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Description

A man was jailed yesterday (Tuesday 18 March) for 19 years in connection with non-recent rape and sexual offences.

Barrie Clarke, aged 66, was brought to justice after his offending in North Hertfordshire from the late 1980s and early 1990s was exposed to police in 2023.

Clarke, of Artiss Close in Bildeston, Suffolk, was convicted on 15 January this year following a seven-day trial at Cambridge Crown Court.

The jury found him guilty of rape and eight counts of indecent assault against one victim, who was as young as eight at the time.

He was also convicted of indecently assaulting a second girl under the age of 15. He denied all the offences.

Description

A registered sex offender put her phone under public toilet cubicles to secretly record men using the loo.

Chleo Sunter, 37, was caught with 790 pictures and 15 videos of men inside toilet cubicles and standing at urinals. She took the photos in the men's loos at an Aldi supermarket and a shopping centre in Middlesbrough, and at Darlington Train Station.

Sunter, previously known as John Leslie Graham, admitted her latest offences at Teesside Crown Court on Wednesday.

She pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism; "recording a person doing a private act with the intention that she herself, for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, would look at the image of this person knowing they did not consent to her recording the act" between January and November 2023. She also admitted six breaches of a sexual harm prevention order.

The sex offender order was given to the defendant after being convicted of sexual assault in 2012, when Sunter was named John Leslie Graham. The offender was also convicted of possession of extreme pornographic images, in 2014.

She has appeared in court since for further breaches of the order - including in 2018 when caught using an alias on a dating site.

Sunter was caught with the material when her sex offender manager turned up at her home in Thornaby, to check she was complying with the court order. Photos and videos of victims using public conveniences near Middlesbrough's Captain Cook Square shopping centre, at a Middlesbrough Aldi; and at Darlington station, were stored on her phone.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, told the court: "Some of the males were stood at the urinals. Some were recorded under the cubicles."

On a police visit in November 2023, Sunter wasn't at home, but was found nearby. Police investigators found she had deleted 695 chats, 712 photos, and four videos from the gay dating app, Grindr, the court heard.

Sunter has also been using her phone in incognito mode so that her internet history couldn't be seen. She further breached the terms of the order by resetting her phone to factory settings.

Mitigating, John Nixon said Sunter has a history of alcohol abuse and "no longer has a phone or laptop with internet access." Sunter was remanded into custody eight months ago, after admitting some of the offences at the magistrates' court. Mr Nixon said prison has been an "exceptionally challenging time".

Sunter's barrister asked the judge to consider a court order instead of prison - as if imprisoned would mean she would lose her accommodation and face homelessness when released.

Judge Geoffrey Marson said he was aware of Sunter's mental health difficulties and "particular circumstances, but they have little, or no affect on the offences."

The judge jailed Sunter, of Avon Close, Thornaby, for 26 months, telling her that he accepted she is "emotionally vulnerable and custody will be difficult."

Description

A 55-year-old man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the domestic and sexual abuse of two women.

Robert Mackinnon Stirling was sentenced at the High Court in Inverness today.

He was also given a lifetime non-harassment order in respect of the victims and will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

He was previously convicted at the same court on Monday February 17 2025, for violent and sexual offences including rape, committed between 2004 and 2022 in the Inner Hebrides, Ross-shire and Moray Firth areas.

Detctive Sergeant Laura MacKay said: "Stirling is an abusive individual who subjected his victims to years of horrific offending, and he will now face the consequences of his actions.

"We acknowledge how difficult these enquiries can be for victims and would like to thank them in coming forward and assisting in bringing Stirling to justice.

"I hope today's outcome provides them, and their families, with some sense of closure as they move forward with their lives.

"Domestic abuse can cause lasting harm and tackling this type of offending remains a priority for Police Scotland

Description

A man, who sexually assaulted a teenage girl whilst giving her a lift in his car, has been jailed for seven years.

On the evening of 14 August 2023, Errol Brown, 55, offered the victim, who was known to him, a lift in his car where he began to touch her legs.

Later he tried to kiss her and stopped at a local shop to buy her alcohol before driving to a layby on a country lane and sexually assaulting her in the back of the car.

The victim was able to disclose to those close to her what had happened, and she reported it to the police.

An investigation was launched by Bedfordshire Police’s Protecting Vulnerable People (PVP) team and Brown was arrested.

After a trial at Luton Crown Court last month, Brown of Bents Close, Clapham, was found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child.

