Latest Offenders

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The victim of a sex offender will "never be able to forget what he did to her".

Peter Griffiths appeared at Chester Crown Court on Monday 25 March where he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The 52-year-old of Albemarle Avenue in Hartford, was previously found guilty of four counts of sexual activity with a girl under 16 and one of inciting the same girl into sexual activity.

Following the sentencing Detective Constable Joanna Barclay said: "I would like to commend the victim for the bravery and courage they have shown in coming forward and talking about what happened to them.

"Nobody should have to experience what the victim has been though and while she will never be able to forget what happened to her, I hope that the fact that he is now behind bars will provide them with some closure."

In addition to his prison sentence Griffiths was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

Detective Constable Joanna Barclay added: "We treat all allegations of sexual offences extremely seriously, and any allegation will be thoroughly investigated, with the wishes and needs of the victim as our main priority.

"Victims should never feel ashamed to talk about what they have been subjected to. They will receive the help and support they need from our specialist officers, as well as from other support agencies we work alongside, and all victims of sexual offences have the right to anonymity."

Description

A PAEDOPHILE has been jailed on eight child sex charges after staff at a nearby shop caught him abusing a 12-year-old boy.

Christopher Wren, 69, was arrested in July last year after Co-Op employees saw him naked in his hot tub with his victim.

Last Wednesday, Chelmsford Crown Court heard how Wren, of Hill Road, Harwich, started abusing his victim after paying the teenager to complete odd jobs around the house.

Following his arrest, Wren admitted five charges of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and three charges of sexually assaulting a child under 13.

As the charges were read out, Wren stood with his head bowed, dressed in grey joggers and a grey Puma jumper while his wife sat in the public gallery.

Christopher Martin, mitigating, said it was the first time Wren had offended and that he was in serious ill-health, having been discovered in his cell in a diabetic coma on three separate occasions by prison staff.

He said: “The defendant is a well-educated man who has, throughout his adult life, contributed to society in a manner he has enjoyed regular employment.

“He has been married for 40 years, and his wife is fully aware of the circumstances of this offending and remains supportive if not understanding in terms of Wren.

“He has several serious health conditions – he has been diagnosed with type two diabetes and has been undergoing a triple heart bypass.

“In the last three weeks, he has been rushed from HMP Chelmsford to hospital having been found in his cell at having suffered a diabetic coma – the bottom line is that Wren is not a well man.”

Judge Alexander Mills sentenced Wren to four years in prison and reminded the defendant of the impact his offending had on his victim.

He said: “It’s clear there has been an impact and remains to be impact on the victim and the family, and I have taken that into account.

“Four years is the least I can impose in the light of the seriousness of the offences in this case."

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Alexander Cameron Paterson, who is known as Cameron, attacked two women between 2003 and 2016.

A violent serial rapist who sexually abused a woman in a hospital, forced her to take part in group sex sessions and left another disabled and scarred for life has been caged for 10 years for the horrendous abuse.

Alexander Cameron Paterson, who is known as Cameron, repeatedly raped and assaulted the women in a 13-year reign of terror between 2003 and 2016.

The 45-year-old attacked the women, who can't be named for legal reasons, at addresses across Scotland, also abusing his second victim in a number of hotels.

He denied he'd done anything wrong but was convicted of 12 charges following a trial at the High Court in Paisley. The jury found him guilty of four charges of raping the first woman and one of leaving her scarred for life and disabled.

The jury also convicted him of six charges of rape and one of assault against the second woman, and he was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this month.

Paterson, most recently of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, carried out the first rape at a property in Paisley, Renfrewshire, in November 2003, restricting his victim's breathing by clamping his hand over her mouth and nose and restraining her hands.

His second rape of the woman took place at the same Paisley property in January 2004, and saw him pushing her onto a bed, using a belt to restrain her, and grabbing her by the hair.

