Latest Offenders Warrington

Description

A SICKENING child rapist told a girl as young as ten that if she didn’t perform sexual actions for him “Father Christmas wouldn’t come.”

Lee Brown, 21, was sentenced on May 3 for eight counts of sexual misconduct relating to his sexual abuse of a pair of girls aged ten and eight at the time of his offending.

Brown, of Freshwater Close, Great Sankey, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court, with crying family in the dock watching as his horrifying actions were laid out.

Olivia Beesley, prosecuting, told the court how Brown, who was 15 at the time of his offending, committed “systematic, persistent, and regular abuse over the course of a year.”

In the case of both victims, Brown began his abuse by pulling down his pants, and asking them to touch his penis.

Over the course of a year he did this repeatedly, as well as encouraging them to put their mouth on his penis. He also taught them how to masturbate, and told them to do it in front him.

His abuse was singular, only abusing one of the girls at a time. He did, however, abuse both for almost a year.

The victim who was ten at the time of the offence at one point resisted his requests. When she did this, he informed her that if she didn’t do it “Father Christmas wouldn’t come.”

The victim who was eight at the time of the offence, repeatedly told Brown ‘no’ when he made requests of her, but was pressured by the 15 year old child rapist.

In a victim personal statement, both expressed a desire to see Brown face proper consequences for what he did to them.

One victim said: “I feel I have to live with this weight on my shoulders.”

Another said: “I trusted him. All I want is for people to believe me.”

The abuse was disclosed in October of 2021, with interviews taking place with the victims in November of 2021. Brown was interviewed the following month, where he admitted to the abuse which led to the eight counts to which he later pled guilty.

As well as this, he admitted to further crimes, including that this had started in reality when he was 11, and the girls were four and six.

Ms. Beesley told the court how the situation had caused ‘severe psychological harm’ to the victims.

Defending Brown, Simran Garcha told the court that he was ‘ashamed and contrite’ regarding his crimes.

In a discussion surrounding his actions and culpability, Ms. Garcha made the argument that Brown’s actions were impulsive and in part due to his ADHD diagnosis.

Judge Recorder Michael Maher, agreed in part with this argument, but did state: “There is some cunning and some guile in convincing the girl to do what he wanted them to do.”

He went on to comment specifically on the malicious nature of using the victim’s immaturity to pressure her to commit sexual acts with threat of ‘Father Christmas’ not coming.

Ms. Garcha went on to expand on the influence she believed Brown’s undiagnosed ADHD had on his offending, saying he was two years behind where he should be emotionally, and that: “At the time his actions felt almost normal.”

Judge Recorder Maher went on to summarise the case, telling Brown: “You exploited them, and you abused them.”

“You exploited the emotional connection you had with these girls. I note the way you manipulated your victim.”

He went on to further note the “unpleasant effect it has had on them.”

However, he expanded saying: “I have to consider your maturity, and your mental function.”

Judge Maher went on to say that, if Brown had been an adult at the time of his offence, and he had pled not guilty, he would have received 14 years in prison.

This was reduced greatly, however, due to his early guilty plea, and the fact he was a minor at the time of his offences.

The rapist was in total sentenced to four years and four months, 2/3 of which he must serve in prison.

All eight charges will be served concurrently, ranging from 18 to 52 months.

As well as this, he faces a sexual harm prevention order of ten years, as well as a restraining order of ten years from contacting the victims.

Description

A CONVICTED sex offender who previously boasted he had a ‘black belt’ in attacking women has been locked up again.

Andrew Matthews was jailed in 2021 for sexually assaulting a woman, as well as punching her and spitting on her while drunk.

The 37-year-old was told at the time that he would have time ‘to sit at Her Majesty's pleasure and contemplate what he has done’ while serving his prison sentence.

But he has now been sent back to prison for making homophobic comments with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

He was charged with breaching of a restraining order and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, and he appeared to be sentenced at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, March 18.

Michael Caine, prosecuting, informed the court how the offences were committed two days earlier on Thursday, March 16.

Matthews, formerly of Orford, used threatening, disorderly, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause another person harassment, alarm or distress.

He also, ‘without reasonable excuse’, attended within 100 metres of a named Warrington street which he was prohibited from doing through a restraining order imposed by Liverpool Crown Court in July 2021.

This was imposed after Matthews was convicted of a sickening sexual assault committed against a woman, when he groped his female victim in the crotch, leaving her in pain and tears.

The defendant ‘forcibly grabbed’ his victim over her clothing’, causing her to scream and leaving her with bruising.

This came after he boasted to her about having a ‘black belt’ in attacking women.

He also choked her by grabbing her throat, punched her to the face, pushed her and spat at her five times.

Although the only physical harm caused was tenderness to the face, the woman told police how Matthew’s actions made her feel ‘depressed and upset’.

She also said she ‘felt uncomfortable in own skin’, was left anxious and suffered regular panic attacks as a result.

The crown court at the time heard how Matthews had 19 previous convictions for 24 offences, covering a ‘wide range’, but with many involving violence.

He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to sign the sex offender’s register for 10 years.

