Latest Offenders

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A violent rapist has been convicted of repeatedly attacking a woman in Dundee over a five-year period.

After a 13-day trial at The High Court in Dundee, Patryk Kulczynski was unanimously convicted by jurors of ten separate charges on Friday.

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A former Keighley man who targeted and sexually abused a young girl during a sickening campaign has been jailed for 17 years.

Kyle Byfleet, 31, was found guilty at Bradford Crown Court last month of nine charges including rape of a child under 13, sexual assault and assault by penetration of a child under 13.

On Friday, the court heard that Byfleet, of Vicarage Lane, Beckingham in Nottinghamshire, was still struggling to come to terms with the conviction and maintained he is innocent.

But Judge Jonathan Gibson told Byfleet over a prison video link that he had been convicted of very serious allegations and the probation service had assessed him as being “a high risk” of committing further offences.

The nature of Byfleet’s offending meant he was treated as “an offender of particular concern” and the judge imposed an additional one year licence period on top of the 17-year jail term. Byfleet, who had no previous convictions, will have to serve at least two-thirds of the 17-year sentence before the Parole Board decide if it is safe to release him.

As a result of his conviction he will also have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life and comply with the terms of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Prosecutor Gerald Hendron told the court that Byfleet would give his victim rich expensive chocolates and show her pornographic videos. Mr Hendron said the youngster had seen a presenter on YouTube relating her own personal experiences of sexual abuse and it made the complainant appreciate that what was happening to her was wrong.

He said: “The complainant told him she had seen videos on YouTube and he should not do things because he would go to prison."

Barrister Camille Morland, for Byfleet, said he knew he was facing a long sentence and had expressed a wish to end his life. She added: “He will have to come to terms with the sentence your honour is going to pass today. He knows it is going to be a very long sentence indeed.”

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A sex offender from Felixstowe who was in a relationship with a teenage girl has been sent to prison.

Matthew Redstall, 50, of High Road, was jailed for two years at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday

He pleaded guilty to seven counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and three counts of possession of an indecent image of a child.

In 2019, Redstall entered into a relationship with a 17-year-old girl which eventually became sexual.

Redstall was first arrested in 2021 and charged in 2023.

In addition to two years in prison, the judge ordered Redstall to sign the sex offenders’ register and handed him a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.

Det Con Laura Frelford, from Suffolk Police’s Safeguarding Investigation Unit, said: “I hope the outcome of this case reassures members of the public that we take such allegations of predatory behaviour extremely seriously and we work to safeguard victims as quickly as possible.

“We will do everything in our power to bring offenders to justice.”

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A "controlling and manipulating" man who murdered his partner has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 19 years.

Adam Barnard, 41, strangled Tara Kershaw, 33, on 19 January in a house where the pair lived in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.

At his trial, the jury was told how Barnard had been arrested on suspicion of assaulting Ms Kershaw the day before he killed the mother-of-two.

Norfolk Police said it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which was conducting an investigation.

At a sentencing hearing at Norwich Crown Court earlier, Ms Kershaw’s family sat in the public gallery with a large framed photo of her.

Her sister, Tanita Salish, read an impact statement to the court where she claimed Ms Kershaw had been "let down by many people".

"We are told from a young age to trust the people in charge," she said.

"She was labelled a drinker and not listened to. We all know this could have been avoided."

Ms Salish said Ms Kershaw had used alcohol as a "coping mechanism."

Murderer 'manipulated professionals'

Before he was sentenced, the court heard Barnard was a sex offender who was convicted of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 13 in 2016.

His defence said in the time he had spent in prison so far, Barnard had shown remorse for what he had done.

Sentencing him to a minimum term of 19 years, judge Alice Robinson said Barnard had killed Tara in a violent rage.

She said: "You manipulated the professionals you spoke with into thinking you were the victim not her."

Police said they had previous contact with the couple, including a call made by Ms Kershaw at about 18:00 GMT on 18 January.

She phoned officers in the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) and told them Barnard had hit her on the lip.

Barnard was arrested on suspicion of common assault, taken in for questioning and released at 22:50, with no further action taken.

He claimed their engagement had been called off that day and he had "asked for the ring back".

The following day - the day of the murder - police safeguarding staff from MASH and an independent domestic violence adviser called her mobile three times to check on her welfare, with the calls unanswered, police said.

Barnard then approached an officer outside Great Yarmouth police station, shortly before 09:00 the next day, 20 January, and said: “I think I’ve killed my partner.”

