Latest Offenders

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A Perthshire peeping tom concealed a phone camera inside a vase of flowers to spy on a 65-year-old woman in her bedroom.

Andrew Thomas, a convicted sex offender, crept into his victim’s home and placed the hidden camera at the foot of her bed.

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POLICE discovered that a convicted sex offender was using a secret phone after a probation worker spotted him with a couple and their young child in Carlisle.

Gary Davies, 68, had made friends with the family, who were unaware of his past history of committing child sex offences.

At the city’s crown court, prosecutor Gerard Rogerson outlined how police became aware of Davies' most recent offending.

The defendant, of London Road, Carlisle, had earlier admitted breaching his sexual harm prevention order and two counts of failing to comply with being on the Sex Offender Register.

Davies was given a sexual harm prevention order in 2021, after he was prosecuted for outraging public decency.

He did this by performing a sex act in his van, just wards away from an outdoor children’s birthday party. His criminal history also included “contact” sex offences against children and possessing indecent child images, the court heard.

Describing the latest offences, Mr Rogerson said the defendant’s court order means he can only own an internet device if it is fitted with police monitoring software.

He is also legally obliged to notify police of any online accounts he uses and his username and he is banned from having unsupervised contact with any child.

In December last year, a probation worker contacted the police confirming that Davies was seen in the city centre with a couple, who were with their three-year-old child.

They said they had formed a “friendship” with Davies.

But investigations showed they were unaware of the defendant’s sexual offending history. They gave police a mobile phone number that they had used to contact the defendant.

When police visited Davies at the Carlisle hotel where he was then living, he admitted having that Nokia phone, which he had failed to disclose, as he is required to under the terms of the sexual harm prevention order. 

He had also set up undisclosed accounts on YouTube and TikTok. Mr Rogerson said: “He said he was aware of [his order’s] prohibition, but he got tired of waiting for the probation service to return his mobile, which did have the monitoring software.

“So he purchased the Nokia."

After hearing the details, Judge Michael Fanning jailed the defendant for two years. The defendant committed the offences between mid-October and mid-December last year.

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Yesterday (21st January) he was given a sentence totalling 23 years at Preston Crown Court.

In 2023, Wearing groomed a 13-year-old girl over a period of two weeks before going onto sexually assault and rape her.

Wearing groomed the girl on the social media platform Wink, by pretending to be a 16-year-old boy called Chris Hay. Wearing is in fact 42 years old.

The conversation then moved onto the social media application Kik messenger where Wearing turned the communication sexual in nature. He also stated that he likes to see women get punched during intercourse.

Wearing then asked his victim if he could meet her and invited his ‘friend’ Chris 2 into the conversation. In fact, the second male was also Wearing.

Wearing – posing as Chris Hay – asked the victim for her number so she could meet up with Chris 2. This was so he could engage in sexual activity with her.

Telling the victim not to tell anyone, Wearing talked the victim through the process of booking a train ticket from Wigan North Western Station to Preston, and then onto Church and Oswaldtwistle Station.

Wearing met the girl at the station and took her to his Accrington home, where he raped and sexually assaulted her.

The victim’s mum tracked her daughter’s phone to Wearing’s address and rang it. The phone call panicked Wearing and he threw the victim out of the address via the back door, telling her to climb over a fence so that her mum didn’t find his address.

The victim was blocked by both ‘Chris Hay’ and ‘Chris 2’ as soon as her mum picked her up.

Wearing was arrested and subsequently charged with rape, sexual assault, sexual activity with a child, engaging in sexual communication with a child and meeting a girl under 16 years of age following grooming.

Wearing, now of no fixed address but formerly of Howard Close, Accrington, pleaded guilty to all offences.

Wearing was given 15 years immediate custody with a further eight years on extended licence after he was deemed to be a dangerous offender.

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Police in Swindon are praising a 14-year-old girl for her bravery after she was instrumental in bringing a sex offender to justice.

Kevin Wolton, 42, of Doulton Close, Redhouse, had previously denied sexually assaulting the teenager, who was willing to make a statement to officers and appear as a witness despite her ordeal.

Yesterday (20/01) at Swindon Crown Court, he was sentenced to 29-months imprisonment after changing his plea to guilty and admitting two breaches of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which banned him from having unsupervised contact with girls under the age of eighteen, or lone women.

