Search results for Manchester

Description

A convicted sex offender claimed he got a ‘bad email’ when he was caught looking at pornography on a library computer.

Keith Smith, 72, had an iPhone plugged into the computer when he was confronted by someone who saw him viewing images of semi-naked women.

He was sat next to a young girl at the time, Manchester Crown Court heard. After being confronted, he claimed he had ‘received a bad email’. He was later identified through library records and police asked him to produce the phone for analysis. Smith refused.

“He said he had borrowed his friend’s phone to take pictures of the gas and electric meters,” prosecutor Olivia Gatfield said.

Smith, from Levenshulme, admitted breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) imposed in 2011 after he was caught with indecent images of children. One of the conditions stated he must show his internet history on request by the police.

His barrister, Naomi Duckworth said he didn’t own a smartphone, so used a friend’s. He was concerned police would go to his friend ‘gun’s blazing’ so refused to provide their details, she added.

Smith’s behaviour showed ‘poor judgement’, but no charges were brought against him - only for breaching the SHPO - Ms Duckworth added.

Handing him a suspended jail term, Judge Hilary Manley said: “The reason you came to the attention of the police is because you were in a library accessing pornography whilst sitting near a little girl.

“The excuse you gave for not handing over the phone to the police, I find, is not believable. Breaches like this are taken very seriously by the courts.”

Ms Gatfield earlier told the court that on October 28, 2023, a woman was at the Arcadia Library in Levenshulme using a computer, when her attention was drawn to Smith’s screen. On the screen was a woman with her breasts concealed by a plant, she said.

“The defendant was seen scrolling over several photos which were clearly of a sexual nature," the prosecutor said. "He was sitting next to a girl."

The woman confronted Smith. He denied the images were explicit and left. When he was later arrested and interviewed he told officers that while taking pictures of his gas and electric meters he got a ‘sudden urge’ to search for an adult film star.

The court heard he had three convictions for 21 offences, the majority of which were for sex offences.

Defence counsel Ms Duckworth said her client suffered with anxiety and depression. “The defendant explained he did not give the police details of where he got the phone from as he was concerned the police would go in ‘gun’s blazing’,” she added.

A presentence report prepared by the probation service found he had not been open about his behaviour and sought to ‘make excuses’.

Smith, of Stanhope Street, Levenshulme, was handed an eight month jail term suspended for 18 months. He must complete an accredited programme, 15 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and pay £150 court costs.

Description

A man has been jailed for six years after attacking and sexually assaulting a woman who had been enjoying a night out socialising with friends in Middleton. The victim will also have an indefinite restraining order against her to protect her, and he will be subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements.

Dewan Gazi (12/07/1980), of Croxdale Walk, Blackley, had previously been found guilty of two counts of sexual assault and one count of section 47 assault at Manchester Crown Court.

Shortly after midnight on Sunday 28 July 2024, the woman was walking home when she was suddenly confronted by Gazi, who grabbed her by the arms and began to touch her over her clothes.

The woman feared for her safety and began to shout for help, as well as punching the offender who continued his attack, including pulling at her shorts.
He then pushed his victim into nearby bushes with a low metal barrier, which she struck and caused her considerable pain.

Around this time, a man and woman in a nearby address heard the commotion and came out to find the man holding his victim on the pavement. After intervening and questioning Gazi, who claimed to be providing help, he ran off and the woman was assisted by the couple.

The man chased Gazi down the street and away from the area, before returning to help.
She was taken to hospital with pain and bruising – as well soreness to her fist where she had punched her attacker.

Following CCTV checks, Gazi’s vehicle was identified as being in the area around the time of the incident, and was later seized by officers as part of their enquiries.

Further CCTV footage showed Gazi working in a takeaway in Middleton, watching his victim walk past, before he ran out to his vehicle and followed her in his car shortly before launching his attack.

He was later arrested and charged with his offences by officers within Rochdale CID.
The man and woman who assisted the victim have since received a bravery award from GMP for their actions, and the judge commended their ‘neighbourhood spirit’ in coming to the victim’s aid and chasing away the attacker.

Description

A "callous and prolific" child abuser who used his flat and cafe to groom and then rape vulnerable and underage girls has been jailed.

