Latest Offenders

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A part-time judge who described a convicted sex offender as "Jack the lad" during sentencing has been criticised by a Court of Appeal judge.

Recorder John Hardy used the phrase when sentencing Aaron Hewson, 33, for three sexual assaults at Norwich Crown Court in April.

Lady Justice Macur, who oversaw an appeal hearing on Thursday, said she "deplored" Recorder Hardy's indication.

Hewson's sentence was increased after being considered unduly lenient.

The Rape Crisis charity said "language really matters" when talking about sexual assault.

Hewson, from Cromer, Norfolk, had been jailed of three years and 11 months in April after a trial.

Three appeal judges - Lady Justice Macur, Mrs Justice Cockerill and Mr Justice Murray - increased that term to seven years at the Court of Appeal after concluding that the original sentence was unduly lenient.

They upheld an appeal by Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson.

'Significant flaws'

Charles Burton, who represented Hewson, had argued that the sentence was not unduly lenient and should not be increased.

Appeal judges heard that Hewson had convictions for violence and, when a juvenile, had been convicted of sex offences.

He had also admitted possessing an "extreme" pornographic image.

Lady Justice Macur said appeal judges had concluded that there had been "significant flaws" in Recorder Hardy's approach to sentencing.

She said he had indicated when passing sentence that evidence suggested Hewson was a "Jack the lad character".

"We deplore the judge's description as indicating that the defendant was 'Jack the lad'," she said.

"This offending was predatory."

Jayne Butler, chief executive at Rape Crisis, said: "Words or phrases that normalise abusive behaviour or downplay its severity are not only damaging for victims and survivors but for society as a whole.

"They play into what we call 'rape culture', where sexual assault is minimised, accepted or laughed off.

"It's crucial that sexual assault, and all forms of sexual violence and abuse, are spoken about in a way that acknowledges its immense impact on victims and survivors."

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A woman took her own life after she found a video of her partner raping her on his phone.

Tina Lewis, 24, was raped by Edward Weeks while she slept at his home in Cwmbran, Torfaen, in December.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Ms Lewis found footage of the attack on Weeks' phone the following day after he recorded the attack on motion-sensitive cameras set up in his bedroom.

Weeks, 33, was jailed for eight years after admitting rape.

Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe described Ms Lewis as "child-like" and dependent on Weeks during the course of their five-year on-off relationship.

Ms Lewis, who was autistic and described as "very vulnerable", stayed at Weeks' home just after Christmas, where he raped her after she fell asleep.

Weeks let Ms Lewis use his phone to play a game the next day when she found the video.

Mr Cobbe said it "was the processes that followed the complaint" that appeared to have had the most "extreme impact" on Ms Lewis.

"In the weeks that followed she agonised about the process itself but also about the effect it was going to have on the defendant," he added.

Ms Lewis' sister, Saffron, described the pain of losing her sister in "such upsetting circumstances".

'A very wicked act'

She said Weeks had become Ms Lewis' full-time carer and that she relied on him for many tasks.

"The effect on our family has been devastating. I have lost my best friend," she said.

"Tina was the greatest inspiration of my life."

Julia Cox, for Weeks, said: "This is a tragic case and nothing that I say in mitigation detracts from that."

She said Weeks was also autistic and described his relationship with Ms Lewis as "complex".

Weeks admitted rape and assault by penetration and judge Jeremy Jenkins told him he had committed "a very wicked act".

As well as his prison sentence, Weeks was placed on the sex offender register for life.

Description

A man who pretended he had post-traumatic stress disorder punched a woman to the face and sexually assaulted her in a Swansea hotel. James Davies attended the Grand Hotel with a woman on August 19, 2022, and they had consensual sex together, however the victim fell asleep, and woke to see Davies, who had taken cocaine that evening, pacing the floor in an aggressive state.

Swansea Crown Court heard how his face changed and and he began to talk in an Irish accent, something she believed was a result of his account that he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. The court heard he told the victim how he had served in the RAF and had witnessed a friend being blown up in front of him, resulting in him suffering from PTSD, but whilst police carried out inquiries into the matter, they found that account was false.

