Latest Offenders

Description

A Swindon man broke a woman’s nose after repeatedly sexual assaulting her.

30-year-old Scott Townsend, of Beechcroft Road, left his victim – aged in her 20s – traumatised following a violent attack in his home.

The woman and her friend had been drinking in Swindon town centre when she bumped into a former classmate, who was in the company of the defendant.

Townsend suggested they go back to his place for more drinks. The woman and her friend agreed and went to his property – where the had continued to drink.

Less than an hour after arriving, the pair had decided to stop drinking and go home. However, the defendant sexually assaulted the victim as she attempted to leave.

She told Townsend to get off her, and continued to leave. It was then that he sexually assaulted her for a second time and, again, was told to stop.

He went on to put her in a headlock, before repeatedly punching her in the face and upper body – causing her a fractured nose and other injuries.

After Townsend’s friend freed the woman from his clutches, the pair escaped and the police were contacted. He was arrested and charged with four offences.

The victim’s friend – also a woman – also sustained injuries in the incident, which happened in April 2023.

At Swindon Crown Court earlier this year, the defendant pleaded guilty to two sexual assaults and two assaults occasioning actual bodily harm.

On Friday (23 May), he was sentenced to a 21-month prison sentence suspended for 24 months. He was told to complete 175 hours of unpaid work and 26 days of rehabilitation activity within the next 12 months.

Townsend was also ordered to register has a sex offender for ten years.

In a statement, the victim told of how she was “too scared to go out again for a very long time”, adding that “for weeks was at home because I was scared to leave the house.”

She told of how her nose is “crooked and it will never be the same as before”, having to attend many hospital appointments for treatment.

The woman, who is a mother, said that she had to “keep a brave face for my children”.

She continued: “I still think about what happened to me and when the flashbacks occur I feel sick to my stomach.

“Myself and [my friend] have been there for each other to get through this horrible time.

“No one should have to deal with panic attacks and anxiety for months on end because of a man who thought it was okay to beat up a woman.”

Description

A young Paisley paedophile has been caught with over 500 images of vile child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Creepy Callum Beith was also caught with videos of “extreme pornography” on his iPhone which involved adult male and females engaging in sexual acts with animals including dogs, fish and poultry.

When cops raided the 24-year-old’s home, he initially tried to deceive cops by not coming forward with all of his mobile devices.

However cops carried out a wifi check which lead them to discover a device which hadn’t been handed over initially by Beith.

The pervert told cops there was a hidden iPhone which lead them to carry out a full cyber crime investigation.

Procurator fiscal depute Michael Cunningham told Paisley Sheriff Court Beith’s family home in the much-sought after Main Road in Paisley was raided by cops on February 16, last year.

Mr Cunningham explained: “Around 7.40am police attended with a search warrant. The accused’s mother permitted entry and called him downstairs.

“A search was carried out and officers recovered two iPads, an Apple laptop, five iPhones and a Toshiba hard drive.

“DC Gibson examined the wifi device and noted a device had not been recovered and gave the accused an opportunity to provide this.

“The accused stated there was an old mobile phone that he had left behind on holiday and initially denied any other devices.

“Then he stated there was an iPhone in the wardrobe in the bedroom.

“It was discovered there were 40 moving images of child exploitation and abuse consisting of Category A, B and C.

“They involved male and female children aged between one and 12-years-old.

“Some moving images had been deleted on February 16.

“The accused was arrested and cautioned and charged and later released on an undertaking to appear at this court at a later date.”

Mr Cunningham told the town’s court a full cyber crime analysis was carried out on twisted Beith’s iPhone.

He added: “A total of 579 images of the sexual abuse of children were recovered. There were 145 Category A images.

“Also discovered was 141 videos of child sexual exploitation and abuse. These ranged from Category A to Category C involving children aged three to 16-years-old. 116 videos fell under Category A.

“Extreme pornography was also discovered with seven videos showing adults illegally engaging in sexual acts with animals including, dogs, fish and poultry.”

Beith pleaded guilty to being in possession of indecent images of children between September 1, 2018 and February 16, last year at his Paisley home.

He also admitted to being in possession of “extreme pornographic images depicting in an explicit and realistic way, adults having sexual activities with animals” between June 13, 2019 and August 25, 2021.

Defence agent Anthony Boland invited the court to call for a full range of reports and reserved mitigation.

Sheriff Brian Mohan stated: “I’m going to need some background information.

“Your bail will be continued and reports will be called for, then I’ll hear from your solicitor.

“You will be placed on the Sex Offender’s Register with the period to be determined at the next hearing.”

Sentence was adjourned for a risk assessment to be carried out and for the preparation of a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty order assessment.

