Latest Offenders Wiltshire

Description

A voyeur who hacked into home security cameras to spy on unsuspecting homeowners also used a hidden camera to film families in Butlins, Swindon Crown Court heard.

Sentencing John Wood, 42, to two years imprisonment suspended for two years, Judge Peter Crabtree labelled the mans crimes a systematic campaign of voyeurism over a period of six years.

Prosecutor Russell Pyne told the court Wood had been snared by the south west regional organised crime squads cyber unit during a joint investigation with the FBI into super-hacker Colton Grubbs, whose software LuminosityLink allowed users to secretly activate cameras and microphones to secretly record people in their own homes.

Detectives discovered that dad-of-one Wood had bought the software in July 2015, although there was no evidence he had used it.

But when officers analysed Woods computers they found a huge cache of secret video recordings hed made between 2011 and 2016.

He had also hacked into peoples private webcams and other camera-enabled devices to secretly watching them in their own homes. A programme, Blue Iris, more commonly used to organise CCTV feeds, had been used so he could monitor different illicitly-accessed cameras. There were 1,400 video files saved in a file named Blue Iris Videos, the majority of which showed people having sex at home. Videos linked to 45 different IP addresses had been uncovered.

One of his victims, a London man whose home security camera was accessed by Wood, said in an impact statement: It made me feel vulnerable and violated that the sanctity of our home has been accessed.

Wood also had almost 300 videos that he had shot himself. He used a camera to film women from windows in his home, devices hidden in his house and at a holiday cottage and took a hidden camera to Butlins, Bognor Regis, in November 2012, to film women in changing rooms.

One of his victims, who had been filmed using the toilet in Woods own home, said in a victim statement that she was absolutely shocked and disgusted that hed deliberately made recordings of me behind closed doors.

Another woman said: The truth is its frustrating to think there are people out there that do things like this.

The 77 videos shot over five days at Butlins showed over 167 victims - including children, although no indecent material was found on Wood's computer. None of the victims had been identified by police.

Wood, formerly of Station Road, Minety, pleaded guilty at the magistrates court to six counts of voyeurism and two charges under the Computer Misuse Act.

John Wood leaves Swindon Crown Court on Tuesday

Nicholas Wragg, defending, said his client had been diagnosed with various mental disorders including autism, hoarding disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. He was receiving therapy. He was married with a daughter with learning difficulties, had the support of his family and was the main breadwinner in the house.

Wood, who was of previous good character, had fully admitted his offending when he was interviewed by the police in 2018. He had stayed out of trouble in the three years since he was arrested.

Mr Wragg told the court: The defendants understanding of the harm he has done to others has not been done on an emotional level, because he lacks that capacity. It has been on a purely intellectual level that he had come to learn of that impact on others. That is so difficult for people who have that ability to understand and appreciate it.

The quantity and nature of the offending is serious but the defendant has recognised that and used his time well. It is of course a work in progress, but he has shown commitment and after all this time there is a reasonable prospect of rehabilitation.

He said some of the people whose cameras Wood hacked had been selling sex shows to voyeurs although the lawyer admitted his client had hacked into the video streams and was watching without the performers permission.

Judge Crabtree acknowledged Wood had mental health difficulties, but challenged claims he had not been sexually motivated. He noted the man had targeted attractive women, saying the fact he had concealed cameras and denied wrongdoing when confronted by one of his victims pointed to him knowing that what he was doing was wrong.

Under the terms of his suspended sentence order, Wood must complete the Horizon sex offender rehabilitation programme, 30 rehabilitation activity days and 100 hours or unpaid work.

He must abide by a 10 year sexual harm prevention order and sign onto the sex offenders register for 10 years.

The judge warned Wood about breaching the terms of his suspended sentence, telling him he would be jailed. "My starting point will be to say I got it wrong and Mr Wood doesn't want to be rehabilitated."

Description

A man has been jailed after sexually abusing two boys in the changing rooms of a football club in Wiltshire.

Stefon Francis Winter was found guilty of two counts of indecency and two counts of gross indecency on September 10 after abusing the two brothers in Warminster 40 years ago.

The cold case was re-opened in 2016 after advancements in DNA technology meant crucial evidence could be re-examined.

This included DNA found on one the brother's items of clothing, which was later linked to the defendant.

Det Ins Tom Straker, from Wiltshire Police, said: "This was a horrible, traumatic assault which understandably had a long-lasting impact on the two victims.