He claimed he did not know how long he had pinned down Ms Kershaw and had attempted to resuscitate her, then covered her with a blanket and passed out on the bed.

Barnard told officers he woke up the next morning, panicked and left the property.

He claimed Ms Kershaw had assaulted him with a lamp while he slept and that he had been restraining her when she died.

A post-mortem examination found Ms Kershaw's death was consistent with compression to the neck and there was evidence of injuries to the bones of her neck that had taken place four to seven weeks, five to 10 days and less than six hours before she had died.

Det Insp Alix Wright from Norfolk Police, said while she could not comment on the ongoing IOPC investigation, "lessons will be identified and lessons will be learnt."

"Barnard preyed on Tara's vulnerabilities. He blamed her for his actions and his violence towards her," she said.

"Nobody should feel unsafe in their own home, and I’d urge any victim of domestic abuse to report their suffering and come forward so they can be helped and supported.

"Our thoughts today remain with Tara's family."

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A former teacher and choirmaster, who is also a musician and had worked on TV and film projects, has been jailed for 12 years for child sex offences.

The offences concern 19 victims and span more than 40 years.

David Pickthall was made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in 2015 for his services to education and charity, and had worked on a number of TV and film projects.

A since-deleted online biography detailing his career achievements noted that he was the "musical voice" of villainous penguin Feathers McGraw in the 1993 short film Wallace And Gromit: The Wrong Trousers.

The 66-year-old, of Ingrave Road, Brentwood, Essex, also worked on the post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later and with a number of philharmonic orchestras.

Judge Mary Loram KC, sentencing at Chelmsford Crown Court, told Pickthall: "You are without a shadow of a doubt a predatory and manipulative paedophile who has adapted his offending over the years."

She added: "If you hadn't been arrested you would have carried on."

The judge sentenced Pickthall to 12 years in prison, with a four-year extended licence period, and also made him subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

The defendant, who glared at the judge during sentencing, slowly put his jacket on afterwards before he was led to the cells.

He had admitted at an earlier hearing at Colchester Magistrates' Court to 29 child sex offences concerning 19 people and spanning more than 40 years.

The crimes were committed between 1980 and 2021 in Brentwood in Essex and Upminster in east London.

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A sex offender has been before a court again after a housemate told police about a secret phone hidden in a box of washing powder.

The phone was not registered with Stuart Baker’s police supervisor, who discovered on it TikTok and Instagram accounts.

He has now been given another jail term after he admitted breaching his sexual harm prevention order.

Baker was a teaching assistant at Corby Business Academy when he was first arrested back in 2017. A parent – whose children did not attend Corby Business Academy – found messages from him on social media accounts.

It emerged he had been posing as a 14-year-old to groom young victims into engaging in sexual chat.

He later admitted to ten charges of inciting children to engage in sexual activity and five relating to the making and distribution of indecent images of children. He was jailed for three years.

He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) which banned him from a range of behaviours linked to his offending.

But in September 2018 he was back before the courts again and was convicted of multiple counts of sexual activity with a child and a sexual assault on a boy. The contact offences pre-dated his 2017 charges and spanned a number of years. He was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court to serve ten years in prison.

He was released after serving five years of his sentence and was closely supervised by a MOSOVO officer from Northamptonshire Police.

But he has repeatedly breached his SHPO and has received sentences of 36 months and 40 months for using undisclosed email accounts and an alias on social media since his first release.

He was recalled after his most previous breach and will not be eligible for release until at least 2028 when he will have to go before the parole board who will decide whether it is safe for him to be allowed back into the community.

He appeared before Northampton Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced after admitting three breaches of his SHPO including failure to notify his supervising officer of a phone, failure to disclose an email account and failure to disclose three social media accounts.

The court heard how Baker, now 47 and of HMP Bure in Norfolk, had been living with other adults in Northampton in May this year when another resident reported that he was keeping a secret mobile phone.

Prosecuting, Micaila Williams told the court that Baker had hidden the phone in a detergent box in the kitchen, which was discovered by police.

He provided the PIN to officers who discovered a Gmail account as well as TikTok, Instagram and Telegram profiles.

In mitigation, the court was told he was not using the accounts to communicate with children but with adult family members who had recently lost a parent.

He had also recently moved prison in order to access more help with his offending behaviour.

Her Honour Judge Lucking sentenced Baker to spend 10 months in prison, to be served concurrently with his present sentence.

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An “entrenched paedophile” exchanged images of young children being sexually abused with an equally depraved individual in the US, a court heard.

