Latest Offenders Stoke-on-Trent

Description

A child sex offender from Staffordshire has been sentenced to 16 years after the survivors came forward.

Kris Middleton, 39, of Baddeley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on Wednesday (4 September) after he was found guilty at an earlier hearing.

Our detectives questioned him in March 2021 after one of the survivors bravely came forward.

Since then, we’ve been working tirelessly to secure all of the evidence required to bring Middleton to justice.

Through the bravery of the survivors and our evidence, a jury found Middleton guilty on 15 counts following a trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on 21 May this year. These include eight counts of sexual assault of a girl under 13 and seven counts of causing or inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Middleton was sentenced to 15-years imprisonment for his crimes, with an extended license period of one year, given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and put on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Description

A child sex offender from Staffordshire has been jailed for more than two years after he was found guilty on three counts in court.

Shaun Willcocks, 63, of Bagnall, Stoke-on-Trent, was sentenced to two-years-and-four-months imprisonment at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on 23 August after he was found guilty of three child sexual offences:

• Two counts of the sexual assault of a girl under 13
• One count of causing a child under 13 to look at an image of sexual activity

We started investigating Willcocks when the survivor bravely came forward in June 2021 and told an adult what had been happening to her.

The abuse happened in 2015.

Detectives worked hard to gather all of the evidence possible to take Willcocks to court and support the survivor as much as possible.

Willcocks denied the offences but was found guilty by a jury following a trial at Stoke-on-Trent in July this year.

As part of his sentencing, Willcocks was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for ten years.

Description

Sex pest Ross Madeley attacked a woman at a Covid lockdown party. The defendant was drunk and out of work when he carried out the attack.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the victim had tried to scream. But no noise came out of her mouth, the ordeal eventually came to an end, and she called in Staffordshire Police the following day.

Now Madeley - who is 25 years old - has dodged jail and been placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years. He had admitted two charges of sexual assault as well as three other sexual offences connected to the same incident.

Brian Williams, mitigating, said: "He behaved in the most appalling way. He accepts that. He said to me what he did was unforgivable. He is remorseful. There is a huge difference in many people between a 21-year-old and a 25-year-old. In the intervening period he has matured considerably. He can look back at what happened four years ago with a sense of shame. It was during Covid and he was not working. It led him to drink more than he should have done."

Recorder Sunil Khanna sentenced Madeley, of Guy Street, Bucknall, to two years in prison, suspended for two years. The sentence includes a 35-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 150 hours unpaid work.

Recorder Khanna said: "These events occurred at the time of lockdown. You were feeling low and drank too much and described yourself as very drunk that evening. You behaved in an appalling way. I have no doubt she suffered psychological and personal harm as a consequence of your actions. There is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation."

Description

Dangerous sex offender Callum Townsend has been jailed after he tried to meet up with a 15-year-old boy for sex. The 32-year-old - who has a history of committing sexual offences - pretended to be a 20-year-old woman named Amy in a bid to lure his victim into meeting him.

The offence happened shortly after he was released from jail on licence. Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard he also asked a 15-year-old boy to send images of himself and used other alias names.

Now Townsend has been sentenced to a 10-year extended jail sentence to protect the public as he is deemed to be a dangerous offender.

portraying himself as a 12 or 13-year-old girl to another pervert on Kik was 'stoking the flames of his warped cravings and your own'

Prosecutor Hunter Gray said the defendant was jailed for 38 months in 2021 for three charges of causing a child to engage in sexual activity; sexual activity with a child; and failing to surrender to custody. He was placed on the sex offenders' register and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for life.

He was released on licence on November 18, 2022. But on March 12 last year police attended Townsend's home and he was asked to hand over his devices, an iPhone and an Acer laptop.

"The defendant had accessed a number of apps which were not showing on his phone - gaming apps, CryptoCurrency apps, a drop box cloud app and Telegram Messenger.

"An examination of his phone revealed he had been exchanging messages with a 15-year-old boy between February 9 and March 2, 2023. The messages had been deleted. The defendant posed as a 20-year-old woman called Amy. The boy told him he was 15 and still at school. The defendant asked for images of him.

"He sent a video of a couple having sex. He asked the boy if he had Telegram, a more secure application. They arranged to meet up for the purpose of meeting for sexual activity. The defendant sent the boy images of a woman. He pretended to be Amy."

Townsend asked the boy to send him a picture and the victim sent an image of his lower half. Townsend persisted and asked him to take his shorts off. Mr Gray added: "It was a breach of the SHPO to be in communication with someone under 16. He arranged to meet someone under 16 for the purpose of a sexual encounter."