The attacks 56-year-old Ajaz Ahmed inflicted on his five victims were discovered as part of a Greater Manchester Police (GMP) investigation into historical sexual abuse in Rochdale.

In January 2016, detectives identified the first of his victims when a woman disclosed she had been raped by several men at a party at Ahmed's flat on Drake Street in the town when she was aged 13.

Ahmed, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 28 years in prison at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court.
He was convicted of 23 offences, including the rape and sexual assault of children, following a trial.

When officers first spoke to Ahmed about the rape at his flat, he admitted he owned the property but said he did not know who his tenants were at the time, GMP said.

Police spoke to another woman who said she had been in a coercive and controlling relationship with Ahmed at the age of 15, and he had raped, sexually assaulted and assaulted her on several occasions.

The force said Ahmed subjected her to a "horrific and sustained" period of control and physical and sexual abuse.

A friend of the first victim also told police Ahmed sexually assaulted her the first time she met him, just before her 16th birthday.

Fearing for her safety, she never reported it at the time, police said.

'Vulnerable'

A third woman also reported she was raped by Ahmed.

She met him at a cafe he owned and he offered her one of his flats in exchange for work at the cafe.

Police said he sexually assaulted her whilst she was in the kitchen.

Ahmed also took the vulnerable girl to nightclubs and bought her alcoholic drinks. When she returned home, he took her into the basement of the Drake Street property and raped her.

A fourth victim, aged 15, was also identified during the inquiries.

Ahmed, who she knew as AJ, offered her a room in his Drake Street flat and would let himself in unannounced. She said he regularly raped her.

She said one night Ahmed laughed as he raped her in front of several men he had invited over for a drink.

'Abhorrent'

A fifth victim told officers she met Ahmed when she was 17.

He offered her a place to stay as it was late but said she would have to give the men something in return.

She refused and he took her back to his flat, where he sexually assaulted her.

Det Con Ann Cooper Poole praised the victims' bravery for helping to put Ahmed behind bars.

She said: "It took just one brave survivor to come forward and detail her abuse and it opened up an entire case which resulted in us obtaining evidence that Ahmed was a callous and prolific sex offender.

"These girls had their childhoods and teen years tainted in the most abhorrent way, and they experienced what no one should ever experience."

Description

A detective who sexually assaulted a police officer and staff member has been brought to justice for his abhorrent behaviour towards his colleagues after they bravely came forward and supported prosecutions.

Detective Sergeant Richard Mills, aged 42, of Rochdale was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Liverpool Crown Court today (Friday 7th February 2025). Mills has also been placed on the sex offender registry for ten years.

This comes after he was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault in December last year by a jury verdict and released on bail pending today’s hearing.

The convictions involved two incidents of forceful sexual touching in 2016 and 2020 while Mills was based in GMP’s Oldham district and in our Crime Coordination Unit at Nexus House.

Now criminal proceedings have concluded, gross misconduct proceedings will take place.

Detective Superintendent David Jones, within our Professional Standards Directorate, said: “DS Mill gravely abused his position of trust and authority within the force when he assaulted his female colleagues for his own perverse gratification.

“It was through their brave disclosure that we built a strong prosecution case.

“Cowardly, Mills denied any wrongdoing. Notwithstanding he has been held accountable for the harm he caused after the victims endured a two-week trial and testified in front of a jury.

“Their tenacity and strength shown throughout our investigation and legal proceedings is commendable and should be recognised as the driving force behind reaching today's outcome, whereby Mills is starting a jail term as a convicted sex offender.

“He is unfit to serve the public and has been barred from policing. We will now be writing to the Deputy Mayor of GM to appeal for Mills to lose his right to a police pension.

Description

A man who groomed and raped or sexually assaulted 11 children has been brought to justice after detectives in Salford uncovered his offending spanning over two decades from 2002 to 2023.

Carl Jones (aged 57) of Little Hulton has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 25 and a half years.

He sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court for 47 offences, which include multiple counts of rape of a child under the age of 13, oral rape of a child under the age of 13, sexual assault of a child under and over the age of 13, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, and indecent assault.

