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Work by specialist detectives has ensured a former Essex Police officer has been jailed for four and-a-half years after admitting a series of online child sexual offences.

Former PC Mark Ling, 38, formerly of Ipswich, had pleaded guilty to eight counts of sexual communications with a child and one count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity at Ipswich Crown Court on 18 January.

A reporting restriction was put in place to prevent details of the guilty pleas to be published as there were other ongoing, related matters.

In relation to these matters, he was later charged with a further four counts of sexual communication with a child. He admitted to two of those charges at the same court on 4 February and the other two on 10 February.

The charges all relate to an investigation into the online interactions between Ling and underage girls.

Detectives went through the painstaking task of identifying the girls involved, locating them, and speaking to them securing evidence which left Ling with no option but to admit his guilt.

Today (Thursday 1 May), he was sentenced to four and-a-half years in prison.

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A 53-year-old man has been jailed after a jury at Northampton Crown Court found him guilty of sexually assaulting a vulnerable man.

Jason Mustoe, of The Medway in Daventry, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, which was extended by a further two years on licence due to him being a dangerous offender.

He was also made subject of a four-year restraining order preventing him from contacting his victim as well as being issued with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Mustoe was found guilty of one count of sexual assault on a male on January 13 this year, following a four-day trial at the county’s crown court. He returned to the same court at the end of March to be sentenced.

The court heard that on July 27, 2024, Mustoe had sexually touched the vulnerable man, who he had befriended, and when told to stop, continued knowing that his actions were unwanted and unrequited.

The victim told Mustoe that his inappropriate behaviour made him feel uncomfortable, but despite apologising, Mustoe continued to make sexual advances towards the younger male, who made his excuses and left.

Once in a place of safety, the victim confided in a friend, who encouraged him to report it to Northamptonshire Police. Mustoe was arrested and subsequently charged in connection with the incident.

On July 30, Mustoe was remanded in custody after he entered no plea at Northampton Magistrates’ Court and his case was committed to the county’s crown court for trial.

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A convicted paedophile plucked a young girl’s image from the internet then sent it to a woman, claiming it was his daughter and asking if she wanted him to perform a sex act on the child.

Archibald Smith’s sick move came shortly after he sent a video of himself masturbating to the woman.

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A man from Bedford has been jailed after he was caught grooming and sending sexualised messages and videos to a teenage girl.

Shane Gibson, 37, was arrested after Bedfordshire Police received a report that he had been sending messages to the victim, asking her if she would have sex with him if he paid for a taxi to his address. He also sent her explicit videos of himself through Facebook.

A number of indecent images of children and extreme pornography were also discovered following an investigation into Gibson’s devices.

Gibson, of Wadsworth Court, Bedford, pleaded guilty to one count of causing a child to watch a sex act, one count of arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possessing extreme pornography.

He was sentenced to a total of seven years on Friday (25 April) and is subject to a restraining order and a sexual harm prevention order.

Investigation Officer Michela Zasada from Bedfordshire Police’s Internet Child Abuse Investigation Team said:

“Gibson had clear intent to sexually abuse a child as he showed a total disregard for the victim’s age and continued to groom her into having sex with him.

“Sadly, any child can become the victim of grooming, no matter what their gender, ethnicity or background. Groomers will build a relationship with the victim to gain their trust before talking to them in a sexual way or asking them to send nude pictures or videos.

“We are seeing an ever-increasing number of reports of this type of crime, particularly online, we would like to take this opportunity to remind parents and guardians how important it is to look out for the signs and to ensure their children know how to keep themselves safe and that they know to tell someone if something doesn’t feel quite right.” 

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Brandon Smith (14/02/2000) of Larch Road in Denton, was found guilty of two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one assault by penetration.

He was sentenced to 12-and-a-half years at Bolton Crown Court today (Wednesday 30 April 2025) for raping and sexually assaulting a woman in July 2024. Smith will then serve three years on extended licence. 