Beith will return to court for sentencing in July.

Description

A British Army sapper from Moray has admitted attempting to communicate indecently with a child.

Alex Tunnicliffe admitted two sexual offences, which saw him placed on the sex offenders register.

Description

A paedophile who befriended a family so he could get close to a young child has been put back behind bars. 

Paul Wallis had been released after serving half of a 30-month sentence for sex assault on a boy when he targeted the victims.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Wallis is banned from having contact with children by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which was imposed when he was convicted of the sex offence in Sheffield. 

Despite the restrictions on him, Wallis became a regular visitor at a house where a child would often be present and the family had no idea about his sinister past.

Fortunately, Wallis did not physically touch or hurt the child. 

But in an impact statement, the child's mother said she was "deeply concerned and devastated" to find out they had been in the company of a convicted paedophile.

She said Wallis "deliberately befriended" the family to gain access to the child and they have been left traumatised by thoughts of what could have happened. 

Wallis initially claimed the family knew he was a sex offender and must have "forgot".

The 48-year-old, of Tyne Gardens, Ovingham, Northumberland, later admitted breach of a sexual harm prevention order. 

Description

A PAEDOPHILE asked a “14-year-old schoolgirl” to send him naked pictures of herself in the bath after contacting her online.

Serial sex offender Robert Mellon thought he was speaking to an underage child called Ella.

But he was in fact chatting to paedophile hunters Dank Dragon carrying out a sting operation.

The 57-year-old from Newport has been in and out of prison for more than two decades after committing a string of crimes.

His latest offending happened this year between March and April, prosecutor Abigail Jackson told Cardiff Crown Court.

The teenager he thought he was contacting on social media was a decoy who had a fake profile picture of an underage girl.

His first message to her was: “Hi sexy!”

Miss Jackson said: “The defendant thought she was a 14-year-old girl from Cardiff.

“He asked her if she had a sexual boyfriend and the conversations carried on for a number of weeks.

“The defendant asked Ella if she shaved her genitalia and he told her she was beautiful and sexy.”

She added: “He talked to her in detail about having sex and asked for some pictures of her naked when she was in the bath.

“The defendant thought he was speaking to an actual 14-year-old girl.”

Mellon, of Church Road, Newport admitted attempting to breach a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

He has 14 previous convictions for 27 offences.

In 2011 he was convicted of three counts of sexual activity with a child under the age of 16 for which he was eventually jailed for breaching the community order imposed in that case.

Seven years later in 2018, he was sent to prison for 12 months for attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

In May 2021, Mellon was locked up for 15 months for breaching an SHPO and attempting to engage in sexual activity with a child by arranging to meet a 14-year-old girl.

That was another paedophile hunter operation.

A year later in May 2022 he was jailed for 12 months for breaching an SHPO and again for 16 months in February 2023 for the same offence.

“This latest offending was a serious and persistent attempt to breach the order,” Miss Jackson told the court.

“It is aggravated by his prevention convictions.”

Harry Baker for Mellon asked that his client be given full credit for his early guilty pleas.

Judge Paul Hobson told the defendant: “It is very plain to me that you are a paedophile whose sexual interest in children shows no sign of abating.”

Mellon was jailed for 32 months and told he would serve half of that time in custody before being released.

He will have to register as a sex offender and made the subject of an SHPO indefinitely.

Description

A serial rapist who was jailed for attacking three women has abandoned plans to appeal his conviction and sentence.

Liam Sharpe was jailed in February for 13 years and 10 months after being convicted of carrying out a campaign of cruelty, violence and rape against his former partners.

All of the mums bravely gave evidence in court to see Sharpe –who was already serving a four-year jail sentence for domestic abuse convictions against two of the women – jailed for raping them.

In April, Sharpe, 37, of Coatbridge, launched a bid for freedom after instructing his legal team to challenge his conviction and sentence.

He was given a deadline of April 30 to file papers setting out the grounds of his appeal.

It has since been deemed abandoned.

Speaking previously, one of the women said: “Liam Sharpe is a narcissist and has not one bit of remorse.

“He will never take accountability for what he has done.

“He shouldn’t ever be let out as he is a danger to women. He needs to be kept locked up.”

The mum had told a jury how she was subjected to a torrent of violence by Sharpe, who raped her, choked her with a TV cable, tried to suffocate her and drove over her foot with his car.

Another of the mums had previously spoken out in the Sunday Mail and told how a secret coded message for help she sent from a holiday abroad saw Sharpe arrested after their plane landed in Glasgow.