He was sentenced on Friday 7 March to a total of seven years, and will now be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Detective Constable Rebecca Crowley from the PVP team said:

“Brown took advantage of this young girl who trusted him as an adult to keep her safe and did the most despicable things.

“I highly commend the victim for coming forward and reporting what happened to her and for enduring a trial to ensure that Brown was punished for his actions.

“Child sexual abuse is one of the most monstrous of crimes and we work tirelessly to support the victims through an investigation and bring these perpetrators to justice.

“Please remember, it’s never too late to report a crime and you are helping us to put these dangerous perpetrators in prison.”

Description

A man has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for sexual offences involving children online.

Michael Dyos, of College Road, Southwater, West Sussex was jailed for a total of two years and six months on Monday (17/3) following a hearing at Lewes Crown Court.

The 59-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of arranging/facilitating the offence of causing/inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and two counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

On 8 July last year, Dyos drove from Southwater, near Horsham, to Littlehampton to meet with a person who he thought was a 13-year-old child, having previously been involved in an online chat of a sexual nature with this person.

When he arrived in Littlehampton he was met by police officers and arrested. He was then charged on 9 July.

Dyos’s Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which was in place before the commission of these offences, remains in place until April 2031.

Description

A Strathaven masseur is facing jail after he was convicted of indecently assaulting 10 female patients.

Alistair Bennie, 61, denied molesting the women while treating them, but a jury returned guilty verdicts after a week-long trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court.

One victim said she felt “very violated” after Bennie touched her inappropriately and others told the court they were “very embarrassed” and “mortified”.

One woman said she “froze”.

Bennie denied any wrongdoing and his lawyer questioned why it had taken several years for most of the women to report him.

But prosecutor Neil Thomson said the case against him was “compelling”.

Most of the women didn’t know each other but there were “striking similarities” in what they said Bennie had done to them.

Mr Thomson told the jury: “This was a persistent course of conduct.”

The assaults happened between September 2017 and June 2022.

Mostly the women were targeted in their own home, often when someone else was also in the house.

One victim told the court she didn’t report Bennie immediately because she doesn’t like confrontation and felt sorry for him.

She said: “When we were chatting he told me about his personal life and problems he was having. I believe mentally he was not well and I felt sorry for him.”

After the guilty verdicts Bennie was put on the sex offenders’ register.

Sheriff Linda Nicolson deferred sentence until May for background reports, an electronic tagging assessment and a risk assessment.

Bennie, of Hamilton Road, Strathaven, remains on bail.

One of the bail conditions prevents him working as a masseur.

The sheriff told him: “The charges you have been convicted of are very serious and at this stage custody is uppermost in my mind.”

Description

A Peterhead exhibitionist has been locked up after videos and pictures of him pleasuring himself around Buchan were discovered on his mobile phone.

Rory Kerr first hit the headlines in 2021 when it was revealed he appalled neighbours by spending up to four hours a day carrying out sex acts in his Boddam back garden.

Description

A man caught trying to meet a teenage girl to engage in sexual activity has been jailed for nine years and six months.

Officers who arrested Giles Croucher, of Grove Lane, Ipswich, last June, found three white lace thongs, condoms and two phones in his car.

During his trial, Ipswich Crown Court heard how Croucher had claimed he was on his way to "catch out" and "confront" undercover police officers, who had been posing as a teenager online.

But a jury found him guilty in December 2024 of attempting to engage a child in sexual communication and attempting to cause or incite a 14-year-old girl to engage in sexual activity.

During Croucher's trial, the jury heard how he had been in contact with an online account whose user was claiming to be a 14-year-old girl, but was actually an undercover police officer.

Croucher, who was 49 at the time of his arrest, was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday, placed on the sex offender's register indefinitely, and fined a £228 surcharge.

Description

A North East paedophile has been jailed for 14 years after being convicted of raping a child.

Kenneth Dick, of Ryde Terrace, Dunston, Gateshead, was charged with four sexual offences in March 2023.

The charges included rape of a child, sexual assault, engaging in sexual activity with a child and causing a child to watch a sexual act.

Police interviewed Dick after a complaint was made by a schoolgirl who had disclosed the abuse to a family member.

When interviewed by police he denied all allegations, but a jury trial found him guilty of all four offences in November last year, for which he was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on Monday (March 17).

The sentence means that 66 year-old Dick will spend 14 years locked up with a year on licence once he is released.