"Not only did they have to re-live the incident when the cold case was reopened, but they had to hear it all again in court due to Winter refusing to admit what he had done.

"I hope this conviction shows that no unsolved case of this nature is completely closed and that we will continue to fight to get justice for victims."

The court heart Winter had led the boys away before he attacked them.

Although the incident was reported at the time and clothing was seized, no suspect was identified.

He was arrested at his home in Goatacre, Calne, and pleaded not guilty in court but was convicted of all four charges.

He was sentenced in line with guidelines for the offences as they were back in 1980.

'A dangerous offender'

Detective Constable Chris McLoughlin, who worked on the case, added: "I want to pay tribute to the two victims in this case and thank them for the bravery they have shown in supporting the police throughout this investigation.

"Furthermore, to the scientists and archivists nationally who have so professionally made this possible.

"Winter is a dangerous offender, who has escaped justice for more than 40 years and I welcome this conviction which will see him put behind bars and ensure he no longer poses any risk to the public.

"Regardless of the passage of time, we will work tirelessly to bring offenders to justice. Let this be a warning to anyone else out there who has committed offences and has, so far, evaded the law."

Wiltshire Police has urged others victims of sexual offences to report them by calling 101, or 999 in an emergency.

Victims can also seek support and counselling from the Swindon and Wiltshire Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) - they can be contacted on the helpline 01793 781916.

Description

A teenage paedophile has been jailed for sex attacks on two young children.

Sophie Elms, 18, had previously pleaded guilty to 16 child sex offences including distributing indecent images.

Elms, of Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire was arrested after sending images and videos of her assaulting the children to a known sex offender.

Being aged just 17 when she committed the offences Elms was one of the youngest women in the UK to commit such crimes, Swindon Crown Court heard.

Jailing the ex-childcare student for seven years and 10 months, Judge Jason Taylor QC told her she had deliberately inflicted "psychological damage" on her victims.

'Unimaginable, horrific event'

Her victims were aged only about two and three when she attacked them, the court heard.

Elms was arrested on 10 March 2018 after Wiltshire Police received information from West Mercia Police as part of an investigation of a local sex offender, who is currently serving a 15-year jail term.

As she stood in the dock a statement was read out by the father of one of the victims.

He described the impact of her offences on the family as "unimaginable" and said the "horrific event" has "damaged all their lives".

"At the time of committing these atrocious crimes, she was studying child care with a long term aim of working with very young children in the future," Det Insp Simon Childe, of Wiltshire Police, said.

'Immature individual'

Four mobile phones owned by the defendant were seized and found to contain indecent images and video including those classed in category A - the most serious, the court heard.

Elms had also taken and distributed indecent photos of another child.

In mitigation, her defence team described her as a "vulnerable, immature individual" who had been "instigated" into committing the offences by the man she had been communicating with online.

But Judge Taylor said her offences had been carried out in a "deliberate and targeted manner".

He told Elms: "Only time will tell what psychological damage you have inflicted on your victims."

Description

EX-POLICE officer Michael Inskip has been jailed after being found guilty of indecently assaulting a young girl two decades ago. The 63-year-old, formerly of Boundary Close, Stratton St Margaret, was convicted on October 13 of two counts of indecent assault on a girl under 16 in the 1980s and 1990s. He was cleared of three similar allegations and the jury failed to return verdicts on two further counts of indecent assault. Today at Portsmouth Crown Court, he was sentenced to three years and 9 months in prison. Det Cons Melissa Carr said: "We are very pleased with today's result which hopefully goes some way of getting justice for the victim and help give her and her family some closure. "By reporting this, it allowed us to thoroughly investigate this incident to successful prosecute this man. I would like to take this opportunity to encourage anyone who may have been a victim of sex abuse, regardless of how much time has passed, to report it to police. "We will investigate, provide you with the full support you need, and do all that we can to bring to justice offenders like Inskip. Victims contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. They also seek support and counselling from the Sexual Assault Referral Centre based at the New Swindon Sanctuary - they can be contacted on the 24-hour helpline 0808 168 0024. An NSPCC spokesman for South West England said: Regardless of the time that has passed, these offences are shocking and represent an extremely serious case of child sexual abuse. Inksips victim must be praised for her bravery in speaking out. It is absolutely right that people who suffered child sexual abuse, such as the woman in this case, can seek justice and support no matter how much time has passed since their ordeal." Any adult wishing to discuss a childs welfare can contact the NSPCC Helpline at any time for free on 0808 800 5000.