On Friday 5 July 2024, Smith launched his attack on the woman, who was not known to him, grabbed her and threatened to stab her if she made any noise.

He then dragged her down a path off King Street and Pitt Street in Hyde before he carried out a sustained sexual attack.

He told the woman he had been watching her for six months and following the attack, he made threats to harm her family if she said anything.

Following an investigation, Smith was arrested on Sunday 7 July 2024. After a trial at Bolton Crown Court, he was found guilty on all five counts on Wednesday 8 January 2025.

Brandon Smith was jailed for 12-and-a-half years.

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A man has been sentenced after he sexually assaulted a woman at Creamfields music festival in Daresbury.

Gergel Ludanyi, of Adelaide Road, Southampton, appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday 25 April, where he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

The 35-year-old was earlier found guilty of sexual assault by penetration, and two counts of sexual assault by touching.

During the trial, the court heard how the victim had attended the Creamfields music festival with a group of friends in August 2022. Whilst there, and in the early hours of the morning, the victim was approached by Ludanyi, who had been working on the fairground at the festival.

Ludanyi tried to kiss the victim, but she pushed him away. She then started to feel unwell and lay down on the floor before losing consciousness.

When the victim regained consciousness, the sun had risen and Ludanyi was on top of her. She tried to push him off of her before again losing consciousness.

During this time, a witness reported seeing Ludanyi move the victim’s clothing as he sexually assaulted her - all while the victim laid there unconscious.

It’s unknown how much time had passed when the victim woke up to Ludanyi lying on top of her. She pushed him off her for the third time before the witness approached and helped her to her feet. The women then reported the incident to security and Cheshire Police.

Subsequently, Ludanyi was arrested and later charged in relation to the incident.

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A seedy pervert drove around east Hull looking opportunities to approach and attack unsuspecting women – and filmed himself grabbing and intimately touching one woman as she walked home alone.

Dylan Templeman made random attacks on women – two of them within an hour of each other – and he was part of a social media group who filmed themselves performing lewd acts in public, a court heard. Templeman, 22, of Severn Street, off Holderness Road, east Hull, admitted two offences of sexual assault on women on September 21 last year.

He also admitted exposing himself to a mother and her stepdaughter in Hull on September 14 and a further offence of having indecent images of children. Julia Baggs, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that a mother and stepdaughter were walking through Sutton village at 8.40pm on September 14 when the stepdaughter became aware of a man walking closely behind them in a suspicious manner.

When they turned around in Burlington Road, he had exposed himself and was playing with himself. When he was challenged by the women, he ran off. Police were called and, through an identification procedure, they were able to identify the culprit.

On September 21, a woman was walking home alone at 12.20am in Hull, when she was suddenly grabbed on her bottom by a man. She shouted at him and he fled. The woman heard the engine of a car start up nearby and she spotted a small black car.

About 40 minutes later, another woman was walking home after her night shift at 1am on a road in east Hull, about a mile away from where the first sexual assault incident happened.

A man suddenly appeared and grabbed the woman between her legs and touched her intimately. The shocked woman broke free and ran off, pursued by the man. He ran into Bedale Avenue and got into his car.

The victims of both sexual assaults were able to give descriptions of the attacker. Police traced the car the following evening and Templeman was arrested. Analysis of his phone showed footage, which he had taken himself, of him grabbing the woman in the second assault.

Details were given in court of some of the footage shown on a social media platform in which people carried out disgusting acts in public. Templeman had three cautions for sex offences and battery in 2022.

Oliver Shipley, mitigating, said that Templeman had expressed a degree of shame and embarrassment and he said that he was deeply sorry for his actions. He was working in the information technology sector and lived at home with his mother.

Judge Gurdial Singh said that Templeman joined an online group in which "like-minded members boasted about what they did and encouraged people to do the same". The women were vulnerable because they were walking home at night.

Templeman was jailed for two years and seven months. He was given a sexual harm prevention order for life and he must register as a sex offender for life.

