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A WIRRAL man has appeared in court for the second time on charges of possessing hundreds of indecent images of children. 

Leslie Ward, 71, appeared for sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday (October 11) after pleading guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children and one charge of possession of indecent images of children.

David Watson, prosecuting, described how Merseyside Police acted on information that a "known sex offender" had been accessing indecent images of children from Ward's address at Clarendon Road, Wallasey. 

Ward's address was raided and police seized a HP Desktop device with external hard drive.

The device was examined and officers found 128 Category A images and seven Category A videos; 383 Category B images and 11 Category B videos and 139 Category C images and 11 Category C videos. 

Category A images are the most severe and can involve the sexual abuse of children.

At a police interview in November 2023, Ward told police that although his computer had been purchased new from Curry's he suspected it had been used before.

He also disputed he had a sexual interest in children saying he preferred "late teen boys".

In 2015, Ward was sent to prison for eight months and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order after he admitted possessing 2,690 indecent images and moving images of children – 100 of them in the most serious category.

David Birrell, defending, said Ward, who came into court using a walking stick and had issues hearing the proceedings, was retired but had worked in as an administrator in an office dealing with data input. 

Married for 44 years, Mr Birrell said Ward's wife was standing by him.

Mr Birrell also listed Ward's numerous health conditions, which includes Parkinson's disease. 

He said: "He (Ward) is not a risk to the public because he doesn't really go out and in his case there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. 

"He has a problem which is unlikely to go away without some help. Prison was tried and didn't work." 

Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC described the 650 images in Ward's possession as containing "appalling abuse of very young children."

"You knew full well what you were doing but you have very significant health problems that would make it difficult for you to serve a custodial term," he said.

Judge Menary handed Ward a 20 month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered him to undertake 20 days of a rehabilitation activity, namely the Maps for Change programme. 

Ward will also pay costs of £1,630 and be the subject of a ten year sexual harm prevention order. 

Judge Menary added: "I wonder about that given your apparent persistence in downloading this material."

Record details

A man sexually assaulted a woman in her own home despite her repeatedly rejecting his advances.

Zak Honeyman, now 26, had known his victim for a while and was said to have fancied her, though his persistent pushes to enter into a relationship with the woman were politely declined.

Burnley Crown Court heard how the two bumped into each other at a party in November 2022.

Honeyman expressed an interest in her again at that moment, but she again declined.

Later that evening, the victim was walking home and noticed Honeyman was walking behind her.

After persistently asking if he could walk her home, she reluctantly agreed.

When at her house, she complained of a problem with the door which Honeyman said he could fix.

The victim went to make herself a cup of tea while he did so, and when she came back he asked where his drink was.

She explained that she didn’t make him one as she thought he would be leaving when the door was fixed, but did go back to make one and they sat in the living room together.

Alison Mather, prosecuting, said while there he continued to try and persuade her but she kept saying no and felt he was not getting the hint.

The victim then went upstairs to go to bed, and Honeyman followed behind her, getting into the bed fully clothed after saying he “might as well stay now”.

At one point he got up to take his trousers off and got back in, but put them back on when he was asked to leave.

Instead of leaving, he sat on the end of the bed and began to mess around with the bedside drawers.

She repeatedly told him not to and there was a tussle as she tried to stop him entering the draw which resulted in her receiving a bruise on her arm.

He eventually got into the drawer and pulled out a sex toy, which he prodded into the victim’s cheek multiple times and put into her mouth.

After this, he stood over the victim and pulled down her clothing before going on to sexually assault her twice.

In a statement read to the court by Ms Mather, the victim said she still takes medication for the anxiety and depression caused to her by what Honeyman did.

She said: “My anxiety has gone through the roof which made me not want to leave the house.”

Anna Chestnut, mitigating, said on Honeyman’s part there was a “lack of maturity at play” owing to his age at the time, 24.

She also said a term of immediate imprisonment would have a significant harmful impact on others.

Honeyman, of Weets View, Barnoldswick, had one previous conviction for a dissimilar matter which the judge did not take into consideration.

Recorder Daniel Lister, sentencing, said: “While I don’t consider that you forced your way in I do consider you certainly weren’t welcome to stay for as long as you did.

“You were given repeated hints but nevertheless you remained.

“She told you no, but you ignored her.”

Honeyman was jailed for 18 months and ordered to comply with notification requirements for 10 years.

A five-year restraining order was also imposed prohibiting contact with the victim.

Record details

A man who sexually assaulted a young girl he was asked to babysit has been jailed. Peter Hayes, 60, has been sentenced after admitting historic sex offences against the child.

