Latest Offenders

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A man who raped a 12-year-old girl after becoming friends with her via a social media app has been jailed.

Driss Serhir, 21, of no fixed address, was found guilty of three counts of rape following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police.

However, police believe there could be other victims aged between 10 and 15 and say he has visited several places, including Hertfordshire, using different names.

Serhir is just starting a nine-year sentence after he was found guilty of raping a girl, 12, at a hotel in central London.

He met her when he was aged 18 on social media app Snapchat.

When she met Serhir in October 2019, he intimated he had a knife and firearm on him and took control of the victims mobile phone.

Serhir booked a hotel room where he sexually assaulted the girl several times before she left the next day.

The girl reported the incident to police and Serhir was quickly identified and arrested.

Semen found on the girls clothing matched Serhirs and it was proven his phone was used to book the room, despite him using a different name and paying in cash.

The seized phone also included videos of him with the girl in the room, while terms including rape were found in his search history.

At Harrow Crown Court on Monday, Serhir was sentenced to nine years for each count of rape, to be served concurrently. He was also placed on the sex offenders' register for life and given a 15-year sexual harm and prevention order.

Describing Serhir as a predatory offender, Sergeant PJ Jones said: I wish to thank the survivor of this assault for her trust, resilience and patience. Without the continued support of her and her loved ones, this man would have remained a danger in the community.

He added: The investigation into Serhirs movements and communications suggest he was in contact with many girls aged between ten and 15 and that he has visited Greater London, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and the West Midlands using several aliases.

I would like to hear from anyone who recognises him or who has any concerns about his behaviour. We have specially trained officers and work alongside partners who can offer a wide range of support.

Police can be contacted on 101 or online using reference 4798/18JUL22.

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A mental health nurse who sexually assaulted a vulnerable patient while working at a psychiatric hospital has been spared a jail sentence.

Richard McLellan attacked the woman while she was being treated for a mental disorder at the capital’s Royal Edinburgh Hospital in 2019.

McLellan, 38, was found to have engaged in sexual activity with the woman by placing his hand underneath her underwear while he worked a nightshift at the city hospital.

McLellan denied the allegations against him but was found guilty by a jury following a three day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

The jury found McLellan not guilty of charges including making sexual comments to the woman, touching her genitals and inducing the woman to perform oral sex on him.

The disgraced staff nurse has since been sacked from NHS Lothian and he is due to appear in front of a Nursing and Midwifery Council disciplinary panel in the near future.

A spokesperson for NHS Lothian said they wanted to “extend our full sympathies to the victim in this distressing case”.

McLellan returned to the dock for sentencing on Friday where Sheriff Donald Corke told him he had been “convicted by the jury of an offence of sexual breach of trust of a mental disordered person”.

The sheriff said: “This behaviour was a gross breach of trust by you. You were the complainer’s key worker and you were tasked that night to keep her safe.

“Instead you took the opportunity to engage in sexual activity. You have expressed no remorse for what you did.

“You should be in no doubt custody is an option. [However] I am willing to impose a community payback order as a direct alternative to custody.”

McLellan, from Bathgate, West Lothian, was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for three years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community.

He was placed under the supervision of the social work department for three years and handed a conduct requirement that bans him from contacting the victim.

His name will also be forwarded to Scottish Ministers for inclusion on the list of those banned from working with children or vulnerable people in the future.

Defending Advocate Mr Kennedy said his client continues to deny the offence but is “accepting of the jury’s decision”.

He added: “The consequences of this conviction for Mr McLellan are both personally and professionally devastating.

“He has been dismissed from his employment and he will be sanctioned from his professional body where he will submit to further humiliation and disgrace by that.”

Tracey McKigen, Services Director for the Royal Edinburgh and Associated Services at NHS Lothian, said: “We extend our full sympathies to the victim in this distressing case.

“Whilst we can’t comment on individual members of staff, current or former, we want to offer reassurance that as soon as we become aware of a serious criminal allegation, we will take immediate and robust action in the interests of patient safety, which is always our top priority.”

McLellan was found guilty of being a person who provided care services to a mental disordered person and did engage in sexual activity with them and did place his hand underneath her underwear at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital on January 21, 2019.

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Mark Sorby, 45, was found guilty of 16 sexual offences against four females when they were children after a trial at Teesside Crown Court last month.

The abuse involved him touching the victims in a sexual nature, some of which involved force, over a period of about nine years.

Sorby got away with it for years after telling his victims not to tell anyone.

