Latest Offenders

Description

A wheelchair-bound pervert was told he had brought 'shame' on his wife after appearing at court for possessing extreme pornographic images. Bryan Flack was already on the Sex Offenders' Register before he was arrested by cops.

He was detained after downloading images of people having sex with a horse and a dog. Due to the 71-year-old suffering lung cancer, Parkinson's and kidney and heart failure, magistrates could only hand Flack a fine.

Flack, of Scotia Road in the Burslem area of Stoke, had previously been imprisoned for sexual assault, which was committed on a woman while he was a masseuse. He admitted to possession extreme pornographic images at North Staffordshire Justice Centre, reports StokeonTrentLive.

His wife wheeled Flack into court, where it was said he had brought 'shame' on her. Magistrates fined him a total of £465.

They told him: "Whatever punishment we impose, the main punishment is the shame you have imposed on your wife. The only option is a fine."

Prosecutor Zaine Riaz said: "The defendant is a registered sex offender and is on the register until 2027. He was visited by a manager of the sex offenders' probation service for a routine check. He provided his mobile phone. He appeared to be nervous.

"The officer saw videos of animals and humans engaging in sex acts with each other. He was arrested. Eighteen images were found. He admitted the content. He's not sure why he accessed the content."

The images were discovered in March, 2022. Andrew Turnock, mitigating, said: "A lot has happened in terms of his physical health and its deterioration since then. He's in terrible physical state. He is dependent on his wife for his care.

"Whatever was going on a year ago has changed dramatically. He has no access to any devices and he's not physically able to operate a device. He poses no risk of further offending and little risk of causing any harm."

Description

A MAN travelling on a bus from Carlisle city centre left fellow passengers shocked as they saw him expose his genitals and touch himself sexually.

Police identified the culprit after two women reported what they had seen and police examined the bus’s CCTV footage, which allowed them to identify the offender, 43-year-old Carlisle man Scott Barton.

At Carlisle Crown Court, he was sentenced after earlier pleading guilty to an allegation of outraging public decency.

The court heard that two young women boarded the bus in the city centre and, a few stops later, Barton arrived, taking the seat immediately behind them.

One of the women later reported that she noticed Barton touching himself in the groin area, at that stage on top of his clothing. She looked away, but when she glanced in his direction a short time later he was she realised he had removed his genitals from his shorts and appeared sexually aroused.

He was continuing to touch himself, the court heard.

Shocked by this, the two women immediately moved seats, doing their best to ignore him. As they left the bus a short time later, they alerted the bus driver to what they had seen before running home and calling the police.

Judith McCullough, for Barton, of McIlmoyle Way, Denton Holme, said he accepted that his behaviour that day was unacceptable but he denied that he was performing a sex act. His shame and regret for what happened were genuine.

The barrister said: “He has cut down his alcohol intake and no longer misuses drugs.”

At work, said Miss McCullough, Barton was a valued member of his team. The barrister added: “This offence was out of character, an isolated incident.”

Judge David Potter noted that Barton had been medicating his ADHD by regularly using alcohol but what he did on the bus had “clearly caused alarm and distress” to the two females who saw him.

He did what he did in broad daylight, on public transport. “Clearly, it outraged public decency; and it is therefore, in my judgement, serious enough to warrant a community penalty,” said the judge.

Judge Potter imposed a three-year community order, with 20 rehabilitation activity days, a 100-day tagged alcohol abstinence monitoring order, and a requirement to complete an accredited sex offender treatment programme.

Description

A PERVERTED west Cumbrian man who fled the country after trying to rape a sleeping woman has been given a nine year jail term.

The dock of Carlisle Crown Court was empty as Judge David Potter passed sentence on 38-year-old fugitive Alan Adam, who had denied sexually assaulting the victim and attempting to rape her.

Still on the run, the defendant, formerly of Harrington Road, Workington, failed to turn up for his own trial last week and was convicted in his absence.

The jury heard that the victim reluctantly agreed to have a drink with Adam, during which he plied her with drinks.

She recalled suddenly feeling unwell, something which made her suspect that her drink had been spiked, though there was no medical evidence of that. The woman had made it abundantly clear that she had no sexual interest in Adam.

She had retired to a bedroom to sleep – and then to her horror awoke to find that Adam was sexually assaulting her.

As he summed up the case, Judge David Potter said: “She wasn’t used to drinking that quantity, but none of that was her fault.  I am sure that the defendant took full advantage of the obvious incapacity her condition presented.”

