was a person in a position of trust and in the majority of the cases we identified, his offences involved a clear abuse of that trust.

The crimes we discovered took place over a period of almost two years, so his offending was persistent for a significant length of time. Although not all of the victims were children, the majority were and so he clearly had a sexual interest in juveniles.

I want to thank all the victims who have worked with us for their bravery, especially as the fact that they had been victims of this type of offence wouldve come as a complete surprise to them and a very disturbing one at that. They all had their privacy violated, but in the case of the children also their trust and part of their childhoods too.

I would also like to commend the bravery of the first girl who made contact with us, who was clearly crucial to his offending being uncovered. She hadnt felt able to come forward at the time the incident occurred, as she had been so shocked and didnt want to believe it had happened, but as she got older she became more confident in herself and her recollections.

I would also like to thank the Scout Association, who cooperated with our investigation from the outset and assisted us with whatever we required from them.

Hopefully this case demonstrates that we listen to and hear victims of these types of offences and will investigate allegations, taking swift action wherever possible.

Description

A sex offender from Ipswich who targeted teenagers as they walked home has been jailed for more than two decades – despite refusing to show up to his sentencing hearing.

At Ipswich Crown Court Today, Judge Emma Peters sentenced Adiley Pires, 25 of Kensington Road, in his absence, after a conviction on two counts of attempted rape, one count of sexual assault, and common assault.

Following a nine-day trial, Pires was found guilty on all counts on October 26.

The charges related to two separate incidents in 2021 and 2022.

During the first incident, which took place between 3.10am and 3.20am on October 17, 2021, Pires chased his victim – who was 18 at the time – into the courtyard of an apartment block in College Street.

The victim had been walking down the waterfront in the direction of Stoke Bridge, when Pires approached her, tried to make conversation, and touched her bottom.

It was after she told Pires to leave her alone that he proceeded to chase her.

Once in the courtyard, Pires pushed the victim into a flower planter and attempted to lift up her dress, the court was told.

She screamed as loud as she could and got the attention of residents, who shouted at Pires, before he ran away.

CCTV footage from Cardinal Park on the night of the incident showed him watching her as she left a nightclub, before following her to the waterfront.

The club put out an appeal, and he was arrested on October 23.

Detectives sought advice for charging him with attempted rape, but a review of evidence gathered at the time led to the Crown Prosecution Service determining that more was needed.

As a result, Pires was bailed, forced to surrender his passport, and ordered to adhere to a curfew.

It would also require him to present himself to any police officer attending his home address to conduct checks.

The second incident took place in Tower Mill Street at 11.40pm on December 8, 2022.

He approached a 17-year-old girl from behind after she entered a towpath on Yarmouth Road.

He then grabbed her and pulled her to the ground, before covering her mouth, and trying to get her leggings off.

The court heard how the victim tried to fight Pires off – eventually calling for help and getting the attention of nearby residents.

He then ran off.

After the attack, officers conducted a CCTV investigation, and Pires was flagged as a suspect due to the similarity to the 2021 incident.

He was also a positive match for being present in the relevant locations at the time of the attack.

Pires was arrested on December 15 and later charged.

For the 2021 incident, Pires stood accused of one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault; and one count of attempted rape and one count of assault by beating for the 2022 attack.

Pires admitted the charge of assault by beating but denied the three other offences.

Throughout his trial, he denied the attacks were sexually motivated.

The jury dismissed these claims and found him guilty of all charges.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with an extended licence of six years, for a total of 21 years, and was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

Detective Inspector James Cassedy, the senior investigating officer for the case, described Pires is a predator.

“He preyed on lone females who were simply trying to walk home after a night out and our streets are now undeniably safer with him locked up,” he said.

“In both cases, he tracked the victims’ movements and followed them to a point that he presumably thought was isolated enough for him to attack them.

“What he hadn’t accounted for was that both of these individuals would fight back and call for help. I want to pay tribute to their bravery – not just whilst being attacked, but in then sitting down and speaking with our officers afterwards and doing all they could to help us catch him.

“I also want to thank the members of the public who came to their assistance in both cases. Not only did they help to scare Pires off, they also took care of the victims and waited with them until the police arrived.

“Targeting perpetrators of sexual assault and violence against women and girls is a priority for Suffolk Constabulary – we will not tolerate it and will continue to do work tirelessly to bring offenders to justice.”

Description

A ‘callous and devious’ child abduction and sexual offences. from Ipswich who groomed and exploited a teenage girl has been jailed.

Jay Anderton, 20 of Foundation Street, appeared before Ipswich Crown Court yesterday (December 7) for sentencing.

At an earlier hearing, Anderton was convicted after pleading guilty to two counts of child abduction and two counts of sexual activity with a child.