On September 3 last year, Wolton approached the girl in Brook Park, Redhouse, and made lewd and inappropriate comments to her, and then grabbed her and tried to kiss her.

The incident was reported to officers on patrol and Wolton was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.

PC Dominic Tonge from the Swindon North, East and Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “The victim showed great courage throughout this case and was determined that he should be punished for what he did to protect other girls in the future.

“Her calm resolution to continue to seek justice despite her young age was impressive.

“SHPOs are put in place by the court to protect the public from sexual harm, with conditions to assist us in manging them.

"We will continue to manage these orders robustly and ensure those who break them are brought before the courts."

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A man who turned up at a Fife MSP’s office with a burning paint tray before threatening him has been jailed for 22 months.

Peter Batten went to David Torrance’s constituency office in Kirkcaldy’s Kirk Wynd with the flaming material and tried to open the door just minutes before the MSP returned having gone out to buy printer paper.

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A 64-year-old man has been jailed for nearly eight years after he pleaded guilty to a number of child sex offences.

On September 13, 2021, police officers from Northamptonshire Police’s MOSOVO (Management of Sexual or Violent Offenders) Team carried out an unannounced visit at Michael Stephen Lewis’ address in Deal Street, Northampton.

As a registered sex offender, Lewis was required to abide by a number of conditions as part of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

One of these conditions was to expect unannounced visits from the police and that evening, when they asked him to produce his internet enabled devices for inspection, they suspected that his computer, which was custom built, had possible encryption software on it.

Lewis denied installing the encryption software himself however his devices were seized and upon examination, they were found to contain a number of indecent images of children – 115 in total with 47 (41 photographs and six videos) being Category A, the most serious.

Lewis was subsequently charged with three counts of making indecent photographs/pseudo-photographs of a child, one count of possessing extreme pornographic images involving animals, one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child, one count of breaching his SHPO and one count of failing to comply with notification requirements.

After pleading guilty to the offences at Northampton Crown Court at an earlier hearing, Lewis returned to the same court on January 2, 2025, where he was sentenced to seven years and ten months in prison.

Lead investigator PC Carl Gardner from the Force’s MOSOVO Team said: “I am pleased to see Michael Lewis sent to prison for nearly eight years for these very serious offences, and I hope it shows our local communities just how seriously we take these types of cases.

“Registered sex offenders like Lewis are very closely managed by our team and we regularly show up at their homes, day and night, to ensure they are abiding by their conditions. Any breaches are dealt with robustly and with an approach of zero-tolerance.

“The images found on Lewis’ computer were abhorrent and by ensuring that he returns to prison, we are keeping the public in this county safe.

“We will continue working hard to ensure more people like him also find themselves behind bars.”

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A man has been jailed for possessing indecent images of children, thanks in part to the work of one of our ‘Digi Dogs’.

Timothy O'Keefe, 58, of May Close in Southampton, appeared at Winchester Crown Court on Friday 17 January after pleading guilty to possessing more than 700 indecent images of children.

The offences took place between June 2022 and June 2024, while O’Keefe was living in Portsmouth and Andover.

Following an investigation by the Internet Child Abuse Team in July 2022, officers searched O’Keefe’s address in Arundel Street, Portsmouth.

A laptop belonging to him was located after it had been thrown into a neighbour’s garden, so officers deployed PD Dizzie, who is a Digital Data Detection Dog.

These dogs are trained to sniff out electronic devices and items like phones and sim cards, and on this occasion PD Dizzie located a USB stick which belonged to O’Keefe and had many indecent images of children on it.

O’Keefe was handed a two year prison sentence for the offences.

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A Brechin paedophile caught in simultaneous stings told undercover police posing as a schoolgirl of his desire to take her to a Premier Inn, pretending she was his daughter and ply her with cider.

Sick Scott Strachan appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court to be sentenced after admitting trying to communicate indecently with two children.

His worrying messages on Kik Messenger and Snapchat apps were actually sent to English police officers.

Strachan, who has since lost his job, has been placed on the sex offenders register and under supervision.

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A PAEDOPHILE who was caught by a civilian-operated hunter group after sending sexualised photographs and messages to a child decoy is beginning a 32-month prison sentence.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Giles Cockett, 39, of Dick Lane, Bradford, was autistic, suffering from a depressive disorder, lived a secluded lifestyle, and was estranged from his family.

However, he had a significant record of previous convictions dating back to 2018 involving similar offending.