The 36-year-old then punched the victim to the face and made threats, whilst making her perform an oral sex act on him, despite her protests for him to stop. The court was told he also urinated on her. The matter was reported to police who attended the hotel and spoke to the victim. She was taken to Morriston Hospital for treatment for her injuries - which included a swollen face, eye and jaw.

A victim impact statement was read to the court which heard as a result of her ordeal. She said: "I hope you can live with what you did to me, and always remember I am now happy and healthy with amazing support around me. I will have to live with the flashbacks but I will always be reminded of the strong courageous woman I am becoming."

Davies, of no fixed abode, appeared at Swansea Crown Court for sentencing having pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine, two counts of ABH, two counts of rape, and assault by penetration.

Robin Rouch, for Davies, said: "There has been a fairly healthy period of reflection over the last year. It is going to be a healthy sentence regardless. This is his first custodial sentence and he is on a list for counselling and has asked to see a psychiatrist."

Judge Geraint Walters, sentencing Davies, described his acts as "nothing less than psychotic" and said the matter was a "terrifying incident". Davies must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, and a restraining order has been placed on him preventing contact with his victim for life. He was jailed for 11 years.

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An elderly Somerset man used the internet to try to arrange a meeting whereby he could sexually abuse a young girl. Martin Parker, 76 and from Evercreech, has been jailed for nine years - consisting of a four-year prison term with a further five years to be served on licence.

Evidence was gathered to show he had sent numerous messages in February and March this year. Parker was arrested at his home address in May and pleaded guilty to one count of arranging the commission of a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

The 76-year-old was not aware that his online activity was the subject of a police investigation. This prevented any child being put at risk.

Parker was remanded in custody before being sentenced at Taunton Crown Court yesterday (July 19). As well as his prison sentence, he received a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be a registered sex offender for life. His Honour Judge Edward Burgess said Parker’s actions were ‘utterly despicable and contemptuous’.

Temporary Detective Sergeant Harvey Ahern, officer in the case, said: “At Avon and Somerset Police we are committed to the protection of children and the prosecution of offenders seeking to harm them, whether be that online or in person.

“There are no safe spaces for offenders to hide that we will not find.”

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A convicted rapist created a secret online dating username while on licence from prison.

Jay Humphries, 36, was jailed in 2018 under his previous name Jonathan Drakeford. He is the son of First Minister Mark Drakeford.

Caernarfon Magistrates' Court heard he used an unapproved profile name on the Fab Guys website and deleted internet browsing history from his phone.

Humphries admitted both offences and will be sentenced on 11 August.

Humphries was arrested in Bangor, Gwynedd in March after being released from prison on licence.

The hearing on Friday was told use of the Fab Guys account had been approved by police, but the name he used - naughty 5007387 - was not.

An agreed name was required to allow police to monitor his online activity.

The court was told he claimed deleting the internet history from his phone was an accident, but prosecutor Catherine Elvin said his guilty plea indicated it was a deliberate measure "to conceal" his actions.

While no individuals had been harmed by the breaches, Ms Elvin added: "Sexual harm prevention orders are put in place for a reason."

Defending Humphries, Gemma Morgan said he had been struggling to come to terms with his personal situation after being released from prison, and being forced to live in approved accommodation in north Wales away from his family.

The court was also told he was also dealing with the death of his mother Clare Drakeford in January.

"He was suffering emotionally," said Ms Morgan.

"He was speaking to other men on Fab Guys expressing his feelings."

The court was told those feelings and his actions were compounded by learning difficulties and being autistic.

Magistrates were told Humphries had since been recalled to prison in May after other breaches of his release licence, including leaving an abusive phone message for a probation officer.

In 2018, Humphries was handed an eight year and eight month sentence at Cardiff Crown Court after being found guilty of rape and inflicting actual bodily harm. He also admitted to a child sexual offence after messaging a girl on Facebook who he thought was 15 years old.

After Humphries's 2018 conviction, Mark Drakeford said it had been a "distressing period" for the family, adding "our thoughts are with all those caught up in it, especially the victim".

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A CHILD abuser who persuaded primary age schoolgirls to dance naked for him has been jailed for the second time.

David Milton plied the victims with alcohol and told one that his sexual touching was ‘a special game’ when she was visiting his home at Newton Abbot.

The former lorry driver is already serving a 16 year sentence for abusing two other young girls in and 1970s and 1980s and has now been jailed again for abusing two more at around the same time.

