Latest Offenders Lincoln

Description

A Stamford man who downloaded indecent images of children has escaped an immediate jail sentence at Lincoln Crown Court.

Tyler Curtis downloaded hundreds of images including one of a baby being raped which he then stored in a cloud system.

Abigail Hill, prosecuting, said that police received information which led to officers raiding his then home in Dickens Drive, Stamford and his work place.

A total of 320 indecent images of children were found on three different devices together with 26 prohibited images of children.

Mrs Hill said: The images were downloaded over an eight year period between May 5, 2012 and March 17, 2020.

When the defendant was interviewed he admitted he had been storing images in his Google Drive account. He said he hadnt realised they were illegal.

He denied any sexual interest in children. He said he uploaded the images to a cloud system so that his wife didnt see them.

Curtis, 34, now of Milner Court, Wharf Road, Stamford, admitted three charges of making indecent images of children and one charge of possessing prohibited images of children. He asked for a further matter of making indecent images of children to be taken into consideration.

Steven Gosnell, in mitigation, said Curtis had no previous convictions and is working.

He has engaged in counselling. That is something that he has paid for privately.

Mr Gosnell said that as a result of the offences Curtis has separated from his wife.

He has been through a great deal of pain but he accepts it is because of his actions that he is in this position.

Mr Gosnell said Curtis was focussing on rehabilitation and has faced up to his issues as well as now admitting he is sexually attracted to girls.

Curtis was given a 14 month jail sentence suspended for 18 months with a 35 day rehabilitation activity requirement. He was ordered to complete a sexual offending treatment programme and has to pay 425 prosecution costs.

He was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and given a 10 year sexual harm prevention order.

Description

Vile sex offender Gary Neal is beginning a 16-year prison sentence after raping girls and abusing five victims over a period of 18 years in Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

At Grimsby Crown Court, Judge Ahmed Nadim said Neal, 54, was a danger to the public and added a further four years to the sentence which will be served on licence.

He also imposed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and Neal will be on the Sex Offender Register for life.

It followed a trial in which Neal denied 14 sex offences against girls.

Neal, married and living at Mill Lane, Kirton Lindsey, was found guilty of the offences against five girls.

Neal was convicted of four counts of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 14, gross indecency with a child under the age of 14, two counts of rape of a female child under the age of 16, sexual assault of a girl under the age of 13, three counts of inciting a girl under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity, and three counts of sexual assault of a girl under the age of 13.

Judge Nadim said the trial had not spared the victims reliving "the most unpleasant experiences of their lives".

He added the 46 incidents of sex against young girls, some just four years old at the time, were committed while he was aged between 31 and 49 years old.

He said the victims, some who sat in court in tears, had been left "emotionally scarred and confidence damaged and unable to form trusting relationships".

"They have been unable to realise the full potential of their lives. They may never fully recover from the damage you have caused. No sentence can give them back their childhood," the judge said.

He accepted the defendant had a mild learning difficulty but said he had listened carefully to the evidence he gave at trial which he described as "calculated with mendacity".

The judge said Neal had a lack of appreciation for the damage caused to his victims. He said the parole board would only consider if he was fit for release on licence after serving two thirds of the sentence. A further four years will be served on licence.

Prosecuting, Michael Greenhalgh told of how one of the girls had confided in a school teacher. Police began an investigation in 2017 when Neal was arrested. At the same time, another victim came forward to give her account of how Neal raped her.

He read statements detailing the shocking impact the rape and sex assaults had taken on the girls.

One told of how it had ruined the relationships she had with men including those in her own family. Seeing men who look like Neal sets her into a panic, he recounted.

One said: "My life has been hell. I now want to take my life back. He ruined my life but I am not letting him ruin my life anymore."

For Neal, Rodney Ferm said his client had "limited mental function" and was "akin to a child" with a mental age of nine years old. He has an IQ of between 54 and 62, which placed him in the category of a learning disability.