After he attacked her, Hayes left 50p on her bedside table and said if she told anyone 'her family would separate from her'. The victim, who has anonymity for life, detailed the haunting impact the offences have had upon her life before Minshull Street Crown Court.

“Over the years I often worried about how great your life has been, and if you felt like you had a life sentence hanging over you like I did,” she began.

“I have been worried if you even thought about the crime against me and if you thought I would be strong enough to face you. Standing here, I have faced my demons all these years later for that little girl whose innocence and childhood you stole.

“The damage caused to me was never ending. You knew, and I knew, it was wrong. I know I am enough, and I am no longer haunted by the evil you left me with and that you now carry for the rest of your days.

“This was not a spur of the moment, this was premeditated. You knew what you were doing.”

She said her mother had never forgiven herself for what happened and her brothers who were also in the house at the time, had struggled to accept the offences.

“No sentence you will receive will ever make up for what I suffered at your hands. I doubt you will ever understand how what you did affected me.”

She said she had been left with anxiety, trauma and flashbacks. It was following a cancer diagnosis that she felt she was able to go forward with the prosecution.

“From this moment on I am looking forward and not backwards,” she said.

The court heard that on two separate occasions, Hayes, then in his 20s, had molested the girl whilst her parents had asked him to babysit.

“He then left 50p on her bedside table, and said if she told anyone her family would separate from her,” prosecutor Rob Hall said. “She felt she could not tell anybody for quite some time.”

The woman reported matters to the police years later. Hayes denied the offences but eventually pleaded guilty to indecency with a child and indecent assault on a child.

“He is bereft of the society of his family,” his barrister, Neil Ronan said. “This man is alone and has a plethora of medical issues. He has aged badly.

“This defendant has thought regularly of the behaviour and it has eaten him up inside. He had rang the police a number of times and hung up and the only reason he did that was cowardice and shame.

“He is a lonely, unhappy and broken man,” Mr Ronan added.

Sentencing, Judge Matthew Corbett-Jones said the offence and the threats made to the girl were ‘particularly unpleasant’.

“This happened where she should have felt safe and protected.”

Hayes, of Upper Chorlton Road, Stretford, was jailed for five years and four months. He was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life and must sign the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely. Greater Manchester Police have not provided a custody image for Hayes.

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A Keynsham man has been jailed for jailed for sexually abusing and abducting a teenage girl. Kyeran Taylor, 33, carried out the sexual offences between September 2021 and April 2022.

Bristol Crown Court heard how Taylor took his victim to London in his lorry after a campaign of abuse. Taylor admitted two counts of sexual assault, six counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one count of child abduction, and one count of sexual communication with a child. He was found guilty of two further counts of sexual activity with a child.

In a separate case, the 33-year-old admitted a charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. It came after he caused a head-on collision on the B3130 at Chew Magna.

A woman, aged in her 60s, who was driving another car suffered serious injuries in the crash. Taylor was under the influence of cocaine at the time.

He was sentenced for all the offences at Bristol Crown Court on Friday, September 27. In addition to being jailed for ten years, he was given a 15-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) as well as a restraining order.

Record details

A SEX offender breached a court order again by deleting an app from his phone after telling police he was being blackmailed by two men claiming they ‘worked for Fox News and the FBI’.

The court heard that Shaun Smith was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order in December 2018 after admitting attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

This order barred him from deleting apps or internet history from his devices.

On September 1, Smith contacted 101 reporting that he was being blackmailed.

Officers attended the defendant’s address on Glanafon in Betws on September 9. He told the officers that he had been contacted on an online messaging application by a woman making demands for money.

He said he was then contacted by two men who claimed they worked for Fox News and the FBI making further demands for money.

When the officers asked Smith to show them the demands, he told them he had deleted them as he had been told to when he called 101. Upon reviewing the 101, the officers found this wasn’t true.

Smith was arrested for deleting the communications app – which put him in breach of his sexual harm prevention order for the fourth time.

“He deliberately deleted the app,” prosecutor Ms Wilson said, adding that Smith’s previous breach of the order relating to him deleting the Telegram app.

On that occasion, Smith told police he had been “talking to a woman” on Telegram and via a third-party explicit website, but then deleted the app and its history because “someone was trying to scam me”.

The court heard that 58-year-old Smith had eight previous convictions for 12 offences.

“The only real mitigation is that Mr Smith had the good sense to plead guilty,” said David Singh, in mitigation.

“He did the right thing initially by reporting it to the police.

“It would suggest this is not necessarily someone trying to cover up his tracks, but it is a person with a degree of naivety.”

