Latest Offenders

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A predatory taxi driver who sexually assaulted a passenger as she slept in the front seat of his car has been jailed.

Bozlul Hoque, 44, has been sentenced to eight years behind bars after he drove his 21-year-old victim to a secluded street and abused her in April 2019.

Newcastle Crown Court was told how the black cab driver had picked up the female student from outside a city centre bar in the early hours of the morning.

She got into the front seat and asked to be taken to her home address but she fell asleep during the journey.

The terrified victim awoke a short time later to find Hoque had parked in a secluded street and was sexually assaulting her.

She screamed at the driver who then transported her to her to a friend’ address where the victim reported what had happened to police.

The married father-of-three was arrested but denied sexually assaulting the woman and claimed she had been intoxicated and unable to provide him with her address.

But forensic examination found his DNA on the victim and he was charged with sexual assault and later pleaded guilty at court.

On Tuesday Hoque, of Croydon Road, Newcastle, was jailed for eight years at Newcastle Crown Court.

Following the case, the investigating officer at Northumbria Police praised the bravery the victim had shown throughout the investigation and subsequent court proceedings.

Detective Constable Joe Birkett said: “This should have been a five minute journey but we were able to use CCTV and mobile phone data to prove the victim was in the car for 30 minutes.

“Hoque tried to claim this was because of her intoxication but forensic analysis showed he had physical contact with her and the mountain of evidence against him resulted in a guilty plea.

“He was a licenced taxi driver who had undergone vulnerability training and was in a position of trust. His sole duty should have been getting his customer home safely.

“Instead he abused that position of trust and I welcome the significant custodial sentence handed to this sexual predator by the judge.

“This result would not have been possible if it were not for the bravery of the victim in this case and I want to take this opportunity to thank her for having the courage to come forward.

“We hope this sentencing can bring her some comfort and shows other victims of sexual assault that we will do everything in our power to put predators behind bars.”

In a victim impact statement read during the sentencing hearing, Hoque’s victim said her abuser took advantage of her ‘in the worst possible way’.

She said: “This assault on me occurred more than two years ago and yet I cannot shake the memory of this event from my mind.

“The nightmares are still happening, the night terrors still wake me up breathless and panicking, the anxiety of traveling in a taxi is still there.

“But for the last two years this man has denied what he did. He has lied continuously to the Police in his interviews and he has sought out every way to avoid being held responsible.

“I don't believe he has one ounce of remorse in his body. He is simply pleading guilty because the evidence against him is overwhelming and he has been backed into a comer.

“I can’t help wondering how many other single drunk females have climbed into his taxi like me and suffered similar things. I doubt I was the first but I hope I will be the last.”

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A sexual predator who raped his sleeping victim has been jailed.

Joshua Robson raped his victim in October 2018 while she slept and when she woke up in pain he pretended to be asleep.

But the 20 year-old victim bravely reported the incident to police straight away and an investigation was launched by Northumbria Police's Safeguarding unit.

Robson, 23, was arrested and denied the allegation but a jury at Newcastle Crown Court saw through his lies and was found guilty of one count of rape on Friday, July 31.

On Friday, August 27, he was sentenced to five and a half years at Teesside Crown Court.

Detective Constable Catherine Burns, who led the investigation, praised the bravery of the victim and hopes it will give other victims the courage to report.

Det Con Burns said: "I really commend the bravery of the victim as she has been so strong throughout this investigation.

"Robson took advantage of a situation for his own sexual gratification and has shown no remorse for what he has done. Now he faces the consequences of his actions.

"I hope this sends a strong message that any sexual contact that is not consensual is a crime. No one should be subjected to something they do not consent to and if you have been a victim of such an attack, I would urge you to come forward to police.

“I know this conviction will give the victim a sense of justice and hope she can begin to heal after suffering significantly as a result of this attack.”

Robson of Esher Place, Cramlington will now also have to sign the sex offenders' register for life.

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A dangerous sex offender who fled to America to evade justice has been jailed for more than six years.

Prolific Wayne Wilson appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on Friday, October 8, where he was sentenced for sexually abusing a child.

