Latest Offenders Scunthorpe

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A registered sex offender, described by Bedfordshire Police as “a vile individual”, has been jailed for more than eight years after grooming a vulnerable teenage girl into having a sexual relationship with him.

Ben Wooding, 27, met the girl in August 2021 when he was living in the Bedford area and doing some work at her house. He initially struck up conversations and became friendly with her, before he engaged in sexual activity, and regularly gave her alcohol.

He used SnapChat to message the victim, where he coerced her into sending indecent images of herself to him.

Becoming suspicious, the victim’s mother checked her daughter’s PlayStation and discovered the messages and images they had been sending each other and reported it to the police.

Wooding was initially arrested in May 2022 for other offences relating to the possession of indecent images of children. He served a short custodial sentence and was released on licence the following year. He was also the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

During this time, the victim had come forward and told police that she had been groomed by Wooding and that he had engaged in sexual activity with her.

Wooding was arrested and interviewed in relation to this, and bailed whilst the investigation was ongoing, but shortly after he breached his conditions by failing to notify police of a change of address and was re-arrested.

On Friday (19 April) Wooding, of Exeter Road, Scunthorpe, received a custodial sentence of eight years and three months, after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child, and a further count of breaching both his Sex Offender Notification Requirements and Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

He will also serve an additional five years on licence, will be the subject of a lifetime SHPO, on the Sex Offenders Register and was also handed a life-long restraining order.

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A former Humberside Police officer who had sex with a troubled woman in a clear breach of trust has been jailed for two years and four months.

Ex-PC Simon Miller was supposed to be helping her as part of his duties but he "completely abused his position of trust" by having a sexual relationship with the "vulnerable" woman. He sent her a message that allegedly warned her that nobody would believe her if she told anyone about what had happened, Hull Crown Court heard.

Miller, 54, earlier admitted engaging in a sexual relationship with a victim, knowing that this was improper.

He had been immediately dismissed last year after a misconduct hearing was held into his "unforgivable" behaviour. He met the woman while he was on duty during an incident.

Defence barrister Alex Menary told an earlier hearing that messages were sent to the woman, some of them from Miller's phone and some from Snapchat, and there were pages of records about these and the woman's responses.

The woman had made screenshots of some of the messages. Mr Menary said that Miller went to check on the woman and took her back to a refuge. They had sex that day.

Miller, of Scunthorpre, arrived in a marked police car to pick her up. They went back to the refuge and she and Miller were there between 2 and 3pm.

"In that time, sexual intercourse took place," said Mr Menary. There was later a message to Miller from the woman to say "Thank you." He replied: "No worries."

The woman sent a message to him at 4.37pm saying: "Thanks." Miller sent her a message later that day. Mr Menary told the court that the woman was claiming that "he was saying that, if you tell anyone, they won't believe you because you are in a mental asylum."

She said: "I wasn't in the best place at the time. My mental health wasn't in the best scenario at the time."

Mr Menary said that it would be "quite a hurtful thing to hear" and the woman said that it was really upsetting. "I had just been through an extremely difficult time," she said. "To hear that was quite upsetting. I wasn't in the right frame of mind."

Mr Menary said that the woman later sent what seemed to be "very affectionate" messages to Miller but she replied: "The amount of medication I was on, I wasn't thinking straight. It's very difficult for me to recollect many of the messages."

She insisted that she was "really hurt" by the asylum message. Mr Menary asked whether she was pursuing a relationship with Miller and claimed that she had asked him: "Can't I have you?" but he had replied: "No, you can't."

Mr Menary claimed that the woman told Miller in a message: "So you f*** me once and that's it." Mr Menary asked the woman if she accepted that she was wanting more contact with Miller but she denied that. "I wasn't seeking a relationship," she claimed.

She admitted a prosecution claim that she was "kind" and "a little bit flirty" to Miller in later messages. "I believe so," she said.

A Humberside Police spokesman said previously: "Criminal and internal investigations were launched into the actions of former PC Simon Miller after a report was received of inappropriate conduct and behaviour. "Miller, based in Scunthorpe, engaged in a sexual relationship with a vulnerable victim after meeting her while on duty at an incident in 2021.

"After the internal investigation, an accelerated misconduct hearing took place in August last year, in private so as not to jeopardise the ongoing criminal investigation. The misconduct panel found that he had breached the standards of professional behaviour in relation to discreditable conduct and he was immediately dismissed and placed on the College of Policing barred list."

Head of professional standards Superintendent Andy Maultby said at the time: "Miller has completely abused his position of trust and took advantage of someone when she was in need of support. His discreditable conduct and behaviour didn't just breach the standards of professionalism, it was utterly condemnable and unforgivable.