His client had claimed he was sexually abused as a child himself.

Mr Ferm said: "Although he had adult drives, he had the function of a nine-year-old and those are the people he associated with. He has no adult acquaintances, except members of his family who deal with bills and the more complex matters of daily life."

He added : "He is a very isolated man and had more company in prison, on remand, than at any stage of his life for many years. His learning difficulties have been taken on board."

After sentencing Neal, Judge Nadim recognised the courage of the complainants.

He said: "It is the hope of this court that with the closure of these proceedings they will be better able to move on with their lives. They each leave with the gratitude of the court. They have made an important contribution to the court system. I thank each and every one of them."

Description

A sick badminton coach who abused more than a dozen teenage boys in unusually vile acts has been jailed for 20 years.

Timothy Mawer was a master of manipulation who groomed the teens with kindness and fancy cars before systematically abusing them.

The 52-year-old from Cleethorpes carried out more than 60 attacks on 13 separate boys, Lincoln Crown Court heard.

Mawer often met his victims through badminton coaching at schools and youth clubs, and mutual interests in trainspotting.

His attacks destroyed the lives of many of his victims, with some considering committing suicide, while others suffered mental health problems, and drink or drug addictions.

One man said in a victim impact statement: He befriended me and my family. He portrayed himself as a near perfect character.

The court heard how Mawer befriended his victims and invited them to his home. They were then persuaded to play cards with him, with sexual forfeits for the loser.

Sam Skinner, prosecuting, told the court: The defendants offending was systematic, persistent, planned and gradually increased in severity and degradation.

This was a campaign of offending that corrupted the lives of more than a dozen boys.

Some of the acts he carried out were unusually vile.

In total there are 62 incidents. The period of offending is approximately 18 years. It began in 1985-1986 and ended in April 2003.

Some were as young as 13. The rest were about 14 years old when this defendant offended against them.

This defendant was working as a self-employed sports coach teaching badminton. He taught adults and children. When he was working with children, he was in a position of trust. He was a successful coach who was well-known locally and abroad.

He coached in schools and youth clubs. He made friends with lots of boys aged between 12 and 16. He also visited Lincoln Railway Station where he befriended boys who were trainspotting.

He selected those whom he could influence and groom. This grooming took weeks and months depending on the boy. He gave these boys his time, his attention and his money. They were impressed by his fast cars and his clothes.

The police investigation began in January 2016 after one of the victims came forward, and other victims were later identified.

Mawer was originally due to be sentenced in 2019, but a further six victims came forward as a result of media reports around the trial.

He was scheduled to stand trial for the additional charges this week, but changed to his pleas to guilty.

Michael Cranmer-Brown, defending Mawer, said he was of previous good character and is remorseful and ashamed for what he did.

He said: This offending started when he was himself young. The most recent offending took place 18 years ago.

In that time Mr Mawer has been a badminton coach of some considerable repute and success. He has taught many thousands of pupils both here and abroad.

Mawer, formerly of Long Beach, Haventhorpe Park Holiday Centre in Cleethorpes, admitted a total of 27 charges of indecent assault on a male person between 1985 and 2003.

He was given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and banned for life from working with children and vulnerable people. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.

Judge Simon Hirst, passing sentence, told him: You were a successful coach who was well-known. Over a period of 18 years, you misused that position and the ostentatious lifestyle you had to abuse 13 children between the ages of 13 and 15 in a sexual manner.

It is plain that in their different ways, all of the complainants have been profoundly affected by your abuse of them. You caused each and every one of them real and lasting damage.

You caused harm to each of them for no other reason than to gain sexual gratification for yourself. A striking aspect of what you did involved the humiliation of some of these boys.

You won them over through kindness, apparent generosity and flash cars. You persistently and systematically abused young boys over a period of almost two decades.

Detective Inspector David McKean from Lincolnshire Polices Protecting Vulnerable People unit, said after the sentencing: This man used and abhorrently abused the trust that young people, their parents and the community including schools and youth clubs placed in him as a badminton coach.

