Latest Offenders London

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A sex attacker known as the 'rush hour prowler' has been jailed for six years after carrying out a string of "shocking" and "disturbing" assaults.

Married father-of-two Kevin Bond, a former nightclub owner and operations manager at South Bank University, targeted victims as young as eight across southeast London.

The 52-year-old man from Chislehurst, Bromley, usually attacked lone women or young girls in pairs before running off.

His targets would often be travelling to or from work and school.

Bond's offending was so prolific that police conducted a campaign with schools and parents across the boroughs of Southwark, Bexley, Lewisham and Bromley to make sure young girls travelled in groups or with an adult.

He first struck on 6 October 2016 but was not tracked down until November a year later when CCTV images were released in a public appeal.

Bond admitted 11 counts of sexual assault and three counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 after his DNA was found on the crotch of a victim's jeans.

Multiple other victims picked him out of identity parades.

Ben Lloyd, prosecuting, told Woolwich Crown Court: "The defendant's typical offending involved following unsuspecting women and girls in public places, often on their way to and from work during typical commuting hours.

"Having followed them along the street or into buildings, he would surprise them, grab them on their private parts and then run off."

Bond attacked three people - a 13-year-old girl and two adults - in the space of less than an hour in Greenwich in last October, the court heard.

The eight-year-old was attacked on 13 November 2017 after she became separated from her friends on her journey to school.

Several of Bond's victims used personal statements to say how they were now afraid to venture out on their own and were nervous of lone men.

John Blanford, defending, said Mr Bond's life had started to fall apart after the suicide of his mother in 2016.

His marriage broke down and he started abusing cocaine, ecstasy and watching pornography before he began his campaign of assaults, the court heard.

Judge Nicholas Heathcote Williams QC said: "From October 2016 you started assaulting young girls and young women - waiting until they were alone or became detached from the group they were with.

"Or you attacked them when they were isolated - in parks, in stairwells and in a lift - then you sexually assaulted them by grabbing their crotch area or the breast area."

He continued: "What you did was deeply shocking, violating, frightening, distressing and disturbing for your victims."

Bond was also ordered to sign on to the sex offenders register for life and barred from living with, or having unsupervised contact with, girls under the age of 18 unless with the knowledge and consent of social services and the child's parent or guardian.

The defendant appeared in the dock in a white shirt and dark tie and did not react as his sentence was read out.

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Sentence increased by 4 years for child abuser, Usmaan Ahmad

A man who repeatedly sexually assaulted a young girl over a period of years has had his sentence increased after the Solicitor General, Robert Buckland QC MP, referred it for being too low.

Usmaan Rafiq Ahmad, now 35, repeatedly sexually assaulted his victim over a period of 8 years, while she was between the ages of 3 and 11. Ahmad was between the ages of 14 and 21 at the time. The effect of these crimes has been lasting and severe, causing ongoing psychological struggles.

Ahmad was originally sentenced to 4 years and 6 months imprisonment at Harrow Crown Court. Today, after the Solicitor Generals reference, the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 8 years and 6 months in prison.

Commenting on the sentence increase, the Solicitor General said:

"I am pleased that the Court of Appeal has agreed that Ahmads sentence should have been higher. He subjected a vulnerable child to consistent and repeated sexual abuse which has had a lasting impact. I hope this decision can bring some comfort to the victim."

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One boy was abused up to 100 times

A scout leader who preyed on young boys at various camps has been jailed for 11 years.

The sex offender abused the victims, as young as eight, at their homes and scout clubs across Essex.

Anthony Allen (Antony Allen), 27, of Plaistow, Newham, was sentenced for six offences of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13, and six offences of sexual activity with a child under 15.

The charges relate to eight children from the 25th Newham East Scout Group, that Allen had volunteered at for ten years, until he was suspended last year pending the investigation.

The offences took place against victims, all boys aged between eight and 16, who were abused at varying times over a four-year period between January 2013 and September 2017. They occurred at different locations, including home addresses and scout camps in Essex, Kent and Wales.

During the period of abuse, Allen worked as a teaching assistant for a year and then a learning mentor at a primary school.

The investigation was first triggered when one of his victims, realising that his younger brother was due to move up from cubs to Allen's scout group and would also be at risk, told his mother he had to get him out of scouts in a bid to protect him.

