Latest Offenders Norfolk

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A sex offender was found to have breached his order by downloading indecent child images and distributing them on a secret phone after struggling in lockdown, a court heard.

Shaun Turrell, 56, who was subject to checks by police officers, was suspected of having a phone which he kept hidden from the authorities, Norwich Crown Court was told on Friday.

Marc Brown, prosecuting, said as a convicted sex offender Turrell had to disclose if he had any devices which could access the internet. Mr Brown said that Turrell claimed he did not have a smartphone and only had a basic phone, without internet access.

However acting on a tip-off, police carried out a search of Turrell's home and found a smart phone hidden in a drawer in his bedroom.

Mr Brown said when analysed, the device showed that Turrell had downloaded indecent images, including some in the most serious category, and had shared images with another person on a chatroom site which he had been using.

Mr Brown said it was not the first time that Turrell had breached court orders and downloaded indecent child images.

The court heard Turrell had previous convictions for possession and distribution of indecent images of children and was also in breach of an eight week suspended sentence given to him.

Turrell, formerly of Old Hunstanton Road, Hunstanton, admitted distribution and downloading indecent images and breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was jailed for 33 months.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.

Isobel Ascherson, for Turrell, said that he had re-offended during a particularly difficult time in lockdown.

She said he had been thrown out of the family home but had then had to help care for his elderly mother, who ended up in hospital in Norwich.

Ms Ascherson said although not an excuse, the stress of what was happening and the rigours of lockdown made him re-offend.

She said that 2020 had been a particularly difficult year for him.

Sentencing Turrell, Recorder Simon Taylor said he accepted lockdown and his family difficulties had made it harder for Turrell, but said: "These are very serious matters indeed."

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A "very high risk" sex offender was snared by police after he groomed a 12 year-old girl online who turned out to be an undercover officer.

Paul Weekley, 61, breached a court order by using hidden devices to have secret online sex chats with the girl he believed to be a 12-year-old called Becca, Norwich Crown Court heard.

Claire Matthews, prosecuting, said Weekley was already on the sex offenders register for previous convictions for possessing indecent images of children, and under the order his online use was meant to be able to be checked.

He had also moved to an address in Salisbury Road, Great Yarmouth, without informing authorities of his new address.

She said Weekley engaged in sexual conversations with Becca and also sent her explicit live webcam images of himself and asked if he could visit her.

Ms Matthews said when arrested in March, Weekley was found to have downloaded nine indecent images of children.

Weekley admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a 12-year-old, attempting to engage in sexual activity in front of a child and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted possession of indecent images and breaching his sexual harm prevention order.

Jailing him for three years and four months, Judge Andrew Shaw said Weekley was a "troubling individual" as he had been given a range of orders in the past to help him, but nothing had worked.

"It is only a matter of time before you seek out a child in person and cause substantial harm to that child by committing a serious sexual offence."

He said Weekley had ignored his court order, and had used social media to make contact with someone he thought was 12, but in fact was an undercover police officer.

He warned Weekley that his sentences were only going to get longer unless he stopped offending, adding: "You are a very high risk individual."

He also placed Weekley on the sex offenders register for life.

Rob Pollington, for Weekley, said that he was genuinely remorseful: "He needs help and is asking for help."

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A man who was involved in a "clandestine" sexual relationship with a teenager has been jailed.

Ashley Bingley was 24 when he became involved with a girl, who was then only 14.

They initially contacted through text messages but over time the relationship escalated into "clandestine sexual trysts" in the Dereham area.

Bingley went on trial in December accused of meeting a child through grooming, five counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of causing a child to engage in sexual activity between March and August 2016.

Bingley, now 29, of Wellington Road, Dereham, had denied all seven offences against the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, but was convicted by a jury.

He appeared in court on Tuesday, June 15, to be sentenced.

John Farmer, prosecuting, said there was no victim impact statement in the case, although the victim was listening into the hearing over a link.

Sentencing Bingley to a total of six years, Judge Anthony Bate said a significant term of imprisonment was "inevitable given the gravity of your offending".