He coerced young boys into shockingly depraved sexual acts which they have had to live with. The victims have shown incredible bravery to come forward and support our investigation and I hope this sentence provides them with some closure.

We have officers who are specifically trained to help and support victims of sexual offences. We treat every report sensitively and respectfully, so please do contact us if you have been keeping something to yourself."

Description

A former Lincolnshire councillor who was jailed for downloading images of child abuse has appeared in court again after breaching his sexual harm prevention order.

Ian Dolby, of North Road Sleaford, had been jailed for two years in August 2017 after admitting to downloading images of children.

The 55-year-old pleaded guilty to 23 charges of making an indecent image of a child on the second day of his trial after police found 700 computer discs at his home in Sleaford.

Dolby was placed on the sex register for 10 years and given a sexual harm prevention order to control his behaviour when released.

Now he has appeared in court again after breaching his sexual harm prevention order.

The former Sleaford Town Councillor refused to hand over a device capable of accessing the internet for inspection when he was asked to by the authorities on August 29, last year.

The former councillor appeared at Lincoln Magistrates' Court on December 12, last year, where he pleaded guilty to the offence.

Dolby was fined 150 and ordered to pay a 32 surcharge to fund victim's services and 85 in costs by magistrates.

At his original trial in 2017, the court was told police found a stash of more than 700 computer disks containing pornography in Dolby's bedroom as part of their inquiries after officers arrested his lodger for an unrelated matter.

Of these, 45 disks contained child pornography, including more than 500 movies lasting 184 hours. These had been downloaded between 2010 and 2013.

Mark Knowles, mitigating for Dolby, said 90 per cent of the material found in his home had been adult pornography and that he had an obsessive personality.

"He understands that he has a problem," he said. "He is desperate to get to the bottom of his difficulties.

"He is very much a loner who spends the majority of his free time in his room on his computer."

Sending Dolby to prison, Judge Simon Hirst had said: "You have done everything you possibly could to avoid facing up to your wrong doing.

"This type of offending is not victimless in any way. Every still photograph and every frame of a film has the face of a child who has been sexually abused in the most cruel way imaginable.

"In behaving as you did, you perpetuated the market and distribution of such images and encouraged the making of more images."

Description

A man who raped a child was only caught years later because he kept a carefully catalogued library of films showing his abuse, a court has heard.

Matthew Beattie, 47, of Main Road, Langworth, Lincolnshire, filmed himself raping and sexually abusing a young girl between 2007 and 2010.

Police found the films along with more than 2,000 indecent images of children.

He was jailed for 16 years after admitting three counts of rape of a child under 13, among other charges.

Beattie also pleaded guilty to two charges of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, and a further charge of sexual assault.

He also admitted two charges of making indecent images of a child, and five charges of possession of indecent images of a child.

Beattie was placed on the sex offenders register for life and given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Mark Watson, prosecuting, said: "The footage was kept by the defendant for a number of years.

"They were not just filmed and kept. He labelled them as to precisely what it was that was captured in the footage."

Laura Pitman, in mitigation, told the court: "He knows he is going to receive a lengthy custodial sentence.

"He recognises that what he did all those years ago was so wrong and he needs to address what caused him to behave in that way."

Description

A convicted sex offender travelled 140 miles in the hope of having sex with a 14-year-old girl, only to find out he was being played by a paedophile hunter, a court has heard.

John Armitage travelled from Gainsborough to Newcastle upon Tyne believing he would be meeting a school girl called Ellie who he had been talking to on a dating app.

Armitage, who had previously served a jail sentence for offences against two young girls, had arranged to meet the schoolgirl despite knowing she was underage.

But instead when he arrived at Newcastle railway station he discovered he was the victim of a sting.

He was confronted and then arrested after police were called to the station.

Phil Howes, prosecuting, said Armitage had initially contacting "Ellie" on a dating app for over 18s.

