Latest Offenders Oxford

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Following an investigation by Thames Valley Police, a man has been jailed for two years and ten months after he was convicted of child sex offences in Burford.

Stephen Painter, aged 67, of Frethern Close, Burford, pleaded guilty to a count each of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming and attempting to breach a sexual harm prevention order, following a hearing at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on 19 March.

Appearing at Oxford Crown Court on the same day, Painter was jailed.

Between 3 and 25 February this year, Painter communicated in a sexual manner with a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl and was making arrangements to meet with her.

He was, in fact, talking to an adult member of the public, who gathered evidence, confronted him at his home address, and contacted police.

Painter was arrested on 25 February and charged the following day.

Detective Sergeant Mark Personius of Cherwell & West Oxfordshire CID, said: “Painter was already a registered sex offender, having previously been convicted of a similar offence.

“I am happy that this matter has been resolved so quickly and that Painter has been sent to prison.

“He poses a significant risk to children, and I hope that the community feels safer now that Painter is behind bars where he belongs.”

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A FORMER school bus driver in Witney has been jailed after raping a 14-year-old girl and encouraging a 13-year-old girl to send him naked photographs.

Peter Gibbs, 60, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court of three counts of historic child sex abuse which happened in the early 2000s – two counts of indecent assault and one count of rape – after being found guilty at trial.

Over two decades later, Gibbs, pleaded guilty to one count each of sexual communication with a child and making indecent images of a child after six naked photographs were found of the teen on his device in 2022.

Sentencing Gibbs, of Briary Lane, Carterton, to eight years and seven months imprisonment, Judge Michael Gledhill said: “You ought to be thoroughly disgusted with yourself.”

During the sentencing, it was heard that the historic counts were first reported to police in August 2001 after the victim made a report, telling her GP she had been raped.

It was heard the assaults had happened in his car as well as on a bus where he worked as a driver.

However, the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed the case.

Gibbs was not charged at the time but was arrested again in February 2021 when a school reported that Gibbs, who was the authority’s bus driver at the time, had been messaging a 15-year-old student.

In May 2022, Gibbs pleaded guilty to the counts relating to that incident and the victim in the latest trial, who is now an adult, was contacted again by police and the case was reopened.

A victim impact statement written by the woman and teen were read out in court.

The first wrote: “Peter Gibbs ruined my life. After it happened, I couldn’t go back to school. I was extremely embarrassed. I felt my parents were disappointed in me.

“What he did to me affects me on a day-to-day basis.”

The teen wrote: “He was a person employed to keep children safe yet he made as a child feel unsafe.

“I feel like I can’t enjoy myself like my friends do because of what he has done to me.”

Defending Gibbs, his barrister explained that the defendant has not been ‘eating, drinking or taking medication’ in custody and has been placed on ‘a particular watch’.

He said: “He is very, very sorry for what he’s done and he’s remorseful for his actions.

"The man has fully, completely and totally come to his senses and has expressed his great sorrow and shame to his partner.”

Description

A PAEDOPHILE has been jailed for eight years after threatening to kill himself if a 14-year-old girl did not send him naked photographs.

Ashley Bourton was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Friday (February 23) for three counts of attempted sexual communication with a child, five counts of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, two counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual communication and one count of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The 25-year-old was caught by four different online child activist groups who pretended to be young girls to catch predators.

They were: Justice For Kids, No More Secrets, Innocence From The Shadows, and Secrets and Lies Confronted.

Bourton was caught messaging the fake accounts videos of him masturbating, believe the accounts to be 13 to 15 year old girls.

Judge Michael Gledhill sentenced Bourton, of Wigod Way, Wallingford, to five years imprisonment plus a three year extended term due to the defendant being classified as a ‘dangerous’ and ‘high risk offender’.

Opening the case, prosecutor Steven Attridge said Bourton had been caught messaging the fake accounts on various platforms, including online chatrooms and WhatsApp in May last year.

He messaged ‘Lucy Jane’, who he thought was a 13-year-old girl, on Facebook using his account ‘Playboy25’, asking her for naked photos.

 Another account, pretending to be a 13-year-old girl named ‘Carrie’, was run by an East Midlands Specialist Unit and Bourton was caught messaging her saying: “If I was you dad and you saw me d*** would you ask to use it?”