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A predator who raped a vulnerable underage girl has been jailed for ten-and-a-half-years.

Toray Douglas, who goes by the nickname 'Shotty', picked up the 15-year-old as she walked alone in Birmingham city centre on June 20 last year.

He bought her something to eat and they exchanged messages to meet at his bedsit the same night.

Birmingham Crown Court heard she was in the care of Birmingham City Council and had run away from a centre on the night of the attack.

Staff alerted police who tracked her phone to Douglas' HMO bedsit where they were found in bed.

When the victim was returned to her care home by police, she confided in a support worker that she had been raped.

Following an earlier trial Douglas, of Blakeland Street, Bordesley Green, was found guilty of one charge of rape and one of assault by penetration.

At his sentencing hearing, Stefan Kolodynsky, prosecuting, said the victim told Douglas "no" when he said they were going to have sex.

Mr Kolodynsky said: "He then proceeded to have sex with her, at the time he knew she was 15. He knew she was vulnerable."

Neil Baki, defending, said: "He's now 38, he's been in some trouble in the past but nothing like this.

"He's going to find his time in custody difficult because of this."

Sentencing Douglas, Judge Sarah Buckingham said the victim "has been left feeling anxious, cautious and scared in the company of men".

Douglas, who has a string of previous convictions, was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for the rest of his life.

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A SEX OFFENDER from Cumbria who had secret sexualised conversations online with a 15-year-old has been jailed.

When police arrived at Billy Sowerby’s home address, they found him hurriedly attempting to eradicate any evidence of his wrongdoing by deleting his phone's WhatsApp application, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Despite his initial denials, the defendant, 35, was also found to have other devices which he had failed to tell the police about.

Sowerby, of Croft Close, Kirkby Stephen, who was once described as a "danger to children" by a national children's charity, admitted four breaches of his existing sexual harm prevention order.

They consisted of him contacting the 15-year-old, deleting his internet history, and failing to notify his offender manager of two social media accounts.

The court heard that Sowerby was given the order in 2016 when he was given a three year jail term for his first set of sexual offences.

They involved him sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 16 and engaging in sexual activity with a child.

His latest offences came to light after police visited the defendant at his home and found him in the process of deleting his WhatsApp from a phone. When challenged about this, he claimed it was to protect somebody he had contacted.

Police later confirmed that he had been messaging a 15-year-old girl.

When police arrived at his home, he claimed to have no other digital devices other than the phone he was handling.

But when the officers said they would search the house, he went to his bedroom and retrieved another iPhone while there was a third device he had access to in the living room.

His messages confirmed he was providing the teenager with vapes, but he asked the girl to not tell her parents about this. There was also evidence he talked with her about sex and asked intimate questions.

“Her mother was completely unaware of this contact,” said the prosecutor in court, pointing out that the girl said the conversations left her feeling uncomfortable.

The prosecutor said the defendant’s online communications – and his searches online – revealed his “high level of sexual preoccupation.”

“This was determined offending for the gratification of his sexual interests,” said the barrister.

Gerard Rogerson, defending, said Sowerby was aware of how serious his situation looked, bearing in mind his record, but the defendant recognised that the girl was going through a difficult time in her life.

“He chose to speak to her about some of the issues that were causing her difficulties,” said the barrister. “He was trying to encourage her to be herself and not to change or bend to the will of other people, particularly her peers.”

He had wanted to make himself available to the teenager as somebody she could speak to, trespassing on to the remit of her parents by offering a “kindly shoulder to cry on,” said Mr Rogerson.

The barrister added that Sowerby’s online searches – including about the age of consent in different European countries – were motived by simple curiosity after the issue was mentioned in a media article he had read.

Sowerby did not even own a passport, added Mr Rogerson.

Recorder Ciaran Rankin said Sowerby’s chats with the teenager were at times “highly sexualised” in their nature, as were some of his online searches. The judge said: “I am afraid I do not accept that your communication with [the girl] was at any stage entirely innocent or from laudable motives.

