Latest Offenders Wrexham

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A WREXHAM teenager has been handed a four-year detention after he groomed and harassed a young girl online.

Alex Edwards, of Wynnstay Avenue, appeared at Caernarfon Crown Court on Friday morning.

The 19-year-old had been convicted of a number of offences at a previous hearing, including; causing or inciting a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in a sexual act, disclosing sexual photographs, harassment, threats to kill and possessing indecent images of a child.

Elen Owen, prosecuting, explained Edwards befriended the girl on social media and asked her to be his girlfriend.

The girl, who lived a significant distance away in England and never met the defendant during the course of his offending, agreed and the defendant began sending gifts to her.

The online relationship continued, but he became controlling - making her stay on the phone with him or on social media and demanding that she didn't go out.

Then he started to have sex toys posted to the girl, one of which she used at his instruction while he watched via video.

He took screenshots of the act and also had her send him indecent images of herself.

Roughly five months after the relationship began, the girl ended it and blocked Edwards on social media.

After that, he bombarded her and her family with threatening messages, including that he would burn her home down and kill her.

He even sent the girl's father indecent images he had taken of her online, telling him: "Just to let you know, I am on my way to kill your daughter."

But Edwards never travelled to the area where the victim lived.

When his phone was examined, it was found to contain two indecent images of category A - the most serious - and 16 of category C.

Philip Tully, defending, told the court: "He accepts the only appropriate sentence is immediate detention.

"All of the offences arise out of one course of conduct over a period of time."

Mr Tully emphasised that his client had pleaded guilty to the offence of inciting the girl to engage in a sex act on a basis.

He told the court it amounted to Edwards assertion that "although there could not be consent, there was an agreement and both parties were willing to participate in the conduct."

Mr Tully said the defendant presents with a low level of maturity and has since shown "genuine remorse" for his actions.

"Mr Edwards has had a difficult childhood and upbringing," he added.

"During that time he has had a number of traumatic experiences."

Judge Niclas Parry told Edwards: "There are numerous offences. They exhibit worrying behaviour.

"You have an obsession with social media and you've had numerous relationships with young females you've met online.

"You made threats - serious threats - clearly intending to cause the maximum distress."

Overall, the Judge handed down a period of four years detention in a young offenders institute for the defendant.

Edwards was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender indefinitely.

The court imposed an indefinite restraining order preventing him from contacting the victim.

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A sex offender was told he had "no realistic prospects of rehabilitation" after being caught accessing indecent images of children online for a second time. Ryan Hall, of Hill Close in Penycae, was jailed after "reverting to his old ways".

Prosecuting, Alexandra Carrier, told Mold Crown Court how police enquires back in March 2021 found that an account that had uploaded an indecent image to the internet belonged to Hall. He was arrested and his home in Wrexham was searched where officers found two internal hard drives, an external hard drive, an iPhone and a computer desktop tower.

In a folder found on the tower, police discovered over a dozen indecent images of children. There were a total of 233 files that "indicated Hall had a sexual interest in children", according to Ms Carrier, but these were not charged.

The court was told how, in interview, the 22-year-old confirmed that the desktop tower was his, having built it himself. However, when probed about the images they found on the device, he answered no comment.

Hall was previously convicted in 2019 for making indecent photographs of children. The court also heard how, armed with a knife, he had previously lunged at a detective who had cornered him on a bus and was sentenced to 27 weeks at a young offenders' institute meaning he would have been under post-sentence supervision at the time he sought out these indecent images.

Defending, Henry Hills, told the court how his client was experiencing poor mental health - as well as abusing alcohol and cocaine - at the time these discoveries were made. Mr Hills said Hall had since tried to make steps that would lead him towards a "better life", mainly having started a new job in January this year as a chef.

However, the judge Rhys Rowlands felt that there was "no realistic prospects of rehabilitation", especially considering that this was Hall's second time in possession of such content. He said: "The reality of the situation is that this is a sex offender who, despite having the assistance of the probation service, has reverted to his old ways.