An account run by ‘Secrets and Lies Confronted’, pretending to be a 14-year-old girl called Freya, caught Bourton threatening to commit suicide if the teenager did not send naked photographs.

Upon arrest on May 22, officers also found search terms on the defendant’s phone indicating he had been looking for indecent images of children.

Bourton was previously jailed in April 2021 for sexually assaulting a six-year-old old and several other child sex offences.

Defending Bourton, barrister Gordana Austen said the 25-year-old suffered from physical and mental difficulties. 

 She said he is on the autism spectrum and suffers from anxiety and depression.

“He lives a very isolated and lonely life,” she said. “He says he tries to date and communicate with adults but they ignore him which is why he finds it easier to communicate with children.”

Sentencing Bourton, Judge Gledhill said: “You are a very high risk offender according to both the probation officer and your own psychiatrist and I’ve come to the conclusion that you are, what is known in law, as dangerous.”

Description

A CONVICTED sex offender has avoided jail for a second time after being caught living with a 17-month-old baby despite a court order.

Aaron Kitney, 34, was first jailed in 2019 for having sex with a 15-year-old which he claimed was a ‘consensual’ relationship at the time.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child and was jailed for eight years and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). He was released on licence in March 2022.

Kitney later moved in with a 21-year-old mum who had a 17-month-old boy. Kitney was obliged to tell the mum and the local childcare services about living with a child under 16 but failed to do so.

He was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday (February 22) for breaching the order.

Sentencing him to a 12 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, Judge Michael Gledhill said: “No one thinks you have an inappropriate interest in young male children but it was covered in the SHPO.

“If you had just told the mother and the child support services about the SHPO the likelihood is they would have said, ‘He isn’t interested in a young 17-month-old boy, let’s gets in touch with your solicitor and vary the order’.

“But you brought this all on yourself.”

The court heard that Kitney, of Gaveston Road, Didcot, had told the mum-of-one about his previous convictions but had not informed her of the conditions of his SHPO.

After hearing about her new partner, the mum’s own parents became concerned and researched Kitney.

Upon finding out about his previous convictions, her parents called the police and he has been in custody for about six months.

Kitney did have other accommodation at the time, after living homeless in a tent for about four months, but upon arrest, most of his items including clothes were found at her home.

Defending Kitney, barrister Gordana Austen said that Kitney worked as a groundworker six days a week and as a cleaning five days a week in the evenings.

“So he did try to keep himself busy,” she said.

Concluding the case, Judge Gledhill said: “It’s your own stupid fault. Just keep yourself to yourself. Learn a lesson and don’t come back before this court again.”

Judge Gledhill didn’t order ‘trail monitoring’ as it thought it would be ‘over the top’ and there were no orders for unpaid work as the judge wants Kitney to focus on his own work.

He will, however, need to complete 55 rehabilitation activity days.

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A convicted sex offender who raped a woman walking home from a party was given a life sentence today (January 26).

Daniel Williams, 36, from Clark’s Row, Oxford, cycled up behind the victim, grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her on to a muddy area.

He said what he was going to do would be quick and told her not to call the police, Luton Crown Court was told today.

The attack happened in Broham Road in Bedford.

The victim, who is in her 30s, raised the alarm by knocking on a front door at around 7am on the morning of January 17, 2022.

Williams, was caught when a match was found on the DNA database.

He was convicted by a jury of rape.

He had been released from prison in 2019 where he had been serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection after being convicted of following a 23-year-old woman to her home and attempting to rape her.

Williams, who was living in Didcot at the time, had entered the home of the victim who the court heard was "a young, small-framed lady, a vulnerable lady" at night.

There was a struggle as Williams tried to carry the woman upstairs, but she managed to fight him off and scratched his neck.

He then fled from the house.

In 2002 he had been sentenced to four years for indecently assaulting and robbing a 64-year-old woman working in a charity shop.

Williams refused to leave the vulnerable prisoners’ wing at Bedford jail and was sentenced in his absence.

Prosecutor Alisdair Smith said: “The evidence supports the suggestion he followed the complainant for some time."

In a victim personal statement, the woman said the attack left her afraid to go out. She heard voices and felt insecure. She said she had been affected on a daily basis.

Judge Geoffrey Payne described Williams as a “thoroughly dangerous sexual predator.”

He passed a life sentence with a minimum term of six years before he can be considered for parole.