His mother initially viewed this comment as a joke, but after her elder son repeated allegations to other relatives she got the police involved.

The first formal complaint led to other victims coming forward and contacting police.

The investigation

Allen also enlisted as a volunteer in the Army Reserves and was deployed in Estonia for training with his unit, 7 Rifles G Company, who are based in West Ham, when the allegations first surfaced.

When police identified Allen he was abroad with his army unit and he was flown back to England for questioning.

He was arrested at Heathrow Airport in mid-September 2017, interviewed and then released on bail.

He then temporarily disappeared after leaving 'suicide notes' at several of his victims' houses.

Allen's computer was seized from his home address and he was arrested over offences relating to making and possessing images and videos.

During the trial the prosecution outlined examples of Allen grooming different boys, firstly by initiating text message conversations which would begin as banter, which would then progress to inappropriate chat focusing on male physique, and progress again to explicitly sexual language.

One tactic the predator used was to ask victims to send him photos of them exercising their bodies as evidence for their progress towards a so-called 'fitness' badge.

He took advantage of the close physical proximity fostered by seasonal scout camping trips. He would surprise victims in the toilets or persuade them into his tent under the false shield of seeking support while the young boys were away from home, but they were then trapped by Allen into unwanted physical intimacy.

He abused his victims 'hundreds of times'

One boy, who was first assaulted by Allen at the age of 10, estimated sexual touching had occurred on 60 to 100 occasions.

Allen also used the technique where he would insinuate himself into the wider family by befriending parents and children to win their trust. Parents consistently told police how helpful and supportive he was, assisting with errands and taking the children out for day trips, leading officers to note they had been equally groomed.

One one occasion Allen assaulted a 13-year-old victim in his own bedroom while the boy's mother and younger sibling were downstairs in the garden.

Another victim came forward to police and said Allen was looked up to as a role model by members of the group and several, including himself, viewed him as a second father.

One victim called him 'dad' as he was taken out ad about by Allen just as a parent would.

Another boy was so embarrassed at the memory of the explicitly sexual suggestions that Allen had made to him that he was unable to say them out loud and had to write them on a note he handed to officers.

Victim's mother said: "Allen scarred him mentally for life"

A mother of one of the younger victims spoke after court, she said: "Im really hurt by what Antony has done as he has taken what can never be replaced. His actions have impacted on our day to day lives as he didnt just abuse him physically but has scarred him mentally for life.

"He has left us shocked to the core and we will never trust anyone again. He had a group of children that was full of life and working towards bettering themselves and their community but took this opportunity to gain trust then abuse it.

"My heart goes out to the families of all the victims that have been taken in and had their trust abused.

"I cant thank the police enough for all they have done to get this conviction - they have been amazing to me and to the child victims."

PC Bruce Upson, Met Officer who led the investigation, praised the bravery of the young boys who helped bring Allen to account.

Upson, from the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, said: "These children have shown great courage throughout the investigation. Their actions in finding the strength to come forward and report the matter has prevented other potential offences occurring.

"Allen was a predatory offender who used his well-established position as a scout leader to gain access to children and commit sexual offences against them whilst along the way earning the respect and trust of families.

"If there is anyone else out there who believes they or someone they are close to may also have been a victim of Allen, I would urge them to contact us a soon as possible on our dedicated NSPCC hotline number of 0800 048 0278 quoting Operation Stanhope.

The Charges

Allen first appeared at Thames Magistrates' Court on October 4, 2017, where he was remanded to attended the Old Baily on November 1, 2017.

He appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, April 13 and sentenced for a total of 11 years for 12 sexual offences involving minors, as well as, making 30 Category C images of children he know, possession of three category A images, 28 Category B images and 611 Categeory C images. These also included one Category A video, and ten Category B videos.

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A teacher who had a "full-blown sexual relationship" with a 15-year-old boy has been jailed for 16 months.

Alice McBrearty, 23, admitted the four-month relationship with a pupil she taught at an east London school.

Snaresbrook Crown Court heard McBrearty kissed the youngster in a classroom, and had sex with him at her parents' home in Wanstead Park, east London.

She pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust.

'Besotted'

Prosecutors said the relationship began when the teacher sent the boy a friend request on Facebook.

Barrister Lisa Matthews said the teenager, who cannot be named, "felt special" and "appeared to be besotted" with McBrearty.

The court heard the pair met in several locations, including a hotel room McBrearty had booked, and had sexual contact.