Lee Mole, of Blackhall Colliery, County Durham, encouraged his online American “friend” to sexually assault a young girl and asked him to then post images of the abuse on the internet.

Durham Crown Court heard that the nature of the Kick Messenger exchanges came to the attention of US Homeland Security, which led to the arrest of the abuser, in Oregon.

He disclosed having been in contact with a user of the site in the UK, going under the name ‘BigLadBrown181280’, with the email address of the defendant.

Annelise Haugstad, prosecuting, said offending images in category A and B of severity, featuring a girl aged between eight and ten being abused, were sent by the defendant to the man in Oregon.

Miss Haugstad said the nature of the discussions between the pair centred around how they enjoyed sex with very young girls and Mole incited the man in Oregon to abuse a two-year-old child, images of which were sent to the defendant, at his request.

The court heard that at the time of the exchanges with the man in the US, Mole was subject to inquiries by Durham Police over possession of indent images of children, for which he was to plead guilty before receiving a suspended 15-month prison sentence, in October, last year.

Miss Haugstad told the court he also has a similar conviction dating from 2015.

When questioned about the images exchanged with the man in the US, Mole initially denied knowledge of them, but then admitted it was something he had been involved in for six months.

Miss Haugstad said when asked about his sexual interest in children he conceded it was something which aroused him.

The 53-year-old defendant of Hardwick Street, Blackhall Colliery, admitted three counts of making, and one of distributing indecent images of children.

Vic Laffey, in mitigation, said Mole was “well aware” of the situation he was facing.

“He has, at least, been honest with the Probation Service in respect of the problems he has and my advice to him is that the only thing that may save him is that he has been on a two-year order and for one year he has made progress.

“He’s described as working positively with the Probation Service.

“The good work he has done will be effectively lost if he is to receive an immediate custodial sentence.”

Mr Laffey said the defendant suffers with various ailments and is in poor health.

Judge Jo Kidd said the context of Mole’s latest offending was that it took place while under investigation or on bail, pending a review of devices seized in January 2023, on which police were to find numerous indecent images of children.

“You engaged in chat with a man in the US using the Kick Messenger platform.”

Judge Kidd said the defendant incited that man to sexually assault a two-year-old child and sought to obtain images of the abuse.

She said to persuade him to send the images the defendant mentioned having abused young children himself, which she said, “may have been fantasy, but you were clearly inciting him.”

The judge said the defendant was part of a group of people interested in sharing images of the abuse of young children.

“It’s difficult to think of a more disgusting and serious example of these offences against the background of your previous offences.”

She said he had previously been given the opportunity to try to deal with his depraved interest to reduce the likelihood of him repeating it in future.

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A serial Aberdeen flasher has “worryingly” escalated his crimes to sexual assault after targeting a woman in a city centre post office.

Victor Rae, 53, appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted touching his victim inside the branch at the St Nicholas Centre.

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A man who engaged in sexually activity with a patient while working as their therapist has been jailed for 18 months. Simon Robertson of Louth Road, Binbrook, was sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday, November 7.

The 48-year-old intimately touched his victim in 2022 after he initially started helping them in 2021. He initially denied the allegations until during a fourth police interview, an audio recording of the offence was played to him.

Robertson pleaded guilty to the offence but later argued the incident was consensual. He was sentenced to 18 months, ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years and was given a restraining order which prevents any contact with the victim.

DC Carla Sutton, who was in charge of the case, said: “Robertson’s actions were extremely inappropriate. The vulnerable in our society look to those in a position of power for help and support, and in this case, Robertson took advantage of his standing in an awful way.

“This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in Lincolnshire, and I’d like to pay tribute to the bravery of the victim in this case who came forward and told their story. We will do everything we can to bring those who perpetrate such terrible crimes to justice.”

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A Lincolnshire pensioner who admitted raping an under-age girl was today (Friday) jailed for 13 and half years.

John Bridgewood, 71, of Church Lane, Scredington, near Sleaford, pleaded guilty to nine sexual offences including a single incident of rape and sexual activity with a child.

An impact statement from the victim, who can not be identified, was read out during a sentence hearing at Lincoln Crown Court.

She described how she continued to suffer with flashbacks and nightmares, and no longer trusted anyone.

"He took away my innocence, he asked me to keep it a secret," she added.

The court heard Bridgewood had no previous convictions and gave a ‘no comment’ interview to the police.

John McNally, mitigating for Bridgewood, said his guilty pleas had spared the victim giving evidence at court.

"He took an important step in recognising what he had done," Mr McNally told the court.