For these latest offences, magistrates said that they would take the defendant’s guilty pleas into account, however they said that the severity of the offences meant that only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate.

This was due to him being on post-sentence supervision at the time, as well as his previous record of offending and the fact that he made homophobic comments.

Matthews, now of Brantfield Court in Padgate, was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison and ordered to pay compensation of £154.

Description

A REVELLER on a night out has avoided being sent to prison, despite sexually assaulting a young woman on a night out.

David Kovac grabbed the victim to the genital area and gave her unwanted kisses in the middle of a busy street in the town centre.

The 35-year-old told police that he could not remember what he had done because he was extremely intoxicated at the time.

He later admitted a charge of sexual assault however, and he appeared to be sentenced at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, March 16.

Stephanie Fanello, prosecuting, explained to the court how the offence was committed in October last year while the defendant was on a night out.

The defendant was on Bridge Street in the early hours of the morning when he approached a young woman who was a stranger to him.

Kovac then grabbed her to the genital area and tried kissing her. This was non-consensual, the court heard, and Kovac was repeatedly told to back off, which he failed to do.

During his police interview, during which he was shown CCTV footage of the incident, he confirmed that he did not know the woman and said that he could not remember the incident due to him being intoxicated.

He added that he was ‘raised appropriately’ and that he ‘respected women’.

The court heard an impact statement from the victim in which she said she has not been able to relax as a result of the incident.

She struggles to sleep and has not been eating properly, while she is also constantly anxious and nervous and is scared about going out again.

Defending his client, David Robb said that Kovac ‘clearly expresses remorse and regret’, adding that his behaviour was ‘out of character’.

He said that the defendant was extremely drunk and is ‘completely appalled about what took place’.

The court heard how Kovac is a single man with no children living in the UK, is working and sends a lot of his income back to his parents in Slovakia.

Before sentencing, deputy district judge Anita Price said: “This was an appalling incident.

“This offence clearly does cross the custody threshold, and you committed this offence while in drink, which makes it more serious.

“You also committed it in a location and time which adds to the seriousness of it.

“You have heard the impact it has had on this young lady, and no doubt continues to have on her.

“Were it not for your guilty plea and no previous convictions, you would have been going to custody today.”

Kovac, of Fitzherbert Street in Orford, was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days, including a sex offender treatment programme, and an alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement for 60 days.

In addition, he must abide by sex offender registration and notification requirements for seven years.

The judge opted not to order compensation for the victim as to not ‘reminder her’ of what Kovac did, however he was told he must pay court costs of £120 and a victim surcharge of £154.

Description

A SEX offender has been described as ‘predatory and deviant’ by a judge after being responsible for covertly filming a teenager in a bathroom.

Colin Pennell, formerly of Latchford, used technology to spy on the woman and record her as she undressed, showered and used the toilet.

The 47-year-old was told that his voyeuristic actions only ceased as he was caught rather than voluntarily, and that he was reluctant to admit he was sexually motivated.

He was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Monday, March 13 after pleading guilty to a charge of voyeurism.

The court heard from prosecutor Jayne Morris who explained how the teenage victim was taking a morning shower, getting ready for the day ahead.

After getting out and while naked, she noticed a recording device in the bathroom window, leaving her ‘very angry’.

The complainant checked the device, where she uncovered a number and videos of her naked herself in the bathroom. The discovery left her ‘extremely upset’ and in tears.

Cheshire Police were informed, with an examination of the device revealing a total of 275 photos and five videos of the complainant.

All of the material was covertly photographed or filmed in the bathroom or shower showing her in varying states of nudity.

The court heard how some of the images and videos had no metadata attached, so it was unclear when the photos and videos had been taken.

Following investigations, the defendant was arrested and made no comment during his police interview.

In an impact statement, the complainant said that the offending has had a big impact on her mental health, leaving her feeling anxious and considering receiving therapy.

She has suffered from panic attacks and heart palpitations, which never happened before the offending, while she also now feels paranoid about being watched and does not want to go out anymore.

The statement added that the woman’s mental health is ‘very up and down’, while learning what had happened made her feel ‘sick, disgusted and as if her stomach had turned inside out’.

Ms Morris revealed to the court that Pennell has two previous convictions for dissimilar matters.

In defence of his client, Mark Connor said: “I accept that the case crosses the custody threshold, and that the evidence clearly suggests an established pattern of behaviour.”

He added that Pennell is ‘deeply ashamed and remorseful’ for his actions, and asked the court to consider suspending the inevitable prison sentence.

This would allow him to engage in a sex offender treatment programme outside of a custodial setting.

But this call was rejected by judge Michael Leeming, who concluded: “Your offending was not isolated, and shows a pattern of predatory and deviant sexual offending.

“You have been less than frank with probation officers, offering no explanation for your behaviour and not admitting that you were sexually motivated from the outset.

“You now accept today for the first time that you were motivated by sexual gratification.”

He added: “Had you not been caught, chances are you would have continued to act in that way and not desist voluntarily.

“In my mind, appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate imprisonment.”

Pennell, now of Snaefell Avenue in Liverpool, was sentenced to eight months in prison.

He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order to limit his ability to reoffend and a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the victim – both for a period of 10 years.