Addressing the defendant, Judge Geraint Walters said: “This is altogether becoming tiresome now. You pay scant regard to the terms of the sexual harm prevention order.

“What sort of site you were on, I can’t begin to imagine, which led you to call the police saying you were being blackmailed by people working for Fox News and the FBI.

“You are a devious individual, it seems to me, hell bent on non-compliance.”

Smith was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

Record details

A former school welfare officer and Army cadet leader has been found guilty of sexually assaulting teenage girls.

Neil Beckett, 43, with an address at Kilmore, near Crossgar in County Down, was told by the judge that from "this moment on, you are a registered sex offender".

Beckett was found guilty of 16 counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual grooming.

They span a period of eight years between 2015 and 2023.

Eleven teenagers had brought charges against Beckett.

Nine were Lagan College pupils and two were Army cadets.

Beckett was found not guilty of rape which was alleged to have taken place sometime between 2013 and 2015 while he was an Army cadet leader.

He was also found not guilty of sexual communication with a child and 10 further counts of sexual assault.

During the trial, which spanned five weeks, the court heard from Lagan College pupils and Army cadets who said that Beckett had hugged them, kissed them, touched their thighs under the girls' skirts and tickled them.

In doing so he had made them feel uncomfortable, the court was told.

The judge thanked the jury for their commitment over what he described as a long trial and said they had taken great care and attention with their duties.

Beckett will be sentenced on 6 December.

Record details

A man who sent videos of him performing a solo sex act to what he believed to be a young schoolgirl has been jailed for 12 months.

William Young contacted an online profile belonging to a ‘12-year-old girl’ and sent her vile images of his genitals and videos of him performing sex acts. Young, 55, also sent requests to meet up with the child and asked her to send him naked pictures of herself.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told the depraved offender was in fact in contact with a paedophile hunter group and was snared after he had sent his address so the victim could send him a Christmas card.

Members of the group, called Confronted and Caught, then turned up at Young’s former home in Tranent, East Lothian, and subsequently called in the police on December 9 last year.

Young pleaded guilty to attempting to cause a child to view indecent images, videos and attempting to communicate indecently with a child when he appeared at court earlier this year. He returned to the dock for sentencing on Friday where Sheriff Charles Walls said the disposal should “reflect the seriousness of the offence” and the “public disapproval”.

Defence agent Paul Dunn said his client “accepted” he knew the girl’s age during the online chats even though he had denied that in the social work report.

Mr Dunn added: “He knew what he was doing was wrong and was bang out of order. But it is clear he knew how old the person was.”

Sheriff Charles Wall said: “You have been convicted of two serious offences on indictment. I have heard the Crown narrative, read the social work report, listened carefully to what Mr Dunn has said and seen the Crown productions of the screenshots of you engaging with a 12 year old girl.

“In all the circumstances I am satisfied there is no alternative in this situation to a custodial sentence.”

Young was jailed for 12 months and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years. The sheriff also said Young’s name will be forwarded to Scottish Ministers for consideration that his name be added to the list of those banned from working with children and vulnerable groups.

Fiscal depute Morgan Beattie told the court an adult member of the Confronted and Caught hunter group set up a Facebook account in the name of 12-year old Louise Grey.

Young contacted the profile and began sending revolting messages asking “do you like older men” and “wish I was in bed with you”. The messages also stated that he “loved young girls” and he repeatedly asked the child what sexual positions she enjoyed.

The sordid chats moved to WhatsApp where Young sent messages including “I love you in your school uniform” and asking if she had seen an adult man naked.

Young asked to meet up with the girl for a sexual encounter and unwittingly sent his address when the decoy pretending to be the child said she wanted to send him a Christmas card.

Young pleaded guilty to causing a child, who was in fact an adult, to look at sexual images, sending indecent images and videos at an address in Tranent, between November 13 and December 9 last year.

He also admitted to a charge of sending written and verbal communications, repeatedly asking the child what she was wearing, repeatedly requesting she send indecent images of herself and asking if she would engage in sexual intercourse with him between the same dates.

Record details

A man branded a 'dangerous sexual predator' by police raped a vulnerable woman on the top deck of an X43 bus service to Manchester city centre.

Rahmat Qalander - now behind bars - also sexually assaulted a 16 year-old girl on another bus just five days later, police have revealed. The 23 year-old, who police said was classed by a judge as a dangerous offender, has now been jailed for 10 years.

Qalander targeted the woman on the X43 bus from Burnley to Manchester on February 1 this year. He's said to have sat next to his victim upstairs before forcing her to go to the back of the bus with him, where he raped her.