He will now have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and will be subject to a lifelong Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Prosecutor Camille Morland said Cockett began speaking to what he believed was a 14-year-old girl in early August last year on a platform called Chat Hour.

In fact, the profile was a decoy operated by a civilian group known as Protecting Kids Online.

On August 2 Cockett approached the girl, engaged her in conversation and asked if she liked sex chat. She immediately told him that she was just 14.

Cockett steered the conversation towards masturbation, moved the messaging onto Kick and, over the next six days, asked her to talk to him about her private parts, told her she would look sexy in a swimming costume, talked again about masturbation, and sent photographs of himself and where he lived plus a picture of a penis.

The messaging was reported to the police and Cockett was arrested at his home.

He admitted what he had done, told officers he was autistic, and that he did not believe that masturbation was a subject that was sexual in nature.

He later pleaded guilty to attempting to incite sexual activity with a child, attempted sexual communications with a child and two counts of making indecent images of children.

The court heard that Cockett had previous convictions for attempting to communicate sexually with a child, and possession of indecent images.

For those convictions at Chester Crown Court, he received a five-year community order and later a three-year community order.

Miss Morland described his offending as “a fairly entrenched habit”.

Mitigating, Abdul Shakoor said as a result of Cockett’s autism diagnosis “his understanding of what he was doing and the consequences of what he was doing was reduced.”

He said Cockett was “very motivated” and willing to work to address his offending and mental health issues but that he lived “a secluded lifestyle” and was isolated from his family.

He said that had a bearing on his social interactions online, which had led him to begin offending again.

He said: “He recognises that when that occurs, he leans towards offending.”

Sentencing Cockett, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds, to a total of 32 months imprisonment, Her Honour Judge Sophie McKone said: “Over about six days you made sexual communications with somebody you believed and no doubt hoped was a 14-year-old girl.

“It was in fact a decoy, but you did not know that, and you engaged in sexual talk with somebody who, in your mind, was 14.”

Referring to the indecent images found in Cockett’s possession Judge McKone said: “These children were real children and were really being sexually abused.

“Although you did not touch these children you are indirectly responsible for the abuse of the children in those pictures.”

She pointed out that although the decoy was not a real child Cockett had “made a full admission that you are sexually attracted to children.

“You are not an unintelligent man.

“You have expressed guilt and remorse.

“You do have a recognition that what you did was wrong.”

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A “dangerous” sex offender has been jailed again after he subjected a teenage girl to a shocking broad daylight attack on the doorstep of her Calderdale home.

The youngster, who must not be identified for legal reasons, had been talking to drink-fuelled David Collier at the front door when the 35-year-old began making crude sexualised comments and rubbing his genital area.

The incident, which took place on a residential street last year, was captured on CCTV footage which was played in court and it showed cars driving by and even a pedestrian walking his dog within a few feet of the defendant.

During the sexual assault Collier touched the girl between her legs over her clothing and forcibly kissed her before taking his penis out and rubbing it over her chest. The girl was able to go back inside her home when another male approached Collier.

During a hearing at Bradford Crown Court on Wednesday, it was revealed that back in 2013 Collier, of Woodstock Road, Manchester, had been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for attempting to rape a man.

While serving that sentence Collier had completed a sex offender programme, but Judge Ahmed Nadim said today that the defendant did not seem to have learned from that experience. The judge said: “That tells us something about the future risk he presents."

Collier admitted offences of sexual assault, engaging a child in sexual activity and engaging in sexual behaviour in the presence of a child and his barrister Jo Shepherd said he was thoroughly ashamed of his behaviour that evening.

Judge Nadim concluded that Collier met the “dangerous offender” criteria and imposed a 30-month jail sentence with an extended licence period of 18 months. Collier will also have to comply with a sexual harm prevention order for the next 15 years and he is already subject to sex offender registration with the police for the rest of his life.

In her victim impact statement which was read to the court by the prosecutor the complainant described how she felt she wouldn’t have been believed if there had been no CCTV recording.

Prosecutor Anthony Moore said the girl felt angry, annoyed and isolated.

Judge Nadim told Collier over a prison video link that he had behaved in a “sexually perverted manner” in broad daylight. He said: “This offending occurred while you were stood on a public pavement on a residential street."