When one did report it, she was not believed.

But he was convicted when each of his victims gave evidence against him at court and the jury saw through his lies.

All of the survivors of Sorbys abuse have suffered psychological harm.

One attended Mondays sentencing and read out an impact statement while Sorby listened over a videolink from prison.

She said: I have nightmares about what Mark did to me and have previously tried to kill myself.

"This traumatic ordeal has affected my full life. No one deserves to be sexually assaulted and no one deserves not to be believed.

Another survivor wrote: You made me feel completely worthless. I cry myself to sleep at night.

"You robbed me of the best years of my life.

Prosecutor Shaun Dodds said during one sex assault that Sorby dragged and pinned the victim down.

Afterwards he told her: Nobody will believe you if you tell.

Jailing Sorby, of Ettrick Walk, Hartlepool, Judge Howard Crowson said: You are quite obviously a predatory paedophile.

"You are entirely to blame. The offences were carefully carried out so you would not bring suspicion on yourself.

"You clearly have caused a great deal of harm.

Judge Crowson also sentenced Sorby, who he described as an offender of particular concern, to two and a half years extended supervision when he is eventually released.

Stephen Constantine, said in mitigation, that Sorby was a man of previous good character.

He added: Whilst there are aspects of physical force involved, there are no threats of physical violence.

Sorby was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order to bar him having contact with girls under the age of 16.

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A paedophile brought to justice four decades after his sick abuse was accused of robbing his victim of her childhood.

Jeffrey Phillips was given five-and-a-half years imprisonment at Oxford Crown Court on Friday, as reported by the Oxford Mail at the weekend.

Sending him down, Judge Nigel Daly told the now 71-year-old: You indecently assaulted this child, you did it repeatedly.

Welcoming the lengthy sentence, DC Nicola Fullerton of Thames Valleys child abuse investigation unit said of Phillips: His offending has had a huge impact on the victims life.

"He robbed her of her childhood innocence, causing significant emotional and psychological distress, and it is testament to her courage that he is now facing time in prison.

I hope that this case demonstrates to other people who may have been the victim of such offending that it is never too late to come forward and talk to the police.

We will listen to you, investigate and do everything that we can to ensure criminals like Phillips are brought to justice.

Now living in Greater Manchester, the assaults took place when Phillips lived in Abingdon in the 1970s. His abuse began when his victim was still a young girl and, after a few years, resumed briefly when she was in her early teens.

Phillips will be on the sex offender register for the rest of his life.

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A Lincoln man has been jailed for 21 years after being found guilty of several sexual offences including rape. Shaun Otter, 52, of Shakespeare Street, appeared at Lincoln Crown Court for sentencing today, July 18.

He had already been found guilty in relation to a total of 11 offences which took place on June 8. In addition to his custodial sentence, Otter was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, meaning he will have to keep to sex offender notification requirements for life.

Detective Inspector Lee Nixon, of Lincolnshire Police's Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit said: "I would like to pay tribute to the victim and her bravery in coming to us. We know it's an incredibly daunting thing to do and therefore we owe it to every victim to treat them with sensitivity and respect, and to do everything we can to make sure that perpetrators, like Otter, are brought before the court to face justice.

"This sentence is not only a punishment for Otter, but a message to perpetrators of the consequences of their actions. We hope it gives confidence to survivors that we will relentlessly pursue anyone responsible for such abhorrent acts, regardless of if it happened recently or decades ago.

"If you have been a victim of sexual assault, please know that you will be taken seriously if you come forward. Whether or not you decide to come to us, there is support available, and we would like to take the opportunity to highlight that."

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This is the first picture of jailed sex offender Willem van der Werf.

The 56-year-old was jailed for more than 12-and-a-half years on Friday for grooming, sexually assaulting and raping a girl in Banbury last spring.

Sending him to prison, Judge Nigel Daly told the Dutchman: What you have done to her is destroy not only her childhood but possibly the rest of her life. You did it for your own sexual gratification. There is no escaping from that.

Werf, formerly of Calthorpe, Banbury, received 12 years and nine months imprisonment. He must serve an extended four years on licence and will remain on the sex offender register for the rest of his life.

Thames Valley Police has now released Werfs custody shot.

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A man has been found guilty of four charges of rape against teenage girls.

Ruaridh Gilmour, 23, had denied the charges, claiming one of his accusers consented, and that the incidents described by two other witnesses simply did not happen.