The court heard how he had been grooming, manipulating and coercing a teenage girl into sexual activity since May 2023.

However, the victim being reported as missing on June 27 sent alarms ringing.

A search of the town’s waterfront resulted in officers finding Anderton – with his victim nearby.

Following the incident, Anderton was arrested and charged.

At his sentencing yesterday, Anderton was jailed for 46 months.

In addition, he was also handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and told to sign the sex offender register for life.

DC Lauren Patterson, from the Safeguarding Investigation Unit, said: “Anderton was someone who callously and deviously manipulated a vulnerable teenage victim and exploited this vulnerability for his personal, perverted desires.

“This job involved some great team working with the Child Exploitation and Gangs Team, working alongside the Safeguarding Investigations Unit in order to achieve this result and to ultimately safeguard other vulnerable children within the community. My thanks go to all my colleagues involved in securing this conviction.”

Description

A 34-year-old Ipswich man who was arrested after he had online chats about sex with members of a paedophile hunter group posing as schoolgirls has been jailed for three years.

Skye Tanswell sent naked pictures of himself to members of the Chid Online Safety Team posing as two 14-year-old girls and asked them to send him pictures of their breasts, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Nicola May, prosecuting, said that during conversations with the decoys on WhatsApp Tanswell had suggested meeting up in Suffolk and had discussed what he would do in bed with one of them.

He had also told one of them to lie or cut off contact if her parents came into the room because he would get into trouble for being in contact with someone her age.

Tanswell, of Gippeswyk Road, Ipswich, admitted three offences of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and one offence of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. The offences took place last year.

In addition to being jailed, Tanswell was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for life and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for the same period.

Sentencing him, Judge Emma Peters said that despite being arrested for being in contact with the decoys Tanswell had resumed contact with one of them after he was released under investigation.

Joanne Eley, for Tanswell, said he had mental health issues and had learning and behavioural problems.

She said he had been in prison since March last year and was working on becoming an enhanced prisoner.

He had also been engaging with the mental health team while he had been in prison.

Miss Eley said Tanswell had committed the offences while he was bored and using cannabis.

Description

A 40-year-old man who secretly communicated with a 14-year-old girl after giving her a mobile phone and met up with her in a park has been jailed for 21 months.

Sentencing Daniel Stacey at Ipswich Crown Court, Judge Emma Peters said he’d met up with the schoolgirl six times over a two week period in September last year.

She said Stacey had previous convictions for making indecent images and it was clear that he had a sexual interest in young children which was “deeply troubling”.

Judge Peters accepted his physical contact with the victim was restricted to holding her hand and attempting to kiss and hug her.

However, she said Stacey had told the girl he loved her which was “deeply inappropriate” in view of the fact she was 14 and he was 40.

Judge Peters said Stacey had given the girl a mobile phone which she used to contact him and he gad also given her a computer game.

The police were contacted after her mother discovered the phone and Stacey had gone to the family phone and asked the girl’s mother to give him back the device and not to contact the police.

Stacey, of Sproughton Court, Ipswich, admitted meeting a child following sexual grooming and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

He was jailed for 21 months and banned from contacting the victim and her family indefinitely.

He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for ten years and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for the same period.

The court heard that Stacey, who was given a community order in 2008 for making indecent images of children, had been in custody for ten months which was the equivalent of a 20-month prison sentence.

Charles Myatt, for Stacey, said his client had some learning difficulties and was emotionally immature.

He said because of his emotional immaturity he was drawn to people chronologically younger than him and he wasn’t a predatory paedophile.

Description

A former assistant beaver leader has been jailed after being found guilty of making and possessing indecent images of children.

Patrick Jackaman, 25, of Hossack road, Ipswich was sentenced at Suffolk Magistrates Court on Friday.

Jackaman had pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of a child and one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child last month at court.

He was arrested in October 2019 after four devices were found containing hundreds of prohibited images and films of children.

An iPhone, a pc specialist tower unit, and Macbook air and an iPad were all removed from his home by Suffolk police.

Of the images found, 49 were classified in the most serious 'A' category of indecency, as well as 16 of the videos.

There were also 110 category B images and 22 category B videos, 101 category C images and seven category C videos, along with 3,040 prohibited images and 147 prohibited videos of children.

Jackaman had previously volunteered within the Scout movement as an assistant beaver leader.

The movement had previously confirmed that Jackaman's role was terminated as soon as the police brought the matter to its attention.

The court heard that Jackaman had no previous convictions and had fully co-operated with police during the investigation.

Mitigating, Shelley Drew, told the court that Jackaman had been engaging with a course run by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity which works to tackle child sexual abuse.

Magistrates told the court that Jackaman's offences had been "very serious" in nature and could only be dealt with a custodial sentence.

They said that they had given him credit for his guilty plea by not moving the case to the crown court.