The judge said: “This was a predatory attack on a lone woman on her way home. He left her lying in the mud.

"He has a history of attacking complete strangers for his own gratification. He poses a very high level of danger indeed.”

Detective Constable Peta Simpson from Bedfordshire Police’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) team, said: “Williams was an opportunist offender who preyed on a lone woman before carrying out this appalling sexual assault.

“Random attacks like these are extremely rare – but we will always relentlessly pursue the vile perpetrators of such abhorrent behaviour.

“The victim in this case has showed true courage to reach out for support from a member of the public and speak to officers, which helped to ensure Williams is facing a significant period behind bars.

“Women deserve to feel safe in public spaces - they should not have to worry and they shouldn’t have to look over their shoulders.

“We remain committed to ensuring predators like Williams are removed from our streets.”

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A serial rapist who targeted a woman as she slept tried to challenge his lengthy jail term.

Callen Chandler-Jones took advantage of the woman, who cannot be identified, leaving her "completely broken" and feeling as though she had been "treated like an object" in her own words.

Chandler-Jones, 31, was handed an extended sentence at Liverpool Crown Court in April, where a judge heard how he raped his "extremely vulnerable" victim while she was asleep on at least 11 occasions over the space of several years. Charlotte Kenny, prosecuting, described how the woman became suspicious and began leaving her phone under her pillow recording when she was sleeping.

When she later confronted Chandler-Jones, he apologised and said that he had been having "irresistible urges". He later made "partial admissions" to the attacks, which occurred at an address in Merseyside.

Chandler-Jones was jailed for 20 years, with an extended licence period of eight years, after admitting two counts of rape. The court heard the second count encompassed a number of different occasions.

That sentence means that Chandler-Jones must serve at least two thirds of his jail term before becoming eligible for parole, and will only be released early if a Parole Board are convinced he is safe to live in the community.

However the pervert launched an appeal against his sentence, claiming the judge had no right to impose such a long prison term.

A judgment handed down by the Court of Appeal after a hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice revealed that Chandler-Jones lodged two grounds of appeal. According to Lady Justice Whipple, Chandler-Jones argued "it was manifestly excessive given the facts of the case and the overall criminality involved".

He also argued imposing an extended sentence was unnecessary given the length of the custodial sentence. However Justice Whipple wrote: "The index offences are very severe. Their repeated nature makes it reasonable to go above the upper limit of that category by some margin.

"This sentence was for a series of rapes (at least 11) over a lengthy period, committed despite [the complainant] asking the applicant to stop and expressing her deep upset at what was occurring. These rapes were committed while she was asleep and unable to resist."

In regard to the extended sentence, she wrote: "The judge had good reason to impose an extended sentence in this case. The applicant plainly does present a real danger to the public."

Back in April. the victim bravely read out a statement to the court, in which she outlined the devastating impact of his assaults. She tearfully said: "I don't know how to put my feelings into words.

"This has completely broken me as a person. I am doing all I can to put the pieces back together. The hardest thing to get my head around was why he would want to cause me such distress time and time again. My confidence and my heart and soul was completely stripped from me.

"He treated me like an object to give pleasure. It broke my heart. I really struggle to understand how he could disregard me and my body. I want to ensure he never hurts anyone ever again.

"I refuse to be hurt by him anymore. I completely lost who I was."

Heroin and crack cocaine addict Chandler-Jones has a total of 19 previous convictions, including for assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Judge David Swinnerton, who passed the original sentence, said: "You raped her in circumstances where she was exceptionally vulnerable. You used her like an object.

"You ignored her humanity completely and completely disregarded her as a human being. You treated her as a sexual play thing to do with what you wanted."

Chandler-Jones was also given a restraining order, preventing him from contacting the complainant indefinitely. He must sign the sex offenders' register for life.

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Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man from Bicester has been convicted of rape and other child sexual offences.

A jury unanimously found Hayden Nolan, aged 31, of Bernwood Road, guilty of two counts each of rape of a child under 13, assault of a child under 13 by penetration, and sexual assault of a child under 13 at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday (7/12).

He is due to be sentenced on 11 January next year.

Nolan raped and sexually assaulted a child under 13 numerous times. He was charged on 15 December last year.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Bryn Smith, of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “Hayden Nolan is a predatory sex offender who has now been convicted three times of offences against children.

