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A 33-year-old man sobbed from the dock, as he was sent to begin his first prison sentence for attempting to incite a ‘12-year-old girl’ to send him sexually explicit pictures and videos online. 

The security guard flanking defendant, Timothy Newberry, had to wait to escort him out of Sheffield Crown Court while he attempted to collect himself, after Judge Graham Reeds KC told him his sexual offences were so serious that only a prison sentence could be justified.

A hearing held on May 20, 2024 heard how Newberry engaged in extreme sexual communication with an online profile purporting to be a 12-year-old girl called Sophie, but was, in fact, an undercover police officer. 

Prosecutor, Joseph Bell, described how from the offset of Newberry’s communication with ‘Sophie,’ which began over a social media messaging app in June 2023, she ‘immediately’ informed him that she was 12-years-old, and repeatedly referred to her attendance at school. 

After a brief conversation with ‘Sophie’ concerning her online profile, Newberry began attempting to ‘solicit images’ from her, Mr Bell said, adding that Newberry quickly began to talk about, and send her images of, his genitals. 

Newberry, of Reresby Park Close, Dalton, Rotherham, continued to send messages to ‘Sophie’ and repeatedly requested explicit videos of the girl.

He sent a video he took of himself engaging in a solo sexual act. 

Newberry made numerous attempts to contact the undercover police officer’s decoy account in the days that followed, but received no responses. 

Police then arrested Newberry at his home address, before interviewing him, during which he answered ‘no comment’ to all questions posed. 

Newberry was subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to, one count of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and one count of attempting to cause or incite a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity - penetration.

Newberry’s barrister, Clarkson Baptiste, referred Judge Reeds to Newberry’s pre-sentence report, which, he suggested, detailed Newberry’s ‘difficult childhood’. 

“He wasn’t able to be looked after by his mother, and was sent to live with his grandparents who made him homeless at the age of 16. He’s struggled through his adult life to achieve stability,” Mr Baptiste told the court. 

Mr Baptiste continued: “He attends court with his current partner. She sits in the public gallery, in full knowledge of why he’s here. He’s aware of the potential sentence he faces.”

Jailing Newberry for 42 months, Judge Reeds told him: “Police officers work to detect people like you who intend to corrupt children into sexual activity for their own sexual gratification.”

“This was serious sexual offending, and the intended harm was considerable, even though no actual harm was caused to a real child.”

Judge Reeds also made Newberry the subject of a sexual harm prevention order and told him he will also be required to register as a sex offender, both of which will run without limit of time. 

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A 50 year old Winchcombe man who took a woman's mobile phone from her and refused to give it back until she gave him oral sex was jailed for eight and a half years today (May 21).

Neil Roberts, of Godwin Road, Winchcombe, denied raping the woman and assaulting her causing actual bodily harm but a jury found him guilty at the end of his trial earlier this year.

Today he was sentenced at Gloucester Crown Court by Recorder Jaron Crooknorth who told him he still showed no sign of remorse for his abuse of the woman.

Before passing sentence of eight and a half years jail for the rape and two years nine months concurrently for the assault, the Recorder heard a victim impact statement from the woman, who said Roberts had treated her 'like a piece of meat' on that night.

She stated "I was humiliated. I felt worthless. He made me blame myself. He left me feeling like it was all my fault.

"Now, after two years of fighting for him to be held accountable, I can admit to myself that I have been raped and that it isn't my fault. Only now do I feel I can truly start to live my life again and enjoy it.

"I am glad he has finally been held accountable for who he truly is and I hope that one day he will be able to admit it to himself.  When the jury found him guilty I was overcome with emotion."

During the trial at Cirencester Courthouse in March the court heard that on Oct 10th 2021 the woman agreed to spend the evening with Roberts drinking and listening to music at his home.

Roberts began questioning her about whether she was seeing any other men and he demanded to see her phone

She refused but he took the phone from her and would not give it back, accusing her of having an 'affair'.

The woman told jurors he could not initially look at the phone because it was locked and needed facial recognition or her PIN number. He kept waving it at her face in an effort to open it but she continually moved her head to prevent him.

However, eventually she gave up and gave him the unlock code. He then looked through the phone. After about an hour she asked to have it back but he did not hand it over and was mocking her, calling her a slut and a cheat.

She pushed Roberts and slapped him in the face in her efforts to retrieve the phone and he then punched her in the face.

Roberts told her that if she wanted her phone back she would have to give him oral sex. 

She told him 'I don't want to do this, just give me the phone back.'

But Roberts insisted he would not return it till she gave him oral sex so she did.

"He then gave me the phone back.  I got off the bed and sat on the floor with my belongings," the woman told the jury.

"He then said that he thought we were just doing role play and that he thought I was enjoying it. "

Roberts, in evidence, said that after drinking San Miguel beer with the woman for 4-5 hours that night they went into his bedroom at about 1am and she instigated the oral sex as a 'form of apology' for an argument they'd had earlier.