In a series of messages he was told she was only 14 but persisted and said he wanted to meet her for sex telling her he would "be gentle".

Armitage suggested he contact her school pretending to be her father and arrange for her to have a week off so that they could be together.

But the court was told that "Ellie" was actually a member of the Net Justice Group using a fake profile to trap paedophiles.

John Armitage, 40, of Warren Close, Gainsborough, admitted a charge of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming together with a further offence of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity with a child. Both charges relate to the period between 12 March and 14 April last year.

He also pleaded guilty to three charges of making a total of 958 indecent photographs of a child between September 2015 and April 2018. The images include 164 assessed as being in the most serious category. He further admitted further charges of possession of a prohibited image of a child and possession of cannabis.

The court was told that he had a previous conviction in 2008 when he was given a four year sentence at Leeds Crown Court for sexual assault charges relating to two girls under the age of 13.

He also has two convictions for failing to comply with the sex offender registration notification requirements and a further conviction for outraging public decency.

Judge Hirst told him "Ellie told you she was 14 and her mum was very strict. She said she was from Newcastle and you suggested you meet up for a kiss and a cuddle.

"There was discussion about how you liked having sex and Ellie told you that she didn't know girls of her age did that.

"Over the next days the conversation continued about what sexual things you wanted to do with her.

"This case is aggravated by the persistent nature of the communications including you suggesting that you pretend to be Ellie's father and ring her school. You told her to have a week off school.

"You travelled to Newcastle intent on having sex with a 14 year old girl.

"Plainly your offending is so serious that only immediate custody can be imposed."

Armitage was sentenced to five years and nine months which includes three years and nine months custody plus an extra two years licence during which he will be at risk of being returned to prison.

Judge Simon Hirst imposed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and placed him on the sex offenders' register for life.

Christopher Dickins, in mitigation, said "He accepts that he wanted a full sexual relationship. He is deeply sorry.

"He instructs me that at the time he was self-medicating for depression and anxiety but he has now got that on an even keel."

Description

Released from prison on March 7th 2022.

Thomas Sanders was found guilty of the following charges:

1 - Sexual Assault Of A Child Under 13, Contrary To Section 7(1) Of The Sexual Offences Act 2003.

2 - Assault Of A Child Under 13 By Penetration, Contrary To Section 6(1) Of The Sexual Offences Act 2003.

3 - Rape Of A Child Under 13, Contrary To Section 5(1) Of The Sexual Offences Act 2003

4 - Rape Of A Child Under 13, Contrary To Section 5(1) Of The Sexual Offences Act 2003

Thomas Sanders was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment.

He will be the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.

He will also have to sign on the sex offenders register indefinitely upon release.

Description

A Louth man who carried out a sex attack on a four-year-old while on bail for an assault on another young girl has been jailed for seven years at Lincoln Crown Court.

Richard Hunt, 31, of Virginia Drive, denied the offences but a jury took less than two hours to convict him following a trial.

Judge Simon Hirst, passing sentence, told Hunt: You were on bail for count one at the time you committed count two.

Plainly these offences are so serious that only a custodial sentence can be imposed.

Hunt denied two charges of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13. The charges related to separate incidents on February 5 and August 30 last year.

He was placed on the sex offenders register for life, and given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Tony Stanford, prosecuting, said that Hunt sexually assaulted the seven-year-old when he indecently touched her.

Then, while on bail, he carried out a further serious sexual assault on the four year old.

The court was told that Hunt had twice previously been jailed for offences of robbery but had no previous convictions for any offence of a sexual nature.

Edna Leonard, representing Hunt, admitted that her client had behaved in an appalling way and told the court: There is little I can say in the way of mitigation.

She said that Hunt had been disowned by members of his own family after being charged with the offences and remanded in custody.

His father, his siblings, none of them have had anything to do with him. Since he has been in prison he has had no contact whatsoever with any of them.

