Latest Offenders

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A 57-year-old man from Dilton Marsh has been jailed after being found guilty of sexually abusing two young children over a number of years.

David Hedges was earlier found guilty of three counts of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 and four counts of indecent assault against the same girls on no fewer than 17 occasions.

His abuse was perpetrated over several years throughout 90s and 2000s.

Today (02/07), at Salisbury Crown Court, Hedges was sentenced to 28 years imprisonment, plus a further year on licence. 

He will be required to serve a minimum of two-thirds before being eligible for parole, when his case will be evaluated. 

In addition to the custodial sentence, he is also subject to the requirements of being a registered sex offender, conditions of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and conditions of a restraining order to prohibit future contact with children indefinitely. 

Description

A convicted sex offender, who bragged on an online chat room that he would not stop offending has been jailed for over four years.

Lewis Parker, 23 of Westcliff Avenue, Westcliff appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Monday July 1 where he was sentenced following proactive work from the Police Online Investigation Team (POLIT).

Officers attended Parker’s address May 9 following intelligence that he had been accessing indecent images of children online. He was arrested on suspicion of multiple offences. Devices, which Parker was prohibited from owning following a previous conviction, were seized for analysis.

This analysis showed that Parker had been engaging in conversations on ‘dark-web’ chat rooms and discussing trading child pornography.

In one conversation, Parker bragged how he was “on the reg” meaning sex offenders register and appeared to brag that his previous convictions had no effect on him.

He was charged with three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, one count of possession of a prohibited image of a child, two counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a child, one count of possession of an extreme pornographic image, four counts of breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and four counts of failure to comply with notification requirements on the Sexual Offenders Register.

On May 10, he pleaded guilty to all charges. He appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Monday July 1 where he was sentenced to four years and four months in prison. He will also remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life and was issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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A rapist who left his victim living in fear has been jailed for nine years.

Anthony Hamilton attacked the woman at her home in 2021, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Hamilton, 39, of Scholars View in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, had denied offences including rape, but was convicted by jurors.

At his sentencing hearing, he maintained the sexual contact was consensual, but Recorder Thomas Moran said Hamilton's victim had "submitted" to him as she was "terrified" of him.

The judge said Hamilton, who represented himself at the sentencing while appearing via video link from HMP Hull, focused on his sense of injustice.

He said Hamilton "painted a very vivid picture of an emotionally unstable" and "self-pitying" man who claimed he had "lost everything".

Mr Recorder Moran said Hamilton's offending had had a profound affect on his victim.

Hamilton must also sign the sex offender's register for life.

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A depraved paedophile from North Devon has been jailed for 27 years for a 'campaign of rape' against two children. Tyrone Barton was convicted of multiple sexual offences at Exeter Crown Court.

The 64-year-old, from Barnstaple, admitted 12 offences. The judge said the most serious offence 'could only be described as evil'.

The court heard moving statements from both victims in which they described the trauma caused by offences. Afterwards, police praised their courage in coming forward and welcomed the sentence.

Prosecutor Simon Burns said the earliest offence dated back more than 20 years. Barton's behaviour included violence and threats. "It is hard to imagine a case of such depravity," said Mr Burns.

The offences came to light in 2022. Barton told police the accusations were 'probably true' and described himself as 'sick'.

The first victim said in a statement they had been psychologically traumatised by the abuse and finds it hard to trust people. The second will never forget what Barton did. Both are trying to rebuild their lives. "I am so angry with him," said one.

Judge Stephen Climie said Barton, of Woodville, carried out his sick crimes 'without a thought for anything other than your own sexual gratification'.

The court was told Barton was ashamed of his behaviour. The judge added: "I hear the expressions of remorse but view them with great suspicion." He said Barton had shown no remorse at the time he abused the first victim or when he deliberately targeted the second some years later.

"This is a case involving a campaign of rape against two victims." He said if each offence was sentenced consecutively the overall term would be in the range of a 100 years. The 27-year sentence reflected the totality of multiple crimes, including rape of children under 13, attempted rape and indecent assaults.

Devon and Cornwall Police released a comment on behalf of the officer in the case. It said: "We welcome the outcome of this case and would like to thank the victims for their strength in reporting. Their fortitude has resulted in this conviction and that now gives agencies the tools we need to prevent further harm."

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A man from Coventry has been jailed for 15 years after abusing three young children.

Derry Tift, aged 49 admitted to 16 counts of sexual offences against three girls between 2001 and 2013 and three counts of making indecent images of children at an earlier hearing at Warwick Crown Court.

The disturbing incidents came to light when officers from the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Team conducted a warrant at Tift’s home address acting on intelligence that he had been accessing indecent images of children on the internet. 

After the warrant, a survivor of Tift’s abuse bravely came forward to tell officers of her ordeal when she was younger.

