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A man who became obsessed with a 13-year-old girl 'threw his life away' to have sex with her, a court has heard.

David Beeseley knew the age of his victim from the outset when he started sharing sexually explicit messages and pictures with the girl on SnapChat.

He then picked her up from her school in Leicestershire one day in November 2019 and drove her to the car park at Groby Pool where they engaged in sexual activity. The next morning he turned up at her home after her parents had left for work and had sex with her.

The girl, who had been a virgin, believed Beesley was a 19-year-old graphic design student at Warwick University, but really he was more than twice her age as a 29-year-old Starbucks cashier at Corley Services on the M6 near Coventry. He also lied about his surname.

They had sex again on another occasion a few weeks later, and the girl told her mum she had sex with a man as she was worried she was pregnant. Her mum called the police.

At Leicester Crown Court on Friday, Beesley, now 30, of Proffit Avenue, Coventry, was jailed after admitting nine separate sexual offences against a child.

Judge Timothy Spencer told him: "I think you were overcome by some sort of madness. You had a decent job, a steady relationship and your partner was expecting your first baby.

"You had so much positive going on in your life it's really difficult to decide why you threw it all away.

"Right from the start you knew she was 13, but you decided to live out your sexual obsession with her."

The court heard that Beesley had first contacted the girl in September or October 2019, when he was 29 and she was 13.

Prosecutor Michael Cramner Brown said he met her after school on November 4.

He said: "He picked her up and took her to the car park at Groby Pool. She thought they were just going to meet to talk and maybe a kiss or two.

"She was in her school uniform and had some holes in her tights and he was touching the holes, and then they kissed and he pulled her onto his lap."

The following morning they had sex in her bed, and after that he "went off the radar", Mr Cramner Brown said.

A few days later she received a text message from Beesley's partner, who told the girl she was eight months pregnant with Beesley's child and asked the girl not to contact him again. Beesley later told the girl he did not have a partner and that the message was really from his sister, who was being overprotective.

Beesley convinced his partner, meanwhile, that he was not going to see the girl again, and denied knowing she was just 13.

Mr Cramner Brown said: "He managed to wriggle his way out of it with his girlfriend. The girl bought it all, too."

Beesley went back to see the girl on December 4, and they had sex again, including unprotected sex that led to the girl confiding in her mother.

As soon as Beesley found out the police were involved, he sold his phone. But because he was on a contract, phone records made it easy to find out who he was.

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A Fife man who terrorised a woman for almost a decade and twice put her life in danger by choking her is behind bars.

Ricky Smith admitted touching the woman’s private parts to check if she had been having sex and twice injuring her by throttling her.

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A child rapist has been branded a significant risk to the public as he begins a 12-year prison sentence.

Anthony Rennard, 28, raped a teenage girl in 2020. Prosecutor Richard Bennett told Teesside Crown Court that the girl "froze" and initially felt unable to report the crime, but did so six months later.

Rennard, now of HMP Holme House, Stockton, but formerly of Brougham Street in Darlington, denied rape but was convicted after a trial late last year.

The court heard that the girl still struggles to sleep, has nightmares and cannot go near the area where she was attacked. In a statement she said: "I feel low. It's affected my education, I don't want to get out of bed.

"I feel like this has changed my life forever."

Nicholas Askins, mitigating, said that Rennard started drinking when he was of primary school age and that a psychiatrist had found that he has cognitive difficulties. The court heard that while on remand, Rennard has taken courses in reading and writing in prison.

Judge Timothy Stead told Rennard that he poses a significant risk to the public and jailed him for 12 years. Rennard must sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely and was made subject to a restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting his victim or mentioning her on social media, for an indefinite period.

Rennard has previous convictions for burglary, firearms offences and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. In 2016, in Glasgow, he attacked a friend over a £30 debt.

He slashed the man's face with a Stanley knife and dragged him out of a house, kicked and punched him, before stamping on his head. Rennard served a five-year-seven-month-sentence for the attack.

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Luke Baker, 20, of School Street, Walsall, is accused of two counts of raping a boy under 13, and two further charges of inciting a boy under 13 to sexual activity.

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A sex attacker told his victim he was going to take her to the lake and rape her, a court heard.

Adam Cuss, 26, was jailed for five years at Oxford Crown Court last week after he admitted the brutal assault.