Description

A man who sexually assaulted a five-year-old girl and left her suffering from nightmares has been locked up for two years.

Roger Laughton, who smirked in his police mugshot after being arrested, sexually abused the youngster but then, after being charged, denied he had done anything wrong.

The 33-year-old of Chestnut Grove in Grantham left his victim shocked and confused, a court was told.

Despite pleading not guilty to a charge of sexual assault as a result of what happened in January 2017, he was found guilty by a jury following a trial in which the girl gave evidence against him at Lincoln Crown Court .

Laughton was also given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Judge Andrew Easteal, passing sentence, told Laughton: "It is plain she was shocked, confused and distressed at what you were doing to her.

"It is quite clear that this has had an enormous effect on her.

"There is no knowing how long and how deeply it will affect her but it was an awful thing that you did to her. It was deplorable.

"You continue to dispute the verdict in the face of overwhelming evidence. You have not expressed any remorse towards her."

Dawn Pritchard, prosecuting, said: "A statement from the victim's mother explains the effect she has seen on her daughter.

"Before this she was happy go lucky and confident. She would speak to anyone.

"That disappeared after the incident. She changed overnight and stopped talking to people.

"She has begun to fall behind on her school work and she has nightmares."

Michael Cranmer-Brown, for Laughton, said: "The jury found him guilty of what was alleged. He still denies that.

"There is very little more that I can say at the end of a trial when he has denied the matter and continues to do so."

Description

A rape victim has said her "dreams disappeared" after being violently attacked and raped in Guildford in October.

On Friday (May 19), Avan Mogridge, of Church Street in Stamford, was sentenced to 18 years for raping and threatening to kill an 18-year-old woman in Guildford in October 2016.

Mogridge dragged the victim to a woodland copse where he raped, sexually assaulted and threatened to kill her.

He was sentenced to 18 years behind bars, 14 of which custodial with four years on licence.

In a statement read out in court, the victim spoke of the impact the violent attack has had on her life.

The victim said the day she was raped changed her life so much that she is now scared to leave her home, does not sleep and is frightened for her future.

The statement said: I used to be a bubbly and confident girl and enthusiastic about life and living it.

I had dreams for my future and dreams to achieve my dreams.

"I am now traumatised, scared, drained and frightened. What sort of life is this? Its not. Its an existence.

I havent been able to work and I loved my job.

I used to love my life, my friends and family, my work, my independence, my hopes and dreams.

But all that changed. One day in October, because of one person.

My life turned upside down and my dreams disappeared.

Following the sentencing of Mogridge, Detective Constable Tim Faltermeyer said: I hope that the victim can somehow find the strength to get on with the rest of her life knowing that justice has been served.

This was a horrifying and traumatising hour-long attack on an innocent young woman and I would like to commend her for the sheer bravery she has shown throughout the court process.

I would also like to thank the couple who witnessed and intervened and called police that morning, without them who knows how long the attack could have lasted.

I hope this reassures anybody who may have been a victim of sexual assault or rape that we take reports extremely seriously and specialist officers will always investigate fully and sensitively.

Description

Paedophile coaxed girl aged 13 to sneak out of her house and have sex with him.

Brett Rudkin, 20, asked the girl to send naked pictures of herself to him and encouraged her to come to his house late at night.

A man who "coaxed" a 13-year-old girl to sneak out of her house while her parents slept to have sex with him has been jailed.

Brett Rudkin, 20, had asked the 13-year-old girl to send naked pictures of herself to him and encouraged her to come to his house late at night.

However, just five minutes after they had sex, Rudkin callously brushed her aside and said he was "disgusted" with what had happened.

The incident had a "massive effect" on the youngster, who was so distressed she was forced to change schools, stopped eating and began to lose weight.

Jailing Rudkin in a young offenders' institution for two years and four months, Judge David Tremberg said he had "coaxed" his victim into having full sex with him.

He said: "She went because she trusted you. You effectively groomed her.