In addition, the defendant is now bound to abide by sex offender registration and notification requirements for the next decade.

Description

A PAEDOPHILE has been locked up after sending a disgusting sexualised photo to someone he believed to be a child.

Phillip Collins engaged in sick sex chats online and even discussed arrangements to meet up with the young girl.

However, the 42-year-old was in fact communicating with an adult posing online to catch digital child sex offenders.

He was later charged with attempted sexual communications with a child and arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.

Collins appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, February 21, where he was told that only immediate imprisonment was appropriate.

The court heard how the disgusting sex chats were exchanged between January 3 and January 10, 2022.

The Padgate based defendant, being an adult and for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, intentionally attempted to communicate with ‘Miyah’.

He believed this person to be a girl under 16, but it was in fact an adult using a decoy profile.

The court heard how Collins encouraged the girl to perform sex acts on herself, discussed sex with her, sent flirtatious messages and sent a photo of his penis.

As the chats progressed, the defendant was charged with intentionally arranging or facilitating a meet-up which would involve the commission of a child sex offence.

Collins, of Marsh Street in Padgate, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.

He was also handed a sexual harm prevention order for a period of 10 years and ordered to abide by sex offender registration and notification requirements for the same period of time.

Description

A MONSTROUS predator has been locked up for a sickening sexual attack on a young woman as she screamed for help.

Evil sex fiend Gyulhan Hyusein was repeatedly told ‘no’ by the victim, but he cruelly ignored her and assaulted her sexually a number of times.

The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, February 23.

He was put behind bars for 10 years through a sentence which has been welcomed by police who branded the defendant a sexual predator and praised the victim for her bravery.

The court heard how the victim, a woman in her late teens, was walking to her partner’s home at around 3am on Sunday, October 16, last year following a night out with friends.

As the woman walked along Orford Lane, she was approached by Hyusein who put his arm around her and his hand down her back.

The victim pushed him away and told him ‘no’.

However, Hyusein continued his attack, putting his hand down her trousers and touching her inappropriately.

Once again, the woman pushed him away and told him ‘no’. She then attempted to walk away from him.

Hyusein followed the woman, and as she entered Orford Avenue he again put his hands down her trousers and touched her inappropriately.

As the woman screamed for help, he dragged her into an alleyway and pushed her against a wall, where he continued to touch the woman inappropriately with his fingers.

The victim continued to push Hyusein away and attempted to call for help, but he grabbed her phone and threw it away.

Hyusein eventually retreated and the victim sought refuge at a nearby house, while police were called to the scene.

The predator was arrested just hours after the attack after officers reviewing CCTV footage in a control room spotted him on live CCTV cameras in Warrington town centre.

Following sentencing, DC Laura Sandbach, who led the investigation, said: “Gyulhan Hyusein is a sexual predator.

“He attacked an innocent woman who was simply walking home, despite repeatedly being told to stop.

“This was an absolutely terrifying experience for the victim, and I would like to praise her for the courage and bravery that she has shown.

“While she will never be able to forget what Hyusein did to her that night, I hope the fact that he is now behind bars where he belongs will provide her with some closure.

“I would also like to thank the eagle-eyed officer who spotted Hyusein walking in Warrington town centre on live CCTV cameras as they were reviewing the footage from the attack.

“Thanks to their diligence, we were able to remove Hyusein from the streets of Warrington, and he is now facing the consequences of his actions in the form of a 10-year prison sentence.”

In addition to his custodial sentence, Hyusein, of Longford Street in Orford, has been ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

He was also handed a lifetime restraining order preventing him from contacting the victim.

DS Joe Davies added: “I would like to commend DC Sandbach for her dedication and commitment throughout this investigation.

“No-one should have to experience what Gyulhan Hyusein’s victim has gone through.

“I hope this case and the sentence that he has received encourages other victims of sexual offences to come forward and report what has happened to them.

“We treat all reports of sexual offences extremely seriously, and any allegation will be thoroughly investigated, with the wishes and needs of the victim as our main priority.”

Description

A PREDATOR pensioner has been put behind bars after promising to bring a ‘young girl’ a McDonalds meal when they met up for sex.

Frederick Cottam believed he had arranged a sex rendezvous with a 12-year-old girl after days of vile explicit chats and sending illicit photos.

The 75-year-old great-grandad was in fact talking to a covert police officer responsible for snaring perverts demonstrating their sexual interest in children online.

This is a category in which Cottam falls, with a judge telling him he has a ‘deep-seated issue concerning his interest in underage children’.

The defendant was charged with arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity and attempted sexual communications with a child, and he appeared at Liverpool Crown Court, via videolink from HMP Altcourse, to be sentenced on Friday, January 27.

The court heard how the offences occurred between the end of November and start of December last year.

Cottam was speaking to someone he believed to be a 12-year-old girl named Izzy, but this decoy profile was in fact being operated by an undercover police officer tasked with identifying offenders online who have a sexual interest in children.

On November 28, at around 11am, ‘Izzy’ received a message from Cottam under the username WarBiker on the social media platform ChatIW.

She said that she was doing schoolwork, to which the defendant replied that he was ‘horny and lonely’.