Prosecutor Alexandra Bull told Recorder Stuart Trimmer KC that the defendant was walking his victim back to her flat in Witney in the early hours of March 26 last year when he launched the terrifying attack.

“He pushed her to the floor and put his weight on top of her. He started saying he was going to [have sex with] her, they were going to go down to the lake and he would rape her,” the prosecutor said.

Cuss was said to have told the woman he ‘worked with butchers’ knives and he was going to cut her up’, the court heard.

“This isn’t you,” she told the attacker, screaming his name repeatedly.

He was said to have replied: “This is me. I’ve been wanting to do this for months.”

He touched the woman, telling her: “You like this, don’t you?” She made it clear that she did not.

At one point she tried to punch him, ‘which made him angry’.

In the hope of buying herself time to get help, she told Cuss they could ‘do it in her flat’.

He then dragged her a short distance, the court heard.

A neighbour was at the communal door to the flats as they arrived at the block.

“She said to [the neighbour] that he was trying to rape her and asked her help. The neighbour told her to go upstairs,” Ms Bull told the court.

The woman ran upstairs and called for help.

She could hear Cuss tell her neighbour that he was her ‘brother’.

Having reached the safety of her flat, the victim received a Facebook message from the defendant saying ‘you’re done, I’m coming back now’.

She later became aware that the front door had been damaged.

Appearing before Oxford Crown Court on Thursday (March 2), Cuss, of Chartwell Close, Daventry, admitted attempted sexual assault by penetration, sexual assault and criminal damage.

Recorder Trimmer imposed five years’ imprisonment and a restraining order banning him from contacting his victim for 10 years.

The case was dealt with without a pre-sentence report from the probation service.

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A perverted partner sexually assaulted his sleeping girlfriend after she refused to have sex with him, a court heard.

James Skelton had sent his victim a message earlier pleading with her, Livingston Sheriff Court was told.

That weekend the young woman went to bed alone, leaving Skelton talking to her nieces and their mum who were staying over in their home.

Roshni Joshi, prosecuting, said the accused's girlfriend had fallen asleep in their bed on her right-hand side as normal, but at 3am she stirred and went to turn around.

When she woke up she was on her left-hand side and the accused’s right arm was over her side.

She was then sexually assaulted.

“She shouted at the accused: ‘What the f**k are you doing?’ She did not see him but could hear him saying: ‘I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!’ She left the room.”

Miss Joshni said the woman was aware of her phone vibrating as it received messages that night but did not look at them until later the same day.

The texts included messages from Skelton who told her: “I’m so, so, so f*****g sorry. I thought you were awake. I feel quite sick right now.

“You moved your hand out of the way and made a few noises. I’m so ff*****g sorry.”

A later message read: “You know I wouldn’t do anything like that without your consent.”

Skelton's victim told her aunt the next day what he had done and Skelton handed himself into police but on legal advice gave a 'no comment' interview.

Skelton, 26, of Bathgate, West Lothian, pleaded guilty on Monday to sexually penetrating his former girlfriend at an address in West Lothian on 30 August while she was asleep and incapable of giving or withholding consent.

He admitted that the offence was aggravated by involving abuse of a partner or former partner.

Sheriff Douglas Kinloch ordered that his name be added to the sex offenders’ register with immediate effect and adjourned the case until 4 November for a criminal justice social work report to be prepared before sentencing.

He told Skelton: “I’m not going to pass sentence today because as a matter of law I have to obtain a background report before sentence is passed.

“You must also as a matter of law be placed on the sex offenders’ register in relation to this case and the length of time you’ll remain on the register will be decided when sentence is actually passed.”

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A Corsham paedophile abused two boys and collected hundreds of incident images of children.

Marshall Taylor, formerly known as Mark Benjamin, has been jailed after being found guilty of a number of sexual offences involving children at Swindon Crown Court today (30 January).

The 56-year-old, currently of Wain Close, Pennarth, Glamorgan, lived on Pine Close in Rudloe at the time of the offences. Following his arrest, he changed his name via deed poll.

On May 20 last year, his address was searched and a number of electronic storage devices were seized.

These devices were found to contain more than 1,500 indecent images, including those of children and of the most offensive category.

In addition, two videos of child abuse were also found which Taylor later pleaded guilty to making, and of two counts of sexual touching of a child.

He also pleaded guilty to filming a third video of abuse and possession of Category A, B, C and extreme images.