“Nolan is a danger to children around him. He is extremely manipulative and an experienced liar. 

“He groomed the child victim in this matter over a few months, starting with touching over clothing which then quickly escalated to rape.

“This abuse only ceased when he was imprisoned after being caught making arrangements to meet a teenage girl for sex in early 2019. The girl was in fact a decoy child operated by a law enforcement officer.

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Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man from Oxford has been jailed for non-recent child sex offences.

Robert Ind, aged 76, of Hockmore Tower, was sentenced to 17 years in prison at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday (26/10).

He will also be on the sex offenders register for life.

A jury unanimously found Ind guilty of two counts each of raping a male under 16 and indecent assault on a boy under the age of 14, and one count of committing buggery with a boy under 16 years of age, after an eight-day trial.

The jury found him not guilty of two other counts of indecent assault on a boy under the age of 14.

Ind raped a boy multiple times and committed buggery in the 1990s and early 2000s.

He also committed indecent assault on another boy on numerous occasions in the 1980s.

Ind was charged on 21 October 2021.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Janet Burchell said: “I would like to commend the bravery of the two victims to come forward, support our investigation and the court process, which has ultimately resulted in their abuser being brought to justice.

“I hope this sentencing shows that no matter when offences of this nature take place, victims will be taken seriously and listened to if they report offences.

“We will always investigate these offences and look to put child sex offenders like Robert Ind before the courts.”

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Clive Nightingale, 80, a former chairman of Little Tew’s parish council, was said to have looked at the sick material out of ‘curiosity’.

On Thursday (October 5), Oxford Crown Court heard that some of the children in the indecent images found on the West Oxfordshire man’s computer were estimated to be under one year old.

But the former schoolmaster was spared an immediate jail term by Judge Michael Gledhill KC, who cited Nightingale’s age and previous good character.

“My heart goes out to your wife in particular and, indeed, to the rest of your family. How thjey must have felt when the police arrived at your home and found these filthy images on your computer I can’t begin to imagine,” he said.

Judge Gledhill added: “What a way to end your career; in a dock of a crown court, having pleaded guilty to these appalling offences.

“I’m not going to lecture you anymore. I’m not going to send you immediately to prison, because of your age, you pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, your good character [and] the reference I have read.

“The message has got to go out that those who indulge themselves in this so-called addiction will be punished severely.”

He imposed 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years, with Nightingale ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work and up to 35 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Earlier, prosecutor Julian Lynch said police officers visited the defendant’s home with a warrant and seized his laptop.

Although he answered no comment when he was interviewed by the officers, analysis of the computer showed he had been looking at indecent images of children from 2015 until 2022.

There was evidence of 176 images and two videos in the worst category, including one involving a child estimated to be less than 12 months old. He had 270 files in category B and more than 560 in category C, the court heard.

Nightingale, of Little Tew, near Chipping Norton, pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court to possession of indecent images of children. He had no previous convictions.

Mitigating, Richard Davies said his client felt a deep sense of shame and was remorseful for what he had done.

He realised that if it was not for ‘people like him’ the children would not be abused in order to create the images at which he was looking.

A former English teacher and head of department, Nightingale had volunteered for the National Trust and acted as chairman of Little Tew Parish Council.

“It’s shocking to see a man of that background in this particular position,” Mr Davies said.

Nightingale will be on the sex offender register for a decade and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order.

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A paedophile who paid the equivalent of £100 for Filipino child sex abuse shows faces years behind bars.

Self-claimed hospital ‘research doctor’ Mukhesh Bharti, 46, sought to blame a friend turned drug-dealing blackmailer, named in court as ‘Vicky’ or ‘Vijay’, for the fact police found scores of indecent images of children and vile WhatsApp conversations on his phone.

But jurors rejected the claim that the Punjabi-speaking mystery man was responsible for arranging the sickening live shows, setting up his friend by ensuring Bharti’s face was in the screen recordings of WhatsApp video calls in which children were made to carry out obscene acts.

After deliberating for around 140 minutes, the jury returned to court on Thursday (September 21) to return unanimous guilty verdicts.

Bharti, his eyes fixed on the judge as the verdicts were read out, was convicted of six counts of making indecent images of children, six allegations of causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a child, arranging travel of another person with a view to their sexual exploitation, and possession of a prohibited image of a child.