When the ‘girl’ told him he should speak to an adult, the defendant asked her how good she was at keeping secrets from her parents.

Cottam asked if they could switch to Kik Messenger so they could exchange photos, to which the girl agreed, leading him to send a picture of himself.

After being sent a clothed photo of her, Cottam called the girl ‘lovely’ and commented on the size of her breasts.

He asked if she wanted to see a photo of his penis and then sent her one of him lying in bed naked, later stating he would go to Preston to meet her in person to ‘show her what sex is about’.

They arranged a date to meet up at a specific park next to the duck pond ‘where they would not be seen’, promising to bring her a McDonalds and that they would have sex.

The defendant discussed the things he would do to her and what he wanted her to do to him, but the night before he said he could no longer go due to a family illness, and they did not speak again.

The court heard that Cottam has one previous conviction from May 2018 for a similar offence of attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, for which he was jailed for 12 months.

This offence saw him caught up in a ‘paedophile hunter’ sting in which he was snared grooming someone he believed to be 14-year-old girl named Ellie.

He sent explicit pictures to another decoy account and arranged to meet the supposed teenager in Newton-le-Willows.

Messages sent by the great-grandfather included ‘don’t worry about your age’, ‘let’s meet up, kiss and touch each other’s bodies’ and ‘you can’t get pregnant from me’.

He also detailed sexual acts he wanted to perform on the girl, and acts that he wanted her to perform.

When he arrived at the arranged meet-up, he was confronted by the paedophile hunters and arrested by police.

In defence of her client, who has seen all family ties cut through his offending, Bernadette Smith spoke of his expectation of a long prison sentence and how his best mitigation is his guilty plea.

“He wants intervention to try to understand and get to the crux of why it is that he is committing these offences at such a late stage in his adulthood,” she said.

The court also heard how he is assessed as posing a high risk of harm to children, but a low risk of reoffending, which judge David Aubrey commented ‘does not make much sense’

Before sentencing, he said: “These offences are so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified for them.

“There is no doubt you have a sexual interest in children, and that appears to be deep-rooted.

“You engaged in conversations with a person who you believed was under the age of 13, and conversations took place over a period of time which illustrates your deep-rooted paedophilia.”

Cottam, of Mason Avenue in Padgate, Warrington, was sentenced to 56 months in prison

The court also ordered that he be the subject of sex offender registration and notification requirements indefinitely, as well as a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

Description

THIS is the face of a smiling pervert who has a history of flashing people from his bedroom window.

It was reported this week that serial flasher Christopher Barrett has been locked up after offending again by exposing his genitals.

The 65-year-old was given numerous chances and warnings by the court that if he carried on, he would end up in prison.

That is exactly where he currently is after being sentenced at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, January 12, after admitting two further exposure charges.

He also pleaded guilty to a count of breaching his sex offender notification and registration requirements, as well as breaching a suspended sentence.

Now, Cheshire Police has released a custody photo of a smiling Barrett.

Tanya Berridge-Burley, prosecuting, explained how the defendant exposed himself on two consecutive days in Warrington on September 20 and 21 last year.

In doing so, he intentionally exposed his genitals intending that someone would see them and be caused alarm or distress.

He also failed without reasonable excuse to comply with his sex offender registration requirements with the police by not periodically notifying them.

These conditions were imposed when he was slapped with a sentence of 20 weeks in prison suspended for 24 months by the same court in December 2020 for an offence of exposure.

His latest offending put him in breach of this sentence, which was activated as immediate custody.

He was handed the suspended sentence after he exposed himself to a dog walker while stood in his bedroom window.

The court at the time heard that the dog owner was walking her pet outside Barrett's home with her cousin when she spotted the pervert naked and pressed up against a window 'in a star shape' with his arms in the air.

Despite having been seen, he remained stood naked in the window for several minutes.

Speaking in court, the victim said she was ‘shocked, disgusted and frankly devastated’, adding that the offence affected her mental health in terms of giving her panic attacks.

Another previous conviction in March 2018 saw him video passers-by on two occasions while performing sex acts in the same window and waving to get the attention of women outside.

Before sentencing in December 2020, district judge Nicholas Sanders said: “Whatever your problem is, it has to stop.

“If you commit any other offences or fail to comply with the requirements, the starting point is that you will go to prison.”

This is exactly what magistrates decided to do, remarking that the offence was committed during the period of a suspended sentence and highlighting the defendant’s ‘appalling’ record of similar offences.

Barrett, of Mead Road in Padgate, was sentenced to 72 weeks in prison.

He is also the subject of sex offender notification requirements for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

This prohibits him from exposing his genitals and underwear in sight of public or masturbating in sight of anyone without their consent.

In addition, magistrates ordered that the defendant pay costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £120 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £187.

Description

A PERVERT with a history of flashing people by exposing his genitals has been locked up after offending again.

Serial flasher Christopher Barrett has previously been hauled before the courts for standing in his bedroom window while naked and waving.

The 65-year-old was given numerous chances and warnings by the court that if he carried on, he would end up in prison.

That is exactly where he currently is after being sentenced at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, January 12, after admitting two further exposure charges.