But the jury at the High Court in Inverness took just over two hours to decide that the victims, now young women, were telling the truth.

In closing speeches to the jury, prosecutor John McElroy had labelled Gilmours assertion that his accusers were lying a fairly desperate claim by a fairly desperate man.

Jury rejected false allegations claim

He said the defence case appeared to be that three different young women have made false allegations of rape against him.

He asks you to accept that these women have told lie after lie, Mr McElroy said.

Evidence previously heard in the case included a claim that Gilmour told a teenage girl he liked it when she said no.

Jurors had also heard a concession from the accused that he had been an angry young man at the time of the alleged attacks due to have having been bullied during his school years.

He denied having taken his frustrations out on his accusers.

Gilmour insisted all contact with the first witness had been consensual.

She agreed every time, she would kiss me back, or hold me, or hold my hand, he said.

Asked if he had drawn blood while biting her, Gilmour replied: A couple of occasions by accident, it was nothing I intended to do.

In his own closing speech defence advocate Jim Keegan QC reminded the jury that electronic messages had come to light during the course of the trial in which one of the witnesses said she wanted to change her statement because she had over-exaggerated.

He pointed out that Gilmour and one of the complainers had grown up in the internet age which puts daft ideas into kids minds.

Regret is not a lack of consent

He said they were Two kids [] getting involved in sexual stuff that they probably now both regret. Regret isnt a lack of consent. Regret is just regret.

Gilmour was found guilty by majority of four charges of rape relating to incidents that occurred between 2014 and 2019.

The jury returned majority verdicts of not guilty to two charges of assault that had been alleged to have occurred during the same period.

Speaking after the verdict, defence advocate Jim Keegan told Judge Graham Buchanan that he had concerns about his clients mental health, and revealed that Gilmour was believed to be suffering from PTSD following an incident that he had with a dead body in a river a number of years ago.

His request that Gilmour be allowed to remain on bail for medical assessments was refused by the judge, who said: Ruaridh Gilmour in the course of the trial you pled guilty to certain sexual offences and although they are in themselves a serious matter the charges of rape of which you have been found guilty by the jury today are considerably more serious.

I accept that when you committed the earlier offences you were very young indeed, but of course, the last of these rapes was committed between December 2018 and April 2019 when you were considerable older, although still a young man.

Your counsel has recognised that given the very serious nature of the charges a custodial sentence is well nigh inevitable.

I take the view, particularly in light of the fact that it is acknowledged that a prison sentence is inevitable, bearing in mind the serious nature of the charges involving three separate young girls.

Accordingly you will be remanded to custody.

He adjourned the case to August 12 at the High Court in Aberdeen for the preparation of pre-sentencing reports and made Gilmour, of Pitglassie, Dingwall, immediately subject to the notification requirements of the sexual offences act 2003.

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A SOUTHAMPTON man has been locked up for sexually abusing a teenage girl.

Oliver Axton engaged in sexual activity with the youth in the Southampton area over a year.

Police were alerted to his crimes in April of last year.

The 22-year-old, of Cunningham Crescent, was charged with four counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged 13 to 15 and two counts of causing or inciting her to engage in sexual activity.

He pleaded guilty to all offences.

Appearing before Southampton Crown Court at the end of June, he was jailed for four years.

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A sex offender who repeatedly targeted a woman has been jailed for more than four years.

Married grandfather Stephen Riley attacked his victim on several occasions as she slept - but it was years before she felt able to complain to police.

Jailing the 64-year-old, Judge Tom Gilbart told him: This was quite shocking criminality by you. It was predatory behaviour which has had a significant impact.

Riley, of Sandridge Close, Kearsley, appeared in the dock at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court after pleading guilty to assault by penetration and two counts of sexual assault just days before his trial was due to start.

The court heard that the abuse began eight years ago when, on the first occasion, Riley sexually touched the woman after finding her asleep on a sofa.

She then heard the defendant say, I always knew you were a slag, said Mr Edwards, who added that the woman pushed Riley away asking him, How could you do that?

Following that incident, the defendant made repeated suggestive comments to her, said Mr Edwards.

The woman did not inform anyone about the assault but the following year Riley sexually assaulted her once more and, on a third occasion, he again repeatedly touched her as she was sleeping.

She describes the defendants conduct as relentless, said Mr Edwards.

When confronted, Riley claimed he had been sleepwalking.

The woman eventually complained to police and Riley was arrested but initially denied the allegations against him.