Jones pleaded guilty to all charges on 9th September 2024 and was placed on the on the sex offender’s registry indefinitely.

Description

A "depraved predator" who exposed himself, chased and sexually assaulted students and schoolgirls in broad daylight in a city-centre underpass has been jailed.

Police said Robert Emmerson, a previously convicted sex offender, targeted women and girls as young as 13 in Manchester between 2023 and 2024.

The 40-year-old, from Wythenshawe, was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of five sexual assaults and on seven counts of indecent exposure.

Speaking after Emmerson was jailed for four years and six months, Detective Constable Tamsyn Muller said his victims "held a genuine belief that this man was going to go on to rape them or kill them".

'Long-term psychological impact'

The court heard Emmerson targeted students heading through an underpass on Cambridge Street, under the Mancunian Way.

He was also convicted of assaulting two girls, aged 13 and 16, in the Baguley and Wythenshawe areas of the city.

Det Con Muller said Emmerson "picked [his victims] up in a bear hug-style grip before taking them to the ground and groping them over their clothing".

She said he "targeted lone women and was so brazen that he attacked them in the daytime, not caring if people passing by could hear or see him committing his crimes".

The detective said Emmerson's crimes had left a long-term psychological impact on the women and girls.

She said they "still feel like they can't relax in public, and always have to look over their shoulder".

'No regard for women'

CCTV footage showed Emmerson arriving in Manchester city centre after catching a bus from Wythenshawe.

After attacking his victims, he was seen walking round before jumping on a bus back to Wythenshawe.

Following Emmerson's arrest, an identity parade was organised, where five of his victims recognised him as their attacker.

When officers then searched his home they discovered the coat he had worn during the attacks.

They also found his details on the police database, reading that he had been arrested in 2015.

Det Con Muller said Emmerson chose to wear a t-shirt reading "nope, not today" when she was interviewing him.

"He tried to stare me out while I was asking questions and answered no comment," she added.

She described Emmerson as "a dangerous sexual predator who had no regard for women".

Description

A "disgusting and manipulative" rapist who abused a woman so she "feared for her life" has been jailed.

Amaniel Tewelde threatened and coerced his victim over several years and ignored her pleas to stop sexually assaulting her, Greater Manchester Police said.

The 37-year-old, from Collyhurst in Manchester, was found guilty in November of two counts of rape, controlling and coercive behaviour, and perverting the course of justice.

Tewelde has been sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court to 15 years in prison, given a restraining order, and placed on the sex offender register for the rest of his life.

'Feeling trapped'

The court heard Tewelde first met the woman in the Salford area in 2014 and then sexually assaulted her.

On another occasion, police said Tewelde ignored her pleas for him to stop touching her and went on to rape her.

He continued with controlling and coercive behaviour in the months that followed, threatening not to see her or care for her if she did not have sex with him.

Detectives said the woman feared for her life if she did not listen to him.

The court heard that, during a visit to Blackpool, Tewelde raped her again.

Det Sgt Graham Parry said: "Tewelde's disgusting and manipulative actions led to a woman feeling unsafe and with nowhere to turn to, leaving her isolated.

"By alternating between caring and controlling, Tewelde left the woman feeling trapped and I am glad he is now finally behind bars where he belongs."

He said after years of abuse the woman was "finally allowed a voice" in court after an "incredibly tough journey" and officers were "thankful for her perseverance".

Description

A man has been jailed for 16 years after being found guilty of rape, sexual assault, and causing a child under 13 to watch / look at an image of sexual activity.

David Houghton (20/04/1978), of Milton Close, Stretford, was found guilty in November following a trial at Manchester Crown Court. He had been remanded in custody until his sentencing today (29 January 2025), which was a 15-year custodial sentence, with an additional 12 month licence period.

In 2019, a teenage girl made a disclosure that she had been the victim of sexual abuse over a period time by Houghton, beginning in around 2013, in the Trafford area. The girl was approximately nine-years-old when the abuse started.

Houghton, who abused his position of trust with his victim, carried on with his disgusting actions on a regular basis, threatening the girl that she couldn’t tell anyone else.

Once the girl bravely came forward, Houghton was first interviewed by police in 2019.

