Latest Offenders

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A MAN from Chester has been locked up after being caught trying to film a girl using the women’s toilets at a busy shopping centre.

Dorniel Nica, who is already a registered sex offender, was spotted using his phone camera to look under the next cubical, with the girl believing he was performing a sex act on himself.

The 28-year-old tried to claim innocence, despite being identified by police using facial recognition technology.

But the courts saw through the creep’s lies, and he is now in jail for the disturbing offence.

Nica was sentenced at Warrington Magistrates’ Court on Monday, November 21, having been convicted after trial following his not guilty pleas.

These were to charges of voyeurism and attempt to observe a person doing a private act, while he conviction put him in breach of a suspended sentence order.

Vincent Yip, prosecuting, explained how on October 2, a teenage girl had been in a cubicle of the public toilets in Golden Square Shopping Centre after feeling sick.

While in a cubicle, she saw a hand holding a black iPhone coming from the underneath the cubicle next to her.

She believed the phone was recording and that there had been a man in the cubicle next to her as she could hear what she thought to be a man masturbating. 

 The girl’s friend had gone to get her a drink of water, and when she returned they both left the toilet area, but they did not see the man.

They then approached two police officers at Warrington Bus Station and told them what had happened. The officers went to the toilets and searched the area but found no trace of the man.

After making further enquiries, the officers checked CCTV at the shopping centre. It showed a man entering the female toilets at 5.12pm and leaving at 5.55pm.

The man was then seen wandering around the shopping centre before leaving.

Officers took an image of the man from the CCTV and submitted it through Retrospective Facial Recognition software.

The search returned a match for Nica, and officers set about making enquiries as to his whereabouts.

Nica was arrested the following morning at an address in Warrington on suspicion of voyeurism, with officers seizing a mobile phone in his possession.

According to the charges he was convicted of, the defendant’s offences were ‘for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification’.

His previous suspended sentence order was imposed on September 21 for intentionally exposing his genitals so that someone would see them in Chester, as well as for stealing £329.94 worth of men’s clothing from TK Maxx in Solihull. 

 Magistrates in Warrington said that the offences were so serious that only a custodial sentence could be justified.

This was due to the victim’s young age, his ‘similar previous offending’ and that fact that the offences took place in a public location.

Nica, of Cherry Road in Chester, was sentenced to 36 weeks in prison and ordered to comply with sex offender notification and registration requirements for 10 years.

He was also handed two restraining orders prohibiting him from contacting two girls for five years and ordered to pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £187.

Following the sentence, PC Wendy Whitehead said: “If it was not for the bravery of the victim for approaching the first police officers she had seen, we may not have been able to achieve the result we have done.

“Thanks to the new technology available to us, we were able to identify Nica quickly and effectively, allowing us to make further enquiries and ascertain his whereabouts.

“This led us to get justice for Nica’s victims and put a prolific offender behind bars and off the streets of Cheshire.

“This result reinforces our commitment to tackling violence against women and girls. We will prevent, deter and take action against anyone who preys on women and girls.

“I hope this result will provide reassurance to the public, and perhaps it will allow others to have the courage and report incidents such as this to us.” 

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A PERVERTED west Cumbrian man "lured" two 13-year-old girls to secret late-night meetings with gifts of alcohol and cigarettes because he wanted to sexually abuse them. 

The Carlisle Crown Court judge who sentenced 37-year-old Frizington man Graham Green branded him a “danger” to young girls.

The defendant had earlier pleaded guilty to an allegation of meeting the girls in August last year following online sexual grooming; and two counts of sexual activity with a child, with one charge for each victim.

Tim Evans, prosecuting, described how Green, who was 36 at the time he committed the offences, contacted the two girls over the social media platform Snapchat.

In June and July of last year, the court heard, Green exchanged numerous Snapchat messages with one of the girls, whose age he knew was 13. Despite this, Green made it clear he was sexually interested in her and her friend, also 13.

Mr Evans said Green had later suggested to Probation staff and a psychiatrist that he had no sexual interest in the two children.

But the messages he sent over a period of weeks painted the real picture, showing that Green was indeed sexually motivated in his communication with the girls and during their two meetings, said Mr Evans.

The Snapchat communication began on June 18 and Green’s messages included some that were “plainly sexual”, with Green spelling out in graphic detail what he wanted to do sexually with one of the girls.