Damian Zelazowksi, defending, said Riley, who suffers with physical health problems, claims he was drunk at the time he committed the offences.

He has quite openly accepted that his behaviour was entirely wrong, said Mr Zelazowski.

He cannot explain his behaviour but he shows a willingness to understand why he behaved in that manner.

He deeply regrets the harm and upset that his actions have caused.

Judge Gilbart sentenced Riley to four years and nine months in prison, placed him on the sex offenders register for life and barred him from working with children and vulnerable adults.

He told Riley that his victims life had been seriously impacted all because of your selfish decision to satisfy your own sexual lust.

You should be utterly ashamed of yourself, he added.

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AN offender has been jailed for breaching his sex offender register requirements.

Robert Dooley admitted breaching the terms of the register, which contains the details of anyone convicted, cautioned or released from prison for sexual offence against children or adults.

The 34-year-old committed the breach in Warrington on June 24 this year.

According to court documents, he failed without reasonable excuse to comply with the notification requirements of the register by failing to register with authorities that he had a new address or was of no fixed abode.

Dooley, whose address in court was given as no fixed abode, but of the Widnes area, was subsequently charged with failing to comply with notification requirements of the sex offender register.

The defendant admitted the breach when he appeared before Chester Magistrates Court.

Taking this guilty plea into account, magistrates jailed him for 26 weeks.

In their reasoning, they remarked that the offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence could be justified, as well as the defendant having a flagrant disregard for court orders.

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A 51-year-old paedophile was lured to an address in Hull as part of a sting operation and found with condoms and Haribo sweets.

Chef Darren Johnstone, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with teenage girls and pretended to be a 20-year-old. He was interviewed by Humberside Police for offences in 2018 and while under investigation he repeatedly tried to engage in sexual communication with more girls in 2020.

Grimsby Crown Court heard Johnstone who has "learning difficulties and low-level intelligence" did not realise the girls were decoys used by a paedophile hunter group called Elite Team. Michele Stuart-Lofthouse said the defendant was still under investigation for the 2018 offences when he was again arrested in 2020.

Johnstone also admitted possessing indecent images of children on his phone after it was seized on his initial arrest. She said a "decoy teenager" was set up by the paedophile hunter group who created a dating app.

Despite being told by the decoy teenager she was 14 years old, Johnstone sent a total of 605 messages, mostly of a sexual nature. He also sent images of his private area.

Ms Stuart-Lofthouse said: "The images were extremely sexual." The decoy agreed to meet him in Brisbane Street, Hull, where the paedophile gang waited for him.

He was arrested by police, who seized a quantity of condoms, Haribo sweets and 300 cash. The prosecutor said he could not offer an explanation for his behaviour, but admitted sending images.

"He said he had never had sexual relations or a girlfriend and had never spoken to a girl the way he did. He admitted talking to the 14-year-old girl and asking for sex," the prosecutor said.

While committing the second set of offences in 2020, Johnstone, of Cleethorpes, had described himself to a 13 year old girl, as a 20-year-old man. There were four separate occasions in which he sent images to the girls, which were in fact, decoys, used by the child protection group.

For Johnstone, Gordon Stables said: "The court is not dealing with a fully-functioning adult. The level of understanding is not there."

He said his client had attended a special school and when he was 16 years old took up a work placement at the St James' Hotel in Grimsby. He said: "They knew his limitations and he remained there for nearly 30 years."

He submitted psychiatric doctors reports which highlighted the defendant's "borderline understanding." Mr Stables said: "He could not understand that these decoys did not exist." He added the client thought he had been discharged following the first offences.

Recorder Alex Menary said it was "an exceptional case" and he was guided by the psychiatric reports on the level of Johnstone's intelligence. He said three years in prison would not provide adequate safety from the risk he posed.

He imposed a two-year community order in which he will attend 43 days of sex offender management and 55 rehabilitation days. He imposed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order to limit his access to the internet and ban any contact with children.

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A serial sex offender has been convicted of terrorising two women who worked in an Angus bookmakers for more than a fortnight.

Gavin Ross stared into the Coral bookies in Forfar and played with his nipples, frightening staff so much one member was relocated to work at another store.

After being remanded, Ross saluted Sheriff William Wood and said: I couldnt give a f*** man.

Ross, who was once jailed for dancing at the side of the A90 with his trousers around his ankles, was found guilty of acting in a threatening or abusive manner between September 6 and 24 last year.