Following a thorough investigation, he was charged with the offences, all of which he was found guilty of at trial. He will also have to sign the sex offender’s register for life.

Description

A registered sex offender who was serving a suspended sentence has been jailed after pleading guilty to online child sex offences.

David Kay, 62, of Seaforth Avenue, Atherton, appeared at Bolton Crown Court on Tuesday, January 21, where he was sentenced to four years in prison.

Kay was issued with a sexual harm prevention order back in August 2024, following a conviction for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child under 16 as part of an investigation led by Greater Manchester Police. 

The conditions of the order prohibited Kay from having any contact with a child under 16 years old or engaging in any chat online, concerning the sexual abuse of a child. 

Just a month after his conviction, Kay was arrested after detectives from Regional Organised Crime Units in the North West and South Wales gathered evidence that showed he had breached his order by interacting with someone who he believed was a 12-year-old child, sending explicit images and videos of himself.

Detective Constable Adam Cronshaw from the NWROCU said: "As a registered sex offender, Kay was required to adhere to a number of conditions to deter him from reoffending. 

"Kay was fully aware he was talking to someone he believed was just 12 years old, and yet he sent her incredibly graphic images and videos of himself. 

"We work with police forces across the region, and beyond, to ensure that dangerous individuals such as Kay are identified and brought to justice. Kay failed to demonstrate he could be trusted whilst at large in the community and must now reflect on his failure whilst behind bars.’ 

Description

On 15th January 2025, James Lalley (DoB 04/09/1974), from Wigan, was sentenced to 11 years in prison at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court for inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity and the sexual assault of a child under 13. 

Lalley was sentenced to three years for the sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl in Bury, in 2008/2009, and a further eight years for inciting a six-year-old boy to engage in sexual activity in Bolton, in 2021. 

An investigation into the assaults commenced in January 2021 after the incidents were reported to police. 

Description

A “dangerous” sex offender has been jailed again after he subjected a teenage girl to a shocking broad daylight attack on the doorstep of her Calderdale home.

The youngster, who must not be identified for legal reasons, had been talking to drink-fuelled David Collier at the front door when the 35-year-old began making crude sexualised comments and rubbing his genital area.

The incident, which took place on a residential street last year, was captured on CCTV footage which was played in court and it showed cars driving by and even a pedestrian walking his dog within a few feet of the defendant.

During the sexual assault Collier touched the girl between her legs over her clothing and forcibly kissed her before taking his penis out and rubbing it over her chest. The girl was able to go back inside her home when another male approached Collier.

During a hearing at Bradford Crown Court on Wednesday, it was revealed that back in 2013 Collier, of Woodstock Road, Manchester, had been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for attempting to rape a man.

While serving that sentence Collier had completed a sex offender programme, but Judge Ahmed Nadim said today that the defendant did not seem to have learned from that experience. The judge said: “That tells us something about the future risk he presents."

Collier admitted offences of sexual assault, engaging a child in sexual activity and engaging in sexual behaviour in the presence of a child and his barrister Jo Shepherd said he was thoroughly ashamed of his behaviour that evening.

Judge Nadim concluded that Collier met the “dangerous offender” criteria and imposed a 30-month jail sentence with an extended licence period of 18 months. Collier will also have to comply with a sexual harm prevention order for the next 15 years and he is already subject to sex offender registration with the police for the rest of his life.

In her victim impact statement which was read to the court by the prosecutor the complainant described how she felt she wouldn’t have been believed if there had been no CCTV recording.

Prosecutor Anthony Moore said the girl felt angry, annoyed and isolated.

Judge Nadim told Collier over a prison video link that he had behaved in a “sexually perverted manner” in broad daylight. He said: “This offending occurred while you were stood on a public pavement on a residential street."

In reference to the sex offender programme completed by Collier the judge said: ”That measure designed to protect the public interest was insufficient because you, despite having undergone such a programme and served a substantial sentence of imprisonment for a sexual offence, conducted yourself in this way.

“In a public street where you could be viewed by passing traffic and members of the public on the pavement.”

After imposing the extended sentence on Collier the judge told him that he was in cusp of receiving a life sentence for any further offending.