Officers identified the boys involved in these videos, who are now adults. One was supportive of the investigation and provided a statement about the abuse he suffered.

At an earlier hearing, on December 15, 2022, a jury at Swindon Crown Court unanimously found Taylor guilty of causing a child to watch a sexual act and two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Whilst on bail Taylor went on to view and possess further extreme images.

Today he was sentenced for 10 offences, to serve an eight-year custodial sentence and was issued with a sexual harm prevention order which will run until 2038.

DC Simon Rogers said: I am very happy with the guilty verdict and hope that this brings closure to the victims.

Taylor is an extremely dangerous individual and he posed a serious risk to the public. I welcome the custodial sentence passed today.

Taylor took his time to gain the trust of these boys and groom them to believe that his behaviour was normal.

I would like to commend their bravery. I encourage all victims of sexual violence, no

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A man previously jailed for voyeurism in public toilets has been sent to prison again for breaching a court order to watch indecent videos online.

Christopher Rufford, aged 41, of Semilong, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday, February 9 after pleading guilty to breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) three times.

David Lee, prosecuting, told the court that Rufford failed to notify police about an additional device he had in addition to an online Snapchat account, which he used every day in July 2022 when he was in Northampton and Staffordshire.
  
Christopher Rufford, aged 41, was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday, February 9 2023

The court heard that Rufford’s Amazon Fire tablet was found to have deleted internet history.

Mr Lee told the court that Rufford was also found to be searching for explicit videos involving defecation on December 14 2022, which he said reminded him of his previous offences of voyeurism in public women’s toilets.
Rufford was arrested on December 22.  He denied any knowledge of a Snapchat account and told police that his Amazon Fire must have automatically deleted his history for him but apologised for breaching the order.

The defendant has multiple prison sentences for voyeurism and subsequent breaches of SHPOs.

Emily Culverhouse, in mitigation, said: “He accepts that he should have changed his history and deletion settings. He was living in a house with multiple occupants at the time of his arrest and does not understand how these things were accessed but does accept that they were found in his possession.”

The defence barrister said Rufford was, at the time of offending, considered a “medium risk” to the public, which he had “worked hard” towards and he has elderly parents, who he is keen to spend time with.

His Honour Judge Mooncey told the defendant: “You are no stranger to this court and this kind of offending. You have a horrendous history with some persistent breaches and your sentences have increased as time has gone on.” He added: “You are using technology for your own dirty disgusting urges.”

Rufford sobbed and wept on the video-link as he was sentenced to 27 months in prison. The existing SHPO was kept in place until 2028.

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An ex-soldier sent a teenage girl a naked photo of himself – and asked for one of her in return.

40-year-old Dean Bird pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child and was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court today (Tuesday).

Edward Hetherington, prosecuting, said the defendant had liked and commented on the 14-year-old’s selfies on her Instagram account numerous times in late 2020.

 In January 2021, he sent the girl a flame emoji – which is accepted as meaning you find someone ‘hot’ (attractive). She alerted a family member to the message and he took over the conversation.

Bird, who lives in Swindon and works as a scaffolder, said he needed a shower after a hard day and spoke about his military service.

During the exchange, the girl’s family member confirmed her age to the man. He proceeded to ask for a photograph, saying that he would not tell anyone about it.

Bird was sent a photograph containing the girl’s face. In response, he sent her a photograph of his legs followed by one of his erect penis. He went on to ask her for a naked photograph.

The family member downloaded a photograph of a naked adult woman from the internet and sent it to the defendant – and he responded “wow” with a smiling face emoji with stars in its eyes.

The family member – who knew Bird through a friend – attended his address, banging on his door and making threats. Police were called to the scene, and were shown evidence of his online behaviour.

The court heard that the former soldier, who was shot in the leg by the Taliban in Afghanistan, has previous convictions for dangerous driving and violence.

Chris Smyth, defending, said his client’s “mind was all over the place” at the time of the offending.

Adding that Bird suffers from mental health issues as a result of his military service. On a mission together, his best friend was shot and killed by the Taliban. On another, he was shot in the leg. He was medically discharged from the army more than ten years ago.

Mr Smyth said the defendant works as a scaffolder for various firms and lives alone in a two-bed rented flat after the recent ending of a ten-year relationship.

He also played rugby for Cheltenham up until 2021, has an interest in fishing and played ice hockey for Swindon Rec Wildcats Ice Hockey Team – where he was, at one point, a captain.