Bizarre acts caught on camera

Jurors unanimously agreed the Perth Prison inmate Ross formerly of Inveraldie, Tealing, Angus repeatedly visited at the Castle Street shop, loitered outside and refused to leave despite being asked to do so on numerous occasions.

They also agreed that while outside the shop, Ross stared into the premises, waved and made inappropriate gestures to the employees and played with his nipples.

He rubbed and seized his nipples above his clothing and rubbed his chest.

However, the majority of jurors found an alternative charge of stalking to be not proven and rejected allegations of other actions he was accused of carrying out while standing outside the shop.

The jury was shown CCTV of the street outside the branch.

DC Stephen Jenkins of Police Scotland explained he had trawled through all the footage and spotted Ross, usually on his bike, on six or seven days, sometimes outside the bookies several times a day.

One female employee who was stared down by the accused said she felt uncomfortable and uneasy and said I began to feel on edge, and it was a very stressful time.

A second complainer told the court said she was disgusted and found his behaviour intimidating.

She said she did not want to work alone in the shop.

Ross made a habit of attending when the women were working alone and one woman moved to another branch to escape him.

Neither women knew Ross and both had first spotted the 41-year-old picking up cigarette butts outside the store and became so alarmed by his behaviour, they raised the issue with their manager.

Past crimes

After the jury returned its verdict, Perth Sheriff Court was told Ross is already on the Sex Offenders Register and will remain there until at least 2028.

However, it was not established this week whether or not his actions had a significant sexual element, the threshold at which he would be subject to notification requirements.

The sheriff ordered a social work report to be completed ahead of sentencing on August 4.

Earlier this year, Ross was jailed again after he exposed himself to a female prison warden at HMP Perth.

In August 2016, Ross was ordered to carry out unpaid work after admitting throwing a bottle and brick at traffic on the A90 before walking into the path of oncoming vehicles.

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A company director who volunteered at a leading private school has been jailed after being caught with a sickening horde of child abuse material.

David Rankine, who built-up a leading media firm, was given an extended three year sentence when he appeared in the dock at Perth Sheriff Court.

Rankine, 42, was well-known as a first aider who was often called in to offer treatment to young pupils at £14,000-a-year Dundee High School.

He jailed Rankine for eight months, with a further 24-months post-prison extended sentence, and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for a decade.

Sheriff Duthie said: "Because of the gravity of the crime you committed a custodial sentence is the only appropriate disposal. You were part of the process of child abuse.

"People like you are creating a demand for material. You can properly be said to contribute to the pain and fear of children who are physically abused."

Rankine, one of the driving forces behind award-winning MTC Media, was caught with photos and videos featuring boys as young as four being sexually assaulted by adults.

Police descended on his Carnoustie home after a tip-off in early 2021 and seized a range of devices, including four laptops and two iPhones.

Analysists found around 750 illicit files, with about a third ranked as Category A for obscenity. Rankine resigned as a director at MTC Media weeks after his arrest.

The website-building company, which counts Scottish Water, Umbro UK and Brewdog among its clients, stressed he had not had an active role in the firm since 2018.

Rankine admitted possessing indecent images of children at his former home in Henry Cotton Place, Carnoustie, between 24 December 2008 and 21 January 2021.

Fiscal depute Alistair McDermid told the court: "Confidential information was received by Police Scotland that indecent images of children may have been held within a property.

"The accused answered the door and police were permitted access. A systematic search of the address was then commenced by four officers."

Four laptops, two iPhones, six hard-drives and a tablet device were seized and a preliminary examination discovered a series of illicit images.

The fiscal depute told the court 574 still images and 183 videos were found on the devices.

He said: "The male children depicted in these pictures and videos are between four and 16 years of age."

A spokesman for MTC Media confirmed that Rankine has not been a "director or employee" since March 2021.

The company began in 1999 but was relaunched by former Carnoustie High School pupil Rankine - as business development director - and two others five years later. The company now has a workforce of more than 100 people.

Rankine was a regular first aid volunteer at Dundee High School sports events. He administered first aid to boys of all ages at the Mayfield Sports Centre.

A spokesman for Dundee High School said: "We can confirm that first aid cover at our school sports fixtures is provided by St Andrew's First Aid, with whom Mr Rankine was a volunteer.

"We are not aware of any suggestion or evidence, at this stage, or any issue or concern regarding the conduct of Mr Rankine in his capacity as a volunteer."

He added: "The high school has strict child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures in place and as part of due diligence, require risk assessment and safeguarding protocols to be observed at all times."