“Other conversations were about whether he would provide them with drinks – cans of Fosters and Stella lager - and fags,” said Mr Evans, who described those items as Green’s “lure,” designed to buy him an opportunity to spend time with the girls for his sexual purposes.

He and the girls met after they sneaked out of their homes in the early hours on August 13, when he invited them to sit his van with him. He gave them roll-your-own cigarettes and cans of lager.

Messages that he sent suggested they went home just before 3am. Green then met the two girls the next night, he having sent messages that made it clear he would give them more booze and cigarettes.

The girls thought it was all a “bit of a joke,” said Mr Evans. “They were certainly not intending to swap sex for cigarettes or drink.”

Green then drove them to Hen Back, a remote area on the outskirts of Cleator Moor. It was during this late-night meeting, on August 14, said Mr Evans, that he sexually touched the girls over their clothing.

The girls rebuffed him but he reacted angrily, according to the account given by one of the girls. She had got out of the van, and he called her, asking why her friend was “not doing anything.”

Both girls were at one point out of the van and in tears, the court heard. Green sent another message, saying: “I guess it’s a no, then.” The girls asked Green to drive them home at this point.

Green accused them of “leading him on.”

Judith McCullough, mitigating, said Green, of High Stowbank, Frizington, committed the offences while under the influence of alcohol, but his offending was more complicated, given that he had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder.

This was borderline personality disorder but he also had a mild to moderate depressive disorder, with thoughts of suicide.

The barrister said Green would benefit from intensive support and treatment in the community to reduce his risk of future offending. “He was living a sad and somewhat isolated existence,” said Miss McCullough.

“He has difficulty forming and keeping adult relationships. The only constant in his life other than his pets are his parents; and his parents are literally worrying themselves sick about this defendant.

“These proceedings have been a salutary lesson for him and he wishes to deal with the demons of his past and to understand his own behaviour and move forward in a more positive way.”

The barrister said a long community order with appropriate treatment would in the long term be better for society.

But Judge Nicholas Barker said that, despite the defendant’s denials to probation and psychiatric staff, he was quite satisfied Green’s actions were motivated by a sexual attraction to the children.

“There can be no other explanation for it,” said the judge.

Green wanted sex with the girl he was most attracted to, said the judge. The girls were interested, as some teenagers are, in pushing boundaries to obtain the alcohol and cigarettes. “You exploited those desires to promote and advance your own sexual interests,” said Judge Barker.

Green deliberately took the girls to a remote area, hoping for sexual contact with them. “It’s a case which is a study, in my judgement, in grooming behaviour,” continued the judge.

After the girls rebuffed Green, became upset, and they told him he should not have acted as he did, Green tried to blame them. “That just demonstrates, Graham Green, your warped sense of them.

“You are 37; they were 13.”

Jailing Green for 21 months and refusing to suspend the prison term, Judge Barker added: “I am far from satisfied that you are a genuine prospect for rehabilitation.

“You are in denial about these offences.”…

“The sentence must be served. You are described as a high risk to children of this age so in my judgement there must be a custodial sentence.”

Green will be on the Sex Offender Register for a decade and he will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order, designed to ensure he does not have opportunities to reoffend. He was caught after the girls told somebody about what happened, and it was reported to their parents, who contacted the police. 

Description

A 32-year-old man has been sentenced to nine years and two months after he was found guilty of sex offences against a child.

In 2012, Matthew Bell, previously of Daventry, then aged 22, met the 14-year-old girl at a youth centre.

On numerous occasions for a period of two years, he sexually assaulted her at a number of locations, including at his home address.

In 2020, the woman came forward to report what had happened to her and an investigation was launched.

Bell was arrested and subsequently charged with two counts of sexual activity by penetration with a girl aged 14/15. At Northampton Crown Court on October 15, 2022, he was found guilty of both offences by a jury and was sentenced at the same court today (November 28) to nine years and two months in prison.

Detective Sergeant Cory Wise, said: “The woman in this case has suffered with the memories of this abuse for many years and I am so pleased for her that she has seen justice done and Matthew Bell recognised for the sexual offender he is.

“At only 14-years-old, this girl was unable to consent to a sexual relationship and it is important to make this point very clear. Bell knew exactly how young she was and yet still pursued her, grooming and manipulating her.  

“Bell will now spend a significant period of time in prison and I hope this case demonstrates what happens to adults who think it is acceptable to form “relationships” with children. It is a crime, it will always be a crime, and every single ounce of the blame lies with the offender.

