Latest Offenders Northampton

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Gordan Newman, from High Barns Close, used the social media website Tumblr to chat to other paedophiles and post indecent images.

But the sentence he was handed in Northampton Crown Court yesterday (January 30) is the third time he has appeared in court for handling indecent images of children since 2010.

He was given a suspended sentence in 2010 and even earned time in jail for it in March 2017.

But when police visited his home for a spot check as part of his sexual harm prevention order in November 2018, they found his phone was logged into Tumblr and had been sharing images with other online paedophiles in private sessions.

He posted under the online handle 'Boundaryless' with the profile description 'not bad but badder'.

The court heard how Newman chatted with other paedophiles online and made such comments as 'cute' on pictures depicting child abuse.

Newman later pleaded guilty to distributing and making indecent images of children.

In sentencing, His Honour Judge Roger Tregilgas-Davey said: "You were talking and chatting to other paedophiles about the pictorial abuse of young children.

"Clearly this matter is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be imposed.

"If you commit this offence again the sentence will only increase and the sentence will get longer and longer."

Newman was handed a prison sentence of two years and three months. A sexual harm prevention order preventing him from working with children or vulnerable adults was put in place for 10 years.

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Mark Kirby, from Thirlestane Crescent, Far Cotton, was sentenced to a total of three years and four months, after pleading guilty to one count of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted three counts of causing or inciting a girl aged between 13 and 15 to engage in sexual activity and two of engaging in sexual communication with a child.

Sentencing Kirby, Judge Adrienne Lucking QC told Northampton Crown Court: "This is a clear example of the dangers people like you bring to the internet.

"You were persistent and determined in your efforts to establish a sexual relationship with children online."

Judge Lucking also made him the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 15 years and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

PC Chris Barker-Bowles, who led the investigation leading to Kirbys conviction, said: Kirby preyed on children in the most sickening way and for his own sexual gratification.

"Im happy with todays court result which follows a long and complex investigation.

If people choose to engage in this appalling way they can expect our specialist police officers to be detecting and tracking their activity.

"We will bring to justice anybody who exploits children in this way.

Kirby will serve 20 months of his sentence before being freed on licence.

An NSPCC spokeswoman said: Kirby went to great lengths to commit horrifying abuse against children and his actions are a stark reminder of the risks associated with the internet.

Its far too easy for predators to contact young people online often with devastating effects - and its important that parents discuss the dangers with their children.

The government has a crucial part to play and its recent commitment to legislate to protect children online is a huge step forward and a victory for the NSPCCs Wild West Web campaign.

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The victim of a predatory Northampton taxi driver has described how the jailed sex attacker showed no remorse for his 'heinous' crimes by denying his guilt for three years.

Abdul Shohid, of Overstone Road, The Mounts, was arrested in 2015 after two women reported him to the police.

The taxi driver, who ran a private firm in Northampton, was then linked to an unsolved rape case after police matched his DNA.

Last month, judge Robert Brown handed the 47-year-old a 12-year sentence for the rape and a further six months for the two sexual assaults.

But one of his victims has described how the cab driver dragged his victims through a three-year ordeal by maintaining his not guilty plea.

It is clear Shohid is a sexual predator who has been preying on vulnerable women for some time," said the victim in an impact statement.

"Operating a taxi firm, he abused his position of responsibility and took advantage of three women that are known of.

"I feel I got away lightly, and if I were in an intoxicated state it may have been a considerably more horrific outcome.

"My sympathies go to the poor young woman he raped.

"I personally no longer take taxis unless absolutely necessary and never, under any circumstances, at night or on my own.

"It is a sad reflection on the strain and lack of funding on the judicial system that it took eight sets of trial dates and deferments and over three years to bring this individual to justice.

"And the fact Shohid pleaded 'not guilty' shows he had no remorse or accountability for his heinous actions by putting the victims through the additional ordeal of a crown court trial.

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Philip Allen, who has since been fired from his job at Shenley Brook End School, is a prominent figure in religious education nationally and has written frequently for the Times Educational Supplement.

48-year-old married man from Potterspury, appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court to plead guilty to six charges of making indecent images of children and a charge of possessing prohibited images.

He admitted possessing 172 ‘category A’ indecent images of children, the most extreme kind. He also admitted having 46 category B images and 37 of category C.

Prosecuting, Jerena Tomaszewska said Allen’s crimes were uncovered after police seized his electronic devices in June during a raid on his house.

She said: “Images were found on a laptop and individual images found on an external hard drive.

“The report shows that some of the images were also backed up from the defendant’s iPad.”

Allen had been a member of the TES teacher panel and a national TES advisor for key stage 4 religious studies.

He was bailed under a condition he could not come into unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 18.

Presiding magistrate Diana Whittaker told Allen: “Our powers of sentencing are insufficient for you, these charges are too serious.”

She referred Allen to Crown Court and he faces up to a year in prison.

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A former policeman who committed a string of sex offences against children, including one in Warwickshire, has been jailed for life after a judge described him as "every parent's worst nightmare".

A former policeman who committed a string of sex offences against children, including one in Warwickshire, has been jailed for life after a judge described him as "every parent's worst nightmare".

Daniel Lishman used jobs as a mobile dog-groomer and a TV licensing officer to help him carry out at least eight offences and also posed as a policeman to indecently assault two young girls, Coventry Crown Court heard.

The serial paedophile was arrested in April last year after attacking a 12-year-old girl while pretending to check on a boiler at an address in Southam, Warwickshire.

Judge Peter Carr ordered the 37-year-old, of Raunds, Northamptonshire, to serve at least 11 years before he can be considered for parole.

Lishman was convicted at previous hearings of a total of 26 counts and asked for four others to be considered.

The charges, including one of rape and 12 of sexual assault, related to a total of 13 victims, including three with disabilities or learning difficulties, as well as hundreds of indecent images of children.

Judge Carr was told that Lishman, who served with Northamptonshire Police between 1995 and 2002, was linked to a string of offences in Northamptonshire, separate from the Warwickshire case, after detectives who arrested him found a camera memory card hidden in one of his socks.