Judge Nigel Daly adjourned sentencing until October 23. He ordered a pre-sentence report from the probation service, which will look at whether Bharti is such a high-risk offender he should be given an extended sentence.

“He’s going to get a substantial custodial sentence for this,” the judge said.

Bharti, of Overmead, Abingdon, was remanded in custody.

Description

The victim of a sexual abuser said she wanted him to go to prison ‘so he can’t hurt me’.

Michael Hilton, 52, was jailed for six years at Oxford Crown Court on Friday (August 18) for repeatedly sexually assaulting his victim by touching her.

The Greater Leys man had used his acquaintance with the girl’s mother to sexually abuse her daughter over a number of months when she was barely of primary school age.

In a moving victim impact statement, which the victim read from behind a screen in courtroom three, she said: “I just want the whole thing to finish. I want Michael to go to prison so he can’t hurt me.”

She needed ‘all of this’ to be ‘over and done with’, she said. “I’m not happy. I’m not sad. I’m just numb.”

The girl said she wanted to do something in the future to help those who found themselves in the same position she had been in.

“I would really like to be a lawyer to help people like me,” she said in a quiet voice, muffled still further by the curtain behind which she spoke.

The girl, who is still under-16, cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Sentencing, Judge Maria Lamb said Hilton ‘exploited’ the trust the girl’s mother had placed in him.

“The situation was compounded as far as she was concerned by the fact you told her not to say anything,” she said.

“She said you said to her something bad would happen to her and you would both get into trouble and you, that is what you said to her, that she would get ‘really hurt’.

“That obviously had an effect upon her, because it was several years before she felt able to speak out even though she had an increasing awareness as she got older that what had happened to her was wrong.

“It was not until 2021 she felt able to voice to others what had occurred.

“I have heard her read out to this court this morning her victim personal statement and it makes for sad listening.”

Hilton, of Woodpecker Green, Oxford, was found guilty of seven counts of sexually assaulting a girl under-13. He had previous convictions in the 1980s and 90s for dissimilar matters.

Defending, Gareth James said his client was supported by a number of character references. In his own letter to the judge, Hilton asked her to consider not sending him to prison immediately but deal with his case in ‘alternative ways’.

Hilton’s advocate, Mr James, challenged the probation service’s assessment that his client was a medium risk of reoffending, suggesting it was in fact low.

He conceded that a prison service was inevitable, but asked the judge to keep the term as low as possible ‘commensurate with her judicial responsibilities’.

The defendant will spend half his six year sentence in jail before being eligible for release on licence. He will remain on the sex offender register for life.

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A man has been spared jail after sexually abusing a girl when he was 10-years-old by acting out his porn fantasies.

Daniel Shufflebotham-Reeve, now 25, played out sex acts on a younger girl he’d watched in online pornography, a court heard.

At the time, Shufflebotham-Reeve, of Kidlington, Oxfordshire, was not brought to justice, despite the victim's teacher being aware of the allegations.

The police only became involved in 2019 when the defendant walked into the business where his victim was working. 

After a conversation with her partner, she reported the abuse she faced back in primary school. In court, she said much of her life has been spent "crying and refusing to leave the house" because of the sexual abuse.

A jury at Oxford Crown Court last month found him guilty of four charges, including rape and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

In a victim impact statement read to Shufflebotham-Reeve’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday (September 20), the woman said: "So much of my life has been wasted crying and refusing to leave the house due to extreme anxiety, all because of him and what he did to me."

She would "never forgive" her abuser or understand why he carried out the sexual abuse, she said.

The court heard that he had played out sexual acts he had seen in pornography watched on his laptop.

He both sexually assaulted her and got the girl, who was younger than him, to carry out sex acts on him.

Shufflebotham-Reeve warned his victim that, if she did not do as he asked, he would "tell everyone and no one would love her".

Sentencing, Judge Maria Lamb told the defendant, who continues to deny that the incidents happened: "You committed upon that little girl acts which no child should have to endure. She wanted none of it."

Had he been an adult when he carried out the abuse, he could have expected years behind bars, the court heard.

However, because he was only just of an age when he could be prosecuted, it was likely he would have received a type of youth court community order – called a youth rehabilitation order – had his case been dealt with when he was 10 or 11.

By law, judges dealing with adults who committed their crimes when under-18 must take into account the sentence a defendant would have received if they were dealt with as a child.