“And I don’t accept that your searches were entirely out of curiosity. They were all clearly very highly sexually motivated.”

Sowerby - said by the NSPCC in 2016 to be danger to children - was jailed for five years.

It will be up to the Chief Constable to decide whether to apply to the court to have the defendant’s sexual harm prevention order extended beyond next year, when it is due to expire.

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A convicted child sex offender ordered a pregnant woman to stop on a motorway using a flashing orange light on his dashboard and told her he was a military police officer, a court has heard.

Sinister Sidney McLagan pursued 29-year-old Sian Owen down the M90 and flashed his full beam headlights at her until she pulled over.

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A predator who prowled online chatrooms sent explicit images to a ‘girl’ before arranging for them to have sex.

Darren Warner struck up a conversation with 13-year-old ‘Maisie’, who was a police officer posing as a teen.

The pair quickly moved from an online chat forum to Kik, where the girl revealed her age to Warner.

Plans were made for them to meet “in a public park or car park in Southampton” to have sex at the end of May 2024 but the plug was pulled by Warner, Southampton Crown Court heard.

Prosecuting, Lucy Taylor said: “Communication between the defendant and the ‘girl’ including them agreeing to have sex, with Warner asking what she would wear and where it would happen.

“The pair also spoke about having different kinds of sex together.

“A discussion was had about them meeting at the end of May, but Warner said his car had broken down so he could no longer meet.”

The court heard how the 49-year-old sent two explicit images to the ‘girl’ and encouraged her to carry out sexual acts on herself.

Warner was arrested by police on June 1, 2024, two days after he was due to meet the ‘girl’ for sex.

Mitigating, Keely Harvey said the severity of his actions hit home months before he was charged.

“Mr Warner contacted two organisations to help rehabilitate him in September 2024, three months before he was charged”, she said.

“He had that sudden realisation that it was wrong, and he stopped himself.

“He is determined to make sure this never happens again and has demonstrated that he can be rehabilitated.”

Warner, of Fairfield Road, Salisbury, pleaded guilty to a charge of arranging or facilitating sexual activity with a child involving penetration, intentionally causing a child to look at an image of a person engaging in sexual activity, and a charge of attempted to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also admitted a charge of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

Judge Nigel Peters KC described Warner’s approach as “exceptional” as he “accepted the behaviour was wrong”.

“I have never come across a case where a defendant has paid, more than £700, for some rehabilitation prior to being charged."

Warner was handed a two-year sentence suspended for two years.

He must complete 26 sessions with probation and five rehabilitation activity days, pay £150 costs and is on the sex offenders’ register for ten years.

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Warwick Crown Court heard yesterday that 31-year-old Joshua Ashby, of Rugby, was jailed for 10 years and 8 months.

He pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), two charges of inciting girls to engage in and watch sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a person under 16, and failing to comply with his sex offender registration.

Following an 18-month sentence and two orders imposed in October 2015, Ashby was jailed for 25 months in February 2019 after pleading guilty to breaching his SHPO and failing to comply with his sex offender registration.

As a high-risk sex offender, Ashby has been managed by our Sex Offender Management Unit (SOMU) in the north of the county since then. He’s been subject to intense offender management and as a result of the work by the unit, we were able to charge and remand Ashby in custody last year for a breach of his order where he communicated with a 13 year old child. He pled guilty to this charge, and was subsequently sentenced on all counts.

DS Kim Stafford said, “As a team it’s our job to enforce the conditions when someone like Ashby is released into the community. By being proactive, we’ve got a prolific sex offender back behind bars.

“An SHPO is a civil order, but it was given on conviction for Ashby due to the nature of his offences. We have a number of options at our disposal to keep the public safe from sexual predators, and we use them effectively.”

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An asylum seeker who arrived in the country on a small boat raped a woman in the centre of Norwich after she left a nightclub.

Dan Tesfalul, an Eritrean who has been in the UK since 2022, attacked his victim on Rose Lane before running off when challenged by a security guard.