Their relationship ended when the boy's father contacted police.

McBrearty put her head in her hands and sobbed when she was sentenced by Judge Sheelagh Canavan.

The judge described her as a "bright, intelligent and gifted young woman, who knew right from wrong," but who had committed the "grossest breach of trust".

'Fall from grace'

"You engaged in a full-blown sexual relationship with a 15-year-old child," she said.

"I accept he was consenting - what 15-year-old schoolboy would turn down such an attractive offer?

"I accept you truly believed this was a great romance, you were in love with him and vice versa, and that age didn't matter. But it did.

"You were supposed to keep him safe, to help him make the right decisions. Instead, you helped him make all the wrong ones."

Emma Shafton, defending, said her client, who is no longer a teacher, has had "a spectacular fall from grace".

"She has been utterly disgraced by this," she added.

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A man has been jailed for rape after his 19-year-old victim recorded herself pleading with her attacker to stop, and him later confessing to the crime, on her mobile phone.

Rhys Roser, 24, has been sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison for the 2015 attack.

Roser denied the charge when first arrested by police but then went on the run after hearing about the recording of the attack, and later pleaded guilty in court.

The attack took place in a flat in Maida Vale. The teenager managed to switch on her phones audio recorder when Roser first made unwanted advances, before she locked herself in a bathroom.

The recording proved that the victim, who was 19-years-old at the time, had told Roser to leave me alone, the prosecution said in court, the Daily Mirror reported.

After raping the teenager, Roser is heard saying on the recording: Youre not going to stand up in court and tell everyone you were raped, way too embarrassing.

Dont f****** tell anyone, its real simple.

According to Metro.co.uk, Recorder Matthew Lowe told Roser: You were heard saying that you had gone mad and were wrong in every way, and went on to plead with her not to report what happened and put pressure on her.

She describes it as emotional blackmail. What you did to her that night has had significant psychological and emotional effects.

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Derry McCann subjected woman to two-hour ordeal in east London park while on parole for similar crime

A bridegroom who raped a stranger hours before his wedding after being released on parole for a similar crime was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday and must serve a minimum of nine years.

Derry McCann, 28, raped a 24-year-old woman as she walked back from an art show hours before he married his pregnant girlfriend in January.

He dragged her into Victoria Park in east London and subjected her to a two-hour ordeal, raping her three times, taunting and degrading her, playing mind games with her, and stealing her bra and mobile phone.

Snaresbrook crown court heard that he had been on parole at the time, having being released from prison 13 months earlier from a life sentence for a carbon copy rape committed in 2006, when he was 17.

Sentencing him, judge Martyn Zeidman, said McCann would not be considered for parole for at least nine years and that it may never happen.

The parole board will need to appreciate that in my view you are, and are likely to remain, an exceptionally dangerous violent criminal who poses the most dire risk to women even after the expiry of the minimum term.

The judge said he was sending a copy of his remarks directly to the board.

McCann was arrested as a result of the distinctive modus operandi and striking similarities to the 2006 attack. He pleaded guilty to three counts of rape, assault by penetration and robbery.

Kate Bex QC, prosecuting, said McCann had been drinking with his girlfriend and family, left the pub and lay in wait in Victoria Park shortly before midnight. He was seen on CCTV following another woman before the one he targeted.

He subjected his victim to degrading sexual acts and interrogated her during a long drawn out psychological game. He kept asking her what are we doing and when his victim replied you are raping me he appeared to like hearing the phrase, Bex said.

McCann was convicted in 2006 of raping and robbing a 30-year-old woman in nearby Mile End Park, taunting her and ordering her to make noises like youre enjoying it. At one point he stroked her hair, telling her she was his girlfriend.

He tried to claim the sex was consensual, but was convicted of one count of robbery, two of sexual assault, one of assault by penetration, one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity, six counts of rape and one of attempted rape.

He was jailed for life, to serve a minimum of 3,094 days, but appealed and the minimum sentence was reduced to seven years. He was released on parole in December 2015.

Zeidman said: Friday 13 January 2017 is a date that your victim will never forget. You behaved as a monster. Raping the victim in every possible way, and doing it in a manner that amounted to torture. Playing mind games, asking her what she thought you were going to do next and taunting her for almost two hours.

