Latest Offenders Manchester

Description

A HOMELESS man who fled from justice after having sex with a vulnerable drunken teenage schoolgirl has been locked up for four-and-half years. Laurence Joseph Stringer left his under-age victim so traumatised by her ordeal that she took an overdose of paracetamol the following day.

A HOMELESS man who fled from justice after having sex with a vulnerable drunken teenage schoolgirl has been locked up for four-and-half years.

Laurence Joseph Stringer left his under-age victim so traumatised by her ordeal that she took an overdose of paracetamol the following day.

But after being charged with having sexual activity with a child he was granted bail - and fled to the South Coast where he spent two months on the run.

The 50-year-old, who was tracked down in Surrey, was sentenced to four and half years at Manchester Crown Court after admitting what he had done.

The court heard that on August 15 last year Stringer lured the girl, who has learning difficulties, back to the tent where he lived near a canal towpath on the outskirts of Hyde.

Earlier that evening she had been boozing with friends in the town centre after an argument with her family.

Loitering

Stringer was loitering in the area and when he heard that she did not want to go home, and knowing she was drunk, he invited her to go back to the tent with him.

After fleeing from Stringer's clutches the girl slept rough outside a B&Q store.

After returning home and taking the pills she was rushed to hospital, where she told police what had happened to her.

A DNA match identified Stringer and the victim was later able to show the police his lair in the bushes.

Stringer, who has a previous conviction for unlawful sexual intercourse, was arrested on September 3 when his tent was searched.

There, officers found a scrapbook of pictures of young teenage girls around the age of 13 and 14 that had been torn from magazines.

Stringer's victim has been plagued by nightmares of her ordeal, the court heard.

Defending, Neil Usher said that although Stringer had a previous conviction for sleeping with an underage girl it was not 'something he regularly engages in'.

He added that Stringer maintained he had not raped the victim.

Sentencing, Judge Anthony Hammond told Stringer: "Force or otherwise, you had no business having intercourse with girl of that age and that's the moral situation.

"Had you been convicted of raping this girl you would be facing a dickens of a sentence. As it is it's a serious offence to have intercourse with a girl of this age. This was a girl with terrible problems in respect of personality and intellectual capacity and you took advantage of her."

Ordering Stringer to sign the sex offenders' register for life, Judge Hammond told him that when he was finally released from prison he would have said he still had to keep police informed of his movements even if though he went back to sleeping rough. was a rough sleeper.

He said: "If you live on a park bench you tell them you are living on a particular park bench and if you change it you tell them again. Otherwise, you will be in real hot water and you will be going down for a very long time."

Last month an MEN exclusive highlighted the problem of bail-jumpers. 1871 people - including at least one murderer and a number of sex offenders - are currently at large.

Description

A PAEDOPHILE who molested a little girl more than 20 years ago has finally been brought to justice. Convicted sex attacker Stephen Hunt, 44, indecently assaulted the youngster while he was babysitting her, a court heard. Hunt, of St Gabriel's Mews, Middleton Junction, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars at Bolton Crown Court last Thursday. He was banned from working with children for life.

A PAEDOPHILE who molested a little girl more than 20 years ago has finally been brought to justice.

Convicted sex attacker Stephen Hunt, 44, indecently assaulted the youngster while he was babysitting her, a court heard.

Hunt, of St Gabriel's Mews, Middleton Junction, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars at Bolton Crown Court last Thursday. He was banned from working with children for life.

Cries of 'scum' were heard from the public gallery as Hunt, an aircraft engineer, was led away to begin his jail term.

Judge William Morris, sentencing, said: "You have forced yourself upon this girl and subjected her to a terrible ordeal. You have abused the trust of this child's parents after they left her in your care.

"This girl has been deeply affected by this offence and it has led to significant psychological damage as a result.

"You have committed a very serious crime and this carries nothing less than a substantial custodial sentence."

The court was told that the attack took place in 1988 but the girl, now in her mid-20s, was too afraid to report it to police until last year. She cannot be named for legal reasons.

Iain Simkin, prosecuting, said: "This attack left the victim in some distress and has affected her confidence and ability to form close relationships with others ever since."

Hunt had pleaded guilty to indecent assault at a previous hearing. A pre-sentencing report presented to the court last week contained letters from the defendant's son and girlfriend, outlining his good character and caring nature.

During mitigation, Peter Cunliffe, defending, said: "While I do not want to gloss over the seriousness of this case, I would like to outline Mr Hunt's impeccable work record.

He has never been out of work and has provided good financial support to his family, especially his son, who has a young daughter.

"This is evident within the character letters submitted to the court on behalf of the defendant."

The court also heard that Hunt was convicted of indecently assaulting a woman in a taxi in 1996 and was sentenced to four months in jail.

Description

A LABOURER was jailed for a month and put on the sex offenders register for seven years after he slapped the bottom of an off-duty policewoman. Anthony O'Neill, 22, was stunned when he was given the sentence. His relatives are furious and say the punishment is over-the-top for, what they say, was a silly joke. They say he has lost his job and been branded "a pervert". O'Neill, pictured, ended up in trouble while he was drinking in a city centre street at 11am one day in November. He told a court he thought it would be funny to smack the woman's behind when she bent down near him. Instead, the woman officer produced a police warrant card and arrested him. O'Neill, of Goredale Avenue, Gorton, admitted sexual assault at Manchester Magistrates' Court. District Judge Paul Richardson told him: "What you did was insulting and demeaning - it was anything but funny." Jailed As well as being put on the register, he was jailed for a month but immediately released because he had already spent five weeks in custody. After he was arrested, O'Neill admitted: "I have done it before. Some women like it, others don't." Outside court, O'Neill claimed he only admitted the sex assault charge because he wanted to be released after being held for 16 hours. He is considering an appeal. He said: "I should have been sent away because it's taught me a lesson not to smack a woman's bum. But to be put on the sex offenders register is just daft." 'Drink' O'Neill's mother, Karen, said: "I think it is terrible. People will see that and wonder what on earth has he done, and think it must be very serious. Rapists and serious sex abusers get put on for that long. "He wouldn't harm anyone. Everyone can get a bit out of hand when they've had a drink." The sex offenders register was set up in 1997 and holds details of about 29,000 people convicted, cautioned or released from prison for a sexual offence against children or adults. Convicted sex offenders must register with the police within three days of their conviction or release from prison and failure to do so can result in prison. They must also inform police if they change their name or address.