The woman had fallen asleep on a bed, and it was as she slept there that she was woken by Adam as he first assaulted her and then tried to rape her.

“She immediately protested... and told him no,” continued the judge.

Despite this, said Judge Potter, Adam forcefully pushed the woman on to the bed and made a “concerted effort” to rape her, his attempt frustrated only by the woman’s determined physical resistance.

Adam later told police that the sexual contact was consensual.

But a medical examination of the woman revealed she had suffered intimate injuries which supported her account of what happened, and showed that Adam had indeed used force as he tried to rape the woman. Prosecutor Robert Smith then read a detailed victim impact statement from the woman.

“When I think of what happened, I find myself having flashbacks to the moment in time when I was taken advantage of,” she wrote.

“I continue to have nightmares, crying. I am a broken person because of that man; I can’t even say his name and never will. He has broken me and I don’t think I will ever trust a man again. This will cause me issues for the rest of my life.

“He took advantage of me while I was asleep and intoxicated; he tried to rape me and that will live with me forever.”

She said she was no longer able to leave her home without fear and she doubted whether she could ever be truly happy again. She said she was pleased that the jury had returned guilty verdicts on Adam.

She hoped that he will eventually face justice should he return to the UK. But the legacy of his crime continued, she suggested, given that she had been humiliated and hurt but she now hopes to rebuild her life.

Judge Potter noted that the woman had been 'particularly vulnerable', and while he rejected the notion that her drink was spiked, the defendant had encouraged her to drink in the hope that she would be incapacitated.

He jailed Adam for nine years, pointing out that when he does serve that term he will not be eligible for released until he has served at least two thirds of the full term. The defendant will be on the Sex Offender Register for life.

Adam’s current whereabouts are unknown, but police have confirmed that he boarded a ferry for France in July of last year.

It took the jury just 90 minutes to convict him of the two allegations he faced. 

Description

A convicted rapist has admitted an evil and wicked assault on a man who was winding him up about his past convictions.

Darren Butler, 42, previously admitted punching Ernest Boundy on the head and kicking him on the body outside The Beath Inn, Cowdenbeath, in December last year.

Description

A MAN who groomed, repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted a girl over a number of years has been jailed.

Glyn Jones appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday, March 24, where he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, for which he must serve at least two thirds before being eligible for parole.

The 62-year-old, of Bradley Lane, Malpas, had previously been convicted of 17 counts of sexual abuse against a child following two trials at Chester Crown Court.

The offences include sexual activity with a child aged 11 to 15, rape of a child under 13 and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

In addition to his prison sentence, Jones has also been ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

During the trial the court heard how Jones sexually abused his victim, who cannot be named, over a sustained period between March 2014 and March 2019, beginning when she was just 10 years old.

Prosecuting at the sentencing hearing, Myles Wilson read through a victim impact statement written by the girl, in which she described what had happened was "totally wrong" and she felt "disgusted and angry" for what had happened.

She explained she felt her world "crashing down" and had suffered panic attacks and stress, as well as regret and feeling manipulated.

A relative of the victim said the victim had "got a life sentence for what he has done to her" and there would "always be a shadow for the memory of the past few years".

Jones had no previous convictions.

Defending, Maria Masselis said Jones had not been in the best of health, having angina, undiagnosed growths in his stomach, arthritis, and had caught Covid-19 on a number of occasions which had affected his memory.

The court heard the sentence passed may be "longer than the years he has left".

Recorder Lawrence McDonald said it was "clearly a case of grooming and abuse of trust...in the grossest possible way".

He added: "You wanted her so you could rape her, interfere with her sexually, for your sexual gratification."

Jones was jailed for 15 years and, as "an offender of particular concern", would have one extra year on licence.

He was also handed an indefinite Sexual harm Prevention Order, preventing him from contact with girls aged under 16, and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Following the sentencing Detective Constable Beth Colbourne, who led the investigation, said: “This case has left the victim and their family distraught, and I hope that the sentence will help bring some closure to then.

“Jones preyed upon a young child for his own sexual gratification and refused to take responsibility for the crimes he committed, making the victim and their family have to relive the horrific experience again through two trials. But thanks to the victim’s courage, he is now facing the consequences of his actions.

“The sentence handed to Jones reflects the severity of his crime and I hope that his conviction will encourage other victims to come forward.