The court heard how Wilson, who was already the subject of a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) following convictions for voyeurism and indecent images, fled the country in 2018 despite being under investigation in relation to a report of sexual abuse.

Detectives from Northumbria Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) immediately began trying to trace Wilson with the help of international law enforcement.

Enquiries later revealed he had fled to Dublin, then onto the United States.

Determined officers continued to work closely with Homeland Security and a range of American authorities, tracking him down in Kansas.

Wilson was finally detained in April 2021 and returned to the UK in June where officers charged him with three counts of sexual touching on a child under 13 and remanded him into custody.

The 38-year-old, of no fixed abode, admitted all charges and on Friday and appeared at Newcastle Crown Court where he was jailed for six years and two months.

Speaking after the sentencing, the officer in charge of the case, Detective Constable Elizabeth Biggins from POLIT said: “The fact that Wilson will spend a considerable time behind bars is welcome news to me and shows we will not sit back when seeking justice for victims.

“This man is a prolific paedophile who spent years on the run trying to avoid being brought to justice for a series of despicable offences.

“I hope this goes to show the lengths we are prepared to go to in order to protect children and bring offenders to justice. I want to thank our partners from Homeland Security in the USA for their support with this investigation as well as the wider POLIT team, who never gave up.”

Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Ord, who leads POLIT, praised the hard work and determination of her team, and the lengths they went to in order to trace Wilson.

She added: “This was a complex investigation which spanned two continents, multiple time zones and jurisdictions.

“Despite the obvious challenges, Det Con Biggins refused to give up and worked regularly with law enforcement in the USA to make sure no stone was left unturned.

“I am so proud of her achievements in making sure a dangerous and brazen sex offender was brought back to the UK to be held accountable for the vile crimes he committed.”

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A man convicted of 159 sex offences, including 136 rapes, will "never be safe to be released", a judge has said.

Reynhard Sinaga was found guilty of luring 48 men from outside Manchester clubs to his flat, where he drugged and assaulted them - filming the attacks.

Police say they have evidence Sinaga, 36, who is being named for the first time, targeted at least 190 victims.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Sinaga was "the most prolific rapist in British legal history".

The judge ruled his life sentence must include a minimum of 30 years in jail.

Reporting restrictions were also lifted at a sentencing hearing at Manchester Crown Court on Monday, meaning Sinaga could be identified for the first time.

The post-graduate student was already serving life, with a minimum term of 20 years, for the offences he was convicted of in two earlier trials, which took place in summer 2018 and last spring.

Across four separate trials, the Indonesian national was found guilty of 136 counts of rape, eight counts of attempted rape, 14 counts of sexual assault, and one count of assault by penetration, against a total of 48 victims.

Detectives say they have been unable to identify a further 70 victims and are now appealing for anyone who believes they may have been abused by Sinaga to come forward.

At the hearing, Judge Suzanne Goddard QC said Sinaga was "an evil serial sexual predator who has preyed upon young men" who wanted "nothing more than a good night out with their friends".

"In my judgment you are a highly dangerous, cunning and deceitful individual who will never be safe to be released," she said - adding that the decision to release prisoners is made by the Parole Board.

Sinaga would wait for men leaving nightclubs and bars before leading them to his flat in Montana House, Princess Street, often with the offer of somewhere to have a drink or call a taxi.

He drugged his victims before assaulting them while they were unconscious. When the victims woke up many of them had no memory of what had happened.

The student, who denied the charges, had claimed all the sexual activity was consensual and that each man had agreed to being filmed while pretending to be asleep - a defence described by the judge as "ludicrous".

At an earlier sentencing, the judge said she was sure that Sinaga had used a form of date rape drug such as GHB.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was "deeply concerned" by the use of such a drug.

In victim impact statements read out in court, one victim said Sinaga had "destroyed a part of my life", while another said: "I hope he never comes out of prison and he rots in hell."

"I have periods where I can't get up and face the day," another added.

Many of the victims were unaware they had been raped until they were contacted by police.

Lisa Waters, of the St Mary's Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Manchester, where victims received support, said some men found this "very difficult to process", with some experiencing mental health issues and suicidal thoughts.