He continued: "The difficulty is that the courts can, and try, to draw back from custody in these cases if there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation when it's a first offence but this is Mr Hall's second time." The judge remained unconvinced that Hall wanted to change, telling his solicitor that it would be "asking an awful lot" of the courts to give Hall "another chance" after accessing this "filth".

When passing a 30-week jail sentence, he said: "The number of images recovered is somewhat modest by comparison to what is commonly seen by the courts. Nonetheless, these are serious matters as you were accessing the material over a not insignificant period of time. Of course, you have the previous conviction in 2019 for behaving in exactly the same fashion."

The judge ordered that Hall be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for the next decade. An order to have all items that were seized by the police destroyed was also granted.

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Ryan Davies tried to hide his secret phone's identity so police thought it was a gaming console

A "devious" man went to great lengths to hide dating apps and social media he wasn't supposed to have without police approval. His blatant lies were exposed after a police tip off.

Ryan Davies, of Victoria Road in Wrexham, found himself back before a judge at Mold Crown Court on Thursday afternoon. He had admitted before the Magistrates Court to breaching one of the terms in his sexual harm prevention order.

The 22-year-old was made subject to the order after being convicted in October 2019, having sent videos of himself masturbating to a teenage girl. As part of his punishment, along with a spell of custody, he was banned from having social media accounts without notifying the police.

The court heard from prosecutor Andrew Green that the former teaching assistant was visited by the police on January 17 last year at his home address. There, he denied having any form of social media when quizzed about the subject - which later turned out to be a lie.

In fact, the court heard Davies had secret Instagram and Snapchat accounts. Police were given a tip off about these accounts the following month.

The police went back to Davies' home in Wrexham, armed with this information. He denied any knowledge of the two accounts but was a swiftly arrested after an iPhone was found in the passenger footwell of his car.

The smartphone was forensically analysed and officers found the accounts - one of which had been used since October 2020. The court heard that the phone was set up in a way that, were officers to look for devices connected to the internet, it would display as a PlayStation 4.

The police also found Davies had a TikTok account along with profiles on dating apps Bumble and Grindr. Sexual content was also discovered in the device's gallery of pictures and videos.

His web history also proved "unsettling", the court heard. The prosecutor said searches were conducted for "barely legal gay teen porn" amongst others.

Elen Owen, defending, said that Davies was "clearly a socially isolated young man". He took a "huge risk" by hiding this device from the authorities at at time when he was otherwise "turning his life around".

She said: "He tells me today that he knew what he was doing was wrong. What he's done is access various apps and, when one is 22, that is the way they live their lives these days - online."

Ms Owen also told the court that Davies did eventually tell the police about the phone before his arrest. She added that, had he not opened up about it then, the police may never have found its hiding spot.

Judge Niclas Parry said that the court faced a "stark choice" when dealing with him. However, he felt convinced to narrowly suspend the jail sentence.

He said: "You're a slippery, devious and dishonest man. That all makes it very difficult to work with you on an order that's been made because you are a high risk of harm to young children.

"However, you had the good sense to plead guilty. The device was not used commit a further crime and this is the first breach of that order."

The judge granted an order for Davies' secret phone to be destroyed after his year-long custodial sentence was suspended for 18 months. During that time, he must finish 120 hours of unpaid work as well as completing a 20-day rehabilitation activity.

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A RETIRED Army Sergeant Major has been jailed after police found a high number of indecent images of children on his devices.

Dave Richards, of High Street in Cefn Mawr, appeared at Mold Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday.

The 63-year-old was convicted earlier this year of making indecent images of children at categories A, B and C over a period of 12 years.

Martyn Walsh, prosecuting, said the National Crime Agency was made aware of a social media account linked to Richards uploading an indecent image to the internet.

When officers attended his home in April last year, he directed them to a laptop in his living room, as well as to another he'd smashed and left in a bin bag in his basement.

In all, three laptops were seized and they showed internet activity regarding child sexual abuse sites and other material such as images.

Judge Rhys Rowlands said there had been so many images on the devices that police stopped the categorisation process.