The defendant also sent out messages asking to be added on Snapchat under an account name Nevexx200 and messaged someone under another alias, sending images of a blonde woman and encouraging the recipient to send images of himself.

Townsend, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching a SHPO; arranging the commission of a child sexual offence; and failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register.

Robert Holt, mitigating, conceded Townsend has a 'substantial record of similar matters'. He said the defendant pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. He was subject to licence and was recalled to prison after his arrest.

He said the offending period was 'relatively short'. Mr Holt said: "I have to accept the young person was 15, quite a disparity in age and the person was a child rather than a decoy and there were further concerns due to his autism and ADHD. He accepts there is an element of grooming and he used it to try and obtain images."

Mr Holt said Townsend had not had any access to any accredited programmes. He said: "He is happy to comply with the Horizon (sex offender) programme and has put his time in custody to good use, completing the first year of an Open University degree in business management."

Mr Holt added: "He accepts his behaviour is inappropriate and he accepts there needs to be some considerable change in his behaviour and his outlook. He seems to be in a revolving door. He is preparing for his release and hopefully will not return to court in the future."

Judge Graeme Smith told Townsend: "Upon your release on licence there was a rapid and worrying return to some of the activity. You were posing as a younger female and corresponding via the internet with a 15-year-old boy. You used another alias, Neve, to communicate with people.

"There was an attempt to obtain sexual images but you were also proposing to meet up with the boy for sexual activity. It would have been obvious you were not 20-year-old Amy but a 32-year-old man. You have a sexual interest in teenage boys. You also encouraged the boy to try and recruit others to what was going on.

"You are a dangerous offender. You are sexually preoccupied and sexually attracted to children. This happened within a matter of weeks after your release from prison."

The extended sentence is made up of five years custody and an extended licence period of five years. He must serve two thirds of the custodial element before he can be considered for release.

Description

A man who was convicted of several sexual offences in Staffordshire has been sentenced to 15-years.

Kieran Huthwaite, 31, of Bentilee, Stoke-on-Trent, abused the survivors who eventually came forward and reported what had happened.

He was reported to police and arrested in November 2021. He denied what happened.

We started work to gather evidence which resulted in Huthwaite being charged and sent to court.

Following a trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, the jury reached a verdict on 31 January 2024 that Huthwaite was guilty of two counts of assault of a female under 13, one count of rape of a female under 16, one count of attempted rape of a female over 16, one count of sexual assault of a girl under 13 and one count sexual assault of a female over 16.

On Tuesday (21 May), he was given a 15-year extended sentence. He was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and put on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Description

Rapist Mustafa Musa has been jailed for eight years. The 23-year-old, of Lionel Grove, Hartshill, has been locked up after earlier being convicted of separate charges of rape and sexual assault.

It was one night when a woman woke up to find Musa sexually assaulting her. He then raped her - despite her shouting for him to stop.

Cheshire Police were called in following the Crewe attack.

Following the Chester Crown Court sentence, a police spokesman said: "I would like to commend the victim for the courage she has shown throughout this case. Musa lied his way through this investigation and subsequent trial, showing absolutely no remorse for the ordeal he put the victim through. But thanks to the victim’s bravery and the evidence we gathered, the jury was able to see through his lies and he is now finally being held accountable for his actions.”

Musa has also been ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for the rest of his life.

The police spokesman added: “If anything can be achieved from this case, I hope that it encourages other victims of sexual offences to come forward and report them to us. We treat all reports extremely seriously and any allegation will be thoroughly investigated with the wishes and needs of the victim as our main priority.”

Description

A pensioner who volunteered at an attraction popular with families has been caught with hundreds of child abuse images. David Donkin, who had helped out at Foxfield Railway, near Blythe Bridge, since 1966, viewed sickening photos of children as young as three being exploited over a six-year period.

But it came to an end when police visited his home in December 2022 and seized his electronic devices. They were found to contain a total of 2,430 indecent images of youngsters at categories A to C and 295 prohibited images of children.

Now 79-year-old Donkin, who has undertaken a lot of work through the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a child protection charity dedicated to preventing child sexual abuse, has been sentenced to a two-year community order at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. As part of the order he must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement for 20 days and 80 hours unpaid work.

Prosecutor Salek Ahmed said police from Operation Safenet attended at Donkin's Blurton home on December 14, 2022, after receiving intelligence that the occupant had uploaded a category C image of a child.