He was initially charged with raping the woman three times on the same occasion.

However, after he pleaded guilty to one charge, prosecutors agreed to let the other two counts lie on file.

Appearing at Norwich Crown Court yesterday, he was jailed for eight years and three months.

His sentencing came on the day Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, announced plans she said would make it harder for asylum seekers convicted of sex offences to stay in the UK.

The court was told that Tesfalul had left Eritrea seven years ago and arrived by boat in the UK in 2022.

The war-torn country, in the Horn of Africa, is home to just 3.6 million people but Eritreans have made up the fourth-largest group of asylum seekers in the UK in recent years.

As an asylum seeker, Tesfalul - who had been studying for a psychology degree in his home country - was granted leave to remain in November 2023.

At the time of the attack, in May 2024, he had been staying at the Brook Hotel in Bowthorpe, one of two hotels in Norwich used by the Home Office as a temporary home for those seeking asylum.

He had been drinking in Norwich city centre on the evening of May 2, 2024, when he spotted the victim in Qube nightclub, on Prince of Wales Road.

He bought drinks for the woman before she went to buy food. He also left the nightclub and approached her on nearby Mountergate.

Stephen Spence, prosecuting, said that although the victim was too intoxicated to remember what happened to her other witnesses saw her being raped by the 27-year-old in a grassed area near Rose Lane car park.

Mr Spence said a woman leaving the car park saw the victim on the grass with the defendant having sex with her.

The witness became concerned after she heard the woman "screaming out" and called police. 

A car park security guard also realised something was wrong and after challenging Tesfalul the defendant pulled up his trousers and ran off.

Mr Spence said he was arrested in Whitefriars a short while later.

Sentencing Tesfalul to an extended sentence of 13 years and five months - eight years three months custody and five years on licence - Judge Alice Robinson told him: "This was a horrific attack on a lone intoxicated female in the middle of the night resulting in a number of bruises and deep distress."

She said Tesfalul had "specifically targeted" the victim who was particularly vulnerable and unable to defend herself through drink.

The judge said he was an "extremely dangerous" offender who had demonstrated a "predatory sexual manner" toward the victim.

Before the sentencing, the victim read out a statement in which she said: "It was such a horrible attack when I was at my most vulnerable."
She said was now “scared of being out alone in case it might happen again”.

“I feel scared of men and feel they are out to get me and rape me too.

“It’s horrible to feel scared of every man you see when in the city and in the shops."

The victim also said she now "hates people touching me", keeps herself "hidden away" and just wants to "curl up into a ball".

Matthew Sorel-Cameron, mitigating, said Tesfalul knows the victim "will have to live with the consequences of his actions".

He said the defendant was deeply sorry and profoundly ashamed” to have caused the suffering she had.

Mr Sorel-Cameron said the defendant deserved credit for his plea.

The defence barrister said the alcohol the victim had taken made her vulnerable but insisted there was “insufficient evidence” to say him buying her drinks had been a “calculated” act to “make this offence easier”.

He said the defendant had “been out by chance at the same time” as the victim.

Mr Sorel-Cameron said Tesfalul, whose own father died while "crossing the Mediterranean in a boat when the defendant was four or five", had been studying software development at the time of the offence.

Speaking after the sentencing, detective constable Dave Block said: "I hope this conviction and sentence serves to re-enforce the message that in Norfolk, dedicated detectives investigate reports of sexual offences thoroughly and that courts take these matters seriously.

"I would like to commend the members of the public who intervened in this incident, the police officers who attended swiftly and professionally, and most of all the victim who has engaged with us throughout the investigation. “

Tesfalul was made the subject of a restraining order banning him for contacting the victim directly or indirectly for 15 years.

He was also put on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

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A man has been jailed for engaging in sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder impeding choice.

The incident happened in the sauna at Hyndburn Leisure Centre in Accrington on 16th January 2022.

Stephen Tate, 69, approached his victim and without warning performed a sexual act on him.