In addition to the physical pain you set out to degrade and humiliate her in ways that are so cruel and gross that I will not identify them any further. I am worried that you might even relish a recital of them.

Just hours later you married your pregnant girlfriend. I just wonder what sentence you would impose if someone had done this to your wife or female friends.

This wrongdoing is made even worse by the serious violence that you have carried out before and the 2006 offence was a further horrendous rape with many aggravating features, he said.

He had taken McCanns guilty plea and remorse into account, he added.

Edmund Vickers QC, for McCann, said: He is disgusted at himself and that disgust has culminated in a failed suicide attempt. He added that his client was on suicide watch, had experienced violence in childhood and had a dis-social personality disorder.

McCann was granted parole despite the judge in his 2006 trial warning he had serious concerns he would remain a danger to women, and sending a transcript of his sentencing remarks to the prison.

The parole board has said: The board is deeply concerned to learn of the circumstances which led to the further serious offence and we can only imagine the trauma and pain this has caused the victim.

We are committed to doing everything we can to learn the lessons to help prevent such terrible events happening in the future.

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A paedophile who filmed up the skirt of a child has been jailed for four and a half years.

Philip Goodwin was sentenced on Friday April 21 at Blackfriars Crown Court having pleaded guilty to multiple charges.

Goodwin was spotted filming up a 14-year-old schoolgirl's skirt as she walked up a set of stairs at Moorgate London Underground station in October 2016, by a member of the public.

The commuter reported the incident to station staff, leading to a British Transport Police investigation.

When Goodwin, of Swakeleys Drive, Hillingdon, was arrested and brought in for questioning, he admitted possessing multiple indecent images of children and had further images and videos of him filming up women and schoolgirls skirts.

The footage was mostly taken in public places, the majority of which were on tubes and trains, the police said.

After a forensic examination of the material, he was charged with two counts of outraging public decency, one count of voyeurism and ten counts of possessing or making indecent images of children.

Goodwin has also been placed on the Sex Offenders Register and a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order has been imposed.

Investigating officer, DC Andrew Parkinson, said: Goodwin is a predatory offender who will now spend the next four and a half years behind bars for his actions.

"Whilst he was travelling to work one morning, he spotted his victim, a young girl in school uniform, and targeted her.

I welcome todays sentence as it has taken a child sex offender off the streets - I hope this jail sentence brings a level of comfort to his victims.

This result clearly identifies how important it is to report behaviour such as this.

"This member of the public spotted a man who she thought was acting suspiciously and reported him and in doing so she has helped us bring a paedophile to justice.

"If you are ever a victim or a witness to a sexual assault, I would encourage you to report it to us.

"Just texting the details to 61016 you can start us build a picture of a perpetrator.

"Ultimately, this small step could help us catch a criminal.

Siwan Hayward, TfLs head of transport policing, said: This case shows how much every report of unwanted sexual behaviour on Londons public transport matters and helps police build a picture, so they can catch sex offenders like Goodwin and sentence them for their disgusting crimes.

"We do not tolerate unwanted sexual behaviour and I commend the woman who came forward to report what she saw.

"Sexual offending has no place on our network and offenders will be identified and brought to justice."

Description

A 27-year-old former teacher who worked at a primary school in Potters Bar has been jailed for six years in relation to inciting children to send indecent images of themselves to him via social media.

Nicholas Taylor, of Barnet, was sentenced at a St Albans court today (Wednesday March 22) after earlier pleading guilty to a series of internet-related offences.

The sentence follows a long investigation by Hertfordshire Constabularys Joint Child Protection & Investigation Team into the offences committed by Taylor.

Between October 2014 and October 2015, while working as a teacher, he incited girls to engage in sexual activity and was involved in the making and distribution of indecent photographs of children.

Under the alias Jackson_Law2002, he had made contact with a number of children through a chat group on Instagram. After befriending them initially, he then bullied and manipulated them into sending him indecent images of themselves.

The children were aged between 10 and 15 at the time of the offences and attended the same school or were involved in a Girl Guiding group in London.

Officers identified all of the children involved and contacted each victim and their family directly to investigate Taylor and provide specialist support.

The investigation revealed no evidence of offences relating to direct physical contact with children.

Detective Inspector Chris Treadwell said: This was a long and complex investigation which involved the examination of more than 30 different phones, computers and other devices owned by Nicholas Taylor.