Later the same month he raped her for a third time at the property after dragging her along the floor, dragging her down a set of stairs and forcing her outside, hitting her on the face and strangling her, restricting her breathing.

In April 2004 he raped her again, again at the same address, and later that month he committed the attack that left her scarred for life and disabled, after he pushed her through a glass door.

Court papers state he grabbed her by the body and pulled her back through the broken glass door, causing her to fall unconscious, before he moved her. He lifted her onto a bed and undressed her, then dressed her in other clothes.

The charge he was convicted of states "permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment" were caused to her by the attack.He first attacked his second victim in October 2007, at a property in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire.

He dragged her along a floor and onto a bed and spat on her before raping her. He also raped her on a number of occasions at the same address between January 2008 and November 2010, while she was asleep and incapable of giving or withholding her consent.

He also repeatedly sexually abused her between December 2010 and May 2014, at the Barrhead property and an unnamed hospital in Scotland. Some of the attacks took place while she was sleeping and could not consent.

In November 2012 he assaulted her, by raining punches on her face, while they were within the Barrhead home. And Between January and May 2013 he made her perform a sex act on a woman at a hotel in Lanark, Lanarkshire.

The same year, he also raped her while forcing her to take part in a foursome, with an unidentified man and woman, at a hotel in Glasgow. And in July 2016 he raped her at a hotel in Bishopton, Renfrewshire.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for the offences and was made the subject of a Non-Harassment Order, banning him from having any contact with both victims.

Description

A vile predator took boys to McDonald's and Cheshire Oaks before subjecting them to sickening abuse.

Paedophile James Blundell embarked upon a depraved campaign of rape and sexual assaults against young boys, the Liverpool Echo reports. He groomed some of his victims with cash and sweets and took them in trips in his car before the horrendous assaults.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how he was said to have had a 'longstanding sexual interest in children', which a judge said had led to a catalogue of 'predatory sexual behaviour'. The 36-year-old has now been locked up for more than 14 years.

On Thursday (March 28), the court heard how Blundell befriended one of the children and paid him 10 in order to wash his car. The boy then carried out further chores at his home in return for 'pocket money'.

Michael Scholes, prosecuting, described how the defendant subsequently took him out in his car to buy sweets and on trips to McDonald's, Southport and Cheshire Oaks. He would often return the child home after giving him a 10 note.

But, around two months later, concerns were raised to his parents by a neighbour. This prompted his mother to ask him 'has James ever been silly with you?', at which he became 'immediately very distressed' and even 'so distressed that he was physically sick'.

He would go on to describe the vile sexual abuse he had been subjected to by Blundell - who had attempted to rape him, performed sex acts on him and performed a sex act in his presence, as well as sending him a picture of his penis. The boy recalled one incident where he was forced to perform a sex act on the pervert after he had pulled over following a drive along the East Lancs Road.

Afterwards, he warned his victim not to tell his mum as he 'would be in big trouble'. On another occasion, Blundell stopped in a car park during a trip to Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet.

Then, having bought him food from McDonald's, he attempted to touch the boy's private parts over his clothing. However, the complainant 'kept blocking him so that he could not touch it'.

It then emerged that Blundell had abused a second victim after these offences were reported to the police in November last year. This boy described how the defendant had taken him to McDonald's in Earlestown.

They then parked up at a nearby sports club, where the sex offender 'started to talk about sexual things and told him how he had had sexually transmitted diseases'. He showed the youngster pornography on his phone and asked to see his penis, although he refused.

Blundell told the boy that his own penis was 'proper small', then pulled it from his trousers and began waving it around while laughing before returning him home. He later sent the youngster a series of 'inappropriate' messages on Instagram, including pornographic images.

Following his arrest, three category C indecent images of children were found on Blundell's phone - which was recovered from underneath his pillow. An image of a person performing oral sex on a dog was also found on the device.