One was so innocent that she only realised that what he had done to her was wrong when she went to sex education lessons at secondary school. She told police that she would have reported Milton earlier but had mistakenly been told that he had died in the 1990s.

She wrote a victim personal statement which said she had experienced a lifetime of suffering as a result of Milton’s actions.

She said: 'There are scar that never heal. They keep being scratched again and cause more anguish and pain.

'He thought he had a right to use us as playthings to satisfy his warped desires.'

Milton, aged 83, formerly of Howards Way, Newton Abbot, admitted indecently assaulting against one girl four times and another girl once. All the offences took place in the late 1970s.

He was jailed for six years with a two year extended licence by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court. He is already on the sex offenders’ register for life.

The judge told him: 'You grossly abused your position and grossly exploited the victims’ youth and innocence by assaulting them in the ways they have described. It took a great deal of courage for them to speak out.

'I have heard their personal statements and they give a vivid insight into the long term and very significant harm you have caused. They have had to live with it all their lives while you simply got on with life unaffected.

'That disparity is a real injustice and no sentence I pass can undo that injustice.'

The judge told him the sentence would have been even longer but for his old age, ill health and the long sentence he is already serving.

Miss Heather Hope, prosecuting, said the two new victims came forward in 2021. One told police she was abused while visiting Milton’s house in the 1970s.

He gave her and other girls who were there alcohol and encouraged them to be ‘giggly and hyper’ and to dance naked. He also touched her sexually in different ways when they were alone and took her into his bed when his wife was out working nights at a holiday camp.

He told her the abuse was ‘their little game’ to encourage her not to tell anyone. The other girl told police she only went to Milton’s home once but he took her into his bed where he put his hand inside her underwear and asked ‘do you like that?’.

Mr Herc Ashworth, defending, said Milton disputed the suggestion that he gave the girls alcohol. He said Milton had led a blameless life other than for a short period in the 1970s. He is now in poor health, which will make his prison sentence more difficult to endure.

In the previous case in 2017, Milton denied any sexual contact with two other girls but was found guilty by a jury. One of those victims gave evidence that she was so young and innocent when he abused her that she only realised the seriousness of his actions when she went to sex education lessons at school.

All the offences were committed when Milton was living in an estate near Newton Abbot in the 1970s and 1980s. The prosecution described him as having ‘an insatiable appetite for young children and no inhibitions at all’.

They said he brainwashed the victims and assaulted one of the girls while babysitting. He bullied the girls into keeping his abuse secret by telling them they would be taken into care if they told anyone what he was doing.

He received a 16 year sentence of which 15 years was a prison sentence with an additional year’s extended licence.

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A COURT has heard how a woman felt violated after waking up to find she was being sexually assaulted while asleep.

Louis Griffiths was found preying on the victim after they met just hours earlier on a night out in the town centre.

The 21-year-old was repeatedly told that there was no romantic inclination between them as she turned down his advances.

But he failed to take note and was later charged with sexual assault, to which he pleaded guilty on the day of his trial.

The case was outlined at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, Wednesday, July 19, by prosecutor Kenneth Grant who informed the court how the complainant was in the town centre with friends on a night out.

They left a bar at around 3am ‘having had a good time and a few drinks’, it was said, before heading to a pizza takeaway nearby.

Here, they met the defendant, where after a chat it was decided they would head back to a pub in which Griffiths lived on Wilderspool Causeway.

The group agreed and they had more drinks and played pool when they got there.

During the hours that followed, the court heard that the defendant tried to flirt with the women, tried to kiss them and invited the victim upstairs alone with him.

He was turned down however, and it was said that that none of the women were interested in him romantically, which they made clear to him.

At around 6am, they all went upstairs to sleep in a spare room, with the victim falling asleep fully clothed and partially covered by a blanket.

She woke however feeling a wet sensation to her genital area, and when she looked down she saw the defendant with his head between her legs and her underwear removed.

She shouted ‘what are you doing’ to him, which woke up the others. Griffiths then became aggressive and smashed a mirror in the room, causing a cut to his own hand.

Before everyone left, the defendant began to cry and apologise to the victim, who reported what had happened to the police.