Sinaga, who was studying for a PHD at the University of Leeds, carried out his attacks over several years.

The rapist was caught in June 2017 when one victim, who regained consciousness while being assaulted, fought Sinaga off and called the police.

When officers seized Sinaga's phone they found he had filmed each of his attacks - amounting to hundreds of hours of footage.

The discovery led to the launch of the largest rape inquiry in British history.

Assistant Chief Constable Mabbs Hussain said the true extent of Sinaga's offending would probably never be known.

"We suspect he's offended over a period of 10 years," he said. "The information and evidence we are going from is largely from trophies that he's collected from the victims of his crimes."

Investigators traced dozens of victims from the videos using clues found in Sinaga's Manchester flat, such as stolen phones, ID cards and watches.

The University of Manchester, where Sinaga was previously a student, said some members of its community had been "directly affected" by the case and it had set up a dedicated confidential phone line to offer support.

A statement from Vice-Chancellor Dame Nancy Rothwell, said the news was "profoundly distressing" and her thoughts were with all those affected.

Staggering tally

Judge Goddard said the "scale and enormity" of Sinaga's offending meant it was "accurate" for one of his victims to have described him as a monster.

She added that Sinaga had shown "not a jot of remorse" and at times appeared to be "actually enjoying the trial process".

Following the sentencing, Ian Rushton, from the CPS, said Sinaga was "the most prolific rapist in British legal history" and possibly "in the world".

"His extreme sense of sexual entitlement almost defies belief and he would no doubt still be adding to his staggering tally had he not been caught," he said.

He added that he thought Sinaga took "a particular pleasure in preying on heterosexual men".

Home Secretary Priti Patel said in response to Sinaga's "truly sickening crimes" she had asked an independent council to prioritise a review into whether controls for drugs like GHB were "tough enough".

GHB (gammahydroxybutyrate) is a class C drug. Anyone found in possession of it can be imprisoned for up to two years.

Sinaga's trials took place across 18 months at Manchester Crown Court, resulting in unanimous guilty verdicts on all charges.

His convictions relate to crimes he committed from January 2015 to June 2017, but police believe he began offending years earlier.

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A man has been jailed for sexually assaulting two women at a party.

The incident happened in the early hours of Sunday 23 August last year, when 54-year-old Bryan Searle attended the get together at an address in the Portsmouth area.

Searle, who was drunk at the time, got into a hot tub at the party and sexually assaulted two women.

The incident was reported to police later that morning and Searle was arrested the same day.

Following an investigation, he was charged with two counts of sexual assault and one count of assault by penetration.

He admitted all three offences when he appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court on 17 September this year.

Appearing at the same court today (Friday 1 October), he was jailed for 25 and a half months.

DC Hannah Mosely said: “No one has the right to abuse another person, and as a police service we take all allegations of sexual offences extremely seriously.

“This kind of behaviour is simply not acceptable and there is no excuse for perpetrating it.

“Searle knew this, but chose to carry out these assaults anyway. I hope the outcome of this case sends a message to those who think they can get away with behaving in this manner that there is no place for it in society, and we will take action.”

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Met Police officer Wayne Couzens has been sentenced to a whole-life term for the murder of Sarah Everard, in a case that sparked national outrage and calls for more action to tackle violence against women.

Couzens admitted the kidnap, rape and murder of the 33-year-old marketing executive when he appeared in court several months ago.

But it was only during his sentencing that the full details of his crimes emerged.

Ms Everard was walking home from a friend's house in Clapham, south London, at about 21:30 BST on 3 March when she was abducted.

Couzens' choice of victim was random, but the attack was planned.

In his sentencing remarks, Lord Justice Fulford said there had been "significant planning and premeditation" by Couzens.

The police officer had "long planned to carry out a violent sexual assault on a yet-to-be-selected victim" who he intended to coerce into his custody, noted the judge.

Couzens spent at least a month travelling to London from Deal, Kent, where he lived, to research how best to carry out his crimes.

Several days before the attack, he booked a hire car, which he would use for the abduction, as well as a roll of self-adhesive film advertised as a carpet protector on Amazon.