Blundell was previously handed a 12-month imprisonment suspended for two years by the same court in 2016 after pleading guilty to attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child, distributing indecent images of children, possession of indecent indecent images of children and three counts of making indecent images of children. He was also handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

His defence counsel told the court: "He accepts that there is nothing at all I can say on his behalf to mitigate the truly horrific crimes that he has committed. He, through me, offers his most sincere apologies to the young children and their families, and everybody who has been affected by his terrible actions."

"He accepts how awful these crimes he has committed were and has shown that he is somebody who has an unhealthy interest in young children. He is also somebody who wants the help to ensure, when he is released from the sentence that awaits, that he can rehabilitate himself and ensure that he is no longer a danger to society."

Blundell admitted three counts of rape, two charges of attempted rape, three offences of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, three counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, engaging in sexual communications with a child, possession of indecent images of children, making indecent images of children, possession of an extreme pornographic image and two charges of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

He was jailed for 14 years and five months. He was also handed an additional five years on licence.

Sentencing, Judge Anil Murray said: "It is clear that you have a long standing sexual interest in children. Lives are ruined by behaviour like this."

"Your motivation was clear. This was predatory sexual behaviour."

Blundell, of Wesley Avenue in Haydock, was also handed a restraining order lasting 15 years and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. He must sign the sex offenders' register for life.

Description

A man from St Helens has been jailed for 13 and a half years for sexually assaulting a child and sharing images of the abuse online.

Andrew Haddock, 29, of North Road, who pleaded guilty to making and taking indecent images of a child and distributing those images to others online, was sentenced today, Thursday 28 March, at Liverpool Crown Court and told he must serve a minimum of nine years of his overall sentence.

He was also given a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order, made to sign the Sexual Offender Register for life and given an indefinite restraining order.

Following an investigation, Haddock was arrested in July 2023 after he boasted about his abuse online to an undercover police officer and shared images of the offences.

He was also found to be in possession of a quantity of prohibited images of children and extreme pornographic images.

Description

A disgraced ex Met cop has been found guilty of trying to molest a child. Paedophile Thomas Thorpe was found guilty at Kingston Crown Court earlier today (March 28).

He was found guilty of three counts of making an indecent photograph of a child, and attempting to cause a child under 13 to look at an image of sexual activity. Thorpe was also found guilty of attempting to cause a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, as well as attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

He was remanded in custody to be sentenced at the same court on May 14. Thorpe spoke online with a person he believed was a 12-year-old girl, but was in fact an undercover police officer from West Midlands Police.

Thorpe sent sexually explicit images to the ‘girl’ over four-week period in November and December 2019. He was arrested December 6 2019 and a search of digital devices recovered from his home found indecent images of children.

The devices also had the images that he been sent to the ‘girl’. Thorpe was suspended from duty following his arrest in December 2019. He resigned from the Met in September 2022.

An accelerated misconduct hearing took place in May 2023 and found former PC Thorpe had breached the standards of professional behaviour which amounted to gross misconduct. He would have been sacked had he not already resigned.

Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain, local policing commander in South London, said: “People rightly expect police officers to uphold the highest standards and when an officer fails to meet those standards they can expect to face the consequences of their actions through the courts and our own misconduct process.

"Former PC Thorpe’s behaviour was abhorrent and he has been convicted of serious sexual offences. Prior to his conviction misconduct proceedings established that he would have been sacked had he not already left the organisation.”

Description

A paedophile been sentenced to 24 years imprisonment for raping and sexually abusing a child aged under 13. He was described as a "predatory individual" who took advantage of a child in the "most horrific way".

Steven Felix, 36, of Bridgend, sexually abused the child between 2019 and 2020. An investigation was launched after the abuse was reported in 2021.

The defendant, of Brackla, was charged with a total of 24 counts of rape and sexual activity with a child. At Cardiff Crown Court he was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment with an additional six years on licence and a lifetime sexual harm prevention order.

