Latest Offenders

Description

A 64-year-old man who thought he was inciting a young girl to carry out sexual activity - less than a year after his release from prison for a rape charge - has been has been put back behind bars.

Plymouth man Russell Roberts, appeared at Plymouth Crown Court via video link from HMP The Verne in Dorset after he pleaded guilty to the single count of attempting to incite a child under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity.

Prosecutor Michael Brown told the court how Roberts initially pleaded not guilty to a number of charges relating to incidents which took place between March 9, 2022 and March 23, 2022, but in late June this year he pleaded guilty to the single charge of inciting a girl under 16 - which included him urging her to penetrate herself with an object.

Mr Brown explained that a further charge of possession of extreme pornographic material would lie on file, as would a charge of attempted sexual communication.

The court heard Roberts was arrested by police thanks to action taken by "paedophile hunters" who set up a decoy Facebook account in the name of "Lola". The decoy claimed she was 13-years-old and Roberts made contact with her in March 2022. 'Lola' told police that Roberts was "very eager" to chat with her and was "persistent" with his messages.

The court heard it was "plain that Roberts knew she was 13" not least because the decoy told him her age and that she was still at school, and referred to "mealtimes and bedtimes".

The conversation "quickly turned sexual" and he told her he was looking for a relationship, asked her if she ever masturbated or had sex and told her to keep their conversations "secret from her mother".

He referred to 'Lola' as "baby or baby girl" and he pestered her to call him and talk dirty to him about sex. He asked her if she wore knickers at bedtime before then encouraging her to engage in sexual activity. He also urged her to buy a vibrator.

After asking her if she had ever seen a man's privates, he then sent her a picture of his penis. He then asked if she would have sex with him which culminated in a conversation about the two of them meeting.

Mr Brown said the decoy from the paedophile hunters' group then created an adult decoy on March 21 and Roberts began to exchange messages with that profile. Again, the conversation quickly turned sexual and a meeting was arranged to take place March 23, 2022 in Yealmpton.

The court heard how the "hunter group" confronted Roberts, police were called and the evidence was handed over. During police interview he replied "no comment".

Mr Brown said Roberts had 15 convictions for 20 offences - including a count of rape from 2005 for which he received a sentence of imprisonment for public protection in 2006.

This means the offender must serve a minimum period in custody set by the court, known as a 'tariff', before they can become eligible for parole. Once the offender has served their tariff, they remain in custody until the Parole Board decides they are no longer a risk to the public.

However, Roberts was released on April 1, 2021 and recalled back to prison on March 23, 2022 following his arrest.

In mitigation, his advocate Herc Ashworth told the court the previous offences did not relate to children and that Roberts had said he was sorry for his behaviour.

Mr Ashworth told the court the offence had effectively taken place two years and four months ago, but the first hearing did not take place until February this year. He added that while in prison, Roberts had no visitors, his family had all passed away and he was living a "lonely life", along with the difficulties of residing in the "overcrowded" prison estate.

Judge David Evans noted that "if this had been a real-life 13-year-old girl this exchange may have been a very nasty end - and very prematurely so - to an age of innocence".

He noted Roberts' previous conviction for a rape in 2005, which involved an adult. He accepted Roberts was "genuinely ashamed" and there had been no sexual offending since that date and 2022, but added he also noted his imprisonment for public protection, adding that it would be "for the foreseeable future".

Judge Evans questioned the delay between the arrest, charge and court appearance, describing it as "inexplicable and inexcusable", and the fact that the prisons were "very congested" meant there was very little "positive work" going on inside prisons at the moment.

Taking into account the mitigating and aggravating factors he passed a sentence of 24 months, explaining that he would serve half but it would be for the parole board to determine whether he should be released or not, due to the terms of the 2006 sentence.

He also passed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order to deal with the risk of reoffending and community harm Roberts presented.