After finishing a 12-hour shift at the US embassy that morning, Couzens, a parliamentary and diplomatic protection officer, went out "hunting" for a lone, young woman to kidnap and rape, the prosecution said.

The court heard how Couzens used the knowledge he had gained from working on Covid patrols in January and his Metropolitan Police-issue warrant card to trick his victim under the guise of a fake arrest for breaching coronavirus guidelines.

The 48-year-old, who had been a police officer since 2002, handcuffed her before bundling her into the car and driving away.

The abduction was witnessed by a couple travelling past in a car - but they believed they had seen an undercover police officer carrying out a legitimate arrest, so did not intervene.

The whole kidnapping took less than five minutes.

Sarah Everard's last known movements

Couzens then drove to Dover in Kent, where he transferred Ms Everard to his own car, before travelling to a remote rural area nearby.

It was there that he raped and murdered his victim - strangling her with his police belt.

By 02:31 Couzens had left the scene and was spotted at a service station buying drinks.

He visited the site where Ms Everard's body was dumped twice, leaving just before dawn.

The next day, as the search for her escalated, Couzens bought petrol, which he used to burn her body inside a fridge.

He also purchased two green rubble bags, which he used to dump the remains in a pond near an area of woodland he owned in Hoads Wood, Ashford.

A week after she disappeared, Ms Everard's body was found in a woodland stream, just metres from land owned by Couzens.

Meanwhile, Couzens returned to normal life, carrying out mundane activities like calling a vet about his dog.

Days later, he even took his wife and two children on a family trip to the woods where he had burnt his victim's body.

However, on the 8 March, the day he was due to return to work, he reported in sick.

The following day he was arrested at his home in Deal.

In a brief police interview, he told a false story about being threatened by an Eastern European gang, claiming they had demanded he deliver "another girl" after he had underpaid a prostitute a few weeks before. He then claimed he kidnapped Ms Everard, drove out of London and handed her over to three men in a van in a layby in Kent, while she was alive and uninjured.

But after Ms Everard's body was discovered in a pond just 130 metres from land owned by Couzens, he was charged.

Couzens has since been sacked by the Met, but the force is still facing questions over whether chances were missed to prevent his predatory behaviour.

After Ms Everard's murder, the police watchdog announced it was probing alleged failures by the Met to investigate two indecent exposure incidents linked to Couzens in February.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is also investigating alleged failures by Kent Police to investigate a flashing incident linked to Couzens in 2015.

Couzens transferred to the Met in 2018, from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, where he had worked since 2011.

Two years later he began working for the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command as an authorised firearms officer at diplomatic premises around central London.

In July, appearing by video link from Belmarsh high security jail, Couzens pleaded guilty to murder at the Old Bailey.

On Wednesday he appeared in court again - this time in person - for a two-day sentencing hearing.

There, he faced Ms Everard's mother, father and sister, who described to the court the torment of losing their loved one in such horrendous circumstances.

Her father, Jeremy, demanded that Couzens looked at him as he told the murderer he could never forgive him for taking away his daughter.

Her mother, Susan, said she was "tormented" at the thought of what her "precious little girl" had endured.

"I go through the sequence of events. I wonder when she realised she was in mortal danger," she told the court.

"Burning her body was the final insult. It meant we could never again see her sweet face and never say goodbye.

"Our lives will never be the same. We should be a family of five, but now we are four. Her death leaves a yawning chasm in our lives that cannot be filled."

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A "dangerous sexual predator" has been jailed after undercover police officers lured him into thinking he was meeting a teenage girl for sex at Guildford Cathedral.

Mark Crampton, 57, of Richmond-upon-Thames, has been sentenced to 44 months in prison after pleading guilty to arranging to meet who he thought was a child for sex.

He had pleaded guilty to arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence; attempting to meet a girl under 16 years of age following grooming; and two counts of an adult attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child at an earlier hearing.

Crampton was arrested after communicating with two undercover police officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit between April 18 and May 21, 2020.

On April 18, Crampton sent a private message to one of the officers, who he believed was a 13-year-old girl. Communication continued, with him sending sexually explicit messages using Kik Messenger.