Following the hearing detective sergeant Jo Williams-Smith of South Wales Police said: "Steven Felix is a predatory individual who took advantage of a child and abused them in a horrific way. The victim in this case has to live with the memory of this awful abuse.

"I’m pleased that the court have recognised this by handing Steven Felix this lengthy jail sentence which is the outcome the case deserved. I’d like to personally pay tribute to the victim for coming forward and sticking with the investigation. It is thanks to their bravery that we secured a successful prosecution.

"I hope that this sentence will serve as encouragement to other victims of sexual abuse to come forward. We will believe you and do everything we can to bring offenders to justice no matter how long ago the offences took place.

"We take all allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously. We have specially trained teams that investigate sexual offences and provide support to victims. If you have experienced these kinds of offences you will be heard and listened to and your report will be believed.”

Description

A 15-year-old was sexually assaulted by a man who approached her outside a shop and threatened to hold her knife to her throat and rape her. When the victim told her his age he continued to follow her and repeatedly grabbed her as she tried to escape.

Seekio Wittridge, 25, approached the girl outside a Tesco Express in Cardiff in April last year after she had got off a bus. She saw the defendant staring at her and he was in possession of a wooden plank.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday heard Wittridge slightly barged the victim into the store windows in North Road and he told her she was "beautiful". She ignored him and tried to cross the road but he walked alongside her as she tried to speed up. He grabbed her right arm and pulled her back and repeated to her that she was "beautiful".

The victim told him she was only 15 years old and he claimed he was 14, which she knew to be untrue on account of his appearance. The defendant then told her he was 25 and when she brought up the 10-year age gap he said: "So that's 10 years in prison for me is it?"

Prosecutor Ruth Smith said Wittridge put his arms out to touch the victim and stroked her to her upper chest and touched her skin around her collar bone. He stroked her outer legs on both sides back and forth and she swatted his hand away. The defendant pulled her back again by the shoulder which caused the victim to kick him in the shin and tell him to go away.

The victim began recording the incident and left a voice message for a male friend to come to the scene and was crying as she did so. Wittridge became aggressive, asked the victim if she was speaking to her boyfriend, and threatened to assault him with a plank of wood.

He went on to repeatedly asked the victim to "f*** him" and when sherefused he made a threat to hold a knife to her throat and rape her. The male friend arrived at the scene and was hugged by the victim who said Wittridge had touched her chest and she felt "disgusting".

The friend questioned the defendant who apologised and again described the victim as "beautiful". He also claimed again he was a teenager but the victim struck Wittridge with a chocolate bar and told him he was lying. When asked why he was carrying a plank of wood the defendant said it was his walking stick. He eventually apologised and said he "didn't want any trouble".

The police were called and the defendant was arrested. He admitted speaking to the victim and claimed she had accused him of being a paedophile. Wittridge, of Yr Hen Fuarth, was initially placed in a secure hospital over concerns he was experiencing psychosis but later pleaded guilty to a count of sexual assault. The court heard he had previous convictions for assaulting an emergency worker and a public order offence during which he followed a woman he spoke to outside a pub and asked to go to her home to have sex with her.

In a victim personal statement the girl said: "The incident has made me not want to walk out on my own anymore and have to ask friends to come with me everywhere I go. It made me anxious about talking to new people, especially men who are talking to me in the street, even though they might not have any intentions. I am angry and upset about most things that happen now in life. Since the incident I have a shorter fuse with everything that goes wrong. I shower and feel gross about myself, leading to me crying a lot."

In mitigation Andrew Davies said it was most likely his client was suffering with psychosis at the time of the offence as a result of psychoactive substance abuse. He said the defendant wishes to stay away from drugs and wants to "settle down".

Sentencing, Judge Lucy Crowther said: "This must have been an extremely frightening experience for a 15-year-old girl on her own in the middle of the day... The effect of your behaviour has been grave on this young woman."