“As this case demonstrates, we treat all reports of historic sexual offences seriously and we will always do our best to ensure offenders are brought to justice.”

Description

A ‘lonely’ convicted paedophile appearing before a crown court judge for the fourth time in 10 years was spared a spell in prison – for having McAfee anti-virus on his laptop.

But Anthony Edwards was warned that the ‘only sanction available’ if he breached his sexual harm prevention order again or committed further offences in the next two years would be an immediate jail term.

On Thursday, Oxford Crown Court heard that 63-year-old Edwards was originally given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offender register for life after he was convicted in 2013 of sexually assaulting a girl.

He was later convicted of having indecent images of children and, in 2018, of flouting the court order designed to limit his access to the web.

Prosecuting, Robert Lindsey said a police officer installed monitoring software on Edwards’ HP laptop in October 2018.

Three months later, in January 2019, Edwards asked his supervising officer if he could ‘defragment’ the laptop’s hard drive. “The officer said no,” the prosecutor told the court.

By 2020, the defendant raised concerns that his laptop was running slowly and that it might have been hit by a computer virus. The officer was ‘somewhat suspicious’ of Edwards’ explanations, Mr Lindsey said – prompting the judge to add: “I’m not surprised.”

Checks showed that although the police monitoring software was still installed on the computer, it had not been working since April 2019.

Edwards had downloaded McAfee anti-virus software and the computer’s hard drive was ‘empty’, indicating that the convicted sex offender had deleted his internet browser history in spite of a court order banning him from doing so.

Edwards, of Ballards Close, Shipton-under-Wychwood, pleaded guilty to breaching his sexual harm prevention order.

He also admitted breaching sex offender notification requirements by failing to attend a police station within three days of his annual requirement to ‘re-register’ his details in 2021.

Mitigating, Gordana Austin said her client felt ‘isolated and lonely’. His mother, with whom he lived and for whom he cared, sadly died last year and the council was looking to move him to supported accommodation.

Sentencing him to a two year community order, Recorder John Hardy KC told Edwards: “Courts impose orders upon you and people like you for reasons.

“Where those orders are breached, courts normally take the view that a person who’s been leniently sentenced in the past is being contemptuous of the order of the court and therefore immediate custody is the only sanction available.

“That will be the case if you breach the order I am now about to impose.”

Edwards was ordered to complete up to 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days and was banned from deleting his internet history or tampering with ‘e-safe’ software installed on his devices by the police.

He must pay £200 in costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Description

A sex offender who pretended to be a police officer and kidnapped a girl has been convicted.

David Young, 33, wore a high-vis jacket and used a fake police badge to lure a 14-year-old to a secluded area in Crawley in October 2021.

After searching the girls bag, coat and blazer, Young let her leave - but after being spotted the next day he was found with latex gloves, lubricant and a packet of condoms.

Following a trial at Lewes Crown Court, Young was found guilty of committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Jayne Cioffi, senior crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: This was clearly a traumatic experience for a young girl on her way to school.

David Young went to great lengths to make himself look to the untrained eye like a police officer, so that he could lure a child away for his own depraved needs.

A convicted sexual offender, he was already prohibited by law from approaching any children, such was the danger he was considered to pose to them.

We understand the trauma felt by the victim and commend her bravery in supporting this prosecution. I hope this guilty verdict provides some comfort to her and her family.

Following the incident, the girl and her mother alerted the police and later spotted the man on his bike the next day.

Young later was involved in a collision with a car but continued to cycle up the road before disposing of the gloves, lubricant and condoms.

After he was arrested, police linked the condoms and lubricant to Young via DNA evidence and also found plastic handcuffs and a stab vest.

He also had LED light on his bike which looked similar to a police siren.

Young previously pleaded guilty to kidnapping and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. The order was imposed after he was found guilty of rape and other sexual offences in 2012.

He is due to be sentenced on May 12 at a court yet to be determined.

Description

A paedophile who directed and recorded appalling sex attacks on young girls over the internet from his home Lochinver has been jailed for 12 years.

Gary Campbell, a former retained firefighter, paid for adults in the Philippines to abuse children as young as four as he watched it in "real time" on a livestream from more than 6000 miles away.

The filmed sex attacks included the rape of two girls aged eight and nine by an adult male who Campbell was told was 25. He said: "He is very lucky getting to do a show with these girls."