In October 2006 the Plymouth Herald reported on the sentencing of Roberts, describing how he was a doorman who "used his brawn to overpower two women". The report stated that Roberts, then of Headland Park, North Hill, was convicted by a jury at Plymouth Crown Court of twice raping a woman in his bedsit in May 2005.

He was also found guilty of attempting to rape a prostitute, who escaped after she sprayed him in the face with CS Spray, in August 2005. At the time in 2006, Mr Vere-Hodge jailed Roberts for 12 years, with the order of him serving a minimum of six years. He also placed Roberts on the sex offenders register for life.

Description

A taxi driver took advantage of a female passenger's drunken condition, going on a “detour” to rape her in a secluded cemetery car park before dropping her at home.

The heavily intoxicated woman was put in the taxi by a friend, following a night out to celebrate a birthday, with the driver David Greaves given the instruction to take her straight home.

Durham Crown Court heard that a trip which should have taken between five and ten minutes lasted almost an hour before the passenger, oblivious to what had taken place on the journey, was dropped at home and helped to bed by a family member.

On waking the following morning, she had little recollection of the events of the previous night, but, due to internal soreness, she began to have her suspicions.

Paul Cleasby, prosecuting, said she was terrified she had been taken advantage of by the taxi driver on the journey home.

Greaves was contacted and accepted having had sexual intercourse with the woman.

Horrified at the thought, the woman contacted the police and, when arrested and interviewed, Greaves again confirmed having had sex with her on the journey to her home.

Mr Cleasby said he gave police, “an account of a long-running sexual encounter, going into graphic details, minimising her level of drunkenness”.

He said Greaves' version of events suggested the woman was, an “enthusiastic” participant in the sexual activity.

The now 42-year-old defendant, of Wansbeck Close, Spennymoor, was charged with rape and denied the allegation, maintaining his account that it was a consensual encounter.

Following a five-day trial at the court, in late May, he was convicted on the jury verdict.

He was remanded in custody pending preparation of a background probation report prior to sentence being passed, at the court on Thursday (July 11).

Mr Cleasby told the sentencing hearing the defendant had taken advantage of the victim’s, “extremely vulnerable state”.

He said: “It was a protracted incident with a degree of planning, driving her to a car park of a secluded cemetery to carry out the attack.”

Mr Cleasby said it was an “abuse of trust”, with a significant degree of planning, awaiting the opportunity to carry out a sexual attack.

He then read the victim’s impact statement in which she said the incident had, “changed my life forever”.

She said she had gone through periods of self-loathing and disgust, low confidence and esteem, as well as suffering panic attacks and depression and being hyper-vigilant, “seeing danger everywhere,” with major trust issues.

The court heard she has also suffered from severe migraines and turned to alcohol more than usual to try to cope.

But she has also struggled to sleep and when she does, she is prone to having nightmares.

Stuart Duke, in mitigation, told the court the position of the defendant remains the same, maintaining his innocence.

“But he accepts he was convicted by the jury and will receive a significant term of imprisonment.

“He regards his life as effectively over and is very pessimistic about his future.

“He has no previous convictions and has never been to prison before.

“He’s found his time as a vulnerable prisoner extremely distressing and difficult.

“It will be many years before he will be at liberty.”

Mr Duke said despite his lack of past convictions, the defendant was classed as, “a dangerous offender” by the author of the Probation Service report.

Judge Jo Kidd told Greaves: “I take the view that you continue to hold a thoroughly delusional and incorrect view of the predatory rape you carried out on the victim in this case.”

She said he would have been aware of the victim’s vulnerabilities at the time of the pick-up.

“They couldn’t have been more obvious to you.

“You drove her to a secluded area some distance from her home.

“No one will ever know what you did to her when she was in that secluded, dark area, in that taxi with you.

“It’s an understandable source of trauma to your victim.”

The judge said Greaves, “took no account, whatsoever, of her bodily autonomy and her right to choose with who and when and where she would engage in sexual activity.