Griffiths was arrested on June 14 and interviewed, where he tried to cover his actions with a made-up account, which has since been abandoned after he accepted the true facts of the case.

In an impact statement, the victim said she did not want to leave home or talk to anyone after what had happened and felt ‘uncomfortable in her own skin’ and ashamed.

Thinking about it made her feel ‘upset, isolated and violated’, and she said: “I refused to go out and put myself in a situation where I got tipsy where a predator could attack me.”

“I am shocked that this man thought he had the right to assault me. I cannot imagine what could have happened had I not woken up.”

Mitigating on behalf of his client, Stephen McNally spoke of how Griffiths had a ‘lack of maturity for his age’ at the time and how his actions were ‘out of character’ for someone with no previous convictions.

It was added that he is ‘genuinely remorseful’, wishes to apologise the victim, does not drink as much as he used to, is now in a long-term relationship and has not reoffended since.

Mr McNally called for a suspended sentence, but this was rejected by recorder Richard Pratt who said: “She was asleep and extremely vulnerable when you assaulted her.

“I accept that you were 19 at the time and immature, but in my view you are, and were, old enough to understand the seriousness of your actions.”

He concluded: “It would send out completely the wrong message to the victim and the public if I imposed anything other than an immediate custodial sentence.”

Griffiths was sentenced to 12 months in prison and must abide by sex offender registration and notification requirements for the next 10 years.

Description

A convicted sex offender tried to hug and kiss a woman in front of her young daughter as they sat in the back of a church.

Stephen Denison, who has two previous convictions for sexual assault, including one where he left a teenage schoolgirl hyperventilating in shock by groping her at a city centre bus station, spotted the female and child at the church in Fenham, one day in May this year. The 50-year-old pervert then sat next to the woman and hugged her before "forcibly pulling her" towards him and trying to kiss her, a court heard.

The terrified victim pushed the pervert away as concerned members of public, who had seen what was happening, intervened, prosecutors said. Denison, of Baxter Avenue, in Fenham, was arrested and charged with one count of sexual assault.

He failed to show for a subsequent hearing at Newcastle Magistrates' Court and a warrant was issued for his arrest, however, he was finally detained last month, pleaded guilty to the offence and the case was adjourned to this week for sentence. Gurjot Kaur, prosecuting, said the victim, who was unknown to Denison, and her young daughter were sat in the church one day in May this year when Denison approached them.

Miss Kaur continued: "The defendant initially hugged her. He kept trying to talk to her and offered her daughter a coin. The defendant then put his arm around her back and made an attempt to forcibly pull her towards him to try and kiss her. She pushed him away."

In a statement, the victim said she'd been left suffering from heart palpitations and having to take anti-nausea pills. She also said she had been unable to return to the church since the incident.

The court heard that Denison had 46 offences on his record, including two for sexual assault from 2021 and 2016. For the 2021 offence, which involved groping the teenage schoolgirl at Eldon Square bus station, he was jailed for 16 months and made to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years.

Andy O'Hanlon, defending, said Denison wasn't "bad to the bone" but, instead, "undiagnosed" with a limited understanding. Mr O'Hanlon added: "He hasn't addressed his offending behaviour in custody.

"Probation want to keep working with him on an intensive basis. Doing something to stop him drinking so heavily would be a good start. You can lock him up for a short time but it won't address anything. Probation want to put a great deal of work into him. Until that's done, he will just wander around being a pain."

Magistrates jailed Denison for 20 weeks and told him he must also sign the Sex Offenders' Register for seven years.

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A sick pervert was found with a horrific stash of more than 10,000 of the most serious indecent images of children - where some of the victims were just babies.

First-time sex offender George Jeffries has been locked up for 15 months after he was found with more than 35,000 indecent images of children and five videos - which showed a sex act being performed with a dog.

Teesside Crown Court heard how some of the videos were an hour long and include vulnerable children and even babies.

Jeffries, 50, was found by police at his Stockton home after his IP address was flagged as having downloaded indecent images of children. When officers arrived, Jeffries had been asleep on the sofa, with his laptop open and downloading files with titles which suggested child abuse.

Uzma Khan, prosecuting, said: "The officer stopped the download and shut down the laptop. There was no one else in the address. The defendant appeared to live alone."