Campbell (59) paid as little as £10 ahead of sessions in which young girls were molested and performed sex acts for his gratification.

A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh on Friday: "You used the advantage of the comparative wealth of our society in order to pay people to corrupt children."

Lord Beckett said: "Over a period of more than two years you were intermittently sexually corrupting young children."

The judge said: "You will appreciate these are grave crimes indeed, for which there is no alternative to a prison sentence."

He ordered that Campbell should be under supervision for a further three years during which he can be returned to jail if he breaches licence conditions.

The judge told him that he would have faced a 15-year prison term but for his guilty pleas.

Campbell, now of Windsor Court, Perth, earlier admitted 13 charges including rape, sexual assault and inciting children to become providers of sexual services.

The sex crimes were committed between June 2012 and August 2014 while he was living at Culag Gardens, Lochinver.

Advocate depute Margaret Barron told the court: "On May 10 in 2021 officers from the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit in Inverness received information that on September 23, 2020, a female living in the Philippines had been arrested for producing, possessing and distributing indecent images of children and for livestreaming child abuse."

The prosecutor said: "Information was received that the accused Gary Campbell had made payments to this woman on 13 separate occasions."

Police seized a laptop, Macbook, iPod, USB sticks and micro cards from his home and discovered that he had a Skype account with the user name "gary24pucket".

The advocate depute said videos and chat logs that were recovered showed Campbell provided directions to adults in the Philippines to assault the children.

She said: "On occasion during the livestreaming of the assaults the accused advises those broadcasting the livestream if he is having difficulty seeing the children, which results in the children and adults repositioning themselves to enable the accused to see what is being done to the children."

The prosecutor said it indicated that Campbell was not only watching the children being abused in "real time" but that he was directing those in the Philippines to assault the youngsters.

During one Skype conversation with a Filipina woman he told her: "I am always excited to see young girls." In another call he asked another woman: "What is the youngest you can get me?"

The former water treatment operative was arrested by police in June 2021 and during an interview made "no comment" replies to questions.

Defence solicitor advocate Shahid Latif said Campbell was a first offender who has seen a psychotherapist and undertaken work to deal with the factors that led to the offending.

He told the court: "There is no doubt he is thoroughly ashamed and disgusted by his behaviour."

Campbell was told that he will be on the sex offenders' register indefinitely following his sentencing.

Description

A MAN from Abergele was sentenced to prison after making more than 800 indecent photographs of children.

Gary Johnson, 53, of Tegfan, was jailed for two years and eight months at Caernarfon Crown Court today (March 23).

He was also handed an indefinite restraining order and a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), while he was made subject to sex offenders register notification requirements indefinitely.

Prosecuting, Rosemary Proctor told the court that Johnson’s home was searched by North Wales Police officers on January 5, 2022 following a referral from the National Crime Agency.

This resulted in his phone and laptop being seized, and the following was found:

• 591 Category C indecent images of a child.
• 100 Category B indecent images of a child.
• 130 Category A indecent images of a child.
• 23 images which portrayed a person performing oral sex with a horse.

The majority of the images, which Johnson had made himself, depicted females aged between three and seven, with the youngest child being two years old.

In a small number of images, the child depicted was shown to be in distress, while in others, a different child was tied up while being abused.

Others were pseudo images, namely digitally modified photos of childhood photographs.

Johnson then set up an online message thread inviting people to share similar photos with him via the app “Kik”.

When interviewed by police in October 2022, he denied being sexually attracted to children, but admitted being sexually attracted to one of the people he made digitally modified images of.

A statement from one of Johnson’s victims read that they had suffered serious mental health issues as a result of his actions.

They were said to have “really turned my life around”, but then added their “life has turned upside down” once again following a visit from the police in October 2022.

The victim felt “completely betrayed", “angry”, “scared” and “violated”.

They added: “This whole process has made question who I trust. These images were made on a public forum, and I had no control over who viewed them.”

Johnson had one previous conviction for actual bodily harm more than 20 years ago.

Defending, Elen Owen said Johnson had told her: "Whatever punishment I get, I deserve it”.

His life was said to have changed after more than two decades in the Armed Forces, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, he found himself alone and working from home.

There was also evidence that the Kik app had been deleted from his devices prior to the police seizing them.

Johnson has lost his job since this matter came to light, and was said to be fearing also losing his home.

His actions had “torn the family apart”, Ms Owen said, with his adult children now estranged from him.