This led to his arrest on May 21 in the grounds of Guildford Cathedral, where he had travelled with the intention of carrying out sexual acts with who he thought was the child.

It later transpired that Crampton had travelled to Guildford Cathedral the previous day to establish where he could engage in the sexual activity, Surrey Police said.

Crampton was subsequently arrested by two officers from Surrey Police on suspicion of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.

During the sentencing hearing at Guildford Crown Court on Friday, March 5, Crampton was additionally handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Detective Constable Steve Branch, who investigated the incident, said: "The sentence and the indefinite SHPO given to Crampton reflect the serious nature of his offending and have meant that a dangerous sexual predator will now be behind bars and will not be able to pose a threat to vulnerable teenagers.

"Crampton communicated with who he thought was a teenage girl for several weeks and these messages were extremely sexual in nature, culminating in him arranging to meet her for sex.

"This case demonstrates our commitment to targeting sex offenders within our communities and ensuring they are held to account for their reprehensible behaviour."

Detective Inspector Lisa Heaton, from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit, said: "The arrest of Crampton was part of a proactive, intelligence-led investigation relating to child sexual offences. It forms part of our continued priority to protect children from sexual exploitation and from those who would see do them harm.

"If anyone has been the victim of child sexual abuse, I would encourage them to report it to their local police force via 101. We will always follow up allegations and law enforcement work together to bring to justice individuals who use the internet to facilitate the abuse of children.

"Victims can talk in confidence to experienced investigators and we will also help them get access to a range of support services."

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A "dangerous" and "obsessive" sex offender has been jailed after so-called paedophile hunters lured him into thinking he was grooming and meeting a 14-year-old girl.

Simon Landsberg, of High Street, Godstone, spoke to who he thought were three girls online and began grooming them before attempting to meet one of them at Ashburton Park, in Croydon.

The 68-year-old was confronted by the paedophile hunters on June 20 last year at the attempted rendezvous in the park, during which a court heard he had the "intent of committing sexual offences". The police were then called and he was arrested.

A video taken at the scene shows members of the public challenging Landsberg about the meeting, followed by officers leading him off in handcuffs. He first confirms his name is 'David' in reference to the name he used online before admitting to police later that he was called Simon.

He was charged with three counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child; attempting to meet a child under the age of 16; and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

He had previously been convicted of facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, and was handed a three-year prison sentence in 2017. This, however, involved two real children.

A sentencing hearing at Croydon Crown Court on Thursday afternoon (February 11) heard how three people from various paedophile hunting groups posed as 14-year-old girls online.

Landsberg engaged in lengthy, predominantly sexual, conversations with these "entities", asking one of them about her body shape and telling her that he liked small breasts.

Judge Adam Hiddleston told the court: "You told her you loved her and wanted to kiss, cuddle and massage her."

He added: "You told her you had been in trouble before for falling in love with younger girls and you instructed her to delete all the communication between the two of you."

Disturbingly, Judge Hiddleston told the sentencing hearing that Landsberg had "told her that when you did [meet] you expected her to urinate in her pants".

He added: "When you turned up at the park you were confronted by members of the public who were part of a group who had communicated with you, pretending to be the victim."

The defendant engaged in similar discussions with the two other profiles, lying about his age, claiming he was 43, and discussing massaging and touching them.

All of his communications mainly focused on how the 14-year-old girls "might go about sexually stimulating themselves" before asking them to delete all of the messages.

After his arrest, police conducted a search of his person and discovered two mobile phones and a WiFi dongle. A property search uncovered a laptop, on which almost all of the conversations had been deleted.

The court heard that Landsberg is "dangerous in the way that he has conducted himself" and "has made efforts to hide his continuing sexual offending".

He committed these offences while he was on licence for his previous sexual offending and was in breach of a number of conditions of the SHPO imposed by Guildford Crown Court in 2017.

A pre-sentence report read aloud to the court said: "He exploited the apparent vulnerability of all three victims and his behaviour throughout was sexually motivated.

"He gave no thoughts as to the detrimental effects on them, and if not for his arrest, I believe his behaviour would have continued."

It added: "I would describe his behaviour as bordering on the obsessive."