A spokeswoman for St Andrew's First Aid added: "We have been aware of David Rankine's crimes and we have deep sympathy for those affected.

"While we cannot comment on any individual volunteers, we have the relevant safeguards and processes in place and take all matters pertaining to child protection extremely seriously."

A spokesman for MTC said: "We are all utterly shocked and appalled by the revelations around Mr Rankine. We condemn this in the strongest possible terms.

"Mr Rankine has not been involved in the business since 2018 and resigned as a director in March 2021. We were not aware of the reasons for the resignation as Mr Rankine refused to disclose this.

"However, given his lack of input into the business in recent years we were happy to accept. This was a tremendous shock to read this disturbing list of offences and our primary concern is first and foremost to our team and to anyone affected.

"We reached out to our team immediately to offer our support. We are glad to see that justice will be delivered appropriately for Mr Rankine's appalling crimes."

Description

A man who has been jailed.

Glenn Barker, 53, of Beeleigh Way, Caister-on-Sea, appeared at Norwich Crown Court to be sentenced having admitted sexual assault of a child under 13 on August 14, 2020.

Barker appeared at court on Friday (June 17) having also admitted two offences of indecent assault against another girl, aged between seven and nine, between June 2000 and June 2003.

Claire Matthews, prosecuting, said the victim in the offence committed in August 2020 was a young child who had been left "scared".

The court heard Barker had bribed his victims, neither of whom can be identified for legal reasons, with sweets and urged them to keep secret what had happened.

A statement from the mother of the victim assaulted in 2020 described how their lives were "turned upside down" as soon as the offence came to light.

She said the victim has changed since the assault and no longer liked to get changed in front of people, not even her father.

Barker, who also admitted possessing extreme pornographic images, was jailed for eight years by Recorder John Hardy.

He said: "You've pleaded guilty to offences which right-minded people would consider repulsive".

He said that people who behaved as he had done, sexually assaulting young children, and who are caught and prosecuted should expect to receive immediate sentences of imprisonment.

Danielle O'Donovan, mitigating, said this was a man who had pleaded guilty to "terrible acts" but insisted these were separate and individual acts which were "clearly against his own nature".

She told the court he was a "weak individual" who had taken "ugly steps" in his life and was "surprised and shocked" by his own behaviour.

But Miss O'Donovan said offences of this sort were very rarely admitted and described it as courageous for him to have admitted them.

She said he was capable of being a decent human being.

Barker was prevented from contacting both victims directly or indirectly indefinitely.

He was also ordered sign on the sex offenders register indefinitely and made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

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A PAEDOPHILE groomed a schoolgirl before going on to abuse her after asking her to wear lingerie while having underage sex.

James Brum, 39, from Newport, was condemned as selfish and self-centred for having abused the girl.

He had intercourse with her on seven occasions and told her after the first time: You really wanted it.

The defendant would manipulate his victim and said to her that she was in his secret club.

Brum would also ask the girl to send him nude photos of her, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

Rachel Knight, prosecuting, said: The defendant groomed his victim.

He bought lingerie for her to wear during their encounters.

She would wear these at his request.

You used her to satisfy your sexual urges

The victims impact statement was read out in which she said: I have flashbacks to the events that happened.

He targeted me specifically for his sexual desires.

I feel uncomfortable around men now.

Nothing will change what James Brum has done to me and hes had a huge impact on my future.

He has stolen my childhood from me and he has stolen my virginity.

Brum pleaded guilty to seven counts of sexual activity with a child, two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was a man of previous good character with no convictions recorded against him.

Gareth Williams, mitigating, asked the court to take into account his clients guilty pleas.

His barrister said: The defendant hasnt contested matters at trial and admitted what the victim said was true.

He didnt deny what was going on.

The evidence was overwhelming.

He is sorry for what happened.

Judge Michael Fitton QC told Brum: This was an appalling campaign of sexual abuse.

You are a profoundly selfish and self-centred man.

You used that child to satisfy your own sexual urges.

This is a classic case of grooming.

Brum, of Llanthewy Road, Newport, was jailed for eight years.

The defendant will have to serve two-thirds of that sentence in custody before being released on licence.

He will have to register as a sex offender for life and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

Brum must also pay a victims surcharge after his release from prison.

After sentencing, the officer in charge of the case, Detective Sergeant Mike Patterson said: The victim in this case has been incredibly brave throughout.

It is their courage and strength that has ultimately led to the conviction of Brum who will now be sentenced for these horrific crimes.