Mr McNally added: "There is his age, he is 71."

The court heard Bridgewood had also spent 20 years volunteering with the British Red Cross and had been happily married for 48 years.

"His wife does not know how she will cope," Mr McNally explained.

Passing sentence Judge James House KC said Bridgewood's previous good character was of limited weight in a case of such gravity.

Judge House stressed Bridgewood did not desist until his victim reported the abuse.

Bridgewood was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

A restraining order was also made which prevents Bridgewood from having any contact with the victim.

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Daniel Devlin, 38, thought he was messaging a mother selling her children for sex when he said he would do "anything" to them, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

It was actually undercover police officers and his obscene messages and a phone call were recorded.

Devlin, who was previously jailed for possessing indecent images of children, admitted offences including attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence.

Police set up an online profile on Chatiw with a username suggesting they were a mother offering her seven-year-old and 11-month-old daughters for sex, prosecutor Omar Ahmad said.

On 20 March this year Devlin got in touch to arrange a "playdate", Mr Ahmad said.

In a follow up telephone call, Devlin said he would be "into anything" with the two girls, giving details of sex acts he would make them perform.

Upon his arrest, Devlin told officers he had "no friends" and had spoken to the decoy account as part of "sexual role play" but had no intention of meeting the woman or her children.

'High risk'

The offence was committed while he was on bail for breaching a sexual harm prevention order, the court heard.

The order was made after Devlin, of Coburg Street in Blyth, Northumberland, was jailed for 15 months in September 2017 for seven counts of possessing and making indecent images of children.

In January 2023, he spoke to another undercover officer on Chatiw and Kick with his conversation "almost exclusively sexual and discussing sexual fantasies with young children" including a toddler he knew, Mr Ahmad said.

When he was arrested he was found with two phones which he had not registered with police.

Devlin also admitted two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order and publishing an obscene article.

Judge Tim Gittins said there had been a "very high risk of really serious harm" if Devlin had succeeded in meeting a girl for sex but he was a man with "difficulties" having been sexually abused as a child.

Another indefinite sexual harm prevention order was also made and he must sign the sex offenders' register until further notice.

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A Doncaster man has been jailed for more than two decades for a string of serious drug and sexual offences.

Hanzel Scott, 42, of Sovereign Court, Doncaster, appeared at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday 6 November) where he was sentenced for the below crimes:

• Conspiracy to supply heroin
• Conspiracy to supply cocaine
• Conceal / disguise / convert / transfer / remove criminal property
• Assaulting an emergency worker
• Five counts of rape
• Assault by penetration
• Attempted sexual assault by penetration

Scott committed the sexual offences against two 16-year-old girls in August and October 2022, and officers launched an investigation as soon as the first victim came forward to report his crimes on 2 November 2022.

Officers circulated Scott as wanted the following day, leading to him being arrested and charged with rape on 6 November 2022.

Scott’s second victim came forward on 16 May 2023, and Scott, who was in police custody at this time, was rearrested for further rape offences.

Scott pleaded not guilty to the sexual offences but was found guilty of all seven counts following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court on 23 August.

Officers had also been investigating Scott over his involvement in the supply of Class A drugs between June 2016 and June 2020.

Following a complex investigation, officers disrupted Scott’s drug empire, and arrested him for conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply heroin, and concealing criminal property on 9 March 2022.

Scott is estimated to have conspired to supply more than £680,000 worth of Class A drugs during the four-year period, and to have concealed his criminal earnings via the transfer of funds.

On 14 June 2023, Scott pleaded guilty to the three drug offences at Leeds Crown Court.

On Wednesday 6 November Scott was sentenced to total of 12 years in prison for the drug offences, and a further 12 years for the sexual offences, to be served consecutively.

He was also sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for assaulting an emergency worker, which will be served concurrently.

Scott will therefore spend 24 years in prison for his long list of crimes.

Passing sentence, Judge Reeds KC said that Scott was a “selfish bully who takes what he wants by force if necessary”.

Discussing Scott’s sex offences, Judge Reeds said that his actions were all about power and getting what he wanted, that he only cared for himself, and that he exploited the vulnerability of one of his victims.

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An 83-year-old paedophile could die behind bars for historic sex offences against three schoolgirls. 

Terrance Whittingham denied he had targeted any of the victims but was convicted by a jury after a trial. 

In harrowing impact statements read at Newcastle Crown Court the three women say the are still traumatised by their ordeals but one added: "I know he can never again do anything like this to anyone, which means I get peace."