Wittridge was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment. He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order, sex offender notification requirements, and a restraining order each lasting for 10 years.

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A detective has described a 42-year-old sex offender starting a life jail sentence after being convicted of raping a "stranger" as "dangerous".

Anthony Bassett had attacked a "young man" he met outside a Wellingborough pub while on bail, police said.

He had been convicted of rape and told he would serve more than seven years before being eligible for parole.

Det Con Victoria Thomas said his offending was "horrific".

Police said a jury found Bassett, of Midland Road, Wellingborough, guilty of rape, and two other sex offences, after a trial at Northampton Crown Court in January.

He had been sentenced earlier this month and given a life sentence with a minimum term of 86 months.

'Predatory'

"Anthony Bassett is a dangerous man, and I am so pleased that the severity of his horrific offending has been recognised with a life sentence," said Det Con Thomas, who investigated the attack.

"Despite his attempts to lie and explain away what happened that night, the evidence clearly showed his calculated and predatory behaviour in taking advantage of a young man and brutally attacking him."

She added: "Throughout this investigation and trial the victim survivor has been so brave."

'Bail'

Police said the attack took place in July 2023 and said Bassett had approached his victim, a stranger, under the guise of "helping" him, police said.

He had previous convictions for rape and other sexual offences and committed the rape while on bail, police said in a statement.

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Simon Neale, 54, recently admitted sexually assaulting the girl while she slept and recording the act.

A court heard the child had no idea what happened until police investigated Neale’s electronic devices and found the images indecent, leading to assault charges sexual.

Neale, formerly of Telford but recently of Catshill in Worcestershire, had his door knocked on by police in July 2022 while living in Telford.

They had traced potentially illegal activities to him using a Dropbox account and his Internet Protocol (IP) address, prosecutor Mr Robert Edwards told Shrewsbury Crown Court this week.

Mr Edwards said that when officers knocked on Neale’s door and asked him to come in, he asked them “is that Dropbox?”

His home was searched and officers seized his devices. Police found hundreds of indecent images of children, still and moving, on a Sony laptop and an 8GB SD card, including 119 category A images, the most serious in the eyes of the law, depicting the worst abuses.

In interviews with police, Neale said he was “addicted to pornography” and had “unintentionally” downloaded images of children, the court heard.

Description

An Ellesmere Port man found with indecent images of children on his computers was also found to have been sexually abusing a girl for several years.

Jordan Leiper, from Rossmore Gardens, Little Sutton, previously pleaded guilty at Chester Crown Court to a total of 10 charges five in relation to downloading and possessing indecent images of children and extreme pornography, and five in relation to child sex offences. The defendant did not enter a plea on two further counts, which were ordered to lie on file by judge Michael Leeming.

Appearing back at court on Monday, March 25, the 27-year-old was sentenced to a total of seven years, eight months

Prosecuting, Karl Scholz said police had received information from the National Crime Agency that an address in Ellesmere Port was being used to obtain indecent images of children.

Police attended in July 2023 and, during their searches, seized six devices two of which the defendant had attempted to hide on a flat roof outside the bedroom window.

Analysis of the seized devices found hundreds of indecent videos and images of children. Of those, 243 videos and 42 images were assessed as category A the most serious category, with 51 videos and 24 images assessed as category B and 23 videos and 21 images at category C. In addition, there were 10 videos and 21 images of extreme pornography, plus four prohibited images of a child.

Judge Leeming noted the indecent material included children aged between six and 16, with some involving children performing sex acts on other children and one image involved a child in pain.

Some of that material had been obtained while Leiper was already subject to an existing Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and a sex offenders rehabilitation programme, the court heard, after Leiper had previously been sentenced for possessing indecent images in 2017.

Also found in the material caused officers concern as chat records were found of Leiper and an underage girl, the court heard.