Mr Ahmed said items including a computer tower and a mobile phone were seized and analysed. They were found to contain:

• 239 still indecent images of children and 39 moving images at category A, the most serious;
• 234 still images and 43 movies at category B;
• 1,858 still images and 17 movies at category C;
• 265 prohibited still images of a child and 30 prohibited moving images of a child.

Mr Ahmed said Donkin made full and frank admissions in his police interview. He added that some of the children in the images were as young as three or four and the offending spanned six years, from 2016 to 2022.

Donkin, of Waterside Drive, Blurton, pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent photographs of a child and one charge of possessing a prohibited image of a child.

Stuart Muldoon, mitigating, said when the police seized Donkin's devices officers provided him with the details of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation. Mr Muldoon said: "He started engaging and did not replace the items seized by the police. For almost a year he was involved with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.

"At the moment he has no devices that can access the internet. The offending has a lot of stigma."

He said Donkin, who worked at Creda, has been involved with the steam railway since 1966. But he has been suspended as a result of the police investigation. Mr Muldoon said: "There is no suggestion there has been any contact with children. He is hopeful he will be able to go back there.

"He is very proud of his achievements in his paid working life and his voluntary working life. He is ashamed, guilt ridden and upset that he is before the courts.

"He accepts he became desensitised to what he was looking at and became addicted to pornography."

Recorder Julian Taylor said: "You are 79 and of previous good character. These are real children. These disgraceful, horrible images are exploitation of children. Some were as young as three or four."

Donkin was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years and was placed on the sex offenders' register for the same period.

Description

Sex offender Niall Griffiths breached a court order - by using an app which does not track internet searches. The 31-year-old used the DuckDuckGo app which allows devices to not retain internet history.

And he also breached a community order by missing unpaid work appointments. Now Griffiths has been ordered to carry out a further 30 hours unpaid work and been hit with a £479 court bill at North Staffordshire Justice Centre.

Griffiths was handed the Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in 2016 after admitting two offences of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. But he breached the order on December 1, 2021 by using DuckDuckGo.

Prosecutor Suzanne Swindail said: "The police attended the defendant's address to conduct a routine visit. They checked his mobile phone. It was suspected an app, Bumble, had been deleted. A further download showed Kik had been deleted and Bumble had been deleted, placing him in breach of the SHPO. It also showed he had accessed DuckDuckGo which allows the phone not to retain internet history, placing him in breach."

Griffiths, of Anchor Road, Longton, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the requirements of a community order and breaching the SHPO.

Mark Harrison, mitigating, said the SHPO breach was two years old. He said the probation service was anxious to continue to work with Griffiths.

He added: "He is anxious to cooperate with the probation service."

Magistrates fined Griffiths £200 and also ordered him to pay £185 prosecution costs, £60 costs to the probation service, and a £34 surcharge.

Description

Pervert Neil Ogden has been jailed after he had a discussion with a like-minded individual about engaging in sexual abuse of children. And the 46-year-old downloaded and distributed indecent images of children.

He also had prohibited images and extreme pornography on his phone when it was seized by police. Now Ogden has been jailed for two years and two months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Antony Longworth said police, acting on intelligence of internet activity involving indecent images of children, went to Ogden's Cobridge address on January 25. He was arrested and his phone was analysed.

The examination found 46 still indecent images at category A - the most serious; 31 images at category B and 33 at category C. There were also two prohibited images and two extreme pornographic images. And there were 32 moving images at category A; five at category B; five at category C; and two moving extreme pornographic images.

Mr Longworth said the children being abused were aged between three and 14. He said: "The defendant had shared seven category A images with another individual. He used search terms indicating he has a sexual interest in children. He created folders for the storage of the images. He also engaged in a discussion about the sexual abuse of children.

"Between May 13 and May 27, 2022 this defendant and another discussed the physical development of children. The messages went on to describe how they wanted to engage in sexual abuse of those children. They also discussed having joint sexual activity with all the children together. It is clear that they exchanged images."

Ogden, of Sneyd Street, Cobridge, pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children; three charges of distributing indecent images of children; possessing prohibited images of children; possession of extreme pornographic images and publishing an obscene article.

Rob Holt, mitigating, said: "He acknowledges there is a problem. He has made some limited steps to try and address his behaviour. He has had some support from the liaison and diversion team and the mental health team."

He said the loss of Ogden's dad; the breakdown of his marriage and being on sick leave from work have impacted on his client. Mr Holt said: "He has had suicidal ideations."