Judge Gavin Doig jailed Whittingham for 13 years with a one year extended licence period.

Whittingham, of Colliery Close, Hebburn, was ordered to abide by a sexual harm prevention order and sign the sex offenders register for life. 

Judge Gavin Doig told him: "There is no doubt your offending has caused significant and lasting trauma to these women, who were and are telling the truth about you and have been throughout. 

"I would like to pay tribute to all for them for having the courage to come forward in the first place and perhaps having greater courage to see the case through." 

Whittingham was convicted of 16 offences of indecent assault and indecency with a child and attempted indecency, all of which he denied. 

David Callan, defending, said Whittingham, who has poor mobility, was of positive good character, served in the army and receives a war pension. 

Mr Callan added: "It's probable, with any sentence that gets passed, it may mean the defendant is going to die while in prison. This is not a defendant who views the future as a friend." 

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A trainee Church of Scotland minister has been placed on the sex offenders register after he was caught in an online police paedophile sting.

Trevor Martindale sent sexual messages to who he believed was a 12-year-old girl including asking the ‘child’ for pictures of her wearing her school uniform.

Martindale, 43, also repeatedly made references about sexual intercourse and agreed to meet up with the ‘schoolgirl’ at a future date while chatting to her on the social media apps Chatib and Snapchat.

But instead of being in contact with a young girl the trainee minister was in fact speaking to an undercover police officer who had set up the profile in a bid to snare online predators.

Officers raided his Edinburgh home in September this year and he spent three nights in custody before appearing at the capital’s sheriff court to plead guilty to communicating indecently with who he believed to be a child.

Martindale is now facing disciplinary action by the Church of Scotland who said it moved “swiftly and decisively” to suspend him as soon as the allegations emerged.

The disgraced clergyman returned to the dock for sentencing on November 1 where Sheriff Wendy Sheehan placed him on a supervision order and on the sex offender’s register for 18 months.

He was also sentenced to a programme requirement where he will have to attend sessions with the sex offenders rehabilitation programme Moving Forward 2 Change.

A strict conduct requirement was also issued that prohibits his internet activity and has banned him from having any contact with children under 18 and from attending at school and nursery grounds without prior approval from his supervising officer.

Martindale born and brought up in South Africa and after moving to the UK as a teenager he has been living in Scotland for the past 23 years.

Martindale has been in training to become a minister with the Church of Scotland over the past few years and has been undertaking ministry placements in several churches in the Edinburgh area.

A Church of Scotland spokesman said: “The Church moved swiftly and decisively as soon as the allegations made against Trevor Martindale came to light and he was immediately placed on administrative suspension while court proceedings were underway.

“His safeguarding clearance to work with children or vulnerable people has been revoked and the Church is taking further action in terms of its disciplinary procedures.”

Martindale pleaded guilty to indecently communicating with who he believed was a child, but was in fact a police officer, on social media apps Chatib and Snapchat on various occasions between September 11 and 13 this year.

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A man who has been repeatedly convicted of child sex offences has been jailed again for sending a 15-year-old girl "abhorrent" messages.

James Harbertson, 34, who was previously jailed for nine years for sexually abusing a child, used the handle GeordieBoyJames when he tried to illicit girls to perform sex acts online in 2022, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

After he was jailed for 32 months for offences against four girls aged 14 and 15, police found SnapChat messages to a 15-year-old on a mobile phone, which brought Harbertson back to court.

Harbertson, of no fixed abode, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child and breaching a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) made in June 2013, and was jailed for a further four months.

'Dangerous' offender

Judge Tim Gittins said Harbertson had an "appalling record for being interested sexually in children".

Harbertson's first offence was in 2012 when he was given a community order for possessing indecent images of children.

The following year, he was deemed a "dangerous" offender and jailed for nine years for multiple counts of sexually abusing a child, for which he was also made subject of a SOPO for an indefinite period of time.

That order banned Hartbertson from having any contact with a child under 16 or deleting any logs of his internet activity.

In 2022, police seized a number of phones and found he had been messaging several girls between April and August who were "clearly under the age of 16" on SnapChat, which was a breach of his SOPO.

He had also deleted multiple SnapChat messages, which was another breach, and he was jailed for 32 months.

While he was incarcerated at HMP Durham, police found a further illegal chat Harbertson had had with a 15-year-old girl in June 2022, in which he said he wanted to perform sex acts on her.

Judge Gittins said the girl had never been identified but she "could have a been very vulnerable young girl" and the chat was "abhorrent".