Judge Bate said there was a "significant disparity" between his age and the age of the victim in the case.

He said Bingley's offending escalated over time from messages into "clandestine sexual trysts" firstly at his home in Dereham and then in his car at locations around the Dereham area.

Benedict Peers, for Bingley, said the defendant had a difficult childhood with his father spending time in prison.

He said Bingley continues to deny the offences although accepts he was found guilty.

Mr Peers said the offences happened after the breakdown of a previous relationship at a time when Bingley fell into depression.

Bingley was medicated but it was "then that this chain of events started".

Mr Peers said he was now in a new relationship and had "started again".

He had asked the judge to make any sentence as short as possible.

Bingley was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) indefinitely and put on the sex offenders register for life.

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A convicted sex offender was taken ill after being jailed for a string of offences.

Alan Ludar-Smith, 46, had to be helped in the dock after he was handed down a three year, four-month sentence, at Norwich Crown Court.

Ludar-Smith, who admitted a number of sex offences, asked a young girl online to send him an indecent photo of her younger sister, said to be aged four.

Ludar-Smith was also found to have indecent images of children and to have distributed indecent images to one other person.

Edward Renvoize, prosecuting, said Ludar-Smith was already a convicted sex offender and said the latest offences came to light after a police protection unit found indecent images on his phone.

A further examination of his phone and laptop found other images including more than 100 in the most serious category.

Mr Renvoize said they also discovered he had been having sexualised chats with two girls under 16, asking one of them to send him pictures of her younger sister, he thought was about four years old.

Mr Revoize said Ludar-Smith also asked to meet one of the girls and offered to pay her fare.

Ludar-Smith, of no fixed address, admitted attempting to engage another to cause a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity. attempting to engage a child in sexual activity, downloading indecent images and distribution of indecent images possession of extreme porn and prohibited images.

Jailing him and placing him on the sex offenders register for life, Judge Maureen Bacon said he had an unhealthy sexual interest in young girls.

She said it was not known if the girls he had chatted with were real or not but he had asked one of them to send a picture of her younger sister who was meant to be four.

"You were attempting to cause a child to engage in a sex act and that is a serious offence."

Philip Farr, for Ludar-Smith, said that he was an isolated person and unaware of the gravity of what he was doing.

He said the offences were an attempt rather than any direct contact.

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A Norfolk man who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl was discovered after the victim’s mother saw the offender on a phone watching her sleep, a court has heard.

Simon Price, 40, met a girl on a gaming platform in November 2019 when he said he was 26 and the victim said she was older than she was.

Norwich Crown Court heard after a while conversations between the two moved to Instagram and became more personal, including his medical illnesses and her difficulties.

Benedict Peers, prosecuting, said “conversation became increasingly flirtatious”.

Price, of The Fallows, Taverham, began behaving as if they were in a relationship.

The conversation became more sexualised and they exchanged images and videos as well as live streaming each other.

Mr Peers said there came a time when the victim blocked Price on Instagram but he contacted her on other social media sites.

The court was told she was to tell police she felt “guilty” due to his medical history.

In March last year Price drove down to the south coast where he picked up the victim and sexually assaulted her in the back of his car on the sea front.

The victim told police she “froze” during the course of the assaults.

Mr Peers said following the sexual assaults Price “encouraged” her to self harm and said “he wanted to help her do it”.

The offences came to light after the victim’s mother came into her bedroom in May last year and found her asleep.

But “she could see a man watching her during a live stream video on her phone”.

Police were contacted and Price was later identified.

A victim impact from the teenager described how she had been self harming more and did not feel safe being on her own anymore.

She said she found it hard to trust people because she did not want to be lied to.

A victim statement from her mother described the “horror” she felt at what had happened and how it affected her daughter as well as her, her partner and other daughter.

She also could not put out of her mind the picture of her daughter asleep next to the phone with the defendant watching.

Price appeared in court for sentence on Monday, February 1 having previously admitted an offence of an adult meeting a girl under 16 following grooming and two counts of sexual activity with a girl.

He also admitted an offence of engaging in sexual communication with a child and one count of making an indecent photo of a child.