The images and videos downloaded dated back to 2019 when officers attended his home in November 2021. "There were a number of videos that were over an hour in length," Ms Khan added.

Recorder Jamie Hill said the images were described as "the worse possible type in category A". Jeffries has 13 previous convictions for 36 offences dating back to 1987 but he's been out of trouble with the court for 23 years.

Dr Chris Wood, mitigating, said: "Clearly the report suggests he is a man who thinks well in terms of currency and finances. He doesn't have a lifestyle with issues with drugs and alcohol that can cause an inability to comply."

"It's unusual for a man who is 50 not to have anything [on his record] of this nature before... to go from nothing to this is a considerable leap."

The court heard how Jeffries had been in prison since May when he failed to attended the crown court. "He has had a taste of what prison life is like," added Dr Wood.

Jeffries admitted three counts of making indecent images of children after he was found with:

• 20,220 category C images,
• 5,303 category B images,
• 10,308 category A images - the most serious.

He also admitted possessing an extreme pornographic image - namely five videos which portrayed a sex act on a dog "which was grossly offensive, disgusting or otherwise of an obscene".

"People who indulge in the sort of behaviour you did over the period of two years are providing a market there for those who commit child abuse physically and seek to profit from it," said Recorder Hill.

He outlined that some of the children in the images were very young, including babies.

Jeffries, of Skinner Street, Stockton, was jailed for 15 months. He has also been made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and will be on the Sex Offender's Register for a decade.

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A man who breached a sexual harm prevention order by assisting families with young children at a fairground ride has been jailed for nine months.

Richard Mason, 35, pleaded guilty to the breach and to obstructing a police officer at a hearing on May 9.

Mason, of Church Terrace, Darwen, was not to have any contact with children under the age of 18 per the terms of his order, which was amended to include that restriction in 2019.

This was the sixth time Mason had breached the order, originally imposed following a conviction for sexual offences in 2005.

Prosecuting at Preston Crown Court, Beth Pilling said: “Police received an anonymous phone call on April 8 this year informing them the defendant was working at Witton Park in Blackburn.

“They attended at around 4.15pm and observed him working on one of the rides for around 13 minutes, seating families and locking the overhead equipment into place.

“On speaking to him, he informed the police he was going home. He collected his items from by the ticket stall and walked off.”

The police decided to take Mason to one side to speak to him, but he pushed an officer’s arm away and ran off. He was located an hour later on a nearby street.

He informed officers he was only there to go on the rides and that he had not been working there, just assisting a friend who was working.

Mitigating, Holly Nelson said Mason maintains he was not paid to be there and he attended the fairground to meet a friend working there who had asked for help.

“He should not have been doing it and he accepts that,” Ms Nelson added.

Sentencing, Recorder David Temkin said: “On April 8 this year police were anonymously called to say you were working at a funfair in Witton Park.

“You were observed for a little under a quarter of an hour assisting your friend. You certainly assisted and operated machinery.

“What you did brought you into contact with families, including children, in direct contradiction to your Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and you knew it.

“Police officers viewed some families had young children appearing to be under 13. One police officer saw you lifting a seven-year-old child into a carriage.

“You told the police officers you were only there to go on some rides. That was patently untrue.”

Passing sentence, Recorder Temkin said Mason presented a risk and a danger to the public and an appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody.

Mason was sentenced to nine months in prison, with no separate penalty for the obstruction of an officer.

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Former teacher Richard Cosburn has been sentenced to a minimum of 12 years for multiple sexual offences against children at Norwich Crown Court today (19 July 2023).

Cosburn, 56, from Mill Road in Great Yarmouth, admitted a total of 23 sex offences against four child victims including multiple rapes against children with the offences dating back to the early 2000s against victims aged 16 and under.

A statement from one of his victim’s, read in court by a police officer, said: “Sometimes I find myself closing my eyes to pretend this is all just a bad dream but the feelings of anxiety never go away …my willingness to try and forgive and forget has gone. I will never be able to forgive what he has done.”

Cosburn is believed to have previously worked at schools in Bromley, Bradwell, Gorleston and Great Yarmouth areas. His offending was not linked to his work.