“Your future is in your own hands. Be warned,” he added.

Description

A man sexually assaulted a girl in the back of his car after messaging her under a false name and driving her towards the moors.

Waseem Ullah, 28, picked the girl up after she was reported missing to police on June of this year.

He then drove her around Bolton before driving towards the moors in Darwen where he sexually assaulted her in the back of his car. 

Police say that Ullah had spoken to an underaged girl on social media, saying he would pay her to “chill” with him, £20 for an hour, £40 for two. 

The victim said she was underage and didn’t want to meet up with him, but he persisted and said, "see me sometimes and I pay u and u can get stuff with it".

Ullah then started sending sexually explicit messages and asked for explicit photographs of herself from the girl.

This was reported to police in May 2022 after the victim's mother found the messages and Ullah was arrested.

He was bailed but broke restrictions by committing further crimes.

Police say that this was when he used a false name on social media to arrange a meeting with the girl who went missing in June before sexually assaulting her near Darwen.

Specialist officers spoke to the girl who told them what happened and how she had met Ullah.

The officers then identified that the contact number the victim provided of the suspect was registered to Ullah, of Mobberley Road, Breightmet.

He was then spotted driving in Bolton on June 9 and seen emptying and cleaning his car.

Ullah was arrested, charged and remanded.

He at first denied his crimes but eventually pleaded guilty to causing a female 13 or over to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity.

Ullah also admitted to two counts of sexual assault, engaging in sexual communication with a child, and breach of court bail conditions.

Brought before Bolton Crown Court, Ullah was jailed for six years with a four-year extension.

PC Becky Greenwood, of the Bolton Complex Safeguarding Team, said: “Waseem Ullah showed no remorse for his behaviour and denied his criminality until he was faced with indisputable evidence.

"He was persistent in his attempts to exploit the survivors in this case, and I am pleased that we were able to secure the evidence to send him to prison for a long time.”

She added: “I would like to thank the girls who spoke to us and bravely disclosed Ullah’s depraved behaviour. 

“We know that this sentence goes no way to make up for what Ullah subjected them to, but we hope they can draw some comfort from the fact he is now behind bars.”

Description

A sexual predator followed a vulnerable woman as she got a taxi home from a night out before assaulting her for over an hour in a dark alleyway.

The young woman had been out with friends in Fallowfield when her friends ordered her an Uber home using her phone. But a car began to follow them.

CCTV showed Abbas Ahmed, 32, following closely behind the taxi before the woman stopped the journey home short. She then got out of the cab and began walking home, appearing to ‘walk into a parked car’ and seemed ‘clearly drunk’, prosecutor Geoff Whelan said.

“The defendant parked further up and noticed her walking down the road and quickly caught up with her,” he said.

“He grabbed hold of her hand and put his arm around her. She was unsteady on her feet.”

At one point the woman was seen to point towards her address, before Ahmed led her towards an alleyway. He then kissed her hand to encourage her, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Whilst walking over to the alleyway she was seen to push him away before he grabbed her hand. In the alleyway he sexually assaulted her.

The woman would later tell police that she had no memory of the taxi journey and only vague memories of being bent over and feeling something pulling her shorts and underwear down before pushing against her.

“The Crown’s case is that she was simply too intoxicated to consent,” Mr Whelan said.

The woman thought the assault took place over the course of five and ten minutes. However, CCTV revealed the ordeal lasted an hour before Ahmed left the woman alone in the alleyway.

She could be seen on the footage briefly illuminated by a passing car’s headlights as she was propped up against a wall with her dress pulled up to her waist.

As Ahmed left the scene, the young woman managed to find her way home where she met up with her friend. She had her underwear in her hand, it was said.

Whilst she got ready for bed, she mentioned to her friends about a ‘man in an alleyway’, but as they were unsure of what happened they thought to let her rest. A couple of days later she informed the police that she had been sexually assaulted.

In footage of the incident played to the court, the taxi is seen driving up the road to make sure the woman was OK. As he had seen she was ‘not in distress’ he drove away.

During the hour-long assault, the woman was seen to momentarily stumble out of the alleyway looking disorientated and dazed.

Ahmed’s DNA was later found on her genitals, the court heard.