“Your delusional attitude continues to be disturbing.

“The way you described that sexual activity seemed to contain elements of relish, enjoying the description.

“Understandably, the probation report author’s view is that you pose a danger despite having no previous convictions.

“There was an element of abduction and this was a sustained incident.

“The victim was particularly vulnerable and has endured severe psychological harm.”

Judge Kidd, therefore, imposed an extended sentence of 15 years, with a 12-year custodial element, to be followed by a three-year licence period.

She told Greaves he must serve at least two-thirds of the custodial period, eight years, before being eligible for consideration for release by the Parole Board.

Judge Kidd also made the defendant subject to an unlimited restraining order, prohibiting him from ever contacting or approaching his victim.

He will also be subject to notification as a sex offender for an unlimited period and entered on the barring list from ever working with children or vulnerable adults.

Judge Kidd said she did not feel it necessary to impose a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, the terms of which would have sought to ban him from driving taxis in future, as, by way of his conviction, he will not be permitted to hold a licence for such work in future.

Having told the defendant to return to his wing to begin serving his sentence, Judge Kidd thanked the victim and her family for the “dignity and courage” they have shown during the court proceedings.

Description

A Great Yarmouth man has been sentenced to a total of 18 years  - 16 to be served in prison and two years to be served on licence for historic sex offences against three children.

Peter Esherwood, 66, of Harfreys Road, Great Yarmouth, appeared at Norwich Crown Court today (12 July 2024) where he was sentenced for four counts of indecent assault, two counts of gross indecency with a child, one of sexual assault of a child and one count of inciting a child to take part in a sexual activity and failing to surrender. He previously pleaded not guilty but changed his plea to guilty during sentencing.

The court heard that in September 2017 a woman disclosed sexual abuse by Esherwood when she was a child to another adult and police were contacted. Following an investigation by officers, two further victims of Esherwood came forward and spoke to police about being sexually abused by him when they were young girls.

Esherwood’s offending relates to three female victims from the late 1980s to the 2000s.

DS Ricki Peake said outside the court hearing that Esherwood had to be tried and convicted in his absence after selling his house, liquidising his assets and fleeing to Thailand after being charged for the offences while on bail awaiting trial in October 2022. Following conviction, Norfolk police and the CPS worked closely with Interpol and Thai authorities and he was subsequently arrested re-entering the country via Heathrow Airport in April 2024 and remanded for sentencing.

The victims’ statements were read out at court:

Describing panic attacks and depression which resulted in her losing her career, one of his victim’s states, ‘I will never forgive him for what he put me my family through’.

A second victim said she was physically and mentally exhausted and had suffered panic attacks and blocked out memories of her childhood as a result of his abuse.

A third victim said in her statement: “My innocence was shattered. My self-confidence annihilated. I know that I will never be able to escape my experiences, but I live in the hope, no, the belief, that one day I will find peace.”

DS Ricki Peake said: “The victim-survivors in this case have been incredibly brave coming forward and giving evidence to us. It can be immensely distressing with this type of crime to have to go through past traumatic events. Hopefully the sentencing will go some way to providing justice for what they have endured.”

Description

James Paterson (07/04/1992) of Cheadle, Stockport was found guilty at Bolton Crown Court of two counts of sexual assault by penetration and three counts of sexual assault involving three different victims in March 2024, and was sentenced yesterday (Thursday 11 July 2024) to 10 years in prison.

He must service two-thirds of this before being considered for release.

In addition, he received an extra three years on licence and has been placed on the sex offender’s register for life, with lifetime restraining orders in place for the victims.

At the time the offences were committed both Paterson and the women were colleagues, working at a company based in Didsbury, South Manchester. The company would reward employees by organising social events after work hours. Back in June 2019, a night out came out of one of the events which meant meeting up in the City Centre. When going back to a flat to continue to celebrate before sleeping, one of the victims woke up to being penetrated without consent and then later being touched inappropriately despite turning down the advances on each occasion.