Judge Jason Taylor said he was confident Bird would not re-offend, imposing a two-year community order with the requirement to complete 175 hours of unpaid work.

He must also complete the Horizon sex offenders’ programme and 30 rehabilitation activity days with the probation service.

Bird was made subject to a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order with eight terms – one of which prohibits him from communicating with under 18s unless there is a legitimate reason.

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A Wiltshire man caught by paedophile hunters twice has escaped a prison sentence after spending over four months behind bars on remand.

Michael Wadley, 69, asked what he believed to be a 14-year-old girl for naked photographs, stating he wanted to print them off and put them on his wall.

The defendant also sent the girl a photograph of a penis and encouraged her to masturbate.

Unbeknown to him, he was actually talking to paedophile hunters posing as the youngster who attended his home in December 2021 and confronted him about his behaviour.

During a 40-minute-long live stream, police attended the defendants home in Bancroft, Bradford on Avon, and arrest him. He was released on police bail before being charged in late 2022.

Later appearing at Salisbury Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and making four indecent images of children three in the most serious category.

Having been released on bail again ahead of sentencing, a different group of paedophile hunters arrived at his address to confront him over new offending claiming that he had been communicating with a child online again.

He was arrested and put before Swindon Magistrates Court the following day. He admitted breaching his bail conditions by initiating contact with a 14-year-old girl and telling her she was stunning.

He was remanded into custody ahead of sentencing and subsequently, his health deteriorated significantly which resulted in the sentencing hearing being delayed multiple times.

On Monday (26 June), he was finally sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court by the judge, Recorder Neil Millard.

He said: Of concern in this case, whilst on bail you breached your bail by contacting a 14-year-old girl, resulting in you being remanded in custody.

You have served a four-month custodial sentence, which is equivalent to an eight-month sentence.

Mr Millard took into account his time spent in custody and imposed a 15-month prison sentence suspended for two years. He also imposed a ten-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

As part of the order, Wadley is banned from having unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 16 excluding one person named on the order and is prohibited from wiping his internet history.

He can continue to use the internet, including social media, but has to seek prior approval from the police and must provide them with his usernames and passwords.

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A ‘violent and emotionally abusive’ rapist has been jailed for more than two decades.

61-year-old Dirk Weissenbruch was found guilty of sexually abusing two females by a jury – and could now spend his final days behind bars.

The defendant, of Bradford on Avon, was convicted of five counts of indecent assaults on a girl under 14 years, two counts of rape of a woman and one count of indecent assault on a woman.

At Salisbury Crown Court on Friday (15 September), he was handed a 24-year term of imprisonment and will remain on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

“Weissenbruch was an intimidating man who was physically violent and emotionally abusive towards his victims”, Wiltshire Police detective Laura Barwood said.

Adding: “The abuse has caused them a huge amount of trauma for many, many years and he has continued to put them through pain by taking this case to trial.

“I want to thank his victims who have been incredibly brave and courageous at seeking justice for Weissenbruch’s crimes.”

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A paedophile has had his prison sentence increased after he was found to have molested a second young girl.

The child's mother said Jonathan Gee was "dangerous" and that his behaviour had "destroyed" her life and that of her daughter.

Gee was told he must serve an extra three years after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting the child.

Gee, from Brow Wood Road in Batley, was jailed in June 2022 for seven-and-a-half years and made the subject of a lifelong sexual harm prevention order.

The sentence came after he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 13.

He had originally pleaded not guilty at Huddersfield Magistrates' Court but changed his plea during the trial at Leeds.

Those charges related to a different victim.

At Leeds Crown Court this week (Wednesday 29 November), Judge Robin Mairs sentenced Gee to a further three years in custody, consecutive to that he is already serving, after new crimes came to light.

Lauren Hebditch, prosecuting, told the court that after his second victim's mother had seen he had been sent to prison, she asked her child if he had ever "played games" with her.

Ms Hebditch said: "The victim's mum saw that the defendant had been sentenced previously and had concerns and spoke to the victim and asked her some questions, and she said he did."

The court heard that the girl's mother called the police and officers were told by the girl that Gee, who appeared over a video link from HMP Leeds, had "pulled her pants down".

In a statement read to the court, the girl's mother said: "[My daughter's] behaviour has become hard to deal with. She can't control her emotions or anger. She wets herself on a daily basis.