The mum told how she sent a message via her child’s Amazon Kindle device from a Turkish hotel room 2500 miles away to alert a friend after violent Sharpe had tried to strangle her.

Sharpe was also convicted of brutally raping and assaulting another woman repeatedly over a five-year period.

He was convicted of nine charges involving serious domestic abuse and multiple rapes of the three women at various addresses in Coatbridge, Motherwell and Barrhead.

It followed a six-day trial at the High Court in Glasgow where he was convicted of carrying out a campaign of cruelty, violence and rape between December 2013 and January 2023.

Sharpe was also convicted in 2022 of a series of serious domestic assaults against two ex-partners. He was given four more years.

Sentencing him, Judge Gillian Wade KC said: “Each of your victims described the same pattern of control, abuse and manipulation set against your habitual substance abuse.”

He was put on the sex offenders list and banned from approaching or contacting the women.

Description

A paedophile groomed a 10-year-old girl he met on TikTok before sending her a picture of his penis, a court has heard.

An investigation into that matter led police to finding Thomas Winterson had hundreds of videos of child sexual abuse which he had shared with a like-minded individual, and had visited Russian websites known for hosting indecent images.

Newport Crown Court heard the 34-year-old defendant has a previous conviction for possessing indecent images for which he was given a community order. The bakery worker's barrister told the court Winterson had voluntarily sought help from a charity which works with sex offenders and was motivated to change.

The court heard that Winterson's behaviour came to light after he contacted a 10-year-old girl in the north of England on the video-sharing app TikTok. Pretending to be a 15-year-old boy, the defendant told the child she was pretty and asked if they could chat on Snapchat, offering her money for the popular online game platform Roblox.

The court heard that once on Snapchat Winterson asked the girl for pictures - the girl sent him some photos of herself and he responded by sending her pictures of his erect penis. The girl called Winterson a "paedophile" and told her mother who in turn reported the matter to police.

The court heard that the defendant was identified via the phone number linked to his TikTok account and officers subsequently attended at his house to arrest him and seize his electronic devices.

An examination of Winterson's phone and his online Mega storage account uncovered more than 800 indecent images - the vast majority being videos - including 220 classified as Category A which show the most extreme forms of sexual abuse and rape. The children in the images were aged from around 12 months up to teenagers, and most of the images were in a hidden folder on the iPhone. An image involving "intercourse with a sheep" was also found.

Description

A man has been jailed after he was convicted of nine child sexual offences.

John Davies, 45, from Stoke-on-Trent, was sentenced to 20-years behind bars at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday 27 May).

He pleaded guilty in May 2024 to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, distributing an indecent photograph of a child, three counts of making an indecent photograph of a child and three counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO). A jury later found him guilty of arranging / facilitating the commission of a child sex offence – rape / assault by penetration of a child under 13.

Our Public Protection Unit carried out an investigation after we received intelligence that Davies had breached a SHPO in April 2024.

Description

A man has been jailed after he pleaded guilty to child sexual offences.

Jake Knight, 37, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment at Stafford Crown Court on Wednesday 21 May.

He pleaded guilty to sexual assault, two counts of assault a girl under 13 by touching and cause/incite a girl under 13 to engagement in sexual activity at an earlier hearing at the same court last month.

The allegations against Knight were reported to us last year and our child protection team launched an investigation.

Knight was already on the Sex Offenders Register following previous offences.

Description

A 'sexual deviant' who arranged to meet a 'teenage boy' for sex was caught out by paedophile hunters.

Ian Leyland, from Blackpool, didn't realise the 'boy' was talking to on social media was actually an adult posing as a child for an online activist group, who then reported the registered sex offender to police.

Lancashire Constabulary said the 36-year-old 'engaged in highly explicit sexual conversations' despite being told the age of the person he thought he was speaking to.

Detectives said Leyland 'clearly poses a risk to males, especially teenage boys'.

The defendant, of Coronation Street, Blackpool, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempting to cause/incite a boy age 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity – no penetration.

He also admitted an attempted breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for attempting to communicate with a boy under 15 and six breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Description

A Swindon nurse who filmed men and a child urinating in a toilet at a local Asda has been struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

Pheddie Delos Reyes took video footage through a hole in a cubical wall for nearly three hours on 19 July 2023 – before a customer spotted the camera and informed staff.

A security guard detained the pervert, who was 29 years old at the time, and police arrived a short time later to arrest him on suspicion of voyeurism.

CCTV footage at the Swindon supermarket revealed that approximately 50 males, including children, entered the toilets during that time.

Police seized multiple devices from Delos Reyes, including phones and cameras. One phone contained videos of men and a child being filmed while urinating.