Taylor went online to contact children for his own sexual gratification. Using a false identity he bullied and manipulated them into sending him images with despicable threats and intimidation. He also deceived his colleagues and fellow volunteers.

I would like to thank the victims and their families for their support during this investigation.

Clearly it has been a harrowing experience for them, but I hope this sentence brings some sort of closure on this difficult chapter in their lives.

Taylor admitted six counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of making indecent photographs of a child, and one count of distributing indecent photographs of a child. He was given a six year custodial sentence by a judge sitting at St Albans Magistrates Court today.

Advice for children and young people about going online safely is available on Hertfordshire Constabularys website here

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Two men have been jailed for eight years each for the rape of an 18-year-old girl in a hotel room.

Abdinasir Darbiye and Nurudeen Mohamed, along with one other friend, had met the victim while at a nightclub in Watford town centre on August 1, 2016.

She had been with two of her friends and at the end of the night one of the men offered to give the three girls a lift back to the Travelodge at Maylands Avenue where the girls were staying.

However once there, the girl became seperated from her friends and 22-year-old Darbiye and 23-year-old Mohamed raped her in the hotel room.

Darbiye, of Steward Holte Walk in Barnet, was found guilty at Luton Crown Court of three counts of rape and Mohamed, of High Road, north London, three counts of rape.

Both men were sentenced to eight years in prison.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Jarl Thomason, from Hertfordshire Constabularys Sexual Offences Investigation Team, said: Darbiye and Mohamed subjected their victim to a harrowing and prolonged ordeal which left her traumatised.

"I would like to thank her for her bravery in reporting the matter to police and in her assistance with the investigation.

The sentences handed to Darbiye and Mohamed by the court reflect the gravity of their offences. They now have a long time ahead of them to think about the harm they have caused this young woman.

Darbiye and Mohamed were acquitted of one count of digital penetration and the third man who it was alleged had been present at the time of the offence and was found not guilty of rape by joint enterprise.

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A sex gang leader who preyed on 15-year-old girls with his girlfriend has tracked down and jailed after fleeing Britain for Spain.

Paul Silverthorn, 36, gave one of his victims legal high '5 NEO' before stifling her screams with a ball gag and tying her to a bed, a court previously heard.

The fugitive paedophile has now been jailed for nine years after he was arrested on the holiday island of Ibiza earlier this month.

He was arrested months after his girlfriend, Leila Kassam, was also caught in Spain.

Kassam, 32, fled to the same island after admitting child sexual exploitation offences last March.

But she was captured after a local worker recognised her from a Crimewatch appeal over the summer while she was working as a farmhand and she was extradited to Britain last November.

Silverthorn, formerly of Leytonstone, east London, was jailed for nine years for sexual offences against teenage girls after being returned to the UK on a European Arrest Warrant.

He fled Britain after pleading guilty last March to two counts of unlawful sex with a 15-year-old victim, and one count each for possessing and distributing indecent images of children.

He failed to appear for trial in May in relation to an offence of administering a substance for sexual purposes to a second 16-year-old victim, and was found guilty in his absence.

He was sentenced in his absence to nine years in June; receiving four years for the administration offence; four years for each of the unlawful sex offences; and six months each for the two separate indecent photo offences.

Detective believe he fled to Spain last April with his former girlfriend Kassam who was also sought in connection with the case.

She too had failed to appear for sentencing after pleading guilty at the March hearing to having unlawful sex with the same 15-year-old victim as Silverthorn; and admitting to arranging the commission of a child sex offence.

The offences, which took place between May and December 2014, involved two victims who were purposely befriended, taken to a central London address, plied with 'legal highs' and alcohol, and - in the case of the first victim - sexually abused by the couple.

The pair were found after a farm owner in Ibiza, who had hired them as farm hands over the summer months, recognised them following appeals on Crimewatch and by Crimestoppers.

Kassam was arrested in November and flown back to the UK on December 9. She was jailed at Blackfriars Crown Court for four years.

Silverthorn and Kassam received an additional six-week sentence for breaching their bail.

The pair were described as leading figures in a sex ring exploiting young girls during 'legal high' parties at a flat in Haymarket, central London.

Another member of the gang, Daniel Trinnaman of Harrow, was sentenced to two and a half years in jail after being convicted of causing a 15-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity and perverting the course of justice.