"What he has done will always be there - no sentence will change that. He may have a short prison sentence but we have a life sentence. He has made me feel l have failed my daughter.

"I'm scared of the impact it will have as she grows. He's dangerous. He should never be around children again. When he is released he gets to start over and live his life. We can't. He destroyed our lives."

Ms Hebditch told the court that in the pre-sentence report prepared for Gee's last sentence, he was described as a "risk" and Judge Mairs concluded at the time that he was an offender of particular concern.

Kitty Colley, mitigating, told the court: "The best approach he has taken to assuage the guilt and shame and mitigate the pain he has caused to the victim's mum is pleading guilty and saving both her and her daughter from going through this process in court any further than necessary.

"He will not be released for some time and when he is there will be conditions on him in the sexual harm prevention order for life."

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A PAEDOPHILE has been jailed after he was convicted of a catalogue of sexual offences in east Wales.

Chris Hood, 36, admitted three counts of making an indecent photograph of a child and one each of taking an indecent photograph of a child and possessing an extreme pornographic image involving an animal.

The defendant also pleaded guilty to two counts of observing a person doing a private act and one each of voyeurism by recording a private act and voyeurism by installing equipment or constructing/adapting a structure.

Hood’s offences were committed in Newport (Gwent) and Chepstow.

The defendant was jailed for 26 months at Cardiff Crown Court.

He will have to register as a sex offender for the next 10 years and he was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

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A woman ‘pretended to be asleep’ during a sex attack perpetrated by a Chippenham man.

42-year-old Nicholas Hodges was convicted of assault by penetration and sexual assault by a jury at Salisbury Crown Court on 14 September.

At a previous hearing, prosecutor Asha Seenauth said the defendant had been invited back to a woman’s address with another man following a night out in Chippenham in 2022.

The woman put her children to bed and continued drinking with Hodges and the other man. When she went to bed, he sent her a message asking if he could come and give her a hug.

After she ignored his message, Hodges entered her bedroom and kissed her neck and lips as she pretended to be asleep. The other man is said to have told Hedges to leave her room and he did.

A short time later, he have returned to her bedroom – where he started kissing her neck before lifting her leg and sexually assaulting her digitally.

 The victim “froze” during the sex attack, which is said to have lasted approximately two minutes.

Hodges, of Charter Road, Chippenham, will be sentenced on 17 November. An offence of assault by penetration carries up to 19 years imprisonment.

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A respected charity worker snared by police officers posing as young children has been spared jail. Gordon Lane, a retired banker and founder of North Harrow Stroke Group, attempted to engage in sexual communication with two girls who he knew to be under the age of 16 - including one who was 12 - between January 5 and February 7, 2023, the Old Bailey heard on Friday, December 12.

The 66-year-old paedophile, who lives in a three-bed detached house on The Lawns in Pinner, asked one decoy, going by the name of 'Maisie', if they had 'touched penis', told them they would 'get them wet', spoke about 'the tightness of the vagina', and said he masturbated, court documents show.

The court also heard how Lane offered to buy things for the child, however, a separate charge of attempting to incite sexual activity was dropped by the prosecution. Lane was charged and gave no indication at Willesden Magistrates' Court in September last year, but later pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court on November 14, eight days after he was shown his sordid messages.

"These were attempted offences. These were not children. These were police officers posing as children on the internet. Thankfully no real children were contacted," prosecutor Dipan Varsani told the court.

Defence counsel Joanna Hardy-Susskind said her client's messages were 'deeply unattractive', but argued Lane had already tried to address his offending by taking up rehabilitative courses. "The defendant during police interview was weeping and saying 'What have I done?'" Ms Hardy-Susskind told the court, as she asked Judge John Lodge to suspend any sentence.

"He is somebody who has had a successful career but is community-minded. He runs a stroke club for people and cares for people who have suffered stroke. He gave up his successful career to care for members of his family... He is capable of living offence-free," Ms Hardy-Susskind added.

Judge Lodge said the 'sustained' and 'quite deliberate offending' was 'so serious' only a custodial sentence would do, but agreed to suspend it because of Lane's 'strong personal mitigation'. Lane was handed six months concurrent for each offence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to do 30 hours rehabilitation activity requirement and pay £400 in costs.

He is signed onto the sex offender's register for seven years and subject to a sexual harm prevention order.