Defence barrister David Stanton said Landsberg needs to seek help for his actions, as they transgress criminal law and could have affected many people, had the people he was speaking to not been decoys.

Mr Stanton said: "He very much regrets and is remorseful of his actions. He genuinely feels that what he has done is unforgivable."

Landsberg was handed a prison sentence of 44 months, with an extended licence period of 36 months. Judge Hiddleston made an order for a new SHPO, as well as the forfeiture and destruction of the items seized during police searches.

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A man who groomed a teenage girl online before meeting her for sex has been jailed for a string of child sex offences.

Alex Cadwell, 21, was arrested on Friday, August 30 2019 after a report of a rape involving a 13-year-old girl.

It took place in the toilets to the rear of the British Legion on Hollyhedge Road, Cobham on Saturday, 24 August 2019.

A court heard that Cadwell had groomed the victim online over the period of a month, inciting them to commit sexual acts before meeting in real life.

Police said he then engaged in sexual activity with the teenager.

Surrey Police responded and Cadwell was identified, arrested and interviewed. His digital devices were seized and further enquiries revealed extensive online grooming of the victim, together with other offences involving other victims.

He was charged and following a trial in November was found guilty of 22 sexual offences including two counts of sexual activity with a child, making indecent images of child, inciting a child to commit sexual acts and causing a child to watch a sexual act.

Cadwell, of Greenacres Avenue, Uxbridge, appeared at Kingston Crown Court via video link on Friday (January 29), where he was jailed for ten years with a five year extension period.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

Cadwell will be subject to a strict Sexual Harm Prevention Order on his release.

Investigating Officer Detective Sergeant Alan Poland said: “I hope that this sentence brings some closure to Cadwell’s victims who have shown courage throughout the proceedings from the initial report through to giving evidence in court.

"Further to this I hope that it acts as a deterrent to those who seek to prey on children for their sexual gratification.

"Whether this is done hiding behind a computer screen, or hiding behind an alias in real life offenders will be identified, arrested and prosecuted.”

An NSPCC spokesperson said: "Cadwell’s use of online platforms to groom and abuse a 13-year-old child highlights the risks young people are currently facing on the internet.

“This will have been a terrible ordeal for the victim and we hope she gets all the support she needs to move forward with her life. It is also imperative that online platforms continue to design in safety measures for all the young people who use them."

Description

Charles Phillip Johnson, 72, of Hall Place Drive, Weybridge, pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault on a child and two counts of indecency with a child.

He was sentenced to two years and five months behind bars when he appeared at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday (February 23).

An investigation was launched after the victim came forward in August 2018 to report physical and sexual abuse against him by Johnson which took place in the 1970s when he was a pupil at Barrow Hills School in Witley, Godalming.

Johnson was a teacher at the school at the time and was subsequently arrested and interviewed before being charged in 2019.

Johnson was sentenced to a year in prison in July 2017 after pleading guilty to two counts of indecently assaulting a boy under the age of 14. He was also given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

The offences also took place at Barrow Hills School in the late 70s and early 80s.

The school was owned by the Josephites, a religious order, but was sold by them in 1990. Since then it has been run by trustees as an independent charity.

Detective Constable Becky Thomson, of Surrey Police, said on Tuesday: "I hope that Johnson's guilty plea and the sentence he has received today will in some way help the victim to come to terms with what's happened and move on with his life.

"He had the courage to report Johnson's predatory behaviour and I'd like to commend his bravery in coming forward.

"I would also encourage any victim to come forward to Surrey Police and report any similar incidents. Surrey Police treats all allegations of sexual abuse, whether recent or non-recent, extremely seriously.

"Our priority is victim care and people need to feel confident that if they come forward and report an offence, we can help.

"We have a dedicated investigation team for such crime and the dedicated unit works to obtain best evidence. We also work closely with our partner agencies to provide support and care to victims."

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has also urged anyone who has experienced abuse to seek support.

A spokesperson said: "Johnson's predatory and abusive actions, in flagrant contradiction to his duty of care as a teacher, will have had a profound impact and weighed heavily on his victim for many decades. It is so important he receives all the support he needs to move on with his life.