Cosburn, who pleaded guilty to the offences at an earlier hearing, was originally arrested by the Metropolitan police in Bromley in October 2020. This followed reports he had groomed and abused a young girl in the Great Yarmouth.

Following further investigation, he was re-arrested and charged on 13 December 2022.

Cosburn’s home was searched and various electronic devices, mobile phones, USB, camera, camcorder, laptop, and memory disks were seized.

Norfolk Police took over the investigation and when digital examination of his devices was completed, police found a considerable number of indecent images and videos relating to Cosburn’s offending both in the UK and overseas. 

DI Andy Hill said: “Cosburn is a prolific sexual predator who has abused the trust of children. His actions have caused untold damage in a crime that often resonates throughout a person’s life and can impact on a vast array of areas from relationships to mental health. I would like to commend the victims of Cosburn who have been exceptionally brave in providing evidence leading to this outcome.”

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A man arranged to meet a "13-year-old girl" at the shops for sex who was in reality an undercover police officer. Martin Woodward, of Conwy, fixed up the meeting but never went through with it.

But he contacted the girl called Leah - who was really an undercover police officer - later and was traced through the internet. Officers called at his home in the rural village of Llanfairtalhaiarn one morning and he was arrested.

The defendant pleaded guilty to arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence - sexual assault on a child. A judge at Caernarfon Crown Court jailed him for five years and four months.

Prosecutor John Philpotts said the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit had discovered a user calling themselves Woody84 on the platform Chat 1B on June 20. He said they found that the defendant - Woodward - was communicating with a "13-year-old" child called Leah.

He said he was 38 which was true, and originally from Salford but now from North Wales, which was also true. But "13-year-old Leah" was really an undercover police officer, the court heard.

Mr Philpotts said their conversation moved to Google hangouts and became sexual. Woodward asked Leah "Are you a thong or a panties girl?" and made a reference to "Frenchies" or French knickers.

He said he would remove her knickers and and incited her to play truant from school to meet him for sexual activity. He sent her a photo of an "athletic" male - which was not of him.

And "Leah" sent her a photo of a young female - which was not Leah. The court heard that the following day, June 21, Woodward arranged to meet Leah at Chester Greyhound Retail Park at noon that day to have sex even though Woodward knew Leah was 13 and a virgin.

But Mr Philpotts said Woodward didn't go. The next day he messaged Leah to apologise. He then sent Leah a photo of a female in sexually-provocative clothes and asked her if she would wear the same clothes.

However police had identified Woodward using his Internet Protocol (IP) address which had his date of birth and address in it.

Officers went to his house in Cae Glas, Llanfairtalhaiarn near Abergele just before 7am on June 27 and he was arrested. He admitted several offences.

Ember Wong, defending, said her client had not gone to the Chester meeting and the image he sent was of a fully-clothed female. But she accepted it had been a "worrying development in his offending pattern." He was managing his depressive symptoms "entirely inappropriately".

He had pleaded guilty and wants to become a law abiding citizen. The judge Her Honour Nicola Saffman jailed Woodward for five years and four months for the arranging offence.

She also gave him a two-month, concurrent sentence for attempting to cause a female under 16 to engage in sexual communication between June 19 and June 27 this year.

She said the terms of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order from a previous offence will remain in place and Woodward must keep to notification requirements for a sex offender indefinitely.

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A perverted biology teacher who used to work at a north Bristol school kissed and groped young female pupils in secret lunchtime meetings, a court heard. And decades on at the age of 86, he has been jailed.

Offences were alleged against Graham Digby-Rogers in February last year, Bristol Crown Court heard. Instead of a trial Digby-Rogers, of Stokefield Close in Thornbury, pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting three girls aged 13 or under.

Judge Euan Ambrose jailed him for six years and four months. He told the pensioner: "Your offences will have had a significant impact on each of them. It is said a prison sentence will be harder for you than for a younger man and I accept that."

Digby-Rogers was told to notify himself on the sex offender's register indefinitely. He should be released half way through the prison term.

James Tucker, prosecuting, said Digby-Rogers sat one youngster on a desk, stroked her hand and kissed her on her mouth. Mr Tucker told the court: "Her friend would join her and the defendant in the office at lunchtime."

The court heard Digby-Rogers touched one of the girl's genitals, which she found "disgusting", and rubbed his private parts against hers.