She added that Johnson had “shown extreme remorse” and has completed a course with Lucy Faithfull Foundation, a charity dedicated solely to preventing child sexual abuse.

Sentencing, Judge Nicola Saffman told Johnson: “(There were) images of real children being raped, being abused, being tortured… this is not a victimless crime.

“Real children suffered as a result of what you sought out.

“You then joined this online community of like-minded individuals - I’ll call you all paedophiles, because that’s what you are.

“You had an active involvement in a network that facilitated the creation and sharing of images of children.”

The terms of Johnson’s SHPO include him being prohibited from:

• Using any computer or device capable of accessing the Internet unless notifying police, who must ensure it has the capacity to retain and display Internet use.
• Deleting his Internet browsing history.
• Withholding his devices from being investigated by police on their request.
• Using “incognito mode” or “private browsing”.
• Using any social media profile under any name other than Gary Johnson, or another police-approved name.
• Living in any household with a child younger than 18, or entering and remaining in any such household, unless express approval is provided from social services.
• Engaging in unsupervised contact or communication of any kind with a child younger than 18, other than that which is inadvertent, or with the consent of the child’s parent or guardian, who has knowledge of his conviction, and with social services’ express approval.

Johnson must also notify police of any changes to his address and name.

His indefinite restraining order prohibited him from contacting one of his victims directly or indirectly, attending any premises where he knows or believes they reside, work, or study, or referring to them on the Internet directly or indirectly (or encouraging any third party to do so).

To the victim in question, who appeared in court, Judge Saffman added: “It has taken a lot of courage for you to attend court today. Don’t be crushed by this.”

Description

A tearful mum told a court she wished the "monster" who subjected her young daughter to a hideous campaign of rape, which he filmed, would stay behind bars for life. The mum gave her emotional impact statement at the sentencing of Steve Sutton today, (March 23, 2023), which moved everyone including the judge.

Sutton, 60, an electrical engineer from Knowle, had been of previous good character but came to the attention of police for downloading images of child sexual abuse. He ultimately pleaded guilty to 30 offences including rape of a child. They included:

• Five counts of rape of a child
• Twelve counts of sexual assaulting a child under 13 by penetration
• Five counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity
• One of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child
• Three of taking indecent photographs of a child
• Three of making indecent photographs of a child
• One count of possessing extreme pornographic images

The Recorder of Bristol His Honour Judge Peter Blair KC jailed him for life with a minimum 13 years. He told Sutton: "You were committing unspeakable crimes against her." The judge commended police for their investigation, especially DC Fiona Currey and PC Rosie Murrell.

Sutton was handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order designed to stop further offending. He was also told to register as a sex offender for life and was barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.

Ian Fenny, prosecuting, told Bristol Crown Court Sutton sexually abused the little girl, when she was aged five to six, for some eight months. He not only subjected her to severe sexual assaults, he also filmed hours of abuse in which he was violent and tied the child up. Police trawled through the heinous footage to compile a comprehensive catalogue of evidence against him.

The victim's mum sat behind a screen as she gave her impact statement, with Sutton using a hearing loop in the dock. She described him as a "monster who robbed her child of her innocence".

Fighting back emotion, she said: "When the officers told me, the words to me felt surreal. I was numb. Life will never be the same again and it feels overwhelming.

"My child will never be care-free and running wild again. I hope that with years of support, we may get better. I will do everything I can to make sure [we] are okay, but it should never have happened.

"He has destroyed my family. He has broken us all in different ways. He has changed her life, changed her future and given her trauma that will affect her for the rest of her life.

"He is a danger to any child and to society. He doesn't deserve to be free. But I want Sutton to know, he won't break us forever. We will get stronger; we will get better."

She added: "I wish I could have protected her from the monster who was abusing her."

Giles Nelson, defending, said his mitigation focused on Sutton's prompt guilty plea as opposed to taking the case to trial. He said: "It is a very disturbing case, there is no argument regarding the context of the sentencing guidelines."

Description

A convicted paedophile used a fake identity to trick his way into the home of a vulnerable woman and her young children.

David Carsley created the fake identity, including a made up date of birth, in a bid to hide his sick past which includes two convictions for child sex offences. After first committing indecent assault and gross indecency in the 1980s, he was jailed for three years in 1995 for two counts each of the same offences against children aged under 14.