Description

A man jailed for more than three years for grooming what he thought was an 11-year-old girl took condoms to meet 'her' at Baths KFC restaurant.

David Taylor, aged 45, of Rodwell Park in Trowbridge, made online sexual approaches to the fictional 11-year-old girl before arranging to meet her in Bath in April.

However, when he arrived at the fast food chain he was confronted by a self-styled paedophile hunter who had been pretending to be the girl.

Taylor admitted attempting to meet a girl under the age of 16 following grooming and attempting to cause/incite a female child to engage in sexual activity at Swindon Crown Court on August 1.

He was due to be sentenced on August 25, but the hearing was adjourned until Friday (Sept 14), where he was jailed for three years and four months.

The court heard how police launched an investigation and traced Taylor from a video of the confrontation posted on Facebook.

After being arrested at his home in Trowbridge, Taylor told police he had taken condoms with him to the meeting outside the KFC restaurant.

James Haskell, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court: "It seems this person had effectively sought to emulate what is referred to as 'paedophile hunters' and that person engaged in online chat conversations with the defendant pretending to be an 11-year-old girl.

"The defendant engaged in conversations with that person believing it was a child under 13. He sent photographs of himself and he engaged in conversations of a sexually explicit nature."

Simon Goodman, defending, said Taylor was an inadequate man and had been suffering recently from mental health problems and had probably never had a proper relationship.

Taylor was jailed for 40 months for attempting to meet a girl under the age of 16 following grooming.

He also received another 40-month sentence to be severed concurrently for attempting to cause/ incite a female child to engage in sexual activity.

He denied a third count of trying to meet a child after sexual grooming and that was left to lie on the file.

Taylor was also given a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

An NSPCC spokesman for South West England said: Taylor groomed his young victim with the sole intention of earning her trust so he could meet her, and go on to sexually abuse and exploit her.

He was fully aware of her age but continued with his despicable behaviour regardless.

This kind of predatory activity can ruin childhoods, with the devastating effects lasting into adulthood.

Taylor must be policed effectively on his release from prison to help reduce any risk he poses to children.

Description

A SEX offender with links to Wiltshire is on the run.

Police are hunting Krzysztof ODonnell, also known as Krystoff ODonnell, 33, for failing to comply with the Sex Offenders Notification Requirements.

The 33-year-old was last seen in Bristol on January 28 and also has links to South Gloucestershireand South Wales.

He is described as a white eastern European man, 6ft 1ins, of proportionate build, with shoulder-length fair/brown curly hair, with a moustache and goatee-style beard, with blue eyes.

He is originally from Poland and speaks with a Polish accent.

Police are advising the public not to approach him, but to report any sightings of him immediately via 999.

If you have information about where he may be, please call 101 and quote crime reference number 5216024447.

Description

Derek Packham has been sentenced to a total of 13 and a half years, eight and a half of which will be in prison, for a string of serious sex offences. Packham, 50, of Chippenham, pleaded guilty to nine counts of sexual assault, nine counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of inciting a child to commit sexual activity of making indecent images of children and one count of having indecent images on his phone. He was sentenced yesterday to eight and a half years in prison and a further five years on extended licence at Swindon Crown Court. Packham pleaded guilty at the same court on July 9, 2015, and all the offences in the case took place at the original home address of the defendant in Corsham. Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Julia Dickson, from Wiltshire Police, said: Wiltshire Police welcome todays sentencing as it reflects the seriousness of these offences and the impact they have on the children involved. Derek Packham preyed on his young victims; he became their friend, he groomed them by purchasing them gifts and providing alcohol, he gained the childrens trust. His actions have had a huge impact on these children - local agencies will be working hard to give his victims as much support as possible while they come to terms with what he did to them. Wiltshire Police would like to thank each of the victims for their bravery in coming forward and recounting what is obviously a very distressing and traumatic time in their lives. We are also not ruling out the possibility that there are more victims out there if that is you or someone you know then please come forward. "You will be dealt with sensitively by one of our specially trained officers and I can assure you that any information you give will be treated in the utmost confidence and will be followed up. "We are determined to catch anyone who carries out such crimes. Blair Keltie, Child Sexual Exploitation Manager at Wiltshire Council, also welcomed the sentence and praised local schools for their support of the victims. She said: We work with our partners to do everything we can to stop and prevent CSE, and this case gives a clear message that this will not be tolerated in Wiltshire. I would also like to give great credit to the local schools who have supported their children through what has been an extremely distressing time."