In total, Jackaman was sentenced to a 12 month custodial sentence and will be released on license after serving half of this.

Jackaman was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for five years and put on the sex offenders' register.

The devices which were removed from his house will now be destroyed.

He was also fined £156 as a victim surcharge.

Description

An Ipswich man who raped a drunk woman at an 18th birthday party at a house in the town has been jailed for seven and a half years.

Sentencing 23-year-old Keiffer Sewell, Judge Emma Peters described the offence as “ opportunistic” and said he had taken advantage of the woman while she was particularly vulnerable, because she was drunk.

“You have been convicted on the basis of quite compelling evidence,” said the judge.

She said that after removing the woman’s clothes, Sewell had stifled her cries for help by putting her duvet over her mouth before raping her.

She said that after his DNA was found on internal swabs taken from the woman, he had desperately tried to come up with ways it could have got there.

Sewell, of Hadleigh Road, Ipswich, denied raping the woman, who is in her 20s, four years ago in 2017, when he was 19.

He was found guilty by a jury by an 11-1 majority verdict after a week-long trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

He will have to serve at least two-thirds of the sentence and will have to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

The court was told that during the party, the woman was sick after having too much to drink and went upstairs to her bedroom.

Sewell went upstairs with the woman, undressed her and raped her.

The police were called after the woman complained that she had been raped.

Sewell’s full DNA profile was found on internal swabs taken from her.

Giving evidence, Sewell told the court the girl had kissed and hugged him during the party.

He said the woman’s mother had asked him to take her to her bedroom after she was sick, because of the amount she had to drink.

He said he had rubbed the woman’s back and accompanied her to the toilet when she was sick. He denied removing her clothes and raping her.

Juliet Donovan, for Sewell, who has no previous convictions, said he had a young son and a loving partner and family.

She said Sewell maintained his position that he was not guilty.

Description

Sentencing 18-year-old Jacob Young, Judge Martyn Levett described him as a "clever manipulator and a good story teller" and a danger to the public.

"The jury saw through your lies," said the judge

He said Young had carried out internet searches for "sexy girls wearing shorts" and "upskirting" images of girls in the months before the rape and this demonstrated he had been "engaging in unhealthy sexual fantasies behind a facade of being an innocent 17-year-old".

The judge said he had read a letter from Young's mother which described the effect on Young of the family appearing in the "Supernanny" TV show with celebrity nanny Jo Frost.

She said it had led to a campaign of bullying and abuse from people including school friends.

The judge said that on the evening of the rape Young, who was described as a committed Christian, had attended a youth meeting at a church in Ipswich.

Young, of Beechcroft Road, Ipswich, was convicted by a jury last month of rape, assault causing actual bodily harm and theft.

He was sentenced to ten years detention in a young offenders' institution with an extended licence period of five years.

Judge Levett banned him from contacting the victim of the rape for 10 years and he was ordered to sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely.

The victim, who was drunk, left the Unit 17 nightclub in Cardinal Park with her boyfriend, who had gone to collect her, on October 13 last year.

As they were walking through the town, Young was seen on CCTV walking behind them and following them through an archway in the direction of the woman's Ipswich flat.

The victim's boyfriend had left her handbag by the front door while he helped her into the flat and when he returned shortly afterwards it was missing.

Young stole the handbag and was captured on CCTV with it.

The boyfriend then left to go back to work and Young knocked on the victim's door and raped her in the flat.

The woman, who is in her 20s, previously told a jury at Ipswich Crown Court she had been drunk on the evening of the attack and didn't have a clear recollection of what happened in her flat.

However, she said she did remember being pushed against a wall and being pushed on to her bed with her attacker's hands round her neck and trying to get him off her.

She also remembered telling him she would do whatever he wanted if he let her go to the toilet and then running down the stairs and out of her flat.

Prior to the rape, Young had hidden in bushes near McDonald's in Cardinal Park and had taken photographs of scantily clad women, and was described as a "sexual predator" by prosecutor Jane Oldfield.

He was also captured on CCTV walking round Ipswich town centre and going up and down Silent Street frequently changing direction to follow women

Following the guilty verdicts, the jury heard that Young had a previous conviction as a 14-year-old when he followed a 12-year-old schoolgirl down an alleyway and threatened her with a knife.

Investigating officer Sgt Rory Prior from the Suffolk police safeguarding unit said after sentencing: "I am extremely pleased to see Young behind bars after being handed this sentence.

"However, it will be of little comfort, I am sure, for the victim who showed immense courage in giving evidence in court about the terrible ordeal she experienced. No prison term will ever make up for the trauma she suffered.

"Using a variety of investigative tools available to us, we were able to dismantle his web of lies and deceit and safely remove someone who was a genuine threat to the public."