He said Ogden may struggle to work as an HGV driver now he is on the sex offenders' register as the police would need to know his whereabouts. Mr Holt added: "He is unlikely to possess the skills to survive in the prison system. There is scope for work in the community, scope for a two year community order."

But Recorder Julian Taylor said offending was so serious it had to be marked with an immediate prison sentence. He said the discussion about sexual abuse with children was the most serious offence. Recorder Taylor said: "It was thoroughly disgusting. I do not accept you were manipulated."

The judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the phone. Ogden was placed on the sex offenders' register for 10 years and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for the same period.

Description

A pervert who was caught having sex chats with a police officer posing as a young girl is back in jail. Dean Warren was jailed for 20 months last September after he tried to persuade a 13-year-old 'girl' to take part in sex videos

But the 'girl' was in fact a decoy. In his police interview he admitted his behaviour was for his own sexual gratification. In his police interview he admitted his behaviour was for his own sexual gratification.

As well as the jail sentence, 34-year-old Warren was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for 10 years which prohibits him from using any device capable of accessing the internet unless it has the capacity to retain internet use and does not delete internet history.

But Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the police visited Warren on May 13, the day after his release from prison. They checked his phone and gave him advice about removing some apps.

Officers returned to his home on June 29 and again checked his phone. Prosecutor Rupert Jones said: "It revealed a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which allows the user to browse the internet without the history being recorded. He told the police he had used it to view adult pornography. The usage placed him in breach of the SHPO.

"He had installed the My Cleaner app which is designed to delete evidence of activity. And he had used WhatsApp and Facebook social messaging platforms but had deleted some of the messages sent."

He was arrested. He said he used the VPN to view adult pornography. He said he realised he should have paid more attention to the detail of the terms of the SHPO.

Warren, of no fixed address but formerly of Bentilee, pleaded guilty to three charges of breaching a SHPO. Rob Holt, mitigating, said Warren accepted he would be jailed as he has been recalled until March.

Mr Holt said: "These offences started quickly after his release. He deleted the history. There is no suggestion that there was any contact with children. My instructions are that he was in contact with adults and viewing adult pornography. There seems to be no inherent interest in children."

Recorder Anthony Warner said: "The SHPO made at the time you were sentenced is an important part of the protection of the public in the case of a sex offender such as you going forward.

"Very shortly after you were released you were visited by the police and it was quickly discovered that you had been deleting messages and using apps designed to disguise internet activity. All were a breach of the SHPO.

"It is a deliberate and very serious breach involving the deletion of social media messages and the use of apps designed to disguise internet activity.

"The aggravating features are there were three breaches of the same order and they were very soon after your release from the sentence passed on you for the offences which gave rise to the order in the first place.

"You need to consider how you are going to respond going forward because if you continue to breach the SHPO you will be in the cycle of returning to prison, unless you engage and are assiduous in following the requirements of the SHPO."

Description

Ex-pub manager Mark Smith has been jailed for eight years after sexually abusing a schoolgirl. The 52-year-old - who used to run The Black Horse, in Chesterton - had always denied seven charges of sexual assault and two charges of assault by penetration.

But he was found guilty of all nine charges by a jury at his trial earlier this month. He was jailed at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court yesterday.

The court heard that Smith - of Lincoln Road, Cobridge - had grabbed the teenager's breasts and thighs, kissed her, and touched her breasts and bottom. He once exposed himself to his victim and told her he wanted to have sex with her 'whether she wanted it or not' and on another occasion sexually assaulted her at a 'creepy old park and building.

The abuse has had a profound effect on the victim. She said: "I am constantly looking over my shoulder to see where he is. This is not my fault. It is all his.

Darron Whitehead, mitigating, said: "He knows it is to be a custodial sentence measured in years. He knows he will be on the Sex Offenders' Register and subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO)."

The defendant will be subject to the Sex Offenders' Register and his SHPO indefinitely. He must serve two-thirds of his prison sentence before he is released.

Recorder Anthony Warner told Smith: "You threatened her and told her she would not be believed. Your threats worked as she never told anyone at all about what you were doing."

Description

Rapist Thomas Hayward has been jailed - after leaving his victim 'disgusted and numb'. The 31-year-old, of Meir View, Meir, has been locked up for three years after admitting one count of rape.

In a harrowing statement, his victim said: "I was traumatised. I felt disgusted and completely numb."

Prosecutor Miles Wilson added: "He has no previous convictions."