He also pleaded guilty to a count of breaching his sex offender notification and registration requirements, as well as breaching a suspended sentence.

Tanya Berridge-Burley, prosecuting, explained how the defendant exposed himself on two consecutive days in Warrington on September 20 and 21 last year.

In doing so, he intentionally exposed his genitals intending that someone would see them and be caused alarm or distress.

He also failed without reasonable excuse to comply with his sex offender registration requirements with the police by not periodically notifying them.

These conditions were imposed when he was slapped with a sentence of 20 weeks in prison suspended for 24 months by the same court in December 2020 for an offence of exposure.

His latest offending put him in breach of this sentence, which was activated as immediate custody.

He was handed the suspended sentence after he exposed himself to a dog walker while stood in his bedroom window.

The court at the time heard that the dog owner was walking her pet outside Barrett's home with her cousin when she spotted the pervert naked and pressed up against a window 'in a star shape' with his arms in the air.

Despite having been seen, he remained stood naked in the window for several minutes.

Speaking in court, the victim said she was ‘shocked, disgusted and frankly devastated’, adding that the offence affected her mental health in terms of giving her panic attacks.

Another previous conviction in March 2018 saw him video passers-by on two occasions while performing sex acts in the same window and waving to get the attention of women outside.

Before sentencing in December 2020, district judge Nicholas Sanders said: “Whatever your problem is, it has to stop.

“If you commit any other offences or fail to comply with the requirements, the starting point is that you will go to prison.”

This is exactly what magistrates decided to do, remarking that the offence was committed during the period of a suspended sentence and highlighting the defendant’s ‘appalling’ record of similar offences.

Barrett, of Mead Road in Padgate, was sentenced to 72 weeks in prison.

He is also the subject of sex offender notification requirements for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

This prohibits him from exposing his genitals and underwear in sight of public or masturbating in sight of anyone without their consent.

In addition, magistrates ordered that the defendant pay costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £120 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £187.

Description

A police officer who drunkenly groped two colleagues at a work Christmas party has avoided jail but has been ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register.  

Gareth Duggan, 38, grabbed the bottom of one officer and put his hand underneath the dress of another as they were celebrating the festive season at a nightclub in Chester last year.

Despite a reputation as a rumoured predator, the shocked victims were accused of making up the allegations to get a promotion when they reported the incident.   

Duggan was sentenced to a 32-week suspended sentence and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 35 days of rehabilitative activity after admitting two counts of sexual assault at Warrington Magistrates' Court. 

He will also sign the Sex Offender Register for seven years and pay each victim £1,000 compensation. 

Duggan is expected to resign from the police force before a disciplinary meeting in January, at which he expects to be fired. 

He had been a police officer with the North Wales force for 15 years when the incident happened in Revolution night club in Chester. 

Alex Morgan, prosecuting, said the Christmas party had brought police officers from a number of areas together. 

'During the time in the bar the defendant touched the bottom of one of the complainants and the touching was deemed to be sexual. Prior to that the defendant had put his arm around her waist which made her feel uncomfortable.

'A short while after the defendant stood between her and another female.

'The defendant's arm was placed around her waist prior to going around her bottom. It was deliberate. She could feel his fingers go into the crack of her bottom. She was able to feel the pressure of his fingers through her clothes and through her underwear.

'She was shocked as a result of the incident and kicked out at his ankle with her foot to get him to stop.

Mr Morgan also described a second attack on another colleague that happened during the party.  

'Her colleague also recalled a sexual assault from the same night out. He held onto her for what seemed like a long time and squeezed her waist making her feel very uncomfortable.

'She told him to stop on a number of occasions. She made it very clear she was not joking.

'As he had his hand around her waist he put his face up to her neck and made kissing noises. His hand then went between her legs and underneath her dress and touched her vagina over clothing,' the prosecutor said. 

'His hand brushed across the cheek of her bottom in the area of her vagina. She was not wearing any tights or leggings at the time but did have underwear on.

'It made her extremely upset and uncomfortable.'

His wife and the two victims were watching from the public gallery.

In a statement one of the women - a detective who deals with rape victims - said: 'When he put his arm around me I was shocked but when he touched me in that way I was disgusted. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to tell someone but I didn't want to ruin everyone's night.'

The detective said she always encouraged sex assault victims to make complaints but she now knew how 'draining' it was to do so.

She also claimed there were rumours amongst fellow officers that Duggan was a predator and had previously assaulted someone - but she never thought it would happen to her. 

Angered that Duggan had received a full year on a sergeant's pay following the attack, the victim said she wished there had been a trial so that she could have had her say.

'It seems unfair. Ultimately, I am glad that a sexual predator like Gareth Duggan is no longer in the police. It is an honour to serve in the police force.'

In mitigation for Duggan, defence lawyer Daniel Weed said the officer had been suffering from PTSD from harrowing events he had dealt with during 15 years of front-line policing.

'Front-line policing is not a pretty environment at all. That does impact on the individual. For anyone that would have had an impact on their mental health.

'There are concerns about his mental health to the extent that it could be PTSD and to the extent that he is receiving counselling in that regard.'