Police interviewed the girl and found she had been groomed from the age of 12, with "frequent" sexual activity happening at that time and which included sexual intercourse when she was 15. Leiper had also sought indecent images of the girl during this time.

Mr Scholz read out a statement on behalf of the victim, who was present in court for sentencing, in which the victim said she had always struggled with her mental health, but had not understood why.

She had added: "In reality, I was being groomed and being taken advantage of for a long time."

The victim added her brain was "in a fog" and she did not have any energy to take care of herself, and she wondered what kind of adult she could have been had this not happened to her.

The judge added he did not look favourably on the defendant's pre-sentence interview with probation, where he had tried to deny the sexual offences ever took place.

Defending, Max Saffman said that was no longer the defendant's position and he accepted they had taken place, knew he had done wrong and was to be punished.

The sexual offences had taken place several years ago and he had not reoffended on that type of crime since.

Judge Leeming told Leiper: "You are a persistent sexual offender with an unhealthy interest in child pornography.

"You would have known full well that engaging in behaviour like this is not only unlawful but completely unacceptable."

He added Leiper's actions had had a "destabilising" effect on his victim.

The judge said, while the age gap between the defendant and the victim was "not enormous", it was still "significant".

Leiper must serve half of the 12-month sentence he received for the indecent images offences, and two-thirds of the six years and eight months he additionally received for the sexual offences with a child, in custody.

He was handed a new indefinite SHPO restricting his internet usage and contact with children, and handed an indefinite restraining order preventing contact with his victim.

He must sign the sex offenders register for life, and the devices seized were to be deprived.

Description

A 57-year-old Southampton man has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for child sex offences.

Barry Jones, of Granby Grove, was found guilty in January of 19 offences against three victims, all of whom were aged between six and nine when Jones’s offending began.

Jones was reported to police in 2022 and, following an extensive investigation, was charged with the following offences:

• Three counts of rape of a child
• Four counts of sexual assault of a child
• Four counts of sexual activity with a child
• One count of sexual assault by penetration
• Three counts of causing or inciting a child into sexual activity
• One count of indecent assault
• Three counts of making indecent images of children

He pleaded not guilty, however a jury found him guilty on all counts following a two week trial at Southampton Crown Court.

Detective Constable Paul Hills, who led the investigation, said: “It took a tremendous amount of courage for the victims in this case to come forward and tell us what had happened to them at the hands of Jones.

“I have nothing but the greatest admiration for the bravery they have shown, alongside their families, throughout the criminal investigation and court process. Without them we would not have been able to secure this outcome today and we would sincerely like to thank them.

“I am so pleased that justice has now been served, and while this result won’t rid the victims of the memories of what Jones did to them, I truly hope it allows them to move forward with their lives.

“I also hope this sentence will reassure other victims that they will be listened to when reporting similar incidents to us. If anything of this nature has happened to you, please come forward and speak to us. We take allegations of this nature extremely seriously and work hard to bring offenders to justice.

“I would also like to thank everyone who assisted in ensuring that a dangerous predator will now be taken off the streets, including the jury and witnesses in the case.

Description

A man has been jailed for paying a teenage girl for sexual services in Bournemouth.

Amir Saadi, 47, of Haven Road, Poole, was found guilty of three counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of paying for sexual services of a child.

He was jailed for nine years after a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court.

Dorset Police said Saadi first met his victim, a 14-year-old girl, in Boscombe in 2020.

A force spokesperson said the girl then visited Saadi's home "on a number of occasions" and was given money in return for sexual activity.

Officers launched an investigation and in June 2021 arrested Saadi, who claimed he did not know the victim.

'Lifelong impact'

Det Con Andy Hale, said: "Saadi took advantage of a teenage girl and showed no regard for her emotional or physical wellbeing.

"The young victim in this case has been exceptionally brave throughout the investigation and subsequent trial and I would like to pay tribute to her and her family for their support.

"Dorset Police will continue to seek justice for young victims and bring offenders such as Saadi to court to face the consequences for their horrible actions, which can have a lifelong impact on those involved.