In a statement after he was locked up, Lancashire Police said: "He then got off the bus in Manchester and the victim, aged in her 20s and with a number of vulnerabilities, reported what had happened to the driver and police were called."

Following enquiries, Qalander, from Nelson, Lancashire, was identified and arrested. He was charged with rape and sexual assault.

Police said he denied the charges, but was found guilty after a trial in August. The attack on the teenage girl took place on a bus in Nelson on February 6.

The force added: "Qalander was classed as a dangerous offender by the judge at Preston Crown Court. He was told he must serve two thirds of the 10-year sentence before he is released. He will then be on licence for a further three years."

Temp Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Denson, of East CID, praised the victims for coming forward. She said: "Qalander is clearly a dangerous sexual predator who targeted lone and vulnerable young women to carry out his offending.

"I would like to commend the victims in this case for their bravery in disclosing what happened to them and for having the courage to go through the court process.

"I am pleased that justice has been served for them and for the wider community who will be protected from this dangerous offender for many years."

Record details

A rapist who targeted underage girls and abused partners for more than a decade, before being brought to justice with the help of a social media appeal, has been jailed.

Darren Gibson admitted preying upon women at addresses in Fife between 2008 and 2019.

Record details

A pensioner who used a driving lesson to give the 17-year-old learner a vibrator has been jailed and placed on the sex offenders register.

Alexander Bell also repeatedly touched the girl’s leg during lessons, despite her friend also being in the vehicle.

Record details

A MAN from Llangollen who “took advantage” of a group of “vulnerable” and “troubled” teenagers has been jailed.

Stephen Thomas, of Erw Deg, was sentenced at Mold Crown Court today (October 10) to six years and six months’ imprisonment.

The 46-year-old had previously admitted breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), supplying a class A drug (cocaine), and attempted sexual assault of a child.

Simon Rogers, prosecuting, told the court that Thomas invited the group into his home, with the promise of drugs, alcohol, and a “place where they could spend time”.

This took place across a six-week period in January and February 2022 – he was already a registered sex offender, so was subject to a SHPO at the time, which meant his mobile phone was being monitored.

He told the teenagers he was dying, which made them “sympathetic” to him and exchanged mobile numbers with them.

Thomas was also moving SIM cards between multiple phones at the time, while the phone he used to contact the group was deliberately hidden from police.

Inviting the teenagers to “chill” at his house became a “regular occurrence”, Mr Rogers said, adding that Thomas began to buy them alcohol and cocaine.

One of the teenagers also said Thomas would “always want pictures of us on his phone, but he would never be in them”.

On one occasion, one of the females passed out on Thomas’ sofa after he had given her cocaine and alcohol, while most of the rest of the group were outside.

Thomas carried her upstairs and lay her on his bed before starting to remove her clothing, but it was at this point that some of the group returned and noticed him.

They became “angry” at him, because it was apparent that Thomas was seeking to “take advantage of an extremely vulnerable girl for his own sexual gratification”.

Following this, police became involved – at the time of his arrest, Thomas had an old mobile phone on his person, which the battery was falling out of.

In interview, he painted the children as “liars”.

One of the children said in a statement: “I don’t want to be his victim. I just want to be OK. I will be a survivor, not his victim.”

Another said they felt “violated” by Thomas, and added that he “ruined my childhood”, while a third said they “feel sick at the thought of seeing him”.

A fourth child added: “I feel like life just spiralled out of control. I’ll always be scared of him, he made my childhood hell.”

Defending Thomas, who had four previous convictions for 34 offences, Duncan Bould said his client is suffering from “chronic and serious ill health” which “isn’t going to get better”.

He said Thomas has made “a little bit of progress” since being remanded in custody, and asked the court to acknowledge his “limited number of previous convictions”.

Sentencing, Judge Nicola Jones told Thomas: “You put them in positions of particular vulnerability for the purposes of grooming them.

“It’s clear that the aim was to groom these children for sexual purposes.”

Thomas was made subject to a SHPO and sex offenders register notification requirements for an indefinite period.

Judge Jones also issued indefinite restraining orders, preventing Thomas from contacting five people.

All items seized from him by police were ordered to be forfeited and destroyed.

Record details

Christopher Cooper, 36, of Portland Road, Birmingham (previously of Leamington) has been jailed after he exchanged sexually explicit communications with a teenage girl while he was subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Cooper was arrested by officers from Warwickshire Police Sex Offender Management Unit (SOMU) on the day he was released from prison where he was serving time for breaching the SHPO which was put in place when he was previously convicted of child sex offences. The SHPO prohibited him from making contact with anyone he believed to be under the age of 16.