Mr Weed said Duggan had 'disgraced himself' and accepted that he would be sacked at the misconduct hearing in January.  

Mr Weed told the court that as well as well as losing his job, along with his £2,100 monthly income, Duggan's wife had also been impacted.

'He is a very lucky man to have someone willing to come to court with him and be his wife, she sees some good in him,' the solicitor said. 

'He is a disgraced man, a broken man. It would break him more by sending him to prison.'

Duggan was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 35 days of rehabilitative activity with the probation service and he will sign the Sex Offender Register for seven years.

District Judge Jack McGarva told him: 'You are a police officer and the public and your colleagues are entitled to look at you as an example and someone they can trust. You completely failed them. Any punishment must reflect that police officers should be beyond reproach.

The judge emphasised the case of PC Wayne Couzens as an example of some of the 'pretty bad things' police officers have done over the past years. 

'It undermines the position of every other police officer. Every other police officer is devalued by what you do.

Judge McGarva highlighted the impact of the assault on the victims and said Duggan's drunkenness did not provide an excuse.  

'I have to bear in mind this conviction will have a big impact on you and your family. But let's not forget that other people were hurt by you. This was not a fleeting kind of touch. It was quite significant in both cases. It's more than brushing against someone in a sexual way.

'It was very significant contact which will probably live with them for the rest of their lives. They will never forget how horrible the horrible feeling was.'

'It is right that you have experienced some pretty awful things in life as a police officer but how many thousands of police officers in Wales have been through these sorts of things and have not behaved like this? It does not make you behave like this.

'Something very wrong has made you behave like this,' the judge concluded.

Description

A dad filmed himself trying to rape a woman as she pleaded "no" and "get off me".

Damola Olateju, 37, may have got away with the shocking attack had detectives not extracted the damning video from his mobile phone. Liverpool Crown Court heard the next day the woman found bruises and feared she had been raped, but was worried about coming forward because her memory was hazy.

However a man who had been at the party contacted her with concerns about what he saw in the run up to the incident, which gave her the confidence to call the police. 

Fiona McNeill, prosecuting, told the court the woman had been out with friends in Warrington Town Centre in December 2020. The group were drinking near the White Hart pub until around 11pm, when the court heard her memory became "blurry".

Ms McNeill said: "[The victim] recalls being at the Postern Gate part of Warrington trying to get a taxi. She remembers her and her friends being approached by some men."

She added: "The next she can remember is being in a flat. She recalls being in the kitchen of the flat and drinking something."

The court heard there was a gathering at the flat and the victim had some memories of speaking to a woman in a bathroom and sitting on a couch, then being in a bed. Ms McNeill told the court: "She could tell there was someone else in the bed. She recalls that person, as she put it, was ‘mithering’ her and touching her.

"She remembers feeling cold and trying to cover herself with the quilt and saying that she was cold. She remembers saying ‘no’ and ‘I'm cold’. That is the last [the complainant] remembers from that night."

The court heard the woman woke in the morning alone in a bedroom, with her underwear missing but her boots still on, and went looking for her phone and bag. She realised as she searched for her phone that there was an empty condom wrapper in the room.

Ms McNeill said she found her phone and bag but the battery was dead, and she realised the door of the flat was locked. The victim shook Olateju awake and asked him to let her out, but initially he demanded to know where his phone was and wanted to search her bag.

Ms McNeill said: "The prosecution say we can only surmise the defendant was aware of what was on the phone and wanted to retain it."

The woman pointed out his phone after spotting it in the flat and was eventually able to leave and go home. The following night she realised she had bruises and injuries to her legs and buttocks, and began to fear she had been raped.

However it wasn't until the man who had also been at the gathering contacted her on Snapchat asking if she was ok, and expressing concerns about Olateju's behaviour, that she felt there was enough evidence to come forward.

Olateju was traced and arrested, and a deleted video file was recovered from his phone. Ms McNeill said: "The video showed evidence of what was said in the bedroom. "[The victim] can be heard saying 'no' and 'get off me' and that she is cold.

"The defendant can be seen trying to part her legs. He can be heard to say 'shut the f*** up' and then strikes her twice, in a slap to the face. She is heard saying 'ow'."

The court heard Olateju claimed he had engaged in consensual sex with the woman and had slapped her because he believed she enjoyed rough sex, but had given up trying to have sex with her on the last occasion and gone to another bedroom.

Olateju, of Padgate Lane in Warrington, was later charged with two counts of rape and one of attempted rape which he denied. He stool trial at Liverpool Crown Court, where a jury cleared him of the rapes but found him guilty of the attempted rape charge, which related to the events in the video.

Summing up a statement from the victim, Ms McNeill said she had been left with anxiety and feelings of hopelessness, and found it difficult to trust people.

Justin Hugheston-Roberts, defending, said his client was a father and also a carer for an autistic man, both of whom would suffer due to the inevitable prison sentence.

Mr Hugheston-Roberts said: "All of these things he should have thought about before that fateful morning. The jury saw the recording of the woman who said no, this defendant should have heeded that but heed it he didn't and they convicted him of the attempted rape.