In reference to the sex offender programme completed by Collier the judge said: ”That measure designed to protect the public interest was insufficient because you, despite having undergone such a programme and served a substantial sentence of imprisonment for a sexual offence, conducted yourself in this way.

“In a public street where you could be viewed by passing traffic and members of the public on the pavement.”

After imposing the extended sentence on Collier the judge told him that he was in cusp of receiving a life sentence for any further offending.

“Your future is in your own hands. Be warned,” he added.

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An abuser has been jailed for 16 years after he subjected a woman to months of physical assaults, controlling behaviour and repeatedly threatening to kill her.

Benjamin Levy slammed her head into a door frame, threw her into a radiator and struck her with a gym weight during months of physical and mental violence.

The 36-year-old from Brierley Hill carried out a sustained catalogue of offences, including sexual violence.

But the woman he was abusing was able to tell us what he was doing and our investigators put together a case which when it was presented at court last week saw Levy jailed for 16 years.

Levy was charged with more than 15 offences including controlling and coercive behaviour, assault, threats to kill, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without their consent and sending a threatening message.

Levy, of Lower Derry Street, denied the charges both in police interview and during early court hearings but later changed his plea to guilty.

As well as the jail term, which also includes a further five years to be served on licence, the judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court last Thursday (9 January) also ordered Levy remain on the sex offender register for life.

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A man who used a game of “ants in pants” to try to cover up his sexual abuse of a young boy has been jailed for more than five years.

Bradford Crown Court heard on Tuesday that 37-year-old Wakefield man Khuram Rashid was still “in denial” about his offending against the youngster despite a jury finding him guilty of three offences of sexual assault following a trial.

The mother of the victim, who must not be identified for legal reasons, provided an impact statement in which she described how they had been pressured by others to forgive the defendant and consider his feelings while their feelings had been overlooked and condemned.

The court heard that Rashid, of Ings Road, had been a man of previous good character and was highly regarded by his employers.

Barrister Kitty Colley, for Rashid, said he held a “managerial position” and Recorder David Gordon noted that the jury had heard a number of testimonials about the defendant relating to his work at Leeds Railway Station.

Recorder Gordon said there had clearly been “grooming behaviour” in Rashid’s offending. He told Rashid: “You dressed up sexual touching as innocent playfulness."

The court heard that when Rashid was questioned about the sexual touching allegations by the boy’s mother he laughed and said the youngster was confused. Recorder Gordon said Rashid told the mum that they had played a game called “ants in pants” and that had led to some confusion.

The judge said Rashid also talked about “tickling” each other. He said: “All in all you denied the allegations being made by the complainant and his mother. Those were denials you have persisted in right up to today.

"You were convicted after a trial so I can give you no credit for pleading guilty.”

Jailing Rashid for five years and three months Recorder Gordon said his offending had had a profound impact on the boy and his family.

He said Rashid had also told the youngster that what he was doing to him was “perfectly fine”.

Recorder Gordon said Rashid would now have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and he would also have to comply with the terms of a indefinite sexual harm prevention order which restricts his unsupervised contact with boys under 16.

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Lancashire man David Bennett – a registered sex offender - filmed the sex assaults on his phone, with the victim having no recollection what had happened.

Bennett and the woman had shared drinks at her home one evening in May last year, having earlier agreed to go on a date.

They then briefly went to a friend’s house together, before returning to her home.

From then on, she was unable to recall the remainder of the night. It was while she was asleep and unresponsive that Bennett sexually assaulted her.

Bennett attempted to contact her numerous times in the days which followed.

Concerned by his strange behaviour in continuing to ring and text her and having searched his name on the internet where she found newspaper articles relating to Bennett’s previous offending, she contacted Lancashire Police who launched an investigation.

When he was arrested, Bennett’s phone was seized and videos of him sexually assaulting the woman while she was unresponsive and not moving, were found.

Bennett, 40, of Blythewood, Skelmersdale, appeared at Preston Crown Court on Monday (13th January) for sentencing.

He had been found guilty by a jury of two offences of sexual assault after a trial.

The judge passed a 10-year sentence, comprising five years in prison with an extended five-year licence period.

An indefinite restraining order and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order were also imposed by the judge.

Det Con Chris Wilding of Lancashire Police's South Division Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team, said: “David Bennett is a dangerous offender and I welcome the lengthy prison sentence which the judge passed.

“He committed abhorrent offences against his victim who was unable to defend herself.