Judge Lamb imposed a two year community order, saying: "I think, taking all these matters into consideration, the likely sentence had I been dealing with you as a 10-year-old would have been one of a youth rehabilitation order.

"The circumstance of the offending cry out, it seems to me, for the type of help that would offer.

"I can see no reason for departing from that approach to sentencing, where you have gone on to lead a life in which you have not offended further."

The judge gave an extensive set of sentencing remarks, recognising the sensitivities of the case. She noted that the defendant and his victim had been known to each other and, as children do, had ‘held hands’. 

"Sadly, that acting out of adult acts went beyond the playground and on occasions when the two of you were together in your bedroom you showed her the discovery you had made on your laptop: pornography,” Judge Lamb said.

"You wanted to do the same with her and you told her you wanted to copy it and the expressions she remembers you using to her – for example, ‘you’re making me this way’ – was you I am sure, echoing the sort of expressions you had heard spoken by adults in the footage that you had viewed."

She added of the victim: "She said that you told her if she did what you wanted, whether that was an act done to her by you […] or getting her to do acts to you […] if you complied with that it wouldn’t happen again.

"If she didn’t do it, you would tell everyone and no one would love her. She was scared to go to your house because she feared what might happen. She was more scared of the consequences if she didn’t.

"She was ashamed of what you had made her do and, of course, it goes without saying she has no cause to reproach herself for that which you did to her." 

The judge hit out at the ‘corrosive impact’ on children of watching adult pornography, quoting from a pre-sentence report written by an experienced probation officer.

"‘It,’ he says, ‘would be difficult to overstate how damaging the consumption of pornographic material could be to a child’s sexual development.’ He refers to the corrosive impact of the routine consumption of online pornography and that is as far as adults let alone children are concerned.

"With those sentiments, I agree."

Mitigating, Sumita Mahtab-Shaikh said her client had been suspended from his job as a receptionist at the Premier Inn. There were question marks over whether he would be able to continue working at the hotel.

He was supported by a number of character references that spoke of ‘highly of him now’, the barrister said.

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A man who installed a spy cam in a staff bedroom then claimed he hadn’t been ‘perving’ on female colleagues has been spared prison.

Steven Bradley’s lie that the hidden camera had not been working was unmasked when police found a series of clips, including one showing the 47-year-old installing the equipment.

The former care home worker admitted voyeurism but denied possession of a series of indecent images of children that were found on his wife’s iPad and another computer device.

He was convicted last month, with jurors rejecting his claims that he had no idea how the vile material got on his electronic equipment.

Summing up the case to the jury, Judge Michael Gledhill KC suggested there was no such thing as the ‘porn fairy’, a mystical creature claimed by teenage boys to leave filthy material in woods.

Bradley returned to Oxford Crown Court on Friday (August 11), when he was given a six month suspended prison sentence with 150 hours’ unpaid work.

Prosecuting, Brian Reece said Bradley had contacted a colleague in 2021 apologising for ‘betraying her trust’ and saying she would not see him again.

It transpired he had hidden a ‘spy camera’ in a staff bedroom at a supported living block. He claimed he had ‘seen nothing’ as it did not work, although that later proved to be a lie and the device was working.

The court heard Bradley told another of his female colleagues that he was ‘into her’, Mr Reece said. “[He] enquired if he had a chance with her. He didn’t.”

When his devices and an iPad belonging to his wife were analysed, they revealed he had more than 200 indecent images of children although only one apiece in the worst categories of A and B.

Mitigating, barrister James Hay said Bradley suffered from an ‘adjustment disorder’, a mental health condition affecting his ability to cope with stressful situations. His partner was standing by him.

Sentencing, Judge Gledhill told the defendant he should have accepted legal advice and pleaded guilty to the three counts of possession of indecent images.

“It was complete nonsense,” he said of the man’s defence. “Who else could have put them there but yourself?”

Bradley, of Haydon Road, Didcot, will remain on the sex offender register for seven years. He was given a sexual harm prevention order limiting his access to the internet.

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A man who raped a woman he met on a night out has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years.

Joseph Faulkner, 40, had claimed during his trial that any sexual activity with his victim had been consensual, but that they had not had sex as the amount of alcohol he had drunk impeded his biological functioning.

Jurors at Oxford Crown Court rejected his defence in May, convicting him of rape and two other counts of sexual assault.