Description

A former Devizes mayor who sexually abused a boy repeatedly during the 1970s was jailed for three years today.

Timothy Price, 57, of Waiblingen Way, Devizes, was found guilty of four counts of indecent assault and one of indecency with a child at Salisbury Crown Court on January 22.

Sentencing Price, Recorder Edward Burgess said: It was only a matter of time before the dark secret of what you had done to [the victim] was broken.

He added: It was a shame you did not have the decency to spare [the victim] the pain of a trial by pleading guilty.

Price, who has terminal prostate cancer, has just 12 months to live so may now die in prison.

A GPs report said going to prison would make it difficult for him to undergo successful treatment.

Recorder Burgess said his sentence was very considerably shorter than it would have been if Price had been in good health.

Prosecuting, Matthew Scott read from the victims impact statement, which said: I have spent most of my life pretending to myself I was not subject to the most horrendous sexual abuse.

I shut the disgusting memories of the things he made me do in a box inside my head.

A separate charge of possessing indecent images was ordered to lie on file.

Representing Price, Stephen Dent said his client had been very young at the time and had been experimenting with his sexuality.

He added that Price never forced his victim to comply.

It does have all the hallmarks of teenage sexual exploration, the problem being, of course, that one party was seven years older than the other, he said.

Mr Dent said Price had done a great deal of good public work and had enjoyed the respect of the community.

This is a tremendous fall from grace for him, he added.

Price was 16 and the boy, from Durrington, was nine when the five years of abuse started.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, broke a 34-year silence when he confronted Price by email in August 2013.

Price responded an hour later, admitting and appologising for his crimes, but later denied them in court.

The judge said Price mentally tortured and bullied his victim to comply with his selfish sexual demands.

Description

A convicted sex fiend caught by so-called "paedophile hunters" is behind bars after he admitted travelling more than 300 miles to try to meet up with 14-year-old girl.

Roger Lee, who previously got a 12-year-old pregnant and was branded a danger to children, thought he was chatting to a teenage girl called Rebecca over the internet, but it was a pair of online vigilantes.

The pervert sent naked pictures of himself and "couldn't get to Newcastle" - 310 miles from his Basingstoke home - "fast enough" after "the girl" said she was being left home alone when her mum went away.

But Lee, 45, was filmed by the duo who call themselves Dark Justice when he turned up at the city's Millennium Bridge.

At Newcastle Crown Court, he admitted attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming through website Badoo and was jailed two years and four months.

Judge Sean Morris said: You entered into a conversation with them on the internet and they pretended the female was 14 and you went for it.

You arranged to come to Newcastle from Basingstoke to have sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old child. That is extremely serious.

There was in fact no child involved at all, which limits the category into which your offending falls.

That will be quite difficult for some people to understand and I dont blame them.

Im firmly of the view that you are a dangerous individual to young children.

The court heard Lee, using the moniker ForHire, contacted Rebecca in October on Badoo, which is meant for over 18s.

Prosecutor Tim Gittins said: "These men, who describe themselves as undercover journalists, worked together in order to set up a sting operation to identify and catch paedophiles.

"They set up a false female profile on internet website Badoo. It is meant for over 18s but once he contacted her she indicated she was only 14.

"He stated he liked young girls and had previously had a relationship with a female aged 12.

"The messages continued over several days and began to become sexually explicit, at the defendants instigation and he sent a picture of his penis.

"She then said her mum was going away on October 8 and he couldnt get up here fast enough."

Lee arranged to meet Rebecca at the Millenium Bridge at 9am on October 9.

Mr Gittins said: "He was confronted by the two men, who were recording the confrontation.

"Not surprisingly, he realised that the game was up and immediately fled the scene.

"The two men reported the matter immediately to the police."

After running off, Lee sent a text message saying he was going to kill himself before being arrested on the A1 heading south.

Lee, of Pewsey Road, Rushall, Pewsey, Wiltshire, was also given an extended licence until 2020, a sexual offences prevention order, and must sign the sex offender register indefinitely.

The court heard he was convicted of having sex with a 12-year-old girl who he got pregnant in 1998.

Andrew Walker, defending, said: "This was not entrapment but it was a set up, it was a sting operation. That means there was no child anywhere near this offence or this offender. This was a website for adults and it was not even a dating website, although it was used for those purposes.

Clearly the objective of the young men on the other side was to perpetuate the conversation and give him the opportunity to propose the activity in the way he did.