“This woman can be proud that her bravery has seen justice done and I hope she can now move forward with her life following the conclusion of this case.

“Northamptonshire Police takes cases like these extremely seriously – we will believe you and we will do everything we can to bring your offender to justice.”

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Matthew Bibb, 32, from Northfield, and Jake Johnson, 26, carried out attack in London.

Two Birmingham men have been jailed after launching a vile sex attack on a homeless woman in London. The pair lured the victim back to their hotel room with the promise of a hot drink - but carried out a 'prolonged and violent sexual assault'.

Matthew Bibb, 32, of Slingfield Road, Northfield, and Jake Johnson, 26 of no fixed address, spotted the vulnerable woman in the street as they bought booze near their hotel in Kings Street, Hammersmith, West London. They invited her to join them at the hotel to warm up and have a hot drink.

She gratefully accepted the offer given the weather was cold and wet. But Bibb and Johnson then subjected her to a prolonged and violent sexual assault before throwing her out.

The Met Police said the distressed woman fled and reported the incident to the hotel manager and her friends, who helped in detaining the suspects at the hotel. The pair were arrested and initially denied that the victim had been in the hotel room or that they had assaulted her.

A significant investigation by officers from the Mets Specialist Crime Command to build a case against the suspects followed. It focussed on CCTV and forensic evidence, along with witness testimonies.

The men were charged and later pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault by penetration. They were both jailed for 11 years at Isleworth Crown Court on November 23.

Speaking after the case, Detective Constable Carrina Turner said: Bibb and Johnson subjected the victim a clearly vulnerable woman - to horrific, humiliating and degrading sexual abuse. They are exactly those predatory and violent sexual offenders who we are committed to taking off our streets.

I would like to commend the victim for her bravery and composure throughout this lengthy investigation. I know that she is understandably still suffering from the long term effects of such a terrifying ordeal, but hope she can take some comfort in this result and the knowledge her actions have potentially prevented further offences.

We always treat any allegation of sexual assault seriously and work hard to support and seek justice for the victim. I would urge any victims to speak to us directly or to contact us through a third party support group such as The Havens or London Survivors Gateway. Both offer a 24/7 urgent advice number if you need to speak with someone for the first time. The most important thing is to not suffer in silence.

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Jamie Gillett was convicted in 2018 of sexual offences involving children and has been subject to strict conditions on his behaviour since his release from prison.

These include restrictions around his interaction with any children, possession of mobile phones or computers and use of the internet.

On 13 May 2022, Gillett failed to attend a police station to sign his annual sex offender notification.

Officers went to his home on 26 May and arrested him. A search of his property found a fully charged mobile phone hidden behind a wardrobe and a games console with internet access.

Possession of both devices without notifying the police were breaches of his SHPO and, when the games console was checked, the investigators found he had accessed the internet using three different aliases.

Gillett, of St John’s Road, Gillingham was later charged with four counts of fail to comply with notification requirements and four counts of completing actions prohibited by a SHPO.

He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and on Tuesday 22 November, the 25-year-old was sentenced to two years and two months’ imprisonment. This included sentencing for two counts of failing to comply with notification requirements in 2021.

Police Constable Marie Roostan, of the Medway Offender Management Unit, said: ‘We regularly visit registered sex offenders living in our communities to monitor their conduct and ensure they are complying with any conditions that are in place to prevent them re-offending.

‘In this way, we endeavour to protect the most vulnerable in our community and, where any breaches are discovered, they will be arrested and brought back before the court to answer for their actions.’

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A convicted sex offender who drove 100 miles to sexually assault a schoolgirl has been jailed for 15 years.

Aaron Scanlon, 30, drove from his home in Rochdale to the victim’s house in Darlington, arriving just after 8am.

He had previously groomed the victim during “lengthy phone calls” where he told her he loved her.

When the victim left her house Scanlon told her he would take her to school but instead drove her to a secluded layby and sexually assaulted her.

After dropping her off near her school, where the girl told staff what had happened, Scanlon drove back to Rochdale where he was arrested by officers.

He was subsequently charged with assault by penetration and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

Scanlon, previously of Rochdale, but now of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea in Northumberland, pleaded guilty to the offences.

He was jailed for 15 years and one month at Teesside Crown Court last week.

Scanlon has a previous conviction for sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13 in 2010.

Temporary Detective Sergeant Ian Banham, from Darlington Safeguarding Team, said: “Scanlon is a dangerous individual who targeted this girl after forming a relationship with her over the phone and groomed her for some time.