The court heard that Hayward pleaded guilty to the offence at a pre-trial preparation hearing at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Rash Mohammed, mitigating, said: "He accepted in an interview with police that he raped his victim. I do not seek to undermine the seriousness of this crime.

"He recognises well and truly the seriousness of his crime. He is of previous good character and has remained in custody since. He accepts responsibility for this offence."

Hayward is now on the Sex Offenders' Register for the rest of his life.

Judge David Fletcher said: "Rape is a horrendous offence. I have read your letter explaining and I accept that you are genuinely remorseful. The mitigating factors are you have no previous convictions, you express remorse, and you are of previous good character. I am handing you a starting point of four years and six months in prison. That is reduced by a third for your guilty plea."

Description

Pervert Paul Kelly has admitted making two indecent pseudo images of a child. The 61-year-old has already served an eight-month prison sentence in 2018 after admitting three offences of making indecent images of children and possessing a prohibited image.

But he did not learn his lesson and an officer from Staffordshire Police's sex offender management unit found indecent images of a child on his phone when she carried out a routine visit at his home in Moorland Road, Burslem, in September 2022.

North Staffordshire Justice Centre heard that Kelly handed the officer his iPhone 14. She checked it and found two images of a child under 16 with a picture of another girl's face superimposed on to the body.

Paige Morgan, mitigating, asked magistrates to adjourn the case for a pre-sentence report to be prepared on Kelly. She said he has mental health issues and is on antidepressants and unfit for work.

Magistrates sent the case to Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. Kelly will appear there on a date to be fixed. His bail was extended.

Description

Sex offender Luke Jackson who stayed in the same house as a child without informing the police has been spared jail. The 34-year-old was convicted of sexual assault and intentionally touching a woman in 2018.

He was sentenced to a community order and placed on the sex offenders' register for five years. But he failed to comply with the notification requirements of the register by staying 12 hours or more in a house without telling the authorities; spending seven nights or more at an address in Fegg Hayes without notifying the police; and failing to register a Snapchat user name of 'Jacko01p*sshead'.

Now Jackson has been sentenced to 24 weeks in jail, suspended for two years, at North Staffordshire Justice Centre. Prosecutor Shelley Galluccio said Jackson was convicted of sexual assault on October 24, 2018 and was placed on the sex offenders' register for five years.

She said Jackson completed his notification with the police on February 4. Miss Galluccio said: "However, he did not provide any alias names he had used.

"On April 20 police were made aware he had been in a relationship with a woman and was having contact with her child and staying over at an address he had not given them.

"The woman said she had met him in a bar in Newcastle. He used a social media name of 'Jacko01p*sshead' which had not been notified to the police.

"He stayed at the woman's house for five to seven nights in one block and her son had been present.

"On April 20 her ex-partner arrived and made him leave the property. The child had been present at the address during this time. The woman was not aware of Jackson's history."

Jackson, of Vale Street, Stoke, pleaded guilty to three charges of failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register.

Janice Sain-Reiners, mitigating, said: "It was a new relationship. He did not want to tell her of his past. That was his error. He should not have been in the company of a child without any proper notification or exploration by the authorities.

"There are alcohol issues which affect his way of thinking. He self-referred to Stoke-on-Trent Community Drug and Alcohol Service (CDAS) but they did not phone back."

She added that Jackson has the offer of work with a fencing and timber company.

Magistrates suspended the sentence as they believe there is a good prospect of Jackson being rehabilitated. As part of the suspended sentence Jackson must complete a six-month alcohol treatment requirement; an accredited sex offenders' programme and a rehabilitation activity requirement for 55 days. He was ordered to pay £185 costs and a £154 surcharge.

Description

A man who raped a woman in Congleton in 2021 has been jailed for more than five years.

Daniel Shaw, 32, of Burslem, was previously found guilty after trial of one count of rape.

He appeared in Chester Crown Court on Monday 7 August where he was sentenced to five years and six months.

The court heard in April 2022, a woman informed police she had been raped by Shaw in December 2021 in Congleton, following a night out.

She had managed to record the incident on her phone.

Shaw was arrested on 9 April 2022 on suspicion of rape and was subsequently charged.

When he was shown the video of the incident in interview, Shaw confirmed it was him in the footage but could not recall what took place and said he was drunk at the time.

He denied raping the victim but was found guilty on Monday 26 June after a six-day trial.

As well as a custodial sentence, Shaw was made subject to an indefinite restraining order, and notification requirements for life.