Price was given an extended sentence of 10 years four months made up of five and a half years in custody with an additional five years on licence.

Judge Andrew Shaw said Price posed a significant risk of serious harm to members of the public.

He said Price had “lied about your age” and groomed her before committing the sexual assaults on her.

Price was also made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and put on the sex offenders' register for life.

Andrew Oliver, mitigating, said the best mitigation he could advance were his guilty pleas which demonstrated his contrition.

He said it was clear the victim was vulnerable to his grooming and had suffered a deterioration in her mental health.

But Mr Oliver said it was a deterioration in the mental health of the defendant, who suffers from multiple personality disorder, which precipitated these offences.

He added Price suffered abuse as a child himself during a severely traumatic childhood.

Mr Oliver said Price had believed the victim to be older but by the time he committed the physical offences against her “knew her true age”.

He referred to it as the “biggest mistake of my life” and is appalled he harmed a child in the way he was harmed as a child.

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A convicted sex offender posted indecent material on a secret Twitter account he set up, a court heard.

Lee Patterson, 23, was subject to a sexual harm prevention order which meant his internet use was monitored.

It was discovered by a sharp-eyed probation officer that he set up a secret Twitter account.

The officer then realised he was using an email account they were unaware about, Norwich Crown Court was told.

Peter Gair, prosecuting, said police were informed and it was found Patterson had posted two messages on his Twitter account containing indecent material, one of which was a live-stream video.

Mr Gair said it was also found that Patterson had access to a phone which he had not told anyone about.

Patterson claimed he had thrown the phone down a drain when he realised he had been found out and Mr Gair said that meant police were unable to find out what he had been accessing on his phone.

Mr Gair said when interviewed Patterson claimed he had not complied because he loved social media.

The court heard he had now been recalled to prison as he had been jailed 16 months in March 2020 for a previous breach.

Patterson, of no fixed address, admitted two offences of sending grossly offensive indecent matter by electronic communication and breaching his sexual harm prevention order and notification order in December 2020.

The court heard he was already on the sex offenders' register for life.

Jailing him for two years, Judge Maureen Bacon told him: "You are a persistent offender. You are unable to restrain yourself even though court orders have been put in place."

She said he had shown a deviousness and had continued to offend.

She said: "When you knew the heat was on and police were coming you threw the phone away,"

David Stewart, for Patterson, said he was a vulnerable young man who was isolated and unable to cope on his own.

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A judge has described how the sexual assault of a young girl at a house where she had been staying is something no parent should have to endure.

Norwich Crown Court heard the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had been staying at a house where Jeremy Simeons, 50, had been present when she was sexually assaulted.

Lori Tucker, prosecuting, said the victim was to later tell her parents that Simeons had “hurt her”.

Police were contacted and Simeons was arrested at work on October 12 last year.

When interviewed Simeons initally denied the allegations and told officers he had given her a cuddle and had taken her to the toilet.

The court heard that Simeons had been “unwilling or unable to recollect precisely what happened”.

Simeons, of Medeswell Close, Brundall, appeared at court on Wednesday (May 20) having previously admitted sexually assaulting a female victim, under the age of 13, on October 11 last year.

Before he was sentenced, the court heard extracts of a statement from the victim’s mother who revealed she was “devastated” to find out what her daughter told her.

Sentencing Simeons to two years in prison, Judge Anthony Bate said: “This is something no parent should have to endure.”

Juge Bate said Simeons had been a man of “previous exemplary character” but was now a broken man.

He also insisted the defendant’s claims to not recall what happened were likely from a “sense of shame to what you did to that young girl that night”.

Simeons was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for 10 years and also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

Andrew Oliver, mitigating, accepted the victim was vulnerable due to her age and said there had been an “abuse of trust”.

Mr Oliver said his guilty plea expressed remorse for something which had ruined his own career and left it in tatters.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Richard Wallis said: “These offences can often leave a mark on their victim for the rest of their lives and it’s only because the girl was brave enough to speak up and tell her parents what had happened that the perpetrator was brought to justice. We hope the court case will help to bring some closure for the victim and her family.”