“Then, he travelled from his home in Rochdale to commit this horrendous act without any consideration for the life-changing and devastating impact it would have on the girl.

“I hope this sentence provides her with some closure and allows her to move on and rebuild her life.”

Description

A convicted sex offender who admitted breaching a court order limiting his access to the web was allowed to walk from court in part because he was still waiting for a place on a probation rehabilitation scheme.

Connor Russell, 20, was spared an immediate prison sentence last year, when a judge at Oxford Crown Court gave him a 16 month suspended jail sentence for accessing child sex abuse 'filth' online, which he had apparently been looking at since the aged of 11.

As part of that suspended sentence order he was required to complete an intensive sex offender rehabilitation programme, called Horizon.

But by the time police made an unannounced trip to his home this September almost a year after his sentence was imposed he was still on the waiting list for a place on the scheme.

He admitted seven breaches of the sexual harm prevention order imposed last year, including by failing to register a phone and other internet-enabled devices with Thames Valley Police.

On Wednesday, Judge Ian Pringle KC was told that Russell had a place on the Horizon programme starting next January.

And his barrister, Kellie Enever, claimed it would be unjust for the judge to activate the 16 month suspended sentence - given her client had not been given a chance to start the rehabilitative course that might prevent him offending in the future.

The young man, who was remanded into prison by the magistrates in September, also struggled with a number of mental health issues.

Setting out the circumstances surrounding the latest offending, Judge Pringle said: Anyone listening to those facts would think well, I simply send you to prison.

But your counsel has ably submitted to me you havent really had a chance to try to rectify the problems that you have.

What I am going to do is take an unusual course in your case.

"Your Horizon programme is due to start in January. Thats a demanding programme and it may, at your young age, put you off your urge to access this sort of material.

He said he would adjourn sentencing for six months, giving Russell a chance to start the course.

As conditions of the adjournment, Russell was required to comply with the probation service, do the Horizon course and try to tackle his mental health.

[If] I can see that youve made significant progress in engaging on the Horizon Programme and treating your mental health and of course that youve not committed any further offences or breached the sexual harm prevention order that you still have, then I may not send you to prison, he said.

Russell, of Fulwell Close, Banbury, was bailed to return to court on May 19 next year.

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John Forsyth from Heckmondwike was sentenced to 26 years at Leeds Crown Court today (Nov 24), for six sexual offences, including rape, committed against two young boys between 2005 and 2006.

The 53-year-old, who was already a registered sex offender, was jailed for two offences of raping a child under 13, two offences of sexual activity with a child under 13, attempted rape and sexual assault.

The offences were committed against two victims in West Yorkshire.

They came to light in early 2020 when both victims separately approached police over a two month period to advise of the abuse they had suffered.

A full investigation was launched by the Kirklees Child Safeguarding Unit, resulting in Forsyth later being arrested and charged.

Forsyth was found guilty at Leeds Crown Court on Monday, September 26, following a trial and will have to serve two thirds of his sentence before he can apply for parole.

DC Amy Green, of Kirklees Police, who led the investigation, said: “John Forsyth clearly poses a significant danger to young children and we welcome the strong sentence handed down by the court today.

“The appalling offences he committed against his then young victims has affected them both deeply throughout their lives and starkly illustrates the dreadful impact this awful offending has.

“Both myself and prosecution barrister Kitty Colley would personally like to thank them both for reporting this. It has taken a lot of courage to disclose such horrific abuse, and we recognise that men can find it very difficult to report being victims of offences of this nature.

“At times it was uncomfortable for them, particularly given a lengthy court process affected by Covid-19, and they both just wanted justice and closure. We have that now."

She added: “Forsyth’s conviction, and that of other sex offenders for non-recent crimes, again illustrates that the passage of time is no barrier to justice.

“We continue to urge all victims of unreported sexual assault to come forwards, no matter when the offending took place. We will always listen and do all we can to investigate, provide support, and seek justice for you.”

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Alexandra Muresan, 15, was walking to school in Leeds, West Yorkshire, when she was attacked by Nathan Rawson, who threatened her with a knife.

Now 19, Alexandra has spoken out about what happened publicly for the first time.

The kidnapper grabbed her by her waist, showed her a knife and forced her to walk with him into a woodland area.

‘When he came towards me, I saw the handle of his knife and I just grabbed it and started pulling,’ Alexandra said.