Of those indecent images categorised, there were 242 still images and 26 videos at category A, 215 still images and 10 videos at category B and 721 still images and eight videos at category C.

More than 110,000 further images were present and were not fully examined, but there was sexual activity depicted in a sample of them.

Henry Hills, defending, told the court: "He has exhibited genuine remorse and has been receiving ongoing therapy.

"He's a man with an impressive work record , 24 years of service in the British Army, reaching the rank of Sergeant Major.

"After that he worked as a telecommunications engineer for 22 years and retired around a year ago.

"He has always been a committed family man.

"He has referred himself to psychotherapy to address his sex addiction. He says he has turned his life around."

Judge Rowlands branded the defendant's behaviour as "perverted," telling him: "This is a matter which I have considered with care. "But here, the scale of your offending - the number of images and the length of time you have been accessing them - it simply isn't possible to draw back and suspend what is an inevitable custodial sentence.

"This is far too serious and it's very far from being on the cusp of custody."

For the category A images, the Judge handed down a 10 month jail term - designed to reflect his overall criminality.

Therefore no separate penalty was imposed for the other two offences.

Richards must register as a sex offender for ten years and has been made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same duration.

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A child sex offender "in turmoil and wanting to get better shopped himself to police.

Dominic Alexander Davey, 26, told his probation officer that he had a mobile phone capable of accessing the internet.

When she informed police, officers found 65 images in the least serious Category C, two images in Category B, two more pictures of extreme bestiality and 3,337 non-illegal images including youngsters doing gymnastics, but which still showed a sexual interest in children.

The phone also had eraser software for deleting material.

A judge at Caernarfon Crown Court today jailed Davey for a total of 12 months for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and possessing the Category B images.

Prosecutor Philip Clemo said on February 4 this year a member of the probation service, Clare Hughes, got a call from Davey saying he had had a phone for two weeks.

He should have reported he had a device capable of accessing the internet more promptly but he hadn't.

Ms Hughes contacted police and officers arrived at Davey's house and arrested him.

The court heard the defendant said he had found the phone while cleaning his house.

Ember-Jade Wong, defending, said Davey, whose address was given as HMP Berwyn, Wrexham, is remorseful.

She said the "unusual feature" of this case is that he "informed on himself" which was "indicative of the turmoil this defendant faces with his offending."

She added: "He simply wants to get better".

He is still a young man, she added. He had been a gardener and suffers depression and anxiety.

The judge Mr Recorder John Philpotts told Davey: "You reported the possession of this device. You effectively informed on yourself."

He jailed Davey for eight months for breaching a previous Sexual Harm Prevention Order by obtaining the phone, and for a further four months, consecutively, for possessing Category B images.

He also gave Davey concurrent jail terms of four months for possessing prohibited images, one month for possessing Category C images and one month for possessing extreme pornographic images.

He must go on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years and still has eight years of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order sentence to run.

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A GIRL of 15 whose mum had thought was at a barbecue had been taken advantage of sexually by a man of 23 after getting drunk at a party in a quarry, a court heard.

Daniel Birch, now 24, of Overton Way, Acton, Wrexham, was jailed for 38 months after he admitted sexual activity with the child.

Judge Huw Rees at Caernarfon crown court said the girl had drunk vodka and wine and was unable to walk or speak properly. Birch took advantage of the strangers vulnerability and had unprotected sex with her.

A sexual harm prevention order was made and he must register as a sex offender.

Prosecuting barrister Mark Connor said the victim had joined a Snapchat group who arranged a party in the Holywell area last summer. Her mother gave her 15, thinking she was going to a barbecue.

But the teenager went to the party and Birch turned up with drink and drugs. Mr Connor said the girl was very drunk and the defendant knew she was only 15.

A school friend who had already left the party was in bed when the victim made a missed call to her and sent several texts suggesting something had happened. The victims mother was then alerted and the police.

Following his arrest, the prosecutor said Birch told police: I am very confident there will be no forensic evidence of me having any sexual contact with her.

But he was wrong.

Robin Boag, defending, said there had been some demonstration of remorse by his client.

He had pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child on a consensual basis.