"Today he has to pay the consequences. But there is a different side to this man other than the man who tried to force himself on a woman in the early hours of the morning."

Judge Stuart Driver, KC, passing sentence, said he was not persuaded that there was evidence Olateju had "plied" the defendant with alcohol, but said the video was an aggravating feature of the case.

Olateju, who appeared in court vid video-link from prison, hung his head as he was jailed for five years and ordered to sign the sex offender' register for life. The court heard he must serve at least two thirds of that sentence in custody before he can apply for parole.

Speaking after the hearing, Detective Constable Rob Catterall, of Cheshire Police, said: "I would like to praise the courage of the victim in this case for coming forward and it is because of her that we have got the result we have today.

"We will do all we can to listen to victims of sexual offences and I hope that this sentence proves that we will follow every avenue open to us in order to bring perpetrators to justice. I hope that this sentence will bring comfort to the victim knowing that Olateju will be behind bars for his actions."

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A PERVERT has been locked up after performing a sex act on himself in plain sight of two young girls.

Jamie Scott looked directly at the teenagers as he exposed his penis within close proximity of a children’s play area in broad daylight.

The 35-year-old tried to minimise his actions and denied the offence, telling the courts how he was simply urinating in public.

However, a jury saw through his bluff and he was convicted of exposure and breaching his sexual harm prevention order, and he appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, November 18.

In summing up the facts of the case, judge Gary Woodhall explained how the offences occurred on the afternoon of May 17 this year.

Scott exposed his penis and performed a sex act on himself in Sankey Valley Park at around 3pm in plain sight of two young teenage girls.

The court heard how it was committed on a sunny day in a location frequented by children and dog walkers, as well as being near a children’s play area.

The defendant was looking directly at the girls while committing the sexual offence, and when they tried to film him to get evidence of the incident, he ran away.

Following his identification and arrest, he gave no comment to police during his interview.

In impact statements, one of the girls said she is reminded of the incident every time she walks through the park and how she is anxious and nervous when out alone.

She added that she no longer feels safe in public on her own and that the incident has affected her friendship with the other victim, who said the same. 

 The second girl spoke of her anger and frustration following the incident, which also made her no longer feel safe on her own.

Prosecutor Francis Dillon told the court how Scott tried to plead guilty on the basis that he exposed his penis to urinate rather than cause alarm or distress to other people in the vicinity.

This was rejected by the crown, which stated that his intention was to shock and receive sexual gratification from his actions.

The matter went to trial and Scott was convicted by a jury. The court heard how he is deemed to pose a high risk of committing sexual offences and that he continues to deny his guilt.

Mr Dillon revealed that the defendant has four previous convictions for nine offences, including spells in prison for previous exposure incidents and breaches of his sexual harm prevention order and sex offender notification requirements.

In defence of his client, Simeon Evans asked the court to suspend the inevitable prison sentence, pointing to the fact that he has already served six months in prison on remand.

He also spoke of how Scott, a trained engineer, has never had the benefit of any programmes to address the issues behind his offending, which was described as a ‘compulsion’.

Before sentencing, judge Woodhall said: “There is an entrenched pattern of you exposing your penis in public for your own sexual gratification.

“I am perfectly satisfied that this offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.”

Scott, of Arpley Street in the town centre, was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

His sexual harm prevention order will continue to run, and he must abide by sex offender notification requirements for 10 years. 

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A VILE and dangerous sex predator has been locked up after grooming a child on Snapchat and then raping her.

Earlier this year, Shah Sikander began communicating with the 14-year-old victim on the social media platform.

The 36-year-old deliberately tricked her into thinking he was a 22-year-old man called Sanchez, and he even sent her a photograph of a younger man, falsely claiming that to be him.

The victim had been clear she was under the age of 16 throughout her online communication with Sikander.

Before meeting his victim, Sikander offered to shower her with gifts, talked about meeting up for sex and successfully convinced her to send sexualised images of herself to him.

Having set up the meeting, Sikander travelled from his Warrington home to meet the victim in Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire on July 15.

He drove her to a remote location in Preston and raped her, before dropping her off in Blackpool town centre.

The victim told her family what had happened later the same evening.

Lancashire Police launched an investigation and Sikander was identified via CCTV footage of him dropping the victim off. He was arrested on the M6 the following day.

Presented with overwhelming evidence, Sikander, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to rape, child abduction and sexual communication with a child at Preston Crown Court

Judge Guy Mathieson described the defendant as a dangerous sexual predator and jailed him for 12 years.

Sikander was also ordered to sign the sex offender register for life and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. 

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A DISGUSTING paedophile who had been making indecent images of children since 2007 has been jailed.

Simon Tomkins was in possession of so many sick images that Cheshire Police stopped counting after finding a certain number.

He had ‘collected’ these shocking images – including ones of children being sexually assaulted – for more than a decade.

Tomkins, 39, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children (IIOC) and sole counts each of possessing IIOC, possessing prohibited images of children and possessing a class B controlled drug.

Specifically, Tomkins was in possession of 222 category A images, 358 category B images, and 10,710 category C images.

Prosecuting, Derek Jones told the court how the investigation commenced after Cheshire Police received intel that the Tomkins, of Patton Drive, Great Sankey, may be accessing indecent images online.