‘There was just so much adrenaline – my whole body was shaking. I don’t know why – it’s what came to mind straight away and I just did it.

‘I did rugby for two years, so I managed to get it off him eventually.’

The knife did cut her hand but she managed to quickly take photos of Rawson before he ran away.

She said she feared she would be ‘killed or raped’, and called an ambulance for her hand immediately afterwards.

The images of him standing in a field were published in an appeal by West Yorkshire Police, and Rawson was later arrested.

At Leeds Crown Court last May he admitted kidnapping, wounding, possession of an offensive weapon and two unrelated counts of burglary, and was jailed for 13 years and eight months.

He has a previous conviction for sexually assaulting a woman after stalking her through the streets in a similar offence committed in February 2016.

Alexandra said although she was a ‘little bit scared’ to go out alone after what happened, it has now ‘boosted her confidence’.

‘I don’t even know how to describe how I felt after it happened,’ she said. ‘It’s not really something you experience every day.

‘My mum and dad were obviously really worried about me, but they did everything they could to help.

‘They wanted to take me to therapy, but I’m not the kind of person to talk a lot and go to therapy.

‘At first, I was a little bit scared to go out by myself, but at the same time, as I grew older, it kind of boosted my confidence.’

The police have now given Alexandra a bravery award for her actions.

‘It was a nice night – but it was nerve-wracking, because you had to go onstage and collect your award in front of everyone,’ she said.

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A County Durham sex offender has been hauled back to court after police found out he'd been deleting his internet history.

Trent Jason Johnson was given a suspended sentence in March last year after being convicted of sex offences and was made subject of a sexual harm prevention order and was put on the sex offenders register. As part of his punishment, the 22-year-old must abide by certain conditions and he is banned from deleting his internet history.

But on November 8 this year, police went to Johnson's Bishop Auckland home and seized his iPhone where examinations found he'd deleted his internet history and had created aliases on chat apps but failed to notify the authorities about them. He was then arrested over the breach.

Johnson, of South View, Bishop Auckland, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced for breaching a sexual harm prevention order and breaching notification requirements. He had pleaded guilty to the charges.

David Robinson-Young, prosecuting, said Johnson is a registered sex offender and on November 8, police went to his home. He said: "On entering his bedroom the defendant was in bed and they saw a lead going under the pillow. They pulled the lead and retrieved an iPhone and the Yubo app was displaying as live. The phone was seized and he was arrested."

Johnson's phone was examined and it became "clear" to police that he had been accessing sites, despite the device's internet having no history. Johnson is prohibited from using a device capable of accessing the internet unless it can show the history, the court heard.

Mr Robinson-Young told the court that Johnson admitted deleting his internet search history, saying: "He said he felt embarrassed about his porn searches." Johnson also admitted creating usernames on the Yubo chat app, including Memphis21, but failed to disclose them to police.

The court heard that the incident was Johnson's second breach of his order, with 18 months of his suspended sentence being activated in September last year after a breach last August. He appeared at the court via link from HMP Durham.

Stephen Constantine, defending, said: "The only mitigation are his guilty pleas entered in the magistrates'. In police interview he was assisted by an appropriate adult and at the age of 14 he was diagnosed with learning difficulties." Mr Constantine added that Johnson was engaging with mental health organisations and shows "some degree of immaturity".

Sentencing Johnson, Recorder Ian Mullarkey said it was "serious offending" and handed him an 18 month prison sentence.

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A SEX offender jailed in 2020 for abusing and filming a seven-year-old child has admitted to further crimes committed in Inverclyde during a 27-year period.

Alfred Brown's sordid additional offences came to light while he was serving time for historical abuse against a young girl in Largs, Greenock Sheriff Court was told.

Brown, 64, took, made and had possession of indecent photographs of children on various occasions at an address on Farquhar Road in Port Glasgow between November 1993 and December 2020.

It is understood that a camcorder was used by him during the commission of the offences.

His crimes in Largs spanned a 16-year period.

Sheriff Michael Higgins has called upon prosecutors to supply more information for a narrative of the facts in the Port Glasgow case before proceeding to sentence Brown, who has now moved to Clydebank.

The decision comes after the sheriff was provided with a victim impact statement.

Sheriff Higgins said: "There is no named individual either in the narrative [of the facts] or in the charges, so I have no way of knowing if this person [who submitted the impact statement] is involved in the charges.

"I don't think that the Crown narrative is sufficient in detail.