"I hope that this case will give victims the courage to speak out and seek help. We will do everything we can to support them and ensure offenders are held to account."
Saadi has been placed on the sex offenders' register for life, as well as being made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Description

A convicted flasher who thought that he was sending explicit messages and videos to a 14-year-old girl got a nasty shock when it turned out that her account was being run by a paedophile hunters group.

Tristan Bradshaw had already been specifically warned not to message children, but he brazenly attempted to do so after drinking spirits heavily, Hull Crown Court heard. Bradshaw, 23, of the New Bridge Road area of east Hull, admitted attempting to communicate sexually with a child, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, attempting to invite a child to engage in sexual activity and attempting to breach a sexual harm prevention order.

Ayman Khokhar, prosecuting, said that a five-year sexual harm prevention order was made against Bradshaw in November 2019 following a conviction for an offence of exposure. However, on December 30, Bradshaw sent a friend request on Facebook to what he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

He followed it up with two messages saying "Hey!" The girl did not exist and had been set up by an online protection group.

Bradshaw sent sexually explicit messages to "the girl" and, on three separate occasions, he sent her a six-second video of him committing a sex act. He attempted to get the fake girl to video call him while he was doing this.

Further sexual messages were sent and Bradshaw suggested that they could have sex at his home. He ended the conversations on January 3. The online protection group contacted the police and Bradshaw was arrested. He made no comment during police interview.

"It's a very serious breach of the order," said Mr Khokhar. "The harm and the risk was very serious."

Rachel Scott, mitigating, said that Bradshaw had suffered problems and this led to him seeking out inappropriate relationships. He used alcohol to cope with his difficulties.

"That's why he doesn't remember this offending," said Miss Scott. "He simply doesn't remember. He confirmed that the messages were from his account. He accepts that it must have been him who sent them. It appears that he has stopped this conduct rather than the other way round."

Bradshaw, a former supermarket worker, had been in custody on remand for two months. "He accepts that he is looking down the barrel of a significant custodial sentence," added Miss Scott.

Judge Alexander Menary told Bradshaw: "You were in sexual communication with a profile that was an adult posing as a 14-year-old child. You knew that this person was purporting to be 14 because they said so at the outset and you engaged in sexual communication with them throughout that time. You very quickly engaged in sexual communication with them."

Bradshaw was jailed for two years and three months. He was given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

Description

A cyber forensics expert who sold software to the police, Interpol and the FBI has been jailed after he accidentally gave his work a hard drive full of child pornography.

Iain Nash was jailed for 15 months and branded a danger to children after officers discovered a library of child pornography on his home PC.

The 46-year-old mistakenly handed in a personal hard drive with the images on and 'frantically' messaged a colleague, pleading with him to 'delete the image'.

Suspicious, the co-worker looked through the device and found vile images of youngsters being abused by paedophiles, a court heard.

Nash was then given a deadline to allow him to surrender himself to police and confess.

Officers then seized Nash's mobile phone and a total of 35 other electronic devices and found 1,123 pictures - some including a 12-month baby - plus others featuring girls aged between four and six being raped.  

Sentencing him, the judge slammed his crimes as 'truly horrific' and said: 'It is the demand for this material which stokes and incentivises the supply of it,' adding 'these were real children being raped by real men'.

When quizzed, Nash, who lives in a £540,000 house in Congleton, Cheshire, claimed he only took a sexual interest in children for a brief time in 2013 when his marriage was on the rocks. 

But officers found a poem he had written in 2006 in which he confessed his desires for underage girls.

At Chester Crown Court, Nash was jailed after he pleaded guilty to charges of possessing, making, taking and distributing indecent images of children. 

He was also made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and will have to sign on the Sex Offenders' Register for ten years. His current girlfriend is standing by him.