“We take all offences of a sexual nature very seriously and will investigate them thoroughly so that offenders can be brought to justice.”

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A REGISTERED sex offender hastily deleted illegal Instagram chat from his phone as police conducted a home visit.

Benjamin Michael Perry Grant, 29, was jailed at Carlisle Crown Court for what a judge called a “series of offences” linked to past crimes.

Grant had previously been in a relationship with a woman from March to November, 2023. He was convicted of stalking her in February, 2024, and slapped with a restraining order as part of a punishment he received last April.

He had also previously been made subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and the terms of sex offender notification requirements for other past offences. These were imposed both to restrict his online use and keep police aware of up to date personal information.

Yet Grant was back in trouble on 5th October, 2024, when officers conducted a home visit at his address.

“His phone was checked and it transpired that four applications which were previously disclosed as being on the device were not longer present,” Estelle Chambers, prosecuting, told the court.

“Forensic analysis also shows that an Instagram conversation had been deleted from the device. The date and time of the deleted messages corresponds with the date and time of the police home visit, suggesting that the defendant deleted the messages as police arrived.”

These messages had been sent by Grant to his ex-partner, one reading: “Do not reply. Police checks.”

Ms Chambers also said: “The victim states she has been contacted by the defendant several times since the restraining order was imposed.”

Although she had told Grant to stop getting in touch, he sent her a number of voice notes. In October, Grant was seen standing within 50 metres of her address — in breach of the restraining order.

In addition, Grant had set up a new Instagram account which was not disclosed to police. After officers visited his home, Grant asked his former partner to consider withdrawing the restraining order.

Summarising the impact on the woman, the prosecutor said: “She describes the situation as deeply affecting her mental health, leading to feelings of depression and distress.”

Grant, previously of Kirkby Thore but now of no fixed address, admitted five SHPO breaches, and flouting both the restraining order and notification requirements.

Mark Shepherd, mitigating, said no threatening messages had been sent by Grant who, he added, wanted to get back into work and live a law-abiding life.

Judge Nicholas Barker imposed an immediate 15-month prison sentence. Grant was also banned from contacting his ex-partner for three years. “You wished to assert control over her, and continued to do so,” the judge observed.

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A sex offender who traded videos and pictures of “misery, debauchery and child cruelty” has been jailed for 18 months.

Among the films of children being sexually abused that John Gary Humphreys sent to his online contacts was one of the rape of a toddler aged six to 18 months old, York Crown Court heard.

Lydia Carroll, prosecuting, said the 45-year-old complained in online chats about others shutting down access to their stock of indecent images of children.

Humphreys, of Coupland Road, Selby, pleaded guilty to three charges of distributing indecent images of children and three of possessing indecent images of children.

The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, told Humphreys he had taken part in a “filthy trade in misery, debauchery and child cruelty.

“You were passing on through the internet the most horrendous images of children.”

Comparing Humphreys to a drug dealer, the judge said he had to be jailed to deter others thinking of “pushing” similar images by putting them on the internet “where everyone could see them".

He jailed Humphreys for 18 months and made him subject to a sexual harm prevention order for five years. Humphreys will be on the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Ms Carroll said police got a tip-off that Humphreys was uploading sexual images of children to the internet and raided his home in September 2023. He tried vainly to hide a mobile phone from them.

Forensic examination of his mobile revealed he had been downloading thousands of images from the Mega Folder cloud facility and trading illegal sexual images of children via Telegram as well as sending other people links.

The folders had names often used for sexual images of children.

Forensic investigators found Humphreys had uploaded 23 videos and five pictures of the worst category of sexual images of children via Telegram as well as 25 more videos and pictures of less serious categories.

He also had his own cache of nearly 4,000 images, 997 of which - including 83 videos - were in the worst category and more than 2,500 in the least serious category. All could be easily accessed. Police found 62,000 more images which they did not categorise.

For Humphreys, Sean Smith said since his arrest, he had undertaken an initial course with Safer Lives, an organisation that rehabilitates sex offenders, as well as having monthly meetings with its representatives.

He no longer used the internet and, for family reasons, now lived in a van where it was difficult for him to access the internet.

A medical report following an assessment in November 2023 suggested he may have autism and this may have contributed to his offending, among other causes which the barrister did not identify.

The judge accepted that Humphreys had worked to rehabilitate himself and was “ordinarily a decent man”.