In court, he pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism and was released on conditional bail. After failing to appear in court, a warrant was issued and he was later remanded in custody in January 2024.

In February, the case was adjourned for further investigation into the video content. On 2 May 2024, he pleaded guilty to a third charge of making an indecent image of a child and was remanded for sentencing at Swindon Crown Court.

On 27 June 2024, Delos Reyes was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence and was ordered to register as a sex offender. A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was also imposed.

The defendant was referred to the NMC by Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust following his arrest and he was suspended. He had been working as a registered adult nurse since March 2019.

At a hearing on 19 May, a tribunal panel ruled to strike Delos Reyes off the register, stating the public would be “shocked” if such action was not taken due to the seriousness of his convictions.

The panel noted that although the offences occurred outside of clinical settings, they revealed a serious attitudinal issue that could lead to Delos Reyes posing an unwarranted risk to patients in the future.

It also acknowledged that he had shown “some remorse” but displayed only a “limited understanding” of the consequences of his actions.

An interim suspension order lasting 18 months was imposed to allow for any possible appeal.

Description

An ‘extremely dangerous’ and ‘controlling’ man has been sentenced to a total of 15 years behind bars with an extension of five years on license, and will be on the sex offenders register for life, after he was found guilty at Hull Crown Court on Friday, 23 May.

Deven Huteson, 26-years-old, of Greylees Avenue, Hull pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating, three counts of criminal damage and malicious communications.

 Having refused to admit further offences, Huteson was found guilty of two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault by penetration, assault causing actual bodily harm, assault by beating, and coercive and controlling behaviour, following a five-day trial.

Leading the investigation, Detective Constable Melissa Bell said: “Huteson is an extremely dangerous offender, who over a four-week period, subjected a woman to extreme levels of violent abuse and controlling behaviours and continues to show no remorse for his crimes.

“I am reassured that he is now off our streets and in prison for a substantial number of years, unable to inflict such incomprehensible emotional and physical harm to anyone else.

“I’d like to praise the woman for her sheer bravery for coming forward and reporting the horrific crimes she was subjected to; I cannot begin to comprehend how she has felt throughout the entirety of this investigation and court proceedings, especially after Huteson denied offences, making her relive the trauma she endured throughout the trial.

“I hope the result today will also encourage others to come forward if they have experienced something similar, and I’d like to offer my reassurance that we take all allegations like this seriously, and will do our upmost for our victims, as well as safeguard our wider communities against people like Huteson.”

Description

A County Durham sex offender has been caged for chatting to a child on WhatsApp and Snapchat. Tony Swift was also found to have online "aliases" on an unregistered Xbox when police arrested him.

In 2019, the 39-year-old was put on the sex offenders' register and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order for offences of blackmail and inciting a child into sexual activity. As part of his order, Swift was banned from using any internet enabled device unless he notifies police within three days.

He is also prohibited from interacting with children, unless with prior consent from a parent or if it is unavoidable. But in February this year, Swift breached his orders when he began chatting to a teenager online. He'd also been using an Xbox which he had not registered with police.

On Friday, Swift, of Poplar Street, Stanley, appeared at Durham Crown Court via link from HMP Holme House, to be sentenced for two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order and one count of failing to comply. He had pleaded guilty.

The court heard that police spoke to a child after concerns were raised they had been messaging a man online. Kathryn Wetherley, prosecuting, said: "Police spoke to them and they confirmed they had been talking to the defendant on Snapchat and WhatsApp." Swift knew the child was under the age of 16 throughout.

Ms Wetherley said that the child Swift had been messaging did not believe any of the chats between them were inappropriate. However, Swift had asked them to delete some messages, which they did.

Swift was arrested and was also found to be in possession of an Xbox which had not been registered with police. The court heard "a number of alias names" were being used.

When arrested, Swift admitted that he knew the child was underage but denied having any sexual chats with them. The court was told he had seven previous convictions for 15 offences.

Nicci Horton, defending, said the child in the case did not feel that any of the messages were inappropriate and that the Xbox had been purchased from a friend. She said some of the alias names were of the original owner and there was "no suggestion" the games console was being used for anything other than gaming.

Ms Horton said Swift has epilepsy and a tissue disorder. She told the court: "His time in custody has been challenging for his physical health as well as his mental health. He thought this communication [with the child] was helping.

"He thought he was doing a good thing. In interview he said, 'I am slow and sometimes take a while to click on why something might not be appropriate or correct'. He understands he is completely in the wrong."

Recorder Mark McKone KC jailed Swift for 26 months. A 10 year restraining order was also imposed.

Description

A Torquay man fired an air gun after losing his temper with a group of noisy men outside his house. Mike McCabe hit one man on the arm, a court heard.