They attended his address in October 2019 and arrested him where they seized seven electronic devices – all of which ‘tested positive’ for indecent images.

Mr Jones explained how Tomkins had downloaded a browser that allowed him to search anonymously.

He also said how the majority of images found were in ‘normal positions’ on the defendant’s computer, but some had been put into folders under ‘genres’ or under girls' names so he could ‘access them quickly’.

Some of the folders were also password protected and some images downloaded by Tomkins dated back to 2007.

This meant he had been downloading sick images for 12 years from 2007 to 2019.

The court heard how Cheshire Police stopped examining the items found on Tomkins' computer after they found a certain number of category A images - the most severe category involving child rape.

Mr Jones said how ‘well over’ 100,000 pictures and videos were found on devices belonging to Tomkins’, but it is not clear if they were indecent images as the police had stopped categorising them by this point.

He also revealed how some of the videos found included children as young as eight years old.

Tomkins had also been using Kik Messenger and Skype where there were some sexualised conversations between him and another user – and in one instance it is believed he had pretended to be a 14-year-old girl.

Defending, Robert Dudley said that after the shock of Tomkins being arrested: “He has gone cold turkey and has not accessed sites like this since.”

He also said that Tomkins has an understanding how what he did and ‘how bad that was’ and has also shown an understanding of what impact he had on the victims.

Concluding, Judge Ian Harris said: “In my judgement, the only appropriate punishment is immediate custody.

"The victims in this case are the children in those images.

"They are being sexually exploited and are highly vulnerable.

"The impact on them is massive and has a corrosive effect on them.

"There is no doubt that in the short and long term these victims do suffer."

Tomkins was handed a two-year prison sentence.

He is also subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and must comply with notification requirements of the sex offender register for 10 years.

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A PREDATOR who engaged in disgusting sex chats with someone he believed was a young girl has been jailed.

Alan Brocklehurst believed he was flirting with a 14-year-old child in online chats and through WhatsApp on his phone.

When he was asking if she wanted ‘naughty fun’ however, he was in fact communicating with a volunteer online with the purpose of catching child sex offenders and protecting real children.

The 50-year-old was caught and charged with attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempted sexual communications with a child.

He appeared to be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, where he was told that the only possible sentence was one of immediate imprisonment.

Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, explained how the defendant was using the internet on his mobile phone to access chat rooms and use WhatsApp to talk to someone who was purporting to be a child.

The person in question was a woman volunteering for a ‘child welfare support team’, who had set up a decoy profile claiming to be a 14-year-old girl named Gemma.

Brocklehurst communicated every day with the profile over seven days from December 7 last year, after initiating the conversation on fastflirting.com.

From the outset, the profile declared to the defendant that it was of a 14-year-old girl from Wallsend, with most messages from the defendant ending with kisses.

When informed by the ‘girl’ that she was 14, Brocklehurst said: “It has been ages since I had young p***y.”

He then asked her what she was looking for and gave her his mobile number, after which she asked him to add her on WhatsApp, which he did.

Conversations ranged from him asking to see her in her school uniform to requesting she performed sex acts on herself.

On one of the days, he asked her if she had told anyone about him, and when she said she had not told her mother, Brocklehurst said this was good as she would ‘get mad’.

On another he asked if she wanted ‘naughty fun, while there was also a discussion about her being naked after having a shower, to which the defendant said: “You are gorgeous because you are 14.”. 

 In addition, the defendant requested she perform sex acts on herself, to which the profile confirmed she had.

The following day, he said that one day he hoped she would show him her boobs and asked if she wanted to meet up with him.

Throughout the period, there were requests from Brocklehurst for the girl to send him ‘naughty pictures’ of herself.

Brocklehurst was identified and arrested on December 16 at his place of work, and police seized his mobile phone. He gave no comment to questions during his interview with officers.

In defence of his client, Jeremy Rawson referenced his guilty pleas, ‘remorse and regret’, and the fact that he is a carer for a dependant relative.

“It is sad to see a man of his age come before the court for offences of this type, when the only way to deal with him is an immediate custodial sentence,” he commented.

“He is sorry for what took place during a period of madness, when he indulged in quite shocking conversations, and he now realises the stupidity of what he has done.

“He recognises offences of this type are not victimless. The internet is a happy hunting ground for people who wish to prey on vulnerable victims,” which recorder Mark Ainsworth described as a ‘parent’s worst nightmare’.

Mr Rawson spoke of Brocklehurst’s lack of any previous convictions and asked that the prison sentence of the ‘otherwise decent and hard-working individual’ to be kept as short as possible.

Before sentencing, recorder Mark said: “You will understand now, if you did not before, the serious view courts take of this sort of conduct.

“There is no way you would not have known that Gemma did not exist, and as far you were concerned, you were communicating with a 14-year-old girl, having her perform sex acts on herself and talking in this sexual way.”

Brocklehurst, of Wilson Patten Street in the town centre, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison.

He must also abide by a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender registration requirements, both for an indefinite period.

In addition, the court approved an order to deprive the defendant of his mobile phone.