"This case shows that time is no barrier to justice, and we would urge anyone who has experienced abuse, no matter when it happened, to speak out and seek support."

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A pervert who filmed girls in toilets at a leisure centre and fast food restaurant has been jailed.

Luke Murdoch, 26 from the Worthing area, was found guilty of three counts of voyeurism in Guildford.

Guildford Crown Court heard the first of the offences occurred on May 20, 2019 when officers were called to Spectrum Leisure Centre following reports of a man in the female toilets who was filming under the cubicles.

The victim, a 15 year-old girl, saw a camera phone being placed beneath the stall and ran to tell her sister. They reported the incident to staff, who called the police.

The second incident on October 23, 2019 saw officers called to Burger King at Ladymead Retail Park after an 11-year-old girl was followed into the bathrooms and photographed while on the toilet.

The matter was again reported to staff and police were called.

Murdoch was identified after an appeal with CCTV footage circulated to the public via the media media and on Surrey Police’s social media channels.

He was arrested on December 17, 2019 and subsequently charged with voyeurism.

Forensic examination of his phone post-arrest uncovered further voyeuristic images of adult women that appeared to have been taken in various public toilets.

On March 11 he was sentenced to nine months behind bars and given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order lasting 10 years.

Description

Derek Winston Seekings, 66, of Southern Way in Farnborough, retired from the force in 2005 and was charged with the offences in July 2019.

On Wednesday (January 13), Judge Stephen Mooney passed sentence for one count of rape, half of which is to be served behind bars; Seekings can then be released on licence where he will be liable to recall.

Judge Mooney issued the predator with a nine-year prison sentence for the other count of rape, which will run concurrently to the first. Seekings will also be on the sex offenders register for life.

Both attacks took place between 1994 and 2000 in Surrey against a woman who cannot be named for legal reasons.

One of the attacks took place during the officer's meal break while he was on duty, with the other taking place off duty. He was found guilty of his crimes on Friday (January 8) following a four-day trial.

Surrey Police has revealed that Seekings, who retired as a sergeant after 32 years’ service, was originally charged with seven offences of rape but his indictment was subsequently amended to two counts.

Speaking at Lewes Crown Court on Wednesday, prosecutor Jennifer Gray read aloud a statement from the victim. The court heard how Seekings' not guilty plea caused her "panic attacks" and "many dark moments".

Reading the statement on behalf of the victim, Ms Gray said: "Every contact regarding the trial heightened my anxiety. At times I thought I was suffering a cardiac event and thought I would not be able to continue."

Court had previously heard Ms Gray explain how Seekings committed one of the offences while on duty. She said: "She made it very clear to him she didn’t want to have sex with him, he carried on regardless and he raped her."

Following this, Seekings returned to work. The jury was also told the disgraced ex-sergeant was suspended from duty for a number of months and demoted to PC in the late 1990s following a car accident which led to a driving conviction.

Passing sentence, Judge Mooney said he would be treating the defendant's role in the police force as an aggravating factor and said his actions were a breach of the public's trust in him.

In his final remarks, Judge Mooney also noted the victim has suffered "severe psychological harm" as a result of the attacks.

Seekings was still in the dock when the sentence was delivered, before he was led down to the cells below.

Description

A "repeat offender" has been jailed for taking pictures up a schoolgirl's skirt on a Surrey train a year after he was in court for a similar offence.

Leon Chan was travelling on a train from Ewell to Ashtead on October 1, 2020, at around 3pm - the same time as a 17-year-old girl in school uniform was on the train.

Chan, 26, sat near her and stared at her before following her when she left her seat and moved to stand at the train door.

He was holding his phone camera and pointing it towards her. CCTV showed the light on his camera appearing to flash.

Chan then stood next to her and placed his bag on the floor. He crouched down and began rummaging through the bag with one hand, and holding his phone camera towards the victim's legs with his other hand.

The girl then moved away and he followed her, crouching down again and holding his phone towards her. She turned around and caught him pointing his camera up her skirt.

Chan left the train at Ashtead before quickly reboarding and continuing his journey. He was later identified by local officers in Sheffield, where he lives, and was arrested.