He was already under police investigation for downloading child sex abuse images from the internet and sharing them with other paedophiles on Kik Messenger. The 39-year-old of Upton Road appeared at Exeter Crown Court to be sentenced for the separate crimes.

He said he was very sorry and just wanted to get on with his life. But the judge jailed him for two years and eight months.

The judge said the most serious offence in the eyes of the court involved the discharge of the air rifle. It happened in June of last year when McCabe yelled at a group of men near the coach station to turn the music down.

They heard shots and the defendant appeared armed with a BB gun, said prosecutor Zoe Kuyken. He fired towards the group and hit a man on the elbow causing a small mark.

Police arrested him and McCabe said he had drunk four pints and been smoking cannabis. He said he had only wanted to scare the group.

The defendant admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, three offences of downloading indecent images, distributing images and also possession of prohibited images.

In November 2023 police received intelligence from the National Crime Agency of suspicious activity linked to the defendant's IP address. The seized McCabe's phone and found almost 500 indecent images of children on his phone, 184 extreme images and five prohibited images.

A total of 346 images were in the most serious category of abuse and further analysis revealed 73 had been distributed on Kik. McCabe told police he was under the influence of drink and cocaine.

Martin Salloway, defending, said McCabe was "alone drunk and lonely" at the time and spending too long on the internet. He distributed the images to like-minded people and was extremely remorseful. "He is keen to get on with his life," said Mr Salloway.

Recorder Simon Levene said McCabe could have had the victim's eye out by firing the air rifle. He ordered McCabe be subject to a sexual harm prevention order as part of the sentence.

Description

A man has been jailed for a number of non-recent child sex offences on the Isle of Wight.

Ryan Phillips, aged 24, was charged with the following offences, which were perpetrated against six children:

• Rape a girl under 13 between 19 August 2012 – 19 August 2015 in Shanklin
• Assault a girl under 13 by penetration between 19 August 2012 – 19 August 2015 in Shanklin
• Inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity between 6 July 2011 and 12 August 2014 in Shanklin
• Rape a girl under 13 between 6 July 2011 and 12 August 2014 in Shanklin
• Rape a girl under 13 between 6 July 2011 and 12 August 2014 in Shanklin
• Rape a girl under 13 between 6 July 2011 and 12 August 2014 in Shanklin
• Rape a girl under 13 between 1 April 2016 and 6 July 2017 in Shanklin
• Assault a boy under 13 by touching between 1 January 2011 and 12 August 2014 in Shanklin
• Inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity between 1 January 2011 and 12 August 2014 in Shanklin
• Inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity between 1 January 2011 and 12 August 2014 in Shanklin
• Rape of a boy under 13 between 30 May 2014 and 30 May 2015 in Shanklin
• Inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity between 1 January 2011 and 12 August 2014 in Shanklin
• Inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity between 30 May 2014 and 30 May 2015 in Shanklin
• Inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity on 6 February 2014 and 6 February 2015 in Shanklin
• Engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13 between 15 March 2014 and 15 March 2015 in Shanklin

The abuse was first reported to police in July 2022, before a lengthy investigation was commenced by the Child Abuse Investigation Team (CAIT) on the Isle of Wight.

Phillips, of Melville Street in Sandown, was himself under the age of 18 when all of these offences occurred.

During the abuse, he tried to stop the victims telling anyone, by claiming they would get into trouble if they did, and that the abuse should remain ‘our little secret’.

He denied all of the charges, and the case went to trial at Portsmouth Crown Court on 17 February this year.

On 13 March, he was found guilty of all 15 counts by the jury.

Appearing at the same court for sentencing on Thursday 22 May, he was jailed for 12 years and handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Passing sentence, His Honour Judge Melville commented on the ‘disastrous effect’ the offences had on the victims, and that they may never recover.

Detective Sergeant Iain Robertson, from the Isle of Wight CAIT team, said: “Reporting abuse of this nature takes an incredible amount of courage, and all of the victims in this case have shown that throughout this investigation and the subsequent court process.

“The abuse they suffered at the hands of Phillips was horrific, and through their collective bravery they have ensured he has been brought to justice.

“Rape and other sexual offences, particularly those involving children, have a devastating and long lasting impact on victims, and it can often take years for those affected to find the confidence to speak up about it.

“Offences of this nature can also be some of the most harrowing and complex for police to investigate, but this case demonstrates that justice can still be secured even years after a crime has been committed.

“I hope the outcome of this investigation can give confidence to those who have been abused and are suffering in silence that they are not alone, we will take action and we will do everything in our power to target those responsible.”