Thanks to the woman’s courage, this prompted another two survivors to come forward. 

Officers also seized Tift’s computer and devices and found hundreds of indecent images of children.

Tift was sentenced to 15 years at Warwick Crown Court on Monday, June 24 and has been issued an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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A swimming coach who subjected young boys to horrific sexual abuse under the pretence of improving their sporting performance has been jailed again. 

Michael Drew was an elite swimming coach who worked with boys across south London, east London and Essex for four decades. 

He went on to become president of the British Swimming Coaches Association but was unmasked in 2000 when five boys came forward about abuse he’d subjected them to between 1969 and 1991. 

Drew was jailed for six years in 2001, a sentence which sparked concern about the wider issue of child sexual abuse in the sport. 

In 2022 a sixth historic victim approached police about abuse he had suffered at Drew’s hands in the 1970s. 

On Friday (June 28, 2024) the sex offender, now aged 78, was sentenced to a further two years and three months in prison. 

'Evil’ 

Drew, of Wilmington, Dartford, was a highly respected coach who taught talented young swimmers in areas including Hornchurch, Laindon, Bromley and Crystal Palace.

The latest victim to come forward was abused by Drew between the age of 13 and 15. 

Prosecutor Madeleine Wolfe told Croydon Crown Court that the young boy had relied on his coach to improve his performance as he was competing in tournaments. 

“So when Mr Drew said a medical procedure was necessary in training he did not consider refusing or questioning it,” Ms Wolfe said. 

Drew made the boy perform sex acts while telling him it would increase his level of Vitamin E and swimming performance. 

When he came forward in 2022 the victim told police that he had trusted Drew implicitly he and assumed the abuse was for his benefit. 

In a victim impact statement he described Drew as “evil” and told the court how the abuse had impacted his entire adult life. 

He said: “The biggest regret of this sad criminal offence was that I could not speak about what happened to me. 

“Throughout the 1970s I struggled with the ability to make friends due to the barriers. 

“In my education I found it difficult to concentrate at school due to what was happening to me. 

“I have a sense of guilt for not speaking out sooner. The rational side of me wanted to get it out but the emotional side of me wanted to keep it in.” 

'Madness’ 

After the latest victim came forward Drew was arrested again and later pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent assault. 

His barrister, James Manning, told the court: “Mr Drew tells me he feels ashamed and referred to his behaviour as madness.” 

But Mr Manning urged Judge Daniel Flahive to give his client a suspended sentence rather than sending him to prison. 

Mr Manning said: “He was convicted in 2001 and was given a significant sentence. He spent a long time in custody and the system has worked in that he has not reoffended. He has come out and lived a different life.” 

“He no longer poses a threat to children, or for that matter, anybody.” 

But Judge Flahive decided a prison sentence was necessary to punish Drew.

 Judge Flahive said: “It took [the victim] a great deal of courage to come forward in 2022. 

“He was in his teens in the 1970s and he looked up to you as a swimming coach. 

“You were renowned in your field. The boys thought the world of you and looked to you to help their future careers as swimmers. 

“You took advantage of that.” 

He concluded: “He was a child and he was vulnerable. All of this drives me to the opinion that there has to be a prison sentence here.” 

Drew was sentenced to two years and three months in custody. 

Description

A pervert simulated a sex act while menacing a terrified student waiting for a train at Canterbury West station.

For over an hour, and captured on CCTV throughout, Damien Olubek subjected his victim, who he did not know, to what was described as being among the "greatest fears" for a lone female traveller.

The 21-year-old repeatedly asked the woman for kisses and hugs, poked, squeezed and touched her arm and leg, and tried to pull her hand towards his crotch area as he performed his lewd act.

He had even followed her from a bench outside the station where he had first troubled her and onto a platform, where a member of the public eventually came to her aid and alerted station staff.

Olubek, who lives in Margate High Street, then tried to avoid being identified by telling an officer his name was 'Steven Gerrard' before fleeing.

But although it was said on his behalf at Canterbury Crown Court that the touching of the victim was not in itself sexual, Judge Mark Weekes remarked that the "aggressive, humiliating and frightening" behaviour could not be merely regarded as the actions of what is colloquially termed a "sex pest".

Sentencing Olubek on June 26, the judge told him: "The victim was subjected to what must have been for her a very distressing and alarming ordeal, lasting over an hour, in which you engaged in behaviour which sometimes, erroneously in my opinion, is referred to as acting like a sex pest.

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A 74-year-old man who tried to meet up with a 14-year-old boy with a view to abusing him has been jailed for two and a half years after a National Crime Agency investigation.

NCA officers started an investigation into John Harrison, from Tipton in the West Midlands, after they identified he was exchanging indecent images of children on a social media platform.

He was arrested in February 2021 and had a number of devices seized before being released on bail.