Appearing at Sheffield Crown Court on March 9, Chan was jailed for 20 months. The court heard that he'd been issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and a suspended prison sentence in 2019 following another upskirting incident in London.

Chan, of Burngreave Road, Sheffield, was convicted of outraging public decency at Southwark Crown Court in November 2019 when he was found to be videoing females at the Topshop branch in Oxford Circus.

The SHPO prevented Mr Chan from possessing any device capable of capturing or storing photographs or moving images unless he satisfied certain conditions. He was also prohibited from filming any female without her express consent.

In relation to the Surrey offence he was found guilty of recording an image under clothing to observe another without consent, and breaching the SHPO. He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for ten years and a new SHPO was issued.

Detective Constable Amina Khoyratee, of British Transport Police, said: "Upskirting is a truly horrendous invasion of privacy and I would like to make it absolutely clear that we will always take these reports seriously.

"Chan is a repeat offender who has shown no remorse throughout our investigation, so it's lucky he'll now have plenty of time on his hands in prison where he can reflect on his predatory behaviour.

"This is relatively new legislation, having only been introduced in 2019, but the bespoke powers make it much easier for us to charge suspects for this invasive and disgusting form of sexual offending.

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A man was imprisoned for eight-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to historic sex abuse against a 14-year-old boy after appearing at Guildford Crown Court on April 8.

Christopher Coleman, 59, of Milford, pleaded guilty to six charges against the same victim, including three counts of gross indecency, two counts of indecent assault and one count of buggery.

The victim came forward in February 2019 after reading an article in a newspaper about Coleman being convicted for similar offences in 2013, following which he received two life sentences, with a minimum of 15 years. This was later reduced on appeal to 12 years.

The victim rang to thank Surrey Police for ensuring Coleman was put behind bars and said he had also been abused by him. An investigation was subsequently launched and Coleman was arrested in June 2019 on suspicion of a number of sexual offences.

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James Jeffrey tried to outwit police with PIN protected phones but was caught out.

A "predatory" and "manipulative" paedophile has been sent to prison for five years for targeting a 14-year-old girl.

James Jeffrey, 45, of Cherry Orchard Road, West Molesey was sentenced to five years in jail yesterday (Tuesday, May 11) at Kingston Crown Court, following an investigation by Surrey Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team.

Jeffrey had tried to outwit officers by refusing to cooperate when police tried to access PIN protected phones.

But Surrey Police said he was "naive" if he thought he could evade justice for his "appalling" crimes.

How did police catch James Jeffrey?

In 2018, Surrey Police received intelligence that an email address was being used to post indecent videos of children to an online chat group.

The email address was traced to Jeffrey and he was arrested at his work while a search of his home was undertaken.

Three mobile phones were seized.

Accessing the PIN-protected phones took some time because Jeffrey was uncooperative and refused to provide police with the correct codes.

Surrey Police investigators were, however, able to gain access to the phones with the assistance of a forensics lab.

They then uncovered a series of explicit WhatsApp and Facebook messenger chats on one of the devices between Jeffrey and a female - who was found to be just 14-years-old.

After a trial at Kingston Crown Court in March 2021, Jeffrey was found guilty of sexual communication with a child, causing a child to watch a sexual act and two charges of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing an extreme pornographic image.

Jeffrey has also been given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order by the court.

Such orders can require offenders to have their internet access monitored, or their movement restricted in public places, such as children's parks.

The victim has shown incredible bravery

Investigating officer Detective Sergeant James Tibbs from the force’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team said: “The victim has shown incredible bravery and determination in helping us with our investigation.

"I sincerely hope she and her family can move on from this and that Jeffrey being behind bars for what he has done helps them do that.

"Jeffrey is clearly a predatory and manipulative paedophile and it has taken time to get to this point so it’s extremely satisfying to see him sentenced."

DS Tibbs added: “Surrey Police is committed to fully investigating all offences of this nature and will always follow every line of enquiry to ensure that suspects are identified, located and brought to justice.

"Providing a fake PIN like Jeffrey did may delay our investigative work briefly but he was naïve if he thought this was enough to stop us investigating such an appalling crime.”