"I want to praise the lady for her courage in speaking out. It has enabled us to ensure he has been criminally prosecuted, removed from our police force and placed on the College of Policing barred list.

"We will not condone or accept any form of abuse of position within Humberside Police and we will always take action and hold those responsible to account.

"We are committed to rooting out those who should never have embarked on a police career and who cause the communities we serve to doubt our integrity and professionalism. Our communities deserve the highest quality service and should feel they can have confidence in policing and we will do all we can to deliver this."

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A 'violent' Scunthorpe rapist has been jailed for 11 years.

Ceirion Jones, 24, of Valley View Drive, Scunthorpe, was convicted of six offences which happened between 2014 and 2017. He will also be placed on the sex offenders register for life.

Jones was found guilty after an 11-day trial at Grimsby Crown Court of five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration. Humberside Police praised the victims for their bravery and courage during the investigation.

Officer in the case, Detective Constable Megan Sherwin said: Jones is a violent offender who continues to show no remorse for his crimes, putting his victims through the stress of a trial instead of admitting what he has done.

I am reassured that he is now off our streets and is facing considerable time behind bars. I hope he uses that time to reflect on the harm he has caused and the impact that his perverse attacks have had on the lives of others.

I want to take this opportunity to praise the victims, who have all shown great bravery in speaking out about their ordeal. It is because of their courage, throughout both the investigative and judicial proceedings, that Jones is now locked up and unable to prey on anybody else.

I hope that this sentence sends a clear message to any other victims of sexual abuse that we will listen and support you and we will investigate thoroughly, doing everything we can to bring offenders before the courts.

If you are a victim of crime, or have concerns that someone you know is, please call us on our non-emergency 101 line or 999 in an emergency.

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A Derby sex predator who targeted three women has been jailed for eight years.

A court heard how James Jacklin had preyed on the vulnerable women and attacked them on separate occasions.

He was charged with two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual touching.

Jacklin, 26, denied the offences but was found guilty by a jury following a week-long trial at Derby Crown Court.

Victim statements from two of the women said one “wakes up having nightmares” and another “has flashbacks about the incident”.

The court heard that while Jacklin was on bail for the first offence in July 2017, he carried out the second in September of the same year.

The offences happened in Derby between July and October 2017.

He knew victim was vulnerable

Mark Watson, prosecuting, said Jacklin put his hand inside the cup of his first victim’s bra.

He said Jacklin took advantage of the second woman when she was “heavily intoxicated and vulnerable”.

Mr Watson also described the third woman as vulnerable.

One victim statement read: “The crime has knocked my confidence a lot.

“I have been worried about getting to places in Derby.

“I have had flashbacks about the incident. I have had extensions from University.

“I am now comfortable with my boyfriend but at first I was flinching when he went to touch me.”

Parents shocked by son's crimes

Another victim statement said: “This case has been ongoing for a year.

“I left my job as a result of the crimes.

“I’m struggling at work with anxiety. I became unwell and lost weight.

“I would wake up having nightmares. I have also had therapy as a result of what happened to me."                                     

Defence solicitor Edna Leonard said that Jacklin had never been in prison before.

She said: “At the time when he was due trial he had moved back to live with his parents in Scunthorpe.

“It came as a great shock to him and to them.”

She said he had been sacked from his job.

She added: “He’s been hard working since he left school.

“Having a few nights in custody is a massive shock to the system.”

Assault by penetration

Judge Jonathan Bennett said they were “three serious offences”.

He said: “You were convicted by a jury here this week of sexual assault and two counts of assault by penetration.

“You have no previous convictions for sexual offences. These offences have a common theme running through them.

“All of them, when they were sexually assaulted, were in drink and indeed you were.”

He said one of the women was “vulnerable and unwell”.

Judge Bennett said Jacklin had also “shown a degree of arrogance” in his actions.

He said: “You were arrested in July.

“You were released and during that period the [next] offence occurs.”

Judge Bennett sentenced Jacklin to eight years imprisonment.

He also imposed an indefinite restraining order on Jacklin prohibiting him from contacting the women.

Detective Constable Leah Conner, of Derbyshire police, who investigated the offences said: “I want to commend the bravery of the three women who fell victim to Jacklin’s predatory behaviour.

“They have remained steadfast throughout the investigation and trial and I am hopeful that, although we cannot erase what happened to them, this sentence will allow them to put what happened behind them.

“I also hope that they can take comfort in the knowing that Jacklin is off the streets and cannot hurt anyone else.”