While the NCA investigation was ongoing, new intelligence showed that Harrison was offending again, this time engaging with a 14-year-old boy on the same social media platform.

Officers found messages suggesting he was attempting to arrange sexual activity with the child. Indecent images of children in categories A to C were also discovered on his devices. Investigators found 482 Category A images, 960 Category B images and 2330 Category C images.

Harrison was arrested again and charged with offences including making indecent images of children, possession of prohibited or extreme images and arranging sexual activity with a child.

He pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court in March 2023. He was sentenced at the same court yesterday (26 June) to 30 months imprisonment.

Harrison was already on the sex offenders register after being convicted in 2014 for making and possessing indecent images of children.

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A 76-year-old sex offender who continued his crimes immediately after being sentenced for earlier offences has been jailed.

Police found 39 indecent images of girls on Michael Bell’s computer when they visited him on April 10, York Crown Court heard.

Kelly Clarke, prosecuting, said the illegal images had been downloaded between March 18 and April 10.

On March 28, Bell had been given a suspended prison sentence at York Crown Court on condition he did 30 days’ rehabilitative activities and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) at the same court for having indecent images of children.

Bell, 76, of Firs Crescent, Harrogate, denied  having indecent images and breaching the SHPO. He was convicted at trial at York Magistrates Court which sent him back to York Crown Court for sentence. 

Judge Simon Hickey, who had spared Bell an immediate trip to jail on March 28, locked him up for 14 months.

“I take the view it cannot be suspended due to the recent breach of the suspended sentence order by committing similar offences in a very short period of time,” he said.

The new images included pictures of girls aged between nine and 15 years old.

The 14-month prison sentence included 12 months from the suspended prison sentence and two months for the new offences.

Bell had been remanded in custody for 11 weeks, following his arrest in April.

Daisy Wrigley, for Bell, said the lack of exercise in prison and his health problems, including heart problems, meant that he collapsed from time to time.

Ms Clarke said Bell was convicted of having indecent images of children of all three levels of seriousness in March and given a 15-month prison sentence suspended on condition with conditions.

On April 10, two police officers went to Bell’s address so they could check his internet devices as part of the SHPO order and to remove apps from them that he was not allowed to have under the order.

He showed them a Dell computer with a Dropbox application on it and when they opened it, they saw three sexual images of a girl aged 11 to 13. He told them they had been part of the images for which he was convicted in March.

They seized the computer and a forensic check revealed the 39 illegal images of the least serious category downloaded between March 18 and April 10.

They also found a Plex media player installed in contravention of the SHPO.

Ms Wrigley said Bell hadn’t understood what he could and couldn’t have on his computer. He had downloaded it, thinking he was allowed to do that so he could play videos when he was abroad on holiday and at home.

He now accepted he had a problem and was willing to work on rehabilitating himself.

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A convicted sex offender who had been evicted from his home turned up at his ex's parents house while she put her kids to bed.

Bairon Cross, 34, called the woman several times, but as she settled her children she noticed him in the garden of the house in Preston. He knocked on the door, and when the woman answered she told him to leave, Preston Crown Court heard.

However Cross called the woman a 'tramp' and snatched a laptop, belonging to her parents. He refused to give it back, Alison Mather, prosecuting, said.

Cross was arrested in Kent Street, Preston, on September 17. When approached by officers, he was resistant and aggressive but was overpowered and taken to the police station.

The court heard he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia but in February 2024 he was assessed as being fit to enter guilty pleas to theft and failure to comply with notification requirements. He has previous convictions for including theft and sexual activity with a child in 2010.

Sentencing, Judge Ian Unsworth, said due to Cross's medical condition he would make a hospital order for him to be detained at Guild Lodge until he was considered well enough to return to the community.

The judge said: "The author of your presentence report makes the conclusion that at Guild Lodge you have been making very good progress. You have been receptive to your treatment and co-operating with staff. Everything you are doing is of positive note. I would urge you to continue to make the progress you are."

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A 70-year-old serial sex offender will almost certainly die in prison after being jailed for 23 years for sexually abusing four young girls over a period spanning some three decades.

Pensioner Michael Grimes pleaded guilty to 17 counts of child abuse against four young girls.

The judge described his actions as ‘beyond normal human comprehension’ and said they were ‘vile, despicable, and perverted’.

Grimes, of Croft Green, Dunstable, was sentenced at Luton Crown Court on Friday.

As well as the sentence, he was also placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

He was caught after police received information that an IP address linked to his home was being used to download indecent images of young children.

Police then raided his home and they found devices containing more than 4,600 indecent images of children and babies, including almost 1,000 of the most severe category.

During their investigations, four women came forward to claim they had been sexually abused by Grimes.

The abuse spanned over a period of some 30 years.