Telling a friend and colleague later that day it was reported to her workplace.

A few months later in September 2019, another event was organised in Didsbury where Paterson offered to drop another woman off home afterwards. After going in a short time later further advances were made which were abruptly rejected. Waking up later that morning to Paterson crouched down beside her bedside before seeing him on top of her, again sexually penetrating without consent.

Once safe, she later reported the concerns to her workplace. This was subsequently passed onto our officers some time later and in June 2020 following an investigation Paterson was arrested, denying the claims outright.

In July 2020, a social gathering was taking place in Wilmslow and when it came to an end they went to sleep in separate rooms. Waking up to being touched inappropriately under her clothes, she ran downstairs to tell a friend in horror. Upon being confronted he left. Once they knew he was under investigation a further report was made to our officers to help with enquiries and ensure safeguarding as well as further prompt action.

He was later found guilty of the offences in court and sentenced.

Description

A 91-year-old man has been jailed after being found guilty of indecently assaulting a child nearly 50 years ago.

John Gaukroger, of Halifax, abused a boy who was under the age of 10 while helping out at a children's afterschool centre between 1975 and 1976.

The crimes came to light in 2020 when the victim reported what happened to him to the police, prompting an investigation and eventually a trial.

Gaukroger, who denied the allegations, was found guilty in May of two counts of indecent assault against a child and was jailed for 26 months at Bradford Crown Court on Thursday.

The court heard that during his time helping at the children’s centre, he would also take the youngsters on camping trips.

Gaukroger's victim said there was not a day when he did not think about what happened, and it had had "a big impact on me, my family and my relationships".

"I feel like I have now come to terms with everything and since the case was in court I have had some of the best night's sleep I have ever had," he added.

"I am happy this now has a conclusion, and I can try my best to move on from this now."

Det Insp Vicky Lawrence, of West Yorkshire Police, appealed for other potential victims of Gaukroger's offending to come forward.

“Irrelevant of the length of time passed, you will be listened to, supported and we will do all we can to fight for victims and bring perpetrators to justice,” she said.

Gaukroger was also told he must sign the sex offender's register and was handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

Description

A 21-year-old man has been sentenced after he arranged to meet a 15-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity following a British Transport Police investigation.

Thomas Kasper, of Sceptre Road, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to meeting or arranging to meet a child following sexual grooming, sexual communication with a child and non-penetrative sexual activity with a child.

He was sentenced to nine months suspended for 18 months on Wednesday 10 July at Liverpool Crown Court.

He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for seven years and given a seven year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

The court heard how on, Sunday 21 May last year, officers patrolling Liverpool Lime Street station spotted Kasper with a child engaged in kissing and hugging.

Concerned by what they had witnessed given the visible age difference, officers stopped the pair and engaged them in conversation with Kasper telling them he was 20 years old and the girl just 15.

Speaking to officers separately Kasper admitted they were dating but claimed no sexual activity had taken place. He was arrested for grooming and causing or inciting a child to engage in a sexual activity.

In interview he admitted knowing the child was underage but again claimed nothing of a sexual nature had taken place between them.

Kasper was bailed while investigations continued with officers examining the mobile phone he had with him at the time.

After examination officers found text messages between the pair which were clearly of a sexual nature.

CCTV images from the station on the day of his arrest also showed evidence of a sexual relationship.

Investigating officer Sergeant Stuart Maw said: “Despite Kasper’s claims that the relationship was not in any way sexual, his actions on CCTV from the station clearly demonstrated otherwise as did the text messages which he had sent to the girl.

“Our immediate concern was safeguarding the child who Kasper had evidently groomed for sexual purposes and collecting evidence that would result in preventing others falling prey to him.

“Now he has been issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order it is hoped Kasper will steer clear of contacting any underage girls in the future, not least for fear of imprisonment.”