"On that basis I'm going to continue these matters for this to be addressed.

"I think that is essential."

Brown was jailed at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court in August 2020.

The pervert — who is a musician — featured in the pages of the Telegraph's sister paper, the Largs News, in 2011 after joining band called 'The Sharps' and was known locally as Alfie Brown.

He used filming equipment to record his young victim and repeatedly compelled her to expose her underwear to him.

Brown also captured footage of the primary school pupil while she was asleep and while he indecently touched her.

As well as 17-month prison term backdated to March 2020, he was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.

His lawyer, Paul Keenan, said: "During his period of imprisonment police found more, previously unseen, footage and this was due to the scale of the investigation."

Sheriff Higgins has deferred sentence on Brown and continued the case for a proof in mitigation to address the victim impact statement matter until December 19.

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A DANGEROUS paedophile who has already spent the last 12 years behind bars has today been jailed for a further nine years for more “wicked” child abuse.

Back in 2010 child rapist Selby Wardle, now 71, was given a “life” sentence, with a minimum of six years, under the imprisonment for public protection legislation, but Bradford Crown Court heard today that he had been refused parole on a number of occasions and had subsequently spent double that time in custody.

Prosecutor Andrew Petterson explained that in 2017 when Wardle was applying for parole again, further allegations were made against him.

A police investigation was launched and Wardle, who is currently in HMP Hull, initially branded the new allegations as “all lies”, but he eventually pleaded guilty to three further sexual abuse charges involving young children, who must not be identified for legal reasons.

Mr Petterson outlined details of the historic abuse and Judge Colin Burn described one particular offence as one of the most wicked forms of the offence that he could think of.

In victim impact statements the complainants described how Wardle’s abuse had ruined their lives and left them suffering nightmares.

One complainant said: ”This man has made my life hell and even locked away he still is.”

Judge Burn said the effects of the abuse had been “profound and appallingly destructive” on the quality of life of the complainants.

Judge Burn said Parole Board reports indicated that right up until the beginning of this year Wardle still represented a high risk of harm to children.

He said the nine-year jail term for the sexual offences would start from today and Wardle would have to serve at least two-thirds of that sentence.

Detective Superintendent Stuart Bainbridge, who led the investigation, praised the "incredible courage and bravery" of the victims and added: "I would encourage anyone who has suffered any sort of abuse either recent or historic to come forward and speak to police. You will be listened to and given the help and support you need.

"We have specially trained officers who will work tirelessly to bring any perpetrators to justice.” 

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A pensioner sexually assaulted a woman while she was asleep after he had taken cocaine and cannabis. The woman woke to find herself naked and the man touching her.

Huw Thomas, 72, of Cardiff, was found guilty of sexual assault by penetration and sexual assault following a trial at Cardiff Crown Court. The court heard he attended a house in Penarth in 2020, where he drank alcohol, took drugs.

He entered a bedroom where the victim, a young woman, was lying in bed and went on to sexually assault her. The victim later called the police and Thomas was arrested but he claimed the woman was awake as well as instigated and consented to the sexual acts.

Thomas, of Cae Syr Dafydd, Canton, told police in his interview he had penetrated the victim with his fingers, which the victim was not aware of at the time of the offence. He continued to claim his innocence at trial but was found guilty of both the charges he faced. 

Sentencing, Recorder John Philpotts said: "The jury convicted you of two serious sexual offences against a young female. You drank alcohol, took cocaine and smoked cannabis. You entered a bedroom occupied by your victim.

"She awoke to find you touching her vagina as she lay naked in bed. You also, unbeknownst to her, digitally penetrated her. She reported the matter to police and you were arrested. In your interview by police, you claimed that what you had done was with the consent and the instigation of your victim.

"You maintained that account at trial but the jury rejected it and from reading the pre-sentence it's clear you still refuse to accept your guilt."

The court heard Thomas had some previous convictions but not related to sexual offences. In mitigation, defence barrister Susan Ferrier said her client had been described as "decent, honest, polite, helpful and a man of conviction" by those that knew him. She said at the time of the offence, Thomas was in a depressive state and recognised he had a drinking problem.

Ms Ferrier said: "He maintains his position it was his belief she was awake but the jury rejected this." She said the offence was "opportunistic" in nature, and described the defendant as a "family man".

Thomas was sentenced to a total of two years imprisonment. He was also made subject to sex offender notification requirements for 10 years.

