Latest Offenders

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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 man who tried to rape a woman and then sexually assaulted her on Christmas Eve has been jailed.

Mason Wearn, 23, of Birch Close, Bordon, was jailed for four years and six months at Portsmouth Crown Court following his succession of sex attacks on the terrified woman on December 24, 2021.

The predator admitted a charge of attempted rape before he was due to go on trial and was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault. The offences happened in Portsmouth. 

As well as his incarceration, sex offender Wearn will also have to register with police indefinitely and was handed a five-year restraining order against the woman. 

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A sex offender who groomed a child online before meeting her in Swale has been jailed.

Asif Mirza was caught with the victim inside his car after concerns were raised by an alert Kent Police employee.

Mirza initially contacted the victim through social media at the start of 2024 and showed sympathy when she disclosed some personal issues that concerned her.

Having gained the girl’s trust Mirza pressured her to send him some indecent images.

They agreed to meet at a park in Sittingbourne on 2 August and, when the victim felt unwell, he encouraged her to sit in the rear of his car which was parked in Avenue of Remembrance.

Indecent act

Mirza then covered the windows to obscure the view of anyone walking past and committed an indecent act in the girl’s presence.

At this point a member of police staff walked past the vehicle and thought it appeared suspicious. Officers were called to the scene and, after knocking on the car windows, Mirza got out followed by the child.

He claimed she was his step-daughter but, when he was unable to give her full name, Mirza admitted they had met online and he was arrested.

Mirza, of Hubbards Close, Uxbridge, London, was later charged. At Maidstone Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to several offences including meeting a child following sexual grooming and sexual activity with a child.

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A prolific sex offender who was found with indecent images of children on his device has been jailed. Gavin Collins appeared at Chester Crown Court on Wednesday 6 November where he was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

The 40-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images of children, two counts of making indecent images of children, and two breaches of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

The case against Collins began on Tuesday 16 April, when officers from the Sex Offenders Management Unit attended Collins’ home address on Middlewich Road, Northwich, as part of the routine checks made to monitor registered sex offenders.

While at the address, officers used risk management software on Collins' devices to detect any keywords of concern.

The software alerted officers to a number of concerning searches and posts, indicating that Collins had been reoffending. He was immediately arrested on suspicion of possessing of indecent images of children and his devices were sent for forensic examination.

The seized devices were found to contain 92 indecent images of children - 91 category C images, and 1 category A image.

Following analysis of his devices, officers found Collins was also in breach of his SHPO after discovering he had been using a messaging app that destroys messages and images after 14 days.

Collins was subsequently charged with the offences and left with no choice but to plead guilty.

Following the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Keith Campbell said: “Collins has repeatedly demonstrated the high risk he poses to the local community, and he shows a complete lack of remorse.

“He thought he could go on to offend without disruption, but thankfully our officers were able to intervene and put him behind bars.

“The work of Cheshire Constabulary’s Sex Offenders Management Unit is paramount to ensuring sexual predators like Collins face the consequences of their heinous and despicable crimes.

“It is important to note that these crimes are not victimless, and I hope this result shows we remain steadfast in pursuing and bringing to justice those who engage in online child sexual exploitation and play a part in the sexual abuse of children in Cheshire and beyond."

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A convicted paedophile made sexual comments to who he thought was a 12-year-old after he had been made subject to a court order. He asked the decoy for pictures and said he was naked during their conversations.

Christopher Strong, 38, of Aberdare, was given a suspended sentence of eight-months imprisonment in 2022 after he was convicted of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. As a result he was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and sex offender notification requirements.

A sentencing hearing at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Friday heard the defendant breached the order after communicating with a social media account he believed to belong to a 12-year-old girl called Lily. He was actually talking to a decoy run by an "undercover operative".

The defendant's communications became sexual in nature, and asked the decoy if her parents checked her phone, talked about rubbing himself and asked her if she wanted to watch him rubbing himself. He asked the decoy for pictures of herself and told her he was naked.

Strong, of Nant Rowe, of Aberdare, was arrested and later pleaded guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Sentencing, Judge Simon Mill said: "You are clearly a person with a sexual attraction to children. I find it absolutely staggering you'd go back to this sort of behaviour not long after completing the Horizon programme. You said you felt at a loss that it was not carrying on anymore. It just shows you were determined to offend."

The defendant was sentenced to 19 months' imprisonment. He was also made subject to sex offender notification requirements for seven years.

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A Gravesend sex offender has received an extended sentence of 26 years for multiple child sex offences.

Matthew Jenkins was arrested on 8 August 2021 after Kent Police received reports he had targeted young victims between 2015 and 2021.

Officers also seized mobile devices and computers on which they found more than 350 indecent images and videos of children, including some within the most serious category.

Jenkins, of St George’s Crescent, Gravesend, was later charged with multiple child sex offences including rape.

He pleaded guilty to all the indictments at Woolwich Crown Court, and on Wednesday 6 November 2024, the 34 year old was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment.

He will have to serve 12 years before he can be considered for parole, after which Jenkins will have to complete eight years on licence.

Description

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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A 72-year-old former DJ, Nicholas Cooper, has been jailed for three years and four months after admitting multiple charges of indecent assault on a 12-year-old girl in the 1990s.

Then in his 40s and living in Mid Devon, Cooper groomed the vulnerable child while working as a DJ at parties and events. The offences began when he grabbed and kissed her on the lips; others occurred in his car, where he touched her bottom and breasts.

He preyed on the victim, making her write a card saying she loved him, and tried to conceal his actions by saying "nobody needs to know about this."

Prosecutor Rowan Jenkins noted "a degree of grooming." The victim, in a statement, described serious psychological harm she had bottled up for decades.

Defending, Lee Bremridge said Cooper, of Warren Close, Payhembury near Honiton, had previous good character and worked in agriculture and tourism.

Judge James Adkin told him: "Over a significant number of months you were involved in the sexual touching of this child."

Cooper must serve half his sentence in prison and sign the sex offender register for life.

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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.