Description

A man has been jailed after he met a woman in Romford, became physically violent towards her and raped her in her home. Sam Price prevented the woman from leaving her house during a sustained period of intimidation and abuse which took place over a week.

Price, 25 (05.05.99) of Central Park Avenue, Dagenham appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, 5 July where he was sentenced to ten and a half years' imprisonment for rape, and two counts of assault. He also received a lifetime restraining order and will be added to the Sex Offenders Register.

On Sunday 16 July 2023, Price met a woman and exchanged details with her. Within a matter of days of meeting her, the abuse started. Price punched her repeatedly, bit her, and subjected her to various other attacks and threats. As well as these attacks, he also raped her.

The ordeal lasted for seven days, before Price left the property and the victim managed to call her friend, who notified police. Officers arrived at the property. They acted swiftly to collect CCTV evidence, witness and victim statements. This led to the arrest of Price, within days of the report.

Price was arrested at an address in Central Park Avenue following covert work by the local manhunt team and subsequently interviewed on Wednesday, 26 July by detectives from the Met’s East Area Public Protection Unit.

He was found guilty of rape and one count of assault following a trial at the same court following the conclusion of a trial in April. Price had earlier pleaded guilty to another count of assault.

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A Fife creep who sexually abused and secretly filmed a young girl has been spared jail.

Matthew Finlayson, 33, was found guilty after trial of sexually assaulting the child on various occasions at an address in Kirkcaldy during a period spanning more than two years.

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A young woman has spoken of the devastation and distress she feels after being sexually assaulted by a Rotherham man. 

Sex offender, Andrew Wilcox, was forced to hear of the continuing impact his heinous actions have had on the woman he sexually assaulted twice on the same night, as her statements were read to Sheffield Crown Court this afternoon (Wednesday, July 10, 2024). 

“I feel completely broken,” she said. 

The young woman continued: “This incident has made me feel violated. I can still feel his hand on me, and it’s always on my mind, his hand touching me.”

“A normal Saturday night turned into the worst night of my life, and destroyed everything.”

She described how the impact of the sexual assaults had sent her into a depression, and was ‘dreading’ receiving the counselling she has been on a waiting list for because she knows she will need to ‘bring it all back up again’. 

“I feel like my life has been on hold, waiting for the day he would plead guilty and it would be over,” continued the young woman, who is entitled to lifelong anonymity.  

Prosecutor Louise Reevell told the court that Wilcox sexually assaulted the complainant twice, and as the second of the two attacks was happening, she screamed so loudly that it attracted the attention of those nearby. 

As he sent Wilcox, aged 51, to begin a prison sentence for his crimes, Judge David Dixon told him that any remorse he had shown was not for the impact of the two sexual assaults but for the ‘consequences’ he had brought upon himself. 

“You’ve sought to minimise and evade responsibility for this…you’ve sought to wriggle and squirm throughout,” Judge Dixon told Wilcox. 

He also had to repeat instructions for Wilcox to stand as his prison sentence was being passed down, as a sign of ‘courtesy’ and respect both to the complainant and for the seriousness of the offences he was being brought to justice for. 

Wilcox, of Howard Road, Bramley, Rotherham, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault at an earlier hearing. 

Defending, Rebecca Tanner prefaced her mitigation by acknowledging that Wilcox’s behaviour had been ‘disgraceful’ and ‘deplorable’; and told the complainant - who was present in court for the sentencing - that nothing she says on his behalf is intended to ‘minimise’ the ‘seriousness of what he has done’. 

Ms Tanner pointed to Wilcox’s lack of previous convictions and his guilty pleas at an early stage, which, she suggested, was ‘perhaps the greatest indicator of his acceptance and remorse’. 

“He’s a man who realises how severely he’s let people down, and wants to understand how he’s been capable of behaving in that way,” Ms Tanner told the court. 

She suggested that prior to this conduct, Wilcox had led an ‘ordinary and hard-working life’; and ‘plays a part in the lives’ of his children, grandchildren and parents.