As part of that conviction, he made subject of lifelong notification requirements which meant he could not spend more than 12 hours at the home of an under 18 without informing the police. However, on several occasions Carsley stayed at the home of a woman who had no idea of his past and her children.

Carsley had given the name David Kay when meeting the woman, who was described in court as "vulnerable". Preston Crown Court was told this was a deliberate act to hide his past.

Police became involved when the received information he had been staying at an address in Chorley which was different to his home on Bolton Street. Officers initially struggled to speak with the woman who eventually explained she knew him as David Kay. A phone call was made to him and although he would no co-operate, police traced his location from that call and arrested him.

One of the children confirmed that he had been staying over at the address. The court heard that Carsley would also help with bedtime and getting them ready for school.

Defending, Ellen Shaw asked for credit for a guilty plea and said that Carsley, 55, had concealed his identity because he felt "ostracised" because of his past and that explaining it was a "difficult conversation to have". She also argued that a suspended sentence with rehabilitation work could have a more positive effect.

Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC said he could not agree with that argument and jailed Carsley for 18 months. He said: "For a period of around one month, you were living in one form or another with a vulnerable woman who was not in a position to protect her children from your sexual interest in children, which you undoubtedly have. This was quite deliberate as you went in with a false name and false date of birth and you didn't tell the mother what you should have done."

Description

A twisted paedophile who took pictures of himself abusing two young children has been jailed as the families of his victims speak about their horrible ordeal in waiting five years for justice to be served.

David Collins, 52, had abused two young children over a period of several years and was found with hundreds of indecent images of them, including selfies taken as he was carrying out the sexual assaults. Following a trial at Croydon Crown Court, he was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault by touching of two children under 13-years-old.

He has now been jailed for five years for his clever and conniving behaviour, which has torn apart the lives of his victims and their heartbroken families. Speaking to MyLondon, one family member said that they had been crushed by his actions and that the five-year long wait for a conviction had impacted the victims mental health.

His first victim, who MyLondon will refer to as Child A to protect their anonymity, first came forward with the abuse in 2017, after confiding in a schoolfriend. Their mum soon became aware, and as preliminary investigations into Collins began, Child B came forward and informed ]their] parents that they too had been abused.

Collins, a former game developer for Sony, had sexually assaulted his victims while they were sitting on his lap, using an iPad as a smokescreen to cover his actions. Upon his arrest, 844 pictures of Child B were discovered on his devices as well as other compromising images of Child A.

Speaking to MyLondon, a relative of Child A said: I watched [them] change from being this full of life, bubbly young kid to a sad, depressed [child]. I remember taking [them] out once and we got the photos [from the outing] back and [they] just looked dead behind the eyes. Its one of the hardest things Ive seen.

After reporting the abuse to the police in 2017, it took five years for Collins to be placed on trial, increasing the stress and strain upon his young victims. It's taken five long years, its shocking, the relative said. That is what has done half of the mental health damage because the whole long process of it all and it being years before they were interviewed again.

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BY HOLLY EVANS
14:22, 23 MAR 2023UPDATED15:08, 23 MAR 2023
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David Collins has been jailed for five years after being found guilty of abusing two children
David Collins has been jailed for five years after being found guilty of abusing two children (Image: Handout)
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A twisted paedophile who took pictures of himself abusing two young children has been jailed as the families of his victims speak about their horrible ordeal in waiting five years for justice to be served.

David Collins, 52, had abused two young children over a period of several years and was found with hundreds of indecent images of them, including selfies taken as he was carrying out the sexual assaults. Following a trial at Croydon Crown Court, he was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault by touching of two children under 13-years-old.

He has now been jailed for five years for his clever and conniving behaviour, which has torn apart the lives of his victims and their heartbroken families. Speaking to MyLondon, one family member said that they had been crushed by his actions and that the five-year long wait for a conviction had impacted the victims mental health.

His first victim, who MyLondon will refer to as Child A to protect their anonymity, first came forward with the abuse in 2017, after confiding in a schoolfriend. Their mum soon became aware, and as preliminary investigations into Collins began, Child B came forward and informed ]their] parents that they too had been abused.

Collins, a former game developer for Sony, had sexually assaulted his victims while they were sitting on his lap, using an iPad as a smokescreen to cover his actions. Upon his arrest, 844 pictures of Child B were discovered on his devices as well as other compromising images of Child A.