In a statement, the woman said she struggles with fear, anxiety and sadness. She said she had struggled with friendships and whilst she had no physical injuries, she suffered a ‘mental toll’.

She added that she now doesn’t drink and feels unsafe around men. “I’m doing my best to move forward, but the effect still lingers," she added.

The court heard that Ahmed had a previous conviction for sexual assault, in which he had followed his victim in a car.

Mitigating, Gemma Maxwell said: “Parts of the journey, she was kissing him and holding his hand.

“The offences began upon losing his job. He was at a low ebb and was lonely and had time on his hands.”

Sentencing him as a ‘dangerous offender’ under sentencing provisions, Judge Patrick Field KC said: “The evidence shows that you are a sexual predator. You preyed upon a lone female unknown to you.

“She was alone and vulnerable. She was very drunk, so drunk that she was unable to consent to what you did and unable to remember what happened.

“You were fully aware of her condition. She tried to resist but was overpowered by force or persuasion.”

He described the offence as ‘thoroughly organised, planned and premeditated.

Ahmed, of Meade Grove, Longsight, was handed 50 months imprisonment with an extended licence period of 48 months.

He was also made subject of the Sex Offenders Register and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until further order.

Description

A registered sex offender who had online chats with teenage boys, despite an order imposed against him, is now behind bars once again, after a diligent investigation by his Offender Manager.

Mark Lee (23/01/2003) of Greenbrow Road, has been sentenced to five years in prison with an extended licence period. He has also been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life, with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed off.

Lee’s victims disclosed to him that they were under 16, and he knowingly continued to target children in an online chatroom using a prohibited device.

Following his conviction for indecent image offences in 2023, where he received a suspended sentence, Lee was banned from having contact with anyone under the age of 18 and prohibited from possessing any images of anyone under the age of 18. He was also subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to comply with. A case worker from our Sex Offender Management Unit conducted weekly checks on Lee from this point.

In 2022, Lee began contacting a 13-year-old boy. When using the chatroom app to speak to this boy, Lee coerced him into sending explicit pictures. He also paid a total of £1,200 to him, to try and encourage the boy into sending more explicit images. The boy tried to break things off with Lee, sensing that Lee was not 17 years old like he had originally told him. In attempts to continue speaking to the boy, Lee set up another social media account and pretended to be his own sister to communicate with the teenage boy saying to him that Lee was a good brother and good person and encouraged the boy to start speaking to him again.

At the same time, Lee was speaking to another teenage boy using the same chatroom. It was uncovered that Lee used age filters to target specifically 13-year-old teenage boys, and was pretending to be a teenager himself.

He was first arrested in November 2023 by DC Dan Foy, and placed on bail for further enquiries. However he kept up online contact and even went to meet one the boys in February 2024.

Once further intelligence came to light, we swiftly arrested him in April 2024, after his Offender Manager was made aware of a report he had made about being a victim of fraud. He reported that he’d never been paid for a laptop he sold on Ebay, but of course we knew that he should not have had that device in the first place.

On arrest, his mobile phone was inspected and found to contain images showing young teenage boys. From this, officers were able to find his victims through detective work to trace the school uniforms on a UK database along with some conducting some investigations on the phone data.

He was subsequently charged with multiple sexual offences, including engaging in sexual communication with a child, cause or incite a boy age 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, possession of indecent images of children and meeting a young boy following grooming, as well as repeated breaches of a sexual harm prevention order.

Description

A POLICE worker and kids’ football coach was caught engaging in depraved sex chats with someone he believed to be a ’14-year-old girl’.

Gary Marsden actually communicated with and shared a sexualised photo with an undercover police officer.

The 50-year-old appeared before Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, Monday, to face sentence after admitting a charge of attempted sexual communications with a child.

It was heard that, in his pre-sentence report, the dad-of-two claimed not to have a sexual interest in children except on the day of the chats.

However, this basis of plea was abandoned, allowing the case to proceed to sentence without the need for a trial of issue.

The charge arose out of internet chats that he took part in on February 8, 2023, explained Martyn Walsh, prosecuting.

Marsden communicated online with an undercover police officer who was posing as both a 22-year-old woman called Sophie and a 14-year-old girl named ‘Emz’.