"You knew from first to last what you were doing was against the law.

"You used her to satisfy your sexual urges and, when you had got what you wanted, she had served her purpose.

"You told her that you did not want anything else to do with her and the complainant has been deeply emotionally affected by the fallout from this.

"You risked causing infection or pregnancy. She was only 13.

"This was a deliberate course of conduct followed by attempts by you to keep her quiet.

"You groomed her and you courted images of her."

Prosecuting, Philip Standfast told Grimbsy Crown Court Rudkin and his victim began exchanging messages on social media apps including Facebook and Snapchat.

They began "sharing each other's secrets" and Rudkin pretended his was 17, despite being 18 at the time.

He told her he liked her and sent an intimate picture of his private parts before asking for naked pictures of her breasts.

She sent three or four showing cleavage while wearing a vest.

Mr Standfast said: "The girl's parents were asleep in bed when Rudkin sent a message asking if she wanted to go to his house.

"Without her parents' knowledge, she left home, met the defendant and went to his house about midnight.

"Rudkin started taking her clothes off, kissing her and they had sex with no protection."

The girl left but just minutes later she received a message from Rudkin that said he was "disgusted" with what he had done and asked her not to tell anyone.

Mr Standfast said: "She felt she had been used."

The girl was left upset by the incident that had a "massive effect" on her life and she began to lose weight and had to change school and move out of the family home.

Speaking in mitigation, defence barrister Alison Dorrell said that Rudkin, who admitted two offences of sexual activity with a child, had avoided further damage to the young teen by not "seeking to brazen the matter out at trial".

She said: "He knew quite quickly after he did this that he had done wrong, although there was an element of self-protection.

He had no previous convictions and had lost his good character in "quite spectacular fashion."

Rudkin was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender indefinitely.

Description

A WOMAN who was sexually abused more than two decades ago has described how the ordeal left her ashamed and traumatised.

Craig Tongs victim spoke out after justice finally caught up with the sex attacker who has been jailed for nearly five years for the catalogue of crimes he committed when she was a child.

His victim is now hoping that by revealing the pain she went through others who have been sexually abused will find the courage to report the crimes.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the Epworth Bells: For more than 20 years I have been too terrified, ashamed and traumatised to tell the truth about my years as an enforced sex toy for Craig Tong.

His selfish and abusive actions ruined my childhood and have seriously impacted on my life.

I will never be able to forget his appalling actions and the fear in which I have lived. I hope now he will feel just a fraction of the disgust and pain I have suffered.

Tong, 43, of Potts Lane, Crowle, was jailed for four years and eight months at Grimsby Crown Court after admitting five counts of abuse including two offences of having sex with a girl under the age of 13.

The offences were carried out in the late 1980s, but it was only when his victim plucked up the courage to tell police of her ordeal that an investigation began and Tongs crimes were revealed.

The court was told his victim had originally thought people would not believe her when she told them about the abuse she had suffered.

At the sentencing hearing on Monday Tong wore a dark suit and spoke only to confirm his name and address.

Tong was given two 16-month prison sentences for two counts of having sex with a girl under the age of 13. He was given an additional three custodial sentences of eight months for three offences of indecent assault. All five sentences will run consecutively.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life and banned from working with children.

Speaking after the sentencing, Tongs victim said: I should like to offer my heartfelt thanks to the health and support workers, police and crown prosecution staff who have given me the strength, confidence and assurance to reveal the torment I was subjected to as a child.

It is through their support that finally Craig Tong has been brought to court and imprisoned for his abhorrent actions.

I hope that this case will be an example to other women, who in their own lives may have been in a similar situation, and encourage them to tell the truth of their ordeals.

Description

Ian Huntley was a sexual predator obsessed with young girls, it can be revealed today.

The Old Bailey jury knew he had been charged with raping a teenager - a charge that was later dropped.

What they did not know is that he was also accused of indecently assaulting an 11-year-old and having sex with a string of other schoolgirls.