Detective Constable Claire Ashurst of Northumbria Police’s Safeguarding Department led the investigation and praised the victim for her “courage and composure” in coming forward.

She said: “It is thanks to her bravery in disclosing what happened to police that a dangerous offender like Dick is now behind bars and will be unable to harm anyone else.

“I absolutely welcome this sentence and hope it provides this courageous individual in this case with some comfort in knowing he’s now locked up for a significant period.”

She added: “I hope this conviction serves as a stark warning to those who think they can take advantage of a vulnerable person – we won’t tolerate this type of behaviour and there are serious and lifelong consequences.

“No one should ever have to endure this type of assault and support is available from our officers and the many fantastic charities we work closely in collaboration with day-in, day-out."

Dick will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for the rest of his life, and was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order as well as a Restraining Order to protect the victim.

Description

A man from Tuebrook has been jailed for five years after sexually assaulting a girl under 13.
 
John Thompson, 46 years, of Pennsylvania Road was convicted of three offences of sexual assault against a child under 13 and one of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Thompson was arrested in March 2022 after the victim came forward and reported his actions.

Description

A convicted Medway sex offender who breached the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) has been jailed.

Ian Collard, formerly of Station Road, Gillingham, downloaded banned apps and set up online dating profiles despite being forbidden to do so.

Court order

Collard, 34, became the subject of a SHPO after pleading guilty to attempting to cause a girl to engage in sexual activity in 2018. The court order included conditions that he must not access the internet without informing the authorities and must make any devices available for inspection by officers when asked.

The SHPO also stipulated that the offender must not use any form of social media, dating apps or dating websites; install any app capable of automatically deleting messages or making messages disappear, or contact any person without their expressed consent.

Order breached

Following a routine visit by Kent Police officers, Collard was found to be in breach of the court order. An examination of his mobile phone uncovered prohibited activity, including that he had downloaded Snapchat and was using several different aliases for various dating app profiles.

Collard was arrested on 17 May 2024 and charged the same day with seven breaches of the SHPO and three breaches of the Sex Offenders’ Notification Requirements.

Jailed

He pleaded guilty and on Friday 14 March 2025 at Maidstone Crown Court, was sentenced to three years in prison.

Description

A prolific sex offender who stole an innocent man’s identity and spent almost three decades on the run has been found guilty of numerous sexual offences against young boys.

Richard Burrows was found guilty of 54 offences on Monday 17 March 2025 at Chester Crown Court, including indecent assault of boys, buggery, attempted buggery and indecency with a child.

The 80-year-old, of HMP Altcourse, had already pleaded guilty to 43 offences, including indecent assault of boys,  making indecent images of children, possession of indecent images of children and four counts of possession of false identity documents with intent, at an earlier hearing.

Burrows has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Monday 7 April for a total of 97 offences.

The court heard how between 1968 and 1995 Burrows systematically abused 24 young boys across the Cheshire, West Midlands and West Mercia areas. 

The offences in Cheshire occurred between 1969 and 1971 while he was working as a Housemaster, looking after vulnerable children at Danesford Children’s Home in Congleton.

His victims in the West Midlands and West Mercia areas were also all young boys who were abused between 1968 and 1995, the majority through local Scout groups where Burrows worked as a leader.

In each case, he befriended the victims by using his position of trust over them and their personal interests, such as radio communications or boating. After gaining their trust, and in many cases the trust of their families, Burrows then went on to sexually abuse the boys.

While some of his victims attempted to speak out at the time, many simply did not feel that they would be believed.

It was not until the 1990s, following revelations in relation to offences at other children's homes and institutions, that many of the victims had the confidence to come forward.

Following the allegations in relation to the offences at Danesford Children’s Home, a large-scale investigation was launched by detectives from Cheshire Police in 1994.

Burrows was initially arrested in April 1997 and was subsequently charged in May 1997 with two counts of buggery and 11 counts of indecent assault in relation to the offences in Cheshire and some in the West Midlands. 

After his initial appearance in magistrates’ courts, he was released on bail by the court and was due to attend a further hearing at Chester Crown Court on Monday 8 December 1997. 

However, Burrows failed to attend and officers subsequently discovered that he had disappeared.

Over the past 27 years detectives from Cheshire Police have been carrying out multiple enquiries to locate him. This included several wanted appeals and four Crimewatch appeals on national television as well as following up numerous leads, none of which indicated Burrows had left the country.