The court heard how he sent a sexual image of himself in his boxer shorts and solicited a photo of the ‘girl’ in her nightie.

The officer played the roles of both Emz and Sophie during the course of the conversation, and the defendant, the Crown said, ‘believed and intended all that he wrote in those messages’.

At the time of the offending, the defendant was employed by Cheshire Police as a civilian supervisor in the motorway control unit, based off Robb Lane in Newton-le-Willows – a job he had been in since 2014.

He resigned from the force in May 2023 during an investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The case against him was that he used a work computer to log into his Twitter account, and that he was in work when he was talking with the undercover officer.

The prosecution case was also that he took a photo of himself in his boxer shorts to send to the ‘child’ when he was in work.

Moreover, at the time of the offence he was the manager of a children's football team, and when he was arrested, he was living at the family home with his wife and two children.

During chats, after being told by the ‘girl’ that she was aged 14, Marsden asked to see her nightie and called her ‘cute’ after being sent a photo by the officer.

He also asked her to show him her legs, and after being sent another photo by the officer, he replied ‘hot hot hot’.

The defendant called the girl ‘babe’ and ‘very sweet’, discussed having an erection and commented “I don’t mind some risk.”

Marsden also made mention of the ‘girl’ visiting his office on work experience and ‘kissing her all over’, adding that he thought she was ‘so sexy’ and ‘perfect’, and that he ‘liked her a lot’.

Chats included references to her ‘perfect bum’ and that he was ‘excited’ by the photo of her in the nightie.

The chat with the undercover officer ended that same day, with Cheshire Police officers attending his home address the following day, February 9, and arresting him.

Items seized from the address included his mobile phone, on which authorities found the corresponding chats and photos.

When interviewed under caution on March 9 2023, Marsden admitted that the Twitter account was his profile, and that it was only used and accessed by him.

He admitted the communicating with the female profiles and sending all images within the communication, but he claimed he did not believe it was real or that he was communicating with a child.

In mitigation, it was heard from Steven Nikolich, defending, that his client, who has no previous convictions, should be given some credit for his guilty plea entered during a trial.

“Clearly, he is someone the Probation Service can work with,” Mr Nikolich said, with the court hearing that the date of sentence was a ‘seminal day’ as Marsden had admitted his sexual interest in children.

Commenting that there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in his client’s case, Mr Nikolich asked the court to suspend the sentence of imprisonment.

Before sentencing, judge Anil Murray said: “Clearly, the threshold for custody has been crossed.

“The sentence is short enough to be considered for suspension, you are not thought to be a risk to the public, and you are a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

“On balance, I can just about suspend the sentence.”

Marsden, of Snowshill Drive in Wigan, was sentenced to nine months in prison, but this was suspended for the next two years.

During this time, he must also complete 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 150 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Moreover, the defendant was ordered to sign the sex offender register and abide by the terms of a sexual harm prevention order, both for the next 10 years.

Towards the cost of court proceedings, he was told he must pay £1,200, while an order was approved for the forfeiture and destruction of his mobile phone seized on his arrest.

Judge Murray added: “I reserve any breaches to myself, and if you reoffend or fail to carry out the work, we will meet again, I will remember you, and I am not likely to give you a second chance.”

Following the hearing, IOPC director of operations Steve Noonan said: “Marsden’s actions were abhorrent in sexually communicating with someone he believed to be a child.

“His actions amounted to predatory behaviour for his own sexual gratification.

“Marsden’s conviction sends a clear message for his appalling behaviour which significantly undermines the public confidence in policing.

“Our involvement ensured independent oversight of this sensitive investigation, and I am grateful to Cheshire Police’s counter corruption unit for its efforts in holding the former staff member accountable for his actions.”

The IOPC recommended Marsden had a case to answer for gross misconduct, and following a hearing in January this year, it was determined that his actions breached the police standards of professional behaviour.

This was relating to authority, respect, courtesy, discreditable conduct, honesty and integrity at the level of gross misconduct.

It was ruled he would have been dismissed without notice had he not already resigned, and he was placed on the barred list, meaning he cannot be employed in policing in the future.