In an impact statement read to his sentencing hearing by prosecutor Matthew Walsh on Thursday (July 27), the victim said she hoped the case would ensure Faulkner did not commit such a ‘horrific offence’ in the future.

She was also hopeful that she would now ‘finally be able to move forward with my life’.

Faulkner, of Park Close, North Leigh, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years by Judge Maria Lamb, who told him that he would serve two-thirds of that sentence behind bars before being eligible for release.

“That night I am satisfied your victim had made it plain to you on more than one occasion that she had no sexual interest in you whatsoever,” Judge Lamb said.

“Unfortunately, you took it upon yourself to take advantage of the situation which found you in the same quarters as [your victim] when she was ready to go to bed.

“I am quite sure, having reminded myself of the evidence, that she was either asleep or suffering the effects of alcohol and she is properly to be regarded on the [legal] authorities as particularly vulnerable due to her personal circumstances.”

The judge added: “Very significant harm has been suffered by your victim.”

The woman had been taking anti-depressant medication, there were repercussions with her then boyfriend, and it was said to have ‘spoilt her enjoyment of her pregnancies’, Judge Lamb said.

In May, jurors heard that the victim and the defendant met during a night out at the Woodman pub in North Leigh in 2019.

He returned with her to a flat, where he made advances towards her. She pretended to be asleep and even feigned snores in order to put Faulkner off, the court heard.

In mitigation, Rónán McCann told the judge on Thursday that his client and the man’s family had made a ‘number of attempts’ at writing letters to the judge.

“Words cannot express the impact upon them with regards to the circumstances we are now in today,” the barrister said. Faulkner very concerned for his mother, who suffered ill-health.

As a result of the jail term imposed, the defendant will remain on the sex offender register for life.

Description

A convicted sex offender was watching porn on a phone he wasn’t allowed to have and using a dating app called ‘WhatsFlirt’.

Stewart Heather, 48, was found to be living at his supposedly ex girlfriend’s house in June, despite telling police officers the previous month that the relationship was over.

There was a two-year-old living at the woman’s property. Social services were unaware that Heather, who was subject to an eight month suspended jail sentence for sending explicit messages with what he thought was a teen girl, was in the house. He had not informed the police of his change of address.

On Thursday (July 27) defence brief Bethan Chichester said her client had not fully understood the terms of the sexual harm prevention order imposed when he was given the suspended sentence last year.

At the time of the first offences the couple had split up and, in using the ‘WhatsFlirt’ app, he was ‘simply trying to lift his spirits’.

Heather subsequently moved in with the woman in order to ‘assist her’, as she was struggling with her mental health, the court heard.

Ms Chichester said Heather was not the ‘regular sort of offender’ of the type usually in front of the courts for child sex offences.

He had been candid in telling her that when he embarked on the behaviour that previously saw him hauled before the courts he was ‘bingeing on cocaine and amphetamine’ and ‘turned to chatting to people online’.

The defendant was deeply ashamed of his actions, the barrister said.

Earlier, prosecutor Nick Ferrari told the court that the police officers responsible for managing Heather in the community visited him at his caravan on May 11.

Then, he claimed to have abstained from viewing pornography, was no longer in a relationship and was ‘doing better’.

He claimed that an Alcatel mobile phone found by the officers and that had not been registered with them was a temporary replacement, his having recently broken.

Mr Ferrari said the phone had been used to look at pornography and to set up an account on ‘WhatsFlirt’.

In mid-June, the police returned to Heather’s caravan in order to conduct a formal interview about the fact he had breached his sexual harm prevention order by having the unregistered mobile and setting up a new social media account.

He was not in the mobile phone. Eventually, they tracked him down to his former partner’s property.

There, they also found a Kindle device that had been used to view pornography and registered with a new email address in Heather’s name.

On the device was a conversation between Heather and his partner in which he appeared to recognise that he would be in trouble if the police caught him living at her property.

Heather, formerly of Schofield Avenue, Witney, pleaded guilty to breaching his sexual harm prevention order and the sex offender notification requirements.

Sending him to prison for 26 months, Judge Michael Gledhill KC said: “I want to send a very clear message out from this court that anybody with your perverted desire to look at filthy pictures, sexual pictures, on the internet or to engage with children for sexual purposes will be dealt with very, very harshly by the courts to deter people like you from doing what you’ve done.”