Ms Tanner told Judge Dixon that Wilcox has a ‘realistic prospect of rehabilitation’ and suggested that, coupled with his other points of mitigation, means he can step back from imposing an immediate prison sentence.

Judge Dixon rejected that assertion, however, and said he regarded Wilcox’s continued efforts to ‘minimise’ and ‘manipulate’ as proof that he cannot be rehabilitated. 

Jailing Wilcox for 13 months, Judge Dixon told him: “There’s simply no way at all that this case can be anything other than an immediate term of imprisonment.”

Judge Dixon also granted a restraining order, which prohibits Wilcox from contacting the complainant for a period of 15 years, as well as a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. He also told him that he will be required to sign on to the sex offenders’ register. 

Description

A Cornwall businessman has been jailed for historic child sex offences. Aidan Treglown, 31, appeared at Reading Crown Court, in Berkshire, for sentence on Tuesday (July 9).

After an eight-day trial, ending on 24 April, Treglown was found guilty by unanimous jury verdict of one count of sexual assault of a child under 13. He was also found guilty by majority jury verdict of one count each of sexual assault of a child under 13 and rape of a child.

Before the trial, Treglown pleaded guilty to two counts each of sexual assault of a child under 13 and causing/inciting a child to under 13 to engage in sexual activity. Treglown, of Tregolls Road in Truro, was acquitted of two counts each of sexual assault by penetration of a child under 13, sexual assault by touching of a child under 13 and one count of rape of a child.

He was sentenced to five years imprisonment. Treglown will also be on the sex offenders register for life, have restraining orders against his victim and two others and was granted a sexual harm prevention order for ten years.

The offending took place in Finchampstead between 2004 and 2008. Treglown was charged by postal requisition on 1 April last year.

The businessman runs Padstow-based House Management Group, a property maintenance and cleaning service company he became director of shortly after his 16th birthday, according to his LinkedIn profile. He's also currently listed as the director of House Management Services Ltd on Companies House.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Adele Shaw, of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: “Aidan Treglown has now been held to account for the abhorrent offences against a child. The victim in this case has shown immense courage in telling someone what happened to them.

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Update 2024-06-11

Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man has been jailed for various sex offences in Wokingham.

James Dyer, aged 37, of HMP Five Wells, was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday (9/7).

He was previously put on the sex offenders register for life.

Dyer pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child, causing a child to watch/look at an image of sexual activity and breaching his Sexual Harm Protection Order.

On 28 February last year, the victims mother checked the victims phone and discovered Instagram messages of a sexual nature from Dyer.

Dyer had also sent the victim videos of himself containing sexual content and voice notes of a sexual nature.

These messages, videos and voice notes were sent to the victim between 2 February and 20 February, last year.

Dyer was already subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order at this time which prohibited him from communicating with a child under 16, which he breached.

He was arrested at a voluntary interview on 8 September last year, whilst already in prison.

2021-08-27

Sex offender James Dyer, 34, who also sent teenage girls indecent videos jailed and given restraining order against 'couragous' victims

A man who sent indecent videos including to two teenage girls and tried to drag a woman out of her car after asking her to have sex with him has been jailed.

Thames Valley Police praised the "bravery and courage" of the victims of James Dyer who carried out his sickening offences in Reading.

Police branded Dyer, 34, as someone who "displayed all the hallmarks of a dangerous offender" and said he was "intent on sexual contact with young women and unable to control himself".

At Reading Crown Court on Tuesday, August 25, Dyer of Longs Way, Wokingham, was handed a two years and six months jail sentence after he had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of sending an indecent or grossly offensive electronic communication with intent to cause distress or anxiety, as well as one count each of sexual assault and common assault.

In a statement after the case Thames Valley Police said that in early April this year, Dyer sent videos of "a sexual nature to two teenage girls and a woman in her 20s as well as grossly offensive comments".