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A MAN who was stung by waiting police officers after driving 200 miles from Norfolk to Hampshire to meet an 11-year-old child has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Jeffery Batty, 50, was arrested after travelling four hours from Edingthorpe to the Rownhams Services between J3 and J4 of the M27.

He expected to be greeted by an 11-year-old child, whom he had plans to abuse, but was instead met by a swarm of police officers.

The officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit had already been investigating him for months.

Batty, of Rectory Road, Edingthorpe, was jailed after admitting several child sex offences at Southampton Crown Court on Thursday.

He was sentenced with an extended licence period of eight years and pleaded guilty to 17 charges in total.

Police said Batty travelled to Hampshire in January, 2019 but continued to commit offences after that, despite knowing he was being investigated.

This even continued after he was charged with arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and 11 offences of possession and distribution of indecent images in August last year.

That culminated in another arranged meeting with an eight-year-old child after being released on bail.

Batty was again greeted at the arranged meeting point by police officers and charged with five more offences.

They included arranging to meet another child for the purpose of sex and possessing and distributing indecent images and videos of children.

However, he was later remanded.

Batty will now be put on the sex offenders register for life and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Detective Inspector Phil Attwood, from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: Batty is clearly a depraved, dangerous individual who was fully committed to undertaking abhorrent abuse of children.

It is only right that he has received a lengthy prison sentence, and Id like to highlight the work of the investigators involved in this case for ensuring that he was unable to carry out his sordid intentions.

This investigation forms part of our continued priority to protect children from sexual exploitation from those who seek to do them harm, and I would urge anyone who has information on child abuse or is a victim to report it to your local police force right away via 101.

We will always follow up allegations of abuse, no matter when they occurred, and victims can talk in confidence to experienced investigators who will help them get access to a range of support.

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A convicted sex offender who admitted possessing more than 3000 indecent images of children was warned by a judge that custody was on the cards for him.

Peter Hollamby, 32, of Louise Close, Great Yarmouth, admitted breaching his sexual harm prevention order and three charges of downloading indecent images of children when he appeared before Norwich Crown Court.

The court heard that the case involved more than 3000 images which had been downloaded on various devices including a mobile phone and computer tablet.

His case was adjourned for reports and Judge Stephen Holt warned him: 'Custody must be very much on the cards but it will be up to the sentencing judge.'

Chris Youell appeared for the prosecution and Danielle O'Donovan appeared for Hollamby.

Hollamby was given conditional bail and is due to be sentenced on February 4.

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A man, who groomed and sexually assaulted two young girls, has been jailed for 12 years, and given a four year extended licence for the protection of the public.

Benjamin Fish, 38, formerly from North Norfolk, was also placed on the sex offender's register for life and banned from ever working with children.

Fish, of no fixed address, admitted rape and sex assaults on one victim, which began when she was seven years old. He also admitted sex assaults on a second girl.

Andrew Shaw, prosecuting at Norwich Crown Court, said Fish told one of the victims he would kill her if she told anyone about the sex assaults. He said Fish groomed the victim by buying her a number of expensive items.

Mr Shaw said it was only when she was older that she found the courage to come forward and make a complaint about Fish.

In an impact statement, one of the victim's said she still has nightmares about what happened.

Judge Stephen Holt imposed a 16 year extended sentence on Fish jailing him for 12 years and ordering that he be on extended licence for four years on his release for the protection of the public.

He said that Fish had committed a number of serious sex assaults on the two girls and said: 'You groomed them by buying expensive presents such as bags and phones.'

Judge Holt said that one of the victim's, who suffered the most serious assaults, had turned the corner after she came forward to make a complaint: 'Once she had the courage to tell people about what had happened that seemed to help her turn the corner.'

Judge Holt gave Fish credit for his guilty pleas for sparing the victims coming to court.

Michael Clare, for Fish, said he never used any violence and deserved credit for his pleas.

'He has an insight into what he has done and the harm he has caused and is showing genuine remorse.'

He said Fish was showing a willingness to address his problems.