The court heard Nash had begun working for MD5 Ltd, a Digital Forensics company who provides Virtual Forensic Computing software to law enforcement agencies.As well as Interpol and the FBI, clients also included the National Crime Agency, Homeland Security, the Australian Federal Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Prosecutor Philip Clemo said: 'The defendant's role was as a Business Development Manager, selling software to high-tech crime and law enforcement agencies and involved him visiting police stations and giving demonstrations of the software packages.

'At the beginning of January 2020, the defendant handed in his notice and worked his four week notice period which ended on February 6.

'The defendant returned the laptop and phone he had been provided with and, in accordance with standard procedure when employees left the company, these were forensically imaged and there were no issues with either device.

'The defendant had also been asked to return the external hard-drive he had upgraded his work laptop with, which he did on January 31. However, a staff member at MG5 who the external drive had been given to, was contacted by the defendant on the February 3 stating that he had provided his personal external drive in error and asked for it to be handed back.

'He stated within the message "If you've already imaged it, I'd be obliged if you would delete the image" and said he would be at the office within two hours. 

'Suspicions were raised and when the staff member viewed data from the drive, he identified video and image files indicative of indecent images of children.

'The defendant was then contacted and given a deadline to contact the police otherwise his former manager would contact them himself. The defendant did attend at Congleton Police Station on February 14, 2020, saying that two years earlier he had downloaded pictures of young girls from the internet.

'His mobile phone was seized, along with the external hard-drive he had handed in to MD5 and 27 other electronic devices seized from his address.'

The court was told images included those of a child aged 12-18 months, and images of children were located on seven devices. One file read 'hot teen girls are best 2'.'

Nash had set webpages as favourites including 'welcome to paedo paradise' and 'the best child porn site ever!!!'. 

Two documents entitled 'Dangerous Innocence.doc' and 'Lotis Gala Night.txt' were found, with the former being written by Nash, detailing the narrator's 'first sexual encounter' and attraction to female children.

A document containing altered lyrics to the 1999 hit song Mambo Number 5 by German singer Lou Bega was filed under the name 'Paedo No 5'. 

Nash was later bailed but was subsequently caught drink driving and was then convicted of weapons offences after security staff found a pen knife in his pocket as he attended court.

In mitigation, defence counsel Nicola Daley said: 'I accept this is a serious case that undoubtedly passes the custody threshold and the defendant comes to this court in trepidation and fear of that. But this is also a case of a 46-year-old man who at the time he committed these offences he had no other convictions. Though some of the images date from 2020 the majority of the dates were a lot earlier.

'They are all dates now that are multiple years away from where we are now in 2024.'

But in sentencing the judge Mr Recorder Richard Conley told Nash: 'There can be no doubt as to the gravity and the truly horrific nature of the material that was in your possession.

'These were real children being raped by real men for the sexual enjoyment and gratification of people like you. Were it not for people like you, these horrific offences would not have to be committed. It is the demand for this material which stokes and incentivises the supply of it.

'It has been suggested the offences only occurred over a short period of time, in a particular low point in your life when your marriage was joyless and in free fall and in decline. But it is also suggested more strongly you did not simply flirt with this sort of material but had a much more established and entrenched attraction to young children, girls in particular.

'I take the view that you are someone who has a serious problem you won't fully face up to. You refused to accept that you were attracted to children and I take the view that you present a danger.'

The judge added: 'I fully accept that you did not intend to return that hard drive to your employer, quite the opposite, but I do not accept that you forgot those images. 

'I suspect you spent an uncomfortable and anxious weekend on February 1 and 2, knowing exactly what was in that hard drive and worrying whether it would be discovered by your former employer.

'The fact is you were frantically seeking its return to you, knowing as I am quite sure you did, that the hard drive contained incriminating and illegal matter upon it. The fact you returned the hard drive on the Friday, seeking its return on the Monday, highlights to me the first of numerous examples of your deceitful and dishonest nature.'