While he was in prison detectives found evidence that he had exchanged the messages with the girl in 2022. Cooper claimed to be 18 while the victim had made clear early on in the exchanges that she was only 14.

Cooper was jailed for three years and four months at Warwick Crown Court last week having pleaded guilty to four counts of breaching a SHPO and one count of inciting a girl aged 13-15 to engage in sexual activity. He will serve a further six years on licence. If he breaches the terms of this licence he can be returned to prison.

Detective Constable Matt Collins from the SOMU said: “The sentence reflects the danger Cooper poses to children. It also demonstrates the power of the SHPOs in allowing us to monitor the behaviour of sex offenders and shows how seriously the courts treat offenders who breach them.

“This case also shows the dangers of social media and how it is important for parents to be aware of what their child is doing online.

Record details

A care worker from Maidstone who sexually abused a severely disabled person has been jailed.

Naguib Lootfun, 69, of Mill Walk, abused a vulnerable patient while working for an assisted living facility.

Suspicions about his behaviour were raised on 8 May 2024 after colleagues found an empty condom wrapper discarded in a bedroom at the premises after he had been on night shift.

Lootfun alleged the wrapper had been in his pocket and claimed it had fallen out as he worked.

He was suspended from work while an investigation into the circumstances was underway.

The following day, a used condom was found in a bin bag within the care home and Lootfun was arrested on suspicion of rape.

Lootfun initially denied allegations of sexual abuse but, following an extensive search of the premises, a second used condom was found in the waste bin area outside and an examination of DNA linked him to the offences.

Convicted

He was convicted on 9 July at Maidstone Crown Court, after he admitted to having sex with the victim, who was unable to consent.

He was remanded in custody pending a hearing at the same court on 9 October, where he was sentenced to 11 years and ordered to serve an extra four years on licence.

Record details

A registered sex offender from Medway who was serving a suspended sentence has been jailed for failing to comply with court restrictions. 

Richard Howes was issued with a sexual harm prevention order at Maidstone Crown Court on 20 August 2021, following a conviction for making indecent images of children.

The conditions of this order required him to make any internet-enabled device available for inspection by the police on request, and to notify them within three days if he acquired any new devices. 

Attempts to deceive

On 28 February 2024, officers visited Howes after they suspected he had a new phone and had failed to notify police. Howes presented a phone and a tablet for inspection and denied having any other devices. 

He was arrested and a search of his property located two further tablets and another phone he had not declared.

Howes, of Prospect Row, Chatham, pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to three breaches of a sexual harm prevention order.

The 59-year-old was sentenced on Thursday 3 October, to one year and six months’ imprisonment. This included six months for breaching a suspended sentence.

Record details

A man who preyed on girls as young as ten years old has been sentenced to more than two years and given a 20-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order by a judge at Southampton Crown Court after being previously found guilty of child sex offences by a jury.

Paul Wright, aged 46, of Tyndalls, Hindhead in Surrey was convicted of sexual assault of a girl under 13 by touching and engaging in sexual communication with a child when the offences took place in August 2020 in the Winchester area.

The jury heard how Wright, who was known to the victim and their family, had been sending inappropriate messages to the victim, who was 10 years old at the time of the offences, which very quickly became sexual. He had also previously requested explicit images of the child.

The jury were also told that he had set up a separate social media account, utilising a different name, to speak to the victim in private in order to stop other people interfering.

At an earlier hearing at Southampton Crown Court on Tuesday 29 August 2023, Paul Wright pleaded not guilty to the aforementioned offences.

During a three-day trial in August 2024 at Southampton Crown Court, a jury reached a verdict of guilty against the count of sexual assault of a girl under 13 by touching and engaging in sexual communication with a child.

Paul Wright was sentenced on Tuesday 8 October at Southampton Crown Court to two years and four months in prison. The judge also granted a 20 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order against him in addition to requiring Wright to sign on to the Sex Offenders’ Register for a period of 20 years.

PC Kallum Sillence of Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s Child Abuse Investigation Team (CAIT) said: “Paul Wright betrayed the trust of a family, who unknown to them was a previous Registered Sex Offender. I am certain that had they been aware of this fact, they would not have allowed such contact and we would not be in the position we are in today in that a young girl had been sexually assaulted.

“The disclosures made by Paul Wright about the allegations were damning in this case. It is clear that Mr Wright posed a significant risk to young children through the course of his actions.

“The sentencing is a result of outstanding bravery by the victim in disclosing the interactions in the first instance and while this sentence in no way will negate what has happened to her, the hope is that she can now begin to put this ordeal behind her, and move forward, knowing that justice has now been served.”