The victim, who was 19 at the time and has severe learning difficulties, did not want that to happen.

He reported the incident to his dad, who had come to collect him and pointed out Tate to him.

The victim’s dad told Tate to wait but he ignored him and got into his black BMW and drove off.

The victim’s dad took note of the vehicle registration number and reported the matter to the police.

Tate, of Gordon Street, Church, was arrested and later charged with engaging in Sexual Activity with a person with a mental disorder impeding choice. He was found guilty following a trial at Preston Crown Court in December last year.

Tate returned to the same court today (29th April) where he was jailed for six years. He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and was barred from working with children and vulnerable people. Tate was also made subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order, which bans him from entering any public sauna, steam room or solarium

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A serial city centre sex attacker who targeted a drunk student in a disturbing attack has been branded a danger and jailed.

Hosien Nedjad has repeatedly sexually and physically assaulted women on nights out in Newcastle in offences spanning almost a decade. Despite already being on the sex offenders register, he subjected a young woman who had become separated from her friends to a disgusting attack inside a bar.

Now, having evaded justice by fleeing to Germany for more than three years, the failed asylum seeker has finally been jailed and was told he is likely to be deported.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the victim was on a night out in Newcastle in 2019 when she ended up in Soho Room, on Mosley Street. By the early hours of the morning, she was drunk and had become separated from her friends.

Nedjad was in the same bar and sexually assaulted the student. Philip Morley, prosecuting, said: "He took the opportunity to put his hand, initially, down the front of her jeans and started to grab at her.

"She asked him not to and tried to push his hands away. However at this point he grabbed her arms and pushed her forward onto the bar and pulled her jeans further down."

After finishing his attack, Nedjad left the victim crying and distressed and she pulled her jeans back up. Forensic tests revealed Nedjad's DNA on her clothing.

In a victim impact statement, she said she finds it difficult to put her ordeal into words and she thinks about it every day. She has been left struggling with anxiety and has needed therapy and medication and struggles to sleep.

She added: "I relive the night so often but it still paralyses me." She added that she has been left questioning whether she is safe and has been "plagued by flashbacks so severe they have been mistaken for seizures".

She added: "The outside world is terrifying and exhausting. I can't feel safe or trust anyone ever again."

The court heard Nedjad was convicted of common assault against four women in 2011 at Beyond bar. He pulled one victim to the floor and punched her and when three of her friends intervened, he punched them too.

In 2013, he assaulted two women at the Magic Flame takeaway, in Newcastle, punching both of them in the face. Then in 2014, he sexually assaulted a woman in Newcastle city centre, pushing her against railings, molesting her and trying to pull her pants down despite her telling him to stop. He was placed on the sex offenders register for seven years after that offence.

While he was being investigated for the attack in Soho Rooms, he sexually assaulted a woman in Popworld, in Newcastle, lifting up her dress while he had his trousers unbuttoned.

For the Soho Rooms offence, Nedjad, of Brighton Grove, Newcastle, was found guilty of sexual assault after a trial in his absence and pleaded guilty to a Bail Act offence after going to Germany for three-and-a-half years, evading justice. He was found last year and sent back here.

Sentencing the 42-year-old to four years in prison with an extended licence period of a further four years and ordering to sign the sex offenders register for life, Judge Edward Bindloss said he poses a significant risk and is a dangerous offender.

He told him: "You took advantage of the fact she was on her own and in drink. She described the last five years as being in the prison of her own mind. This has had a significant and profound effect upon her."

He added: "You have relevant previous convictions. In all of them, you targeted females at night. You touched them either physically or sexually, even though they said no."

The court heard Nedjad came to this country in 2007 and had worked as a chef and Amazon driver. Judge Bindloss said he is a failed asylum seeker and is likely to be deported having been given a sentence of more than 12 months.

Andrew Walker, defending, said Nedjad is embarrassed and remorseful and has not consumed alcohol for three-and-a-half years. He added that he is a "capable and resourceful individual" with a good work ethic.