Faham Jaffer, 34, who had sex with one girl after Kassam texted her a photo with a message which read, 'Only got me a cute little 15-year-old', was sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of sexual activity with a child.

Silverthorn, described by Spanish police as a Canadian national, is said to have given his victim legal high '5 NEO' before stifling her screams with a ball gag and tying her to a bed.

Det Con Rob Dewhurst, from the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said after Trinnaman and Jaffer were jailed and the other two gang members went on the run: "This is a shocking case of child sexual exploitation.

"The defendants targeted young vulnerable girls, plying them with alcohol and what were then legal highs in order to facilitate their sexual abuse by a number of people.

"I commend the young victims for their courage in reporting the offences and giving evidence at trial."

Description

A paedophile who fled to Spain after being found guilty of taking part in a child sex ring has been jailed.

Leila Kassam, 32, of Mornington Road, Leytonstone, was jailed at Blackfriars Crown Court today (Monday, December 12) for four years.

She admitted having sex with a 15-year-old girl and arranging a child sex offence in June this year before fleeing the country while on bail.

Kassam and her partner, Paul Silverthorn, 36, also of Mornington Road, had with sex the girl after she was introduced to them by a fixer in 2014.

Silverthorn tied the victim to a bed after she was given the legal high 5 NEO at a party in Coventry House, Haymarket, before Kassam molested her.

The couple also sexually abused a second 15-year-old girl, while Silverthorn took explicit photos of the teenager.

Kassam escaped to Spain before she was sentenced and worked on a farm in Ibiza over the summer months.

Kassam and ex-boyfriend Paul Silverthorn went on the run in June

The farm owner contacted police after seeing Crimewatch and Crimestoppers appeals online.

A European Arrest Warrant was executed by the Guardia Civil in Spain and Kassam was flown back to the UK on December 9.

Silverthorn is still on the run following his conviction.

He is also wanted for administering a substance to a second 16-year-old victim, possessing prohibited images of a child and distributing indecent photographs of a child.

He was sentenced to nine years behind bars in absence.

Faham Jaffer, 33, of High Street, Colliers Wood, and Daniel Trinnaman, 20, of Ventnor Avenue, Stanmore, were jailed in June for their parts in the plot.

Trinnaman was sentenced for sexual activity with a child and perverting the course of justice by sending threatening Facebook messages while Jaffer was found guilty of having sex with a child.

Description

Derry Crown Court heard the woman was choked, strangled and bitten by the 29-year-old.

On one occasion Healy scraped a large kitchen knife along her chest after teasing her with threats of injury.

He also banged her head off the wall, squeezed her neck and covered her mouth whilst he slapped her face and bit her.

The court was told Healy urinated over the womans face before forcing her to perform a sexual act on him. This occurred on three occasions.

He also raped her three times while she was being donkey punched on the head and body.

The court heard this is something that is alleged to heighten sexual feelings during intercourse.

During police interview, Healy admitted the physical assaults but denied any sexual aspect to them or any other sexual offending.

It was revealed that the victim has suffered considerably on a psychological level and has been receiving treatment and medication. This is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

Passing sentence, Judge Philip Babington said the offences were aggravated but the humiliating violence over and above the sexual offending and the impact it had.

He added: This case has contained some of the most terrible and concerning sexual offending this court has seen for a very long time.

Healy will spend half his sentence in custody and the remaining half on licence.

He will also be on the sex offenders register and be subject to a sexual offences prevention order for an indefinite period.

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A man has been jailed after a court heard how he drove from his home in London to north Wales to have sex with a girl aged 13.

But it turned out the girl did not exist and teenager he was grooming was in fact a police officer.

The sting by North Wales Police was described as very professional and well organised at Mold Crown Court, where James Shand was jailed for 21 months.

Shand who had no previous convictions - was placed on the sex register for ten years and a ten year sexual harm prevention order was made to curb his future activities.

The court heard the defendant had booked a room at a hotel in Warrington and was on his way to pick up the girl at Rhyl when he was stopped and arrested by police on the A55.

The 30-year old of Southbrook Road, London, admitted a charge of attempting to meet up with a girl under 16 in order to commit a sexual offence.

When arrested he said Ive f.... up big time.

Interviewed, he claimed he planned a day out and that while he had booked a double bed he said he did not intend any sexual contact.

When it was revealed the girl did not exist but that he had been messaging a police officer, he clapped his hands and said well done.