In total, he came to the attention of Humberside Police on ten occasions.

These comprised the rape allegation, an arrest for not appearing at court and eight other offences allegedly committed by Huntley.

In addition, between August 1995 and July 1998 he was reported to North East Lincolnshire Social Services on five separate occasions - once for the alleged indecent assault and four times for underage sex with girls.

Three of the girls involved were aged 15 and one was 13.

Each time social workers began investigating Huntley would move on and pick up another girl.

Incredibly, no link was made between the cases because each was dealt with by different social workers and they kept no record of alleged offenders.

Three of the underage sex allegations cases were passed on, independently of each other, to Humberside Police.

The first allegation of sex with a schoolgirl was made by her family in August 1995 when Huntley was 21.

In April 1996 social services became aware of another girl involved with Huntley whose family reported their concerns to her school.

The girl refused to speak to social workers and avoided them.

She was eventually seen by her GP who decided there was no further need for social workers to be involved.

There were two further allegations to social services from the families of other girls, both in May 1996, before the indecent assault was reported in July 1998.

The alleged indecent assault victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 12 at the time the allegation was made but 11 when the assault was alleged to have happened in 1997.

Humberside Police investigated the allegation but never sent a file to the Crown Prosecution Service for lawyers to consider criminal action against Huntley.

The allegation came a month after Huntley had appeared in court in Grimsby charged with raping another girl, a petite 18-year-old.

That case was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Huntley, who was by then 24, was accused of pouncing on the girl in a back alley, dragging her to the ground and launching a vicious sex attack.

He stood in the dock at Grimsby magistrates court at two hearings before prosecutors decided they did not have enough evidence to continue.

The woman, who still lives in Grimsby, had been on a night out with friends at Hollywoods nightclub.

She was walking home alone down a back street called Gas Alley when she was attacked at 2am on May 17, 1998.

The teenager, who also suffered cuts, was said by police afterwards to be traumatised and in a state of "shock and anger".

Officers said it was an opportunist attack and warned then that the rapist might strike again.

Huntley was arrested and charged within days of the girl telling police about her ordeal.

He appeared in court on May 22, 1998, and was remanded in custody to the Wolds prison before being granted bail on May 30. He went to a bail hostel in Scunthorpe.

On June 30, 1998 the CPS decided it no longer had a strong enough case against him after new evidence came to light and the case was discontinued.

The new evidence involved CCTV footage which supported Huntley's version of events.

A CPS spokeswoman defended the decision to drop the rape charge.

She said: "There was not sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction."

Jim Leivers, the chief executive of North East Lincolnshire Council, defended social workers' handling of Huntley.

Mr Leivers said: "The five cases were from different areas, involved different circumstances and were handled by different people, who had no reason to cross-refer with one another."

He said none of the girls would make a complaint about Huntley, to whom they referred as their "boyfriend".

"We are not here to arrest offenders, we are interested in protecting youngsters," he said.

"We were confident these were good parents and we saw no reason to continue involvement.

"This is a character that as soon anybody gets a sniff, he was off.

"He was particularly keen not to get involved with any agencies like social services and police.

"There were no allegations of violence or coercion. That just didn't happen."

Huntley also appeared in court once charged with burglary.

On January 7 1998 he stood in the dock at Grimsby Crown Court charged with burgling a neighbour's house in Florence Street, Grimsby.

The offence was alleged to have happened in November, 1995 with an accomplice called Jimmy Dean.

Huntley and Dean were alleged to have stolen perfume, jewellery, a Black and Decker heat gun and 20 cash after breaking into the neighbour's house through a shared roof space.

The case came to court more than two years after the burglary and the prosecution and judge decided to allow the matter to lie on file.

That decision meant that when police checks were made on Huntley after he applied for the caretaker's job at Soham Village College, he was found to have no criminal convictions.

Allowing it to lie on file was described by a senior officer in the Soham case as "bizarre".