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A man who subjected vulnerable young children to horrific sexual abuse has been jailed following an investigation by North Yorkshire Police.

In May 2023, officers arrested Nathan Woods-Springer, 37, from Sherburn in Elmet, in connection with sexual offences against children. A number of electronic devices were also seized from his home.

A search of the seized devices uncovered images of Woods-Springer committing sexual offences against children.

Woods-Springer was charged with six counts of rape and nine counts of sexual assault against children.

The victims were all very young at the time of the offences. Officers ensured specialist support was put in place for the victims.

Woods-Springer was also charged with taking and making indecent photographs of children, including hundreds of Category A images the most severe category.

He pleaded guilty to all the offences at York Crown Court on 6 September 2023 and on 19 February 2024.

On Friday 28 June 2024 he was given a 36-year extended sentence.

Description

A former West Yorkshire teacher has been jailed for six years after admitting getting a girl to send him a sexual photograph and then sharing the image with another child when she refused to send him further images.

Michael Pierce, 32, pleaded guilty to offences of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch a sexual act, inciting a child under 13 years to engage in sexual activity and distributing an indecent photograph of a child.

He appeared at Leeds Crown Court yesterday (Thursday, June 27) where he was sentenced to six years imprisonment.

He was also put on the sex offender register for life and given a life-long sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to have no unsupervised contact with children Pierce posed as a 16-year-old boy from Leeds and befriended the victims via Snapchat.

He convinced one of the girls to send him a nude photograph and after she refused to send more images threatened to send the photograph to all of her friends on Snapchat.

He sent the second victim the photograph of the first victim and also asked her to send nude photographs of herself.

Police traced the defendant’s IP address and Pierce was arrested at an address in Wakefield in 2021. He was a teacher at the time the offences were committed and at the point of his arrest.

Detective Sergeant Steven Sayles, of Wakefield District Child Vulnerable to Exploitation Team (CVET), said: “This man, who occupied a position of trust, has targeted young girls and used threatening behaviour to try and exploit them into sending indecent images.

“The nature of his crimes was particularly concerning given his role at the time.

We have worked with local authority colleagues throughout this investigation to ensure that measures have been put in place to restrict his contact with children.

Following his conviction Pierce, of Blackstone Drive, Shireoaks, Worksop, is now the subject of a life-long sexual harm prevention order.

“These were horrible offences committed against vulnerable young girls. I hope the conclusion of this court case brings some closure on an upsetting and scary time for them.”

If someone is threatening to share sexual pictures, videos or information about you, there is help available.

To find out more visit Sextortion | West Yorkshire Police

Description

A repeat sex-offender has been jailed for 12 months after seeing a teenage girl despite an order against him.

Malak Siftul-Hassan, 32, breached his Sexual Risk Order, which prevented him from being in the company of anyone under 18 without a parent or legal guardian and communicating with a named 16-year-old girl.

The 32-year-old man, of no fixed address, was seen in the company of the named teenage girl on Friday, March 8, in Crawley town centre.

He was arrested the following evening and a subsequent search of his phone found he had communicated with her earlier that month.

The man was charged and convicted of breaching his Sexual Risk Order twice.

Siftul-Hassan was jailed for 12 months at Lewes Crown Court.

Detective Inspector Darren Taylor said: “Sussex Police is committed to protecting our communities from sexual offending and will use all the tools at our disposal to limit offenders’ ability to offend and ensure they face justice for their crimes.

“Malak Siftul-Hassan repeatedly breached a court order designed to protect a vulnerable child who he targeted multiple times.

“He has now been placed behind bars where he can cause no further harm to her or any other member of the public.

“This should send a clear message to other offenders that we will do everything in our power to hold you accountable for your crimes.”

Description

A "callous" sex offender lied online to snare a 15-year-old girl. Daniel Allcock, also known as Daniel Smith, has now been sentenced to six years in prison, plus four years on extended licence.

The 27-year-old appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to numerous offences, including causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch a sexual act, and sexual activity with a child.

Allcock, from Crewe, was initially arrested in April following allegations that he had posed as a 19-year-old man online in order to groom and meet a 15-year-old girl between December 2023 and April 2024. The victim was just 14 when the pair began speaking on social media; she even confirmed her age to him, and he told her he was 19.

He arranged to meet her on multiple occasions, organising her travel for her and telling her where to meet him. He then engaged in sexual activity with her repeatedly. When concerns were raised by the victim’s school and social services, Cheshire Police was informed.

Checks revealed that Allcock was known to Cheshire Police for previous sexual offences and was far older than he was purporting to be. He was arrested on April 18 charged, and remanded, and safeguarding was put in place to support the young victim.

Allcock subsequently pleaded guilty. On top of his custodial sentence, he will remain on the sex offender’s register for life and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order. A restraining order has also been imposed.