Police said on April 16, Dyer opened the door of a parked car in Reading and attempted to drag out the victim, a woman in her 20s "who was sat inside whilst asking her to have sex with him. "

The victim was able to get away.

As well as his jail sentence, Dyer, was also issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which is in place for 10 years.

Restraining orders were also granted against him in relation to his victims which are also in place for 10 years.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Nicola Henderson, based at Reading Police Station, said: At the time of these offences were committed Dyer displayed all the hallmarks of a dangerous offender who was intent on sexual contact with young women and unable to control himself.

He will serve a custodial prison sentence and placed on the sex offenders register which allows for the supervision of him when he is released from prison to help protect the public.

I would like to thank the victims for the bravery and courage shown during the investigation as well as the wider community who supported Thames Valley Police .

Description

A VIOLENT rapist who committed offences in Inverclyde and elsewhere and defrauded women out of more than £210,000 has been jailed. 

Christopher Harkins, 37 - branded 'contemptible' by police -  targeted single women on dating websites, quickly befriending them and gaining their trust.

He portrayed himself as a successful businessman before claiming to be experiencing issues with his bank account being frozen.  

He then asked some of his victims to lend him money for a short period of time.  

Several women borrowed significant sums in order to help him.  

Harkins, from Helensburgh, also persuaded a number of the women to transfer him money for holidays, sending them screenshots of alleged destinations.  

He persuaded them to pay for half the cost but never booked the trips away and failed to return the majority of the funds given to him.  

He pleaded guilty to the fraud charges at the High Court in Glasgow on January 16. 

Following a trial at the High Court in Paisley in May, Harkins was subsequently found guilty of raping one former partner. 

He was also convicted of filming two women in intimate situations without their consent before sending them the graphic content.  

Harkins’ offending took place between 2013 and 2019 in the Inverclyde, Airdrie, Cumbernauld, Dumbarton, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley and Stirling areas. 

He is today beginning his lengthy prison term after being sentenced at the High Court in Kilmarnock.

Harkins' name has been added to the sex offenders register indefinitely.  

Non-harassment orders, preventing him from contacting or attempting to contact 10 victims, have also been granted for an indefinite period. 

Description

A rapist who "preyed" on his victim after he claimed he was trying to take her to a safe place has been jailed.

Jagdeep Singh, of Gaul Street in Leicester, approached a 21-year-old woman who was feeling unwell as she waited for a taxi after a night out, in the early hours of 12 January.

Later that morning the woman was reported missing before she contacted her parents and told them she had been raped by a man in a flat, police said.

Singh, 35, initially denied raping her but on the second day of his trial, on 9 July, pleaded guilty to the charge and was later sentenced to eight years in prison.

He was also placed on the sex offender register for life.

Description

A man who sexually assaulted teenage girls has been jailed.

Christopher Florides, 62, of High Street, Yaddlethorpe, near Scunthorpe, pleaded guilty to nine counts of sexual assault at Grimsby Crown Court in February.

In a later appearance, before the same court on 28 June, Florides was jailed for six years and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

He was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Description

A sex offender found in possession of 50,000 indecent images of children and who orchestrated the sexual abuse of children for custom videos has been jailed.

Richard Haswell, from Wolverhampton, was communicating with another sex offender in the Philippines and directed the abuse that should be carried out for the videos.

He claimed he was being pestered to send money to the abuser, West Midlands Police said.

The 62-year-old admitted several charges at Wolverhampton Crown Court where he was jailed for six years on Monday.

When officers arrived at Haswell's house in Cornwall Road in July last year, he admitted having devices with indecent images on.

The images included children as young as six months old - as well as extreme pornography.

He told officers during an interview that he was being pestered into sending money to the abuser in the Philippines, but could not explain why he did not block them, the force said.

Haswell pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images, possessing extreme pornography, six counts of making indecent images and two counts of arranging or facilitating a child sex offence.

He will serve three years on licence after his release and was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.