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 A judge questioned why the Crown Prosecution Service had charged a paedophile with a lesser charge – when the more serious one was seemingly made-out.

Recorder Paul Reid told prosecutor Honor Fitzgerald it could be seen as ‘potentially inadequate’ that a convicted paedophile who tried to meet a 13-year-old ‘girl’ in a hotel for sex was only charged with attempting to incite a child to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity.

Dealing with Sean Attenborough for his third set of sex convictions in seven years, the judge said: “Perhaps you could communicate to the Crown Prosecution Service my remarks about this because it seems to me that the charge is or could be described as potentially inadequate.”

He added: “I’ve come across many cases like this. This is one of the very worst and it’s also the first in my experience [where] the undercover police officer has actually spoken on the telephone to the defendant.”  

Earlier, the court heard that Attenborough was subject to a suspended prison sentence, imposed in January, when he began talking to what he thought was a young woman on chatroom website Chatiw. He asked her if she liked ‘older men’.

Their conversation moved to the Snapchat app, when the ‘girl’ told Attenborough she was actually 13 years old.  

She was, in fact, an undercover police officer patrolling the net to catch would-be paedophiles.

Attenborough was firmly caught in the officer’s net. He repeatedly asked for pictures of herself with her ‘onesie’ pyjamas unzipped to her waist.

He encouraged her to perform sex acts on herself, offered to send images of his naked genitalia and repeatedly talked about meeting in a hotel to have sex with her.

Unusually in such investigations, the defendant and the ‘girl’ also spoke on the telephone.

Attenborough, of no fixed address, was arrested in September. His devices were analysed and he was found to have a small number of indecent images of children.

By using the digital kit, which had not been registered with the police, to contact a supposed child he was in breach of a sexual harm prevention order imposed earlier this year.

He pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court in September to breaching his sexual harm prevention order, attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity and .

A pre-sentence report compiled by the probation service was described by the judge as ‘very damning’. Attenborough was regarded as posing a ‘high risk of causing serious harm’.

Mitigating, Dana Bilan said her client had not yet started the sex offender treatment programme – Horizon – when he was arrested in the autumn.

The father-of-two grown up children was said to be ‘realistic’ and understood the sentence could only be an immediate custodial one.

Recorder Reid jailed him for a total of 44 months, including activating an earlier eight month sentence.

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A sex offender subjected a woman to a horrific ordeal and used "power, control and humiliation" during an “appalling” incident.

Stephen Miller had been regularly watching pornography before launching his degrading sexual attack on her and he ignored her pleas for him to stop, Grimsby Crown Court heard.

Miller, 43, admitted two offences of sexual assault, committed in the Grimsby area. The matters were originally due to be decided by a jury at a trial but he pleaded guilty on the second day of it.

A sex offender subjected a woman to a horrific ordeal and used "power, control and humiliation" during an “appalling” incident.

Stephen Miller had been regularly watching pornography before launching his degrading sexual attack on her and he ignored her pleas for him to stop, Grimsby Crown Court heard.

Miller, 43, admitted two offences of sexual assault, committed in the Grimsby area. The matters were originally due to be decided by a jury at a trial but he pleaded guilty on the second day of it.

A sex offender subjected a woman to a horrific ordeal and used "power, control and humiliation" during an “appalling” incident.

Stephen Miller had been regularly watching pornography before launching his degrading sexual attack on her and he ignored her pleas for him to stop, Grimsby Crown Court heard.

Miller, 43, admitted two offences of sexual assault, committed in the Grimsby area. The matters were originally due to be decided by a jury at a trial but he pleaded guilty on the second day of it.

"He needs to address his behaviour. There have been no further offences. He has reduced his alcohol intake. Alcohol was a factor in this offending." Miller had his own home improvement and maintenance business. He had a previous conviction for drink-driving.

Judge Michael Fanning told Miller: "This is not about sexual gratification. This is about power, control and humiliation and nothing else. It's more serious for that. She felt degraded, humiliated and embarrassed.

"You were telling her that she deserved it. Although she repeatedly told you to stop doing this, it went on. Power, control and humiliation, that's what you wanted to inflict on your victim.

"You realise that your behaviour was wrong. You have expressed disgust, behaving in the way you did. Your victim challenged you to stop and you carried on."

Miller, of Kel Dennis Close, Eston, Middlesbrough, was jailed for two years and five months. He was given an indefinite restraining order and must register as a sex offender for 10 years.