Digby-Rogers also sexually abused a third girl, Mr Tucker said, rubbing himself against her and committing a sex act on her thigh. The abuse left the youngster frightened, the court heard.

Robert Morgan-Jones, defending, said: "He's actively coming to terms with the offending during the pre-sentence report. They will have had a significant effect on the lives of the three victims and I do not suggest anything else."

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A 35-year-old groomed who he thought was a 14-year-old girl, sending her a message which read: “Would you like to get naked and snuggle?” Derby Crown Court heard how Csaba Tokes also asked the "teenager" what her sexual fantasy was after he began chatting to her online following a split from his long-term partner.

But unbeknown to the Ilkeston man “Ava” was really an undercover police officer posing as the teen. Handing him a two-year community order, Judge Robert Egbuna said: “What is clear is that the decoy made it clear they were aged 14 (and) from the communication you had between yourself and the decoy it’s apparent there’s an element of sophistication in respect of the grooming behaviour which took place.

“You even ask ‘would you like to get naked and snuggle?’ and it’s apparent there’s some quite clever grooming. (But) it is also clear there’s an element of reticence from you when the decoy, on a number of occasions, messages you and you do not reply.

“I do not accept that a break-up from an adult leads to someone having an interest in children (but) the pre-sentence report concludes that you are at a high risk of communicating with young children.”

Sarah Allen, prosecuting, said the officer set up Ava as a decoy, who Tokes started messaging firstly on the app Kik in November last year and then their conversations moved to WhatsApp. She said Ava told him she was aged 14 and from Nottingham and he told her he was 35 and lived in Ilkeston.

The prosecutor said the early messages were not of a sexual nature and included talk about what video games they both liked to play. Miss Allen said: “On November 28 she sent him a message saying ‘I thought you liked me?’ as there had been no communication for three days and he replied ‘I do like you but you are very young’ and he asked her if she’d had any boyfriends to which she replied she’d had two.

“He then asked her what she had done sexually and asked if she was a virgin. They then spoke in person and they spoke about meeting up and maybe going to see a film, going for a walk or going for a McDonald's.”

The prosecutor said Tokes was arrested at his place of work in January of this year. He pleaded guilty to attempted sexual communication with a child between November 7 and December 3, 2022.

The defendant has no previous convictions. Benn Robinson, mitigating, said his client was born in Romania but had moved to Hungary when he was aged three and has no family here in the UK. He said: “He had a four-year relationship but unfortunately that broke down which led to some isolation and loneliness and he reached out online.”

As part of the community order, Judge Egbuna ordered that Tokes attend a 43-day sex offender treatment programme and 55 rehabilitation sessions. He also ordered him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, placed him on the sex offender register for five years and handed him a five-year sexual harm prevention order.

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A 34-year-old man has been jailed for life after assaulting and raping two women in ‘horrific’ attacks.

Nathan Giles, of Wrington, was found guilty in December last year of nine offences against two victims. The offences included four counts of rape, one of attempted rape and two of controlling/coercive behaviour.

He was also found guilty of one count of assault and one of sexual assault.

He was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Friday 14 July to life imprisonment, serving a minimum of 17 years and four months before he can be considered for parole.

He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

In a personal statement, one victim said: “Nathan Giles has ruined my life… I feel that a part of me has been destroyed and I will never get that back.

“No sentence that Nathan Giles receives will ever justify what he has done to me. I am doing this for every woman out there, so that no one else has to endure the pain, the sleepless nights and constant fear.

“I have done this because I feel that this is my ending to my new beginning.”

The second victim said she felt ‘terrified, lost and ashamed’ following the incident and would hide in shops to get away from people who looked like Giles.

The incidents have meant the victim avoids certain places, especially those that bring back ‘horrible memories’.

Investigating officer DS Darren Weston said: “The bravery of the victims to come forward to the police is a testament to their character and unwavering trust in the criminal justice system.

“These two victims were subjected to horrific crimes at the hands of a dangerous man who has not accepted his actions.

“What they have done has without a doubt protected others in the community from Giles’ predatory and abhorrent behaviour.

“I hope that this gives other victims of these types of crimes the confidence to come forward and report to the police, knowing we will do everything in our power to get justice for victims.”