Speaking to MyLondon, a relative of Child A said: I watched [them] change from being this full of life, bubbly young kid to a sad, depressed [child]. I remember taking [them] out once and we got the photos [from the outing] back and [they] just looked dead behind the eyes. Its one of the hardest things Ive seen.

After reporting the abuse to the police in 2017, it took five years for Collins to be placed on trial, increasing the stress and strain upon his young victims. It's taken five long years, its shocking, the relative said. That is what has done half of the mental health damage because the whole long process of it all and it being years before they were interviewed again.

As well as awaiting years for the trial, the families were also told at short notice on two occasions that the sentencing date had been changed, causing further anxiety. It shouldnt be hush-hush, he shouldnt be getting any leniency on this. Weve been checking the sex offenders register, he still hasnt been put on there. Everything regarding this case has been wrong, she said.

While the family of Child A welcomed his five-year prison sentence, the impact on his victim has been enormous and they have been unable to continue attending school. It came out in [their] statement how [they] wanted to kill [themself], [they] didnt want to be here anymore. It's given [them] epilepsy and although theyre saying that would have been lying dormant, the trauma of this is what has triggered it, she said.

He gets to serve two years, come out and move away and he can start his life all over again while there are people out there who have been crushed by this.

Both families are concerned however that further victims may have not come forward, and are urging anyone with information to contact the police. A relative of Child B said: We dont believe that he woke up at the age of 40 and decided Im going to play with a child today. We believe there are more victims. The reason for the victims doing this is that they want to prevent this from happening again.

She continued: We believe he didnt get long enough for the crimes that he committed, his face was actually in the photographs and you could see what he was doing. I personally dont believe it was long enough however is any sentence going to be long enough? Would life be long enough? No, because hes going to get out.

Collins, of Byrnes Road, Croydon, has been jailed for five years and has been made the subject of a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order. He has also been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

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A Rosyth man sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl after showering her with gifts.

Craig Hamilton sent the youngster naked images of himself and urged her to reciprocate.

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A man has been given a four-year sentence for sex attacks carried out when he worked in a children's home.

Dean Gathercole was jailed for 19 years in 2018 after being found guilty of three counts of rape and six counts of indecent assault.

Nottinghamshire Police said a woman now in her 40s learned of his offending and reported further instances of abuse.

Gathercole, 58, was convicted of three counts of sexual assault and sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday.

The new sentence will run consecutively to the term handed down in 2018.

Police said the abuse took place during an overnight stay at a holiday park, when the defendant assaulted the teenager - who was then in his care - in a swimming pool and a cabin.

'Simply unforgivable'

Gathercole was one of a number of former employees at children's homes mentioned during the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's investigation into services in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

Det Con Stephen Dunn, from Nottinghamshire Police, praised the woman for the "enormous courage" she showed in reporting the abuse she suffered.

"Gathercole was entrusted to look after vulnerable young people who looked to him for guidance and support," he said.

"Instead of helping this child through a very challenging period of her life, he chose instead to groom and abuse her for his own sexual gratification.

"His behaviour was simply unforgivable, and I am pleased that he has now been held accountable for these appalling crimes."

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A business owner found guilty of two charges of sexual assault is on the sex offender register for five years after his sentencing today.

Keith Warren, 54, owner of Newark Cue Club, was sentenced by Judge Mr Recorder Simon King, at Nottingham Crown Court this morning.

Judge King said: "I think it is a tremendous shame that Mr Warren finds himself in this situation, but it is of his own doing."

The court was told Warren had an 'unblemished' life prior to the offences.

Warren was sentenced for two counts of sexual assault against a woman, who was said to have been 'greatly distressed' by Warren's actions.

He was found guilty of two of three charges of sexual assault brought against him at a retrial on January 16, with a not guilty verdict for one charge.

Warren had previously appeared before the court in early April 2022 for the same charges, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict, leading to the retrial this year.

Judge King sentenced Warren to a two-year community order and up to 45 rehabilitation activity requirement days for each of the two offences, to be served concurrently.

He will also be on the sex offender register for five years, and a restraining order in place for the same length of time, barring him from contacting the victim.

Warren was warned that any breach of the restraining order could result in a prison sentence.

"Any offence of sexual assault is considered as serious by the court," Judge King added.

"This is not to say it can be overlooked or minimised, but it falls to the lower end of the spectrum."

It was said that Warren was 'not a predator who might present serious risk'.