The investigation also included enquiries with various agencies and institutions within the UK as well as border and international checks, however there was no trace of him either within or outside of the UK.

Burrows remained on the Cheshire Police wanted list throughout the 27-year period and his case was regularly reviewed.

Despite the officers’ best efforts, there was no trace until April 2023 when detectives from the force's Serious and Organised Crime Unit used specialist software to search for any possible images of Burrows online.

After searching through billions of images, the system came back with a match for a man using the name of Peter Smith who was living in Chalong in Phuket, Thailand.

‘Peter’ had an active interest in sailing and had previously been working at an advertising company in Phuket. He had even featured in the local news in 2019 when he retired from his job.

Following further enquiries, officers discovered that Burrows had stolen the name Peter Smith from an acquaintance who was terminally ill. This allowed him to fraudulently obtain a 'genuine' passport in 1997 and so leave the country without detection.

After confirming that ‘Peter’ was in fact Burrows, officers contacted the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and began the process to extradite him to the UK.

Before that process was formally commenced, officers became aware of Burrows’ intention to return to the UK travelling under the alias of Peter Smith. The NCA informed Thai authorities and monitored his travel back to the UK. He was arrested as soon as he landed at Heathrow.

Following his arrest, Burrows was subsequently charged in relation to further offences in Cheshire, the West Midlands and West Mercia which had been reported since his disappearance.

A number of victims had come forward at different times to different police forces over the years as a result of media and Crimewatch appeals and because they felt the time was right for them to tell their story. Some victims also came forward on seeing that Burrows had been arrested.

Description

A man has been jailed for five years for a string of sexual offences against children dating back to the 1980s.

Edward Riley, aged 56, of Pitway, South Petherton, Somerset appeared at Worcester Crown Court today (14 March) for sentencing, following his conviction in February.

Riley was convicted of six counts of indecent assault against a girl under 14, two counts of indecent assault against a boy under 14 and two counts of inciting a boy under 14 to commit an act of gross indecency

The offences were committed between 1982 and 1986 in Kidderminster .

Riley has been placed on the sex offenders register for life.

Description

A Met investigation into a man who sexually assaulted four teenage girls in Barking has seen him jailed for 18 and a half years.

Mark Franklin, 56 (10.03.68) of Westrow Drive, Barking was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, 14 March. He has also been placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

The investigation was launched in April 2024 when a 15-year-old girl reported that she had been sexually assaulted by someone known to her.

Through building a rapport with the victim-survivor, officers discovered that Franklin had also abused three other girls.

On 22 October 2024 at the same court, Franklin was unanimously found guilty by a jury of:

• One count of rape of a child under 16
• Two counts of sexual assault by penetration
• Three counts of sexual assault
• One count of causing a child to engage in a sexual act

Detective Constable Jodie Singer, who led the investigation, said: “Today we achieved justice for these four girls and I hope the severity of the sentence can provide some comfort to them and their families.

“Throughout the entire investigation, Franklin showed absolutely no remorse. He was so comfortable in his offending that even after he filmed the horrific assaults, he never believed he would be caught.

“The young victim-survivors have shown remarkable bravery throughout this process, their strength and willingness to work with us has been vital in securing his conviction. I want to thank them for their trust in the police and for their resilience during such a distressing time.”

Between August 2023 and January 2024, Franklin sexually assaulted the four victim-survivors who were aged 15 and 16 when they visited his home. He would plie them with drugs and alcohol, and once they were inebriated, he would sexually assault them, often filming his actions.

He described the transformation when they took the drugs as ‘incredible’ and ‘absolutely breath taking’.

The court heard how Franklin attempted to minimise the abuse and said it was ‘just a bit of fun’.

Officers also uncovered extensive messages where Franklin confessed his love for one victim-survivor, telling her he had a secret crush on her and how beautiful he thought she was.

The Met are doing more to address violence against women and girls. Listening to victim-survivors, and working together with charities and partners across the criminal justice system, we’re working to ensure that all victims-survivors have the confidence to report these most awful crimes.

At the heart of our new approach in investigating rape, the Met have a greater focus on the suspect’s life, with a shift away from the ‘credibility’ of the victim-survivor. This means that the victim goes through a less invasive process when reporting an incident such as rape, which officers know is already an incredibly difficult time for them.

Description

A former coach at St Andrews Rifle Club has been placed on the sex offenders register after being found guilty of touching female students.

Volunteer Patrick Jess was found guilty of a string of sexual assaults at the Fife shooting club.