James Shand believed he was undetectable and embarked on online grooming of an individual who he believed was a thirteen year old child. Not content with his online behaviour, he then travelled from London to North Wales with the sole intention of meeting the child for sex. Those who seek to exploit the internet for such vile acts are monitored and will be prosecuted.

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A Chinese medicine practitioner who raped one of his patients at a shop in Camden and sexually assaulted two others has been jailed for seven years.

Dr Hongbin Liu, 53 of the Peabody Estate, Vauxhall Bridge Road in London pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court on 8 January to one count of rape, one count of assault by penetration and two counts of sexual assault.

In February 2015, an unnamed woman in her forties attended the Chinese Traditional Medicine Centre on Haverstock Hill in Camden and as her usual therapist was not at the premises, she agreed to see Liu instead. During the acupuncture and massage consultation, Liu raped and assaulted the victim. On leaving the premises, the victim went straight to a police station to report the offences.

Liu was subsequently arrested, interviewed and provided a prepared statement denying the offences. He was bailed pending further enquiries. In March 2015, two more women reported two further offences to police. Both took place at the Shu Jun Healthcare Centre on Wells Street, Westminster. In each case, the defendant sexually assaulted his victims.

Jane Tunnicliff, detective constable at the Metropolitan Police sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse command, said: "Dr Liu prayed on the vulnerabilities of his patients. It is important that each and every one of us feel safe to seek treatment when we are ill or in pain. As police officers we strive to make our community safer for everyone – even behind closed doors."

One of the victims thought that while giving her a massage, Liu took a picture of her with his phone. However, officers were unable to recover the photographs.

Detective inspector Lee Davison added: "People who abuse their position of trust damage the fabric of our society and the impact of their actions on their victims can be great. We will pursue all such offenders to bring them to justice."

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A Catholic priest and former children’s home worker has been jailed for 12 years after admitting the sexual abuse of 13 children dating back to the 1970s.

Philip Temple, 66, was sentenced at Woolwich crown court after pleading guilty to 20 charges of sexual assault in April and a further seven charges this week.

Temple twice stood trial in the late 1990s. In the first case the jury was unable to reach a verdict and Temple was acquitted in a retrial.

Before passing sentence on Wednesday, the judge, Christopher Hehir, apologised to one of Temple’s victims that “justice was not done when you came to court in 1998 and 1999”.

The court heard that the victim had become a self-harming recluse and had attempted suicide following the trials.

“I can only imagine the damage he has caused to other victims. We can never escape from what he did and we can never be free of it,” the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court. Temple was “an extremely skilled liar and manipulator with sociopathic qualities”, the victim added.

The judge said there had been another missed opportunity to bring Temple to justice when the youngest known victim, who was six or seven when abused by Temple when he worked for Wandsworth council in south London, began civil proceedings against the council in 1991.

According to Jonathan Polnay, prosecuting, the civil case “appeared to be settled with no payment” and police did not investigate when the victim reported the alleged abuse four years later.

Temple sexually assaulted boys and one girl when working for Wandsworth and Lambeth councils in the 1970s. He became a priest in 1988 and abused two altar boys while serving at Christ the King monastery, Vita Et Pax in Cockfosters, north London, in the 1990s.

The judge said he viewed Temple’s move to become ordained as a Catholic priest as an “aggravating factor”.

Hehir said: “You of course exploited the opportunities your deceit as to your character had afforded you, not only by sexually abusing children but, as a priest, by lying on oath to deny the truthful accusations brought against you by one of your victims.

“Your actions as a priest demonstrated that in truth you were a wolf in shepherd’s clothing.”

Detectives from the Metropolitan police’s sexual offences, exploitation and child abuse (SOECA) command launched an investigation after receiving information that implicated Temple in multiple offences. He was arrested on 6 July last year.

Lambeth council said it was cooperating with the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA). “We hope the outcome provides some solace to the victims of these dreadful crimes,” said a spokesman.

In a statement, the diocese of Westminster said it was “aware of the sentencing of Philip Temple, a member of the Monte Oliveto Benedictine order. The diocese has fully cooperated with the statutory authorities throughout the investigation.”

The statement added: “The diocese of Westminster has robust safeguarding policies in place and rigorous selection procedures for candidates for the priesthood.”

Temple, of no fixed address, also admitted two counts of perjury relating to his earlier trials.