There had been no violence from him and he had not demanded to see her phone at any stage, he said.

He alleged afterwards she became very angry and pulled on his penis, causing a bruise.

"I told her to get off and she started to punch me in the head.  She hit me 10-20 times," he alleged.

Roberts was unanimously convicted of both charges and has been in custody on remand since then. Today he appeared via video link from Bristol Prison for his sentencing.

His solicitor, Sarah Jenkins, told the court he had no past history of sexual offending and his only conviction had been for an offence of violence in 2006. This had been his first experience of prison, she said.

It would not be just him who paid the price of his offending because his father, who is in poor health, and his young daughter in Thailand, who also has an illness, would suffer without his care and financial support, she said.

"The child will not be able to come to the UK while he is in custody," she said. "His incarceration will have a very significant impact on both of these individuals."

At the time of Roberts' offences against the woman he had a drink problem and that had got worse due to the stress of awaiting trial - but he had now undergone detox in prison and had signed up for education courses in languages and cycle maintenance in jail, she said.

She also referred the court to character references provided to the court by friends and colleagues of Roberts.

"They show a side of his character which was not shown during the evidence of the victim.  He has provided emotional support and friendship to these individuals in difficult times and circumstances and it is something they value him for."

Passing sentence Recorder Crooknorth told Roberts "You showed no remorse - not even for the injuries she had sustained.  She had a bruised and swollen face, bruising across her chest, scratching and bruising on her arms.  She felt humiliated, overpowered and abused by someone she thought she could trust.

"At this late stage you still show no remorse. "

He said he found that Roberts represents a danger to the public. He told Roberts he will have to serve two-thirds of his eight-and-a-half year sentence before he is eligible for parole.

The judge also reminded Roberts that he will be on the sex offender register indefinitely and will have to keep police informed of any changes of his address or his name.

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A TORPOINT resident has been sentenced to 36 months in prison for sex offences involving a child.  

Anthony Beedell was tried at Leeds Crown Court on May 15, for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child under 16, attempting to engage a child in sexual activity, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, and attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.

Following the trial, the defendant was sentenced to a total of 36 months imprisonment and placed on the Sex Offender Register until further order.

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A “dangerous” sex offender has been sentenced to a total of 14 years after arranging a meeting in Bedford so he could sexually abuse a child.

Alec Parkin, 49, a registered sex offender from Nottinghamshire, bragged he had been convicted of previous child sex offences and was being monitored by police – but that he was able to communicate via another device so he could cover his tracks.

Parkin arranged the meeting and was arrested by Bedfordshire Police officers in Bedford.

Devices were seized from his home address and the conversations he had participated in were uncovered.

Parkin, of Baptist Lane, Collingham, Newark, pleaded guilty to arranging and facilitating the commission of a child sex offence and yesterday (Tuesday) was handed a nine-year custodial sentence at Luton Crown Court, with a five-year extended licence, due to his dangerousness and the significant risk of harm he poses.

Emma Shipton, an investigation officer within Bedfordshire Police’s Internet Child Abuse Investigation team, said: “As the judge rightly said at sentencing, Parkin is a dangerous sex offender who would have carried out these heinous acts on an innocent child had he got the chance to.

“He was caught red-handed in the process of arranging a meeting and is now going to be spending a good chunk of time in prison.

“People such as Parkin should know that they will not get away with carrying out such an atrocious crime – we will find you and we will do all we can to lock you up and keep our communities safe from sex offenders.”

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A MOLD sex-offender who was caught once again with indecent images of children has been put behind bars.

Fiontan Greaney, of Bryn Heulog, appeared at Mold Crown Court on Tuesday for sentence.

The 35-year-old had previously admitted three offences of making indecent images of children; one each at categories A, B and C.

Karl Scholz, prosecuting, told the court that in February 2019, Greaney was sentenced for offences of the same nature and received a three-year community order.

However in November 2022, police conducted an unannounced home visit at Greaney's home and examined his devices.

Initial checks turned up filenames of concern, which led to the seizure of his computer and hard drives.

A forensic examination of the items revealed two still images at category A (the most serious), two images and three videos at category C and 313 images and six videos at category C.

Some 844 images indicative of a sexual interest in children were also found.

When Greaney was arrested in September last year, he protested his innocence and denied having been in possession, or having downloaded, any such images.

Trevor Parry Jones, defending, told the court: "Mr Greaney presents as an unusual character.

"He's one of those classic children who, whilst in the school system, required assistance.

"His mother is sitting in the court and she's understandably distraught.

"She believes, albeit he's never been formally diagnosed, he suffered ADHD.

"The only way she can put it is 'he is definitely on the spectrum' whatever that may mean."

Mr Parry Jones said his client also suffered mobility issues due to a muscular-skeletal problem.

"He keeps explaining he wishes to stop doing what he is doing because it's causing harm and upset to others," he continued.

"His mother told me there are positive steps he is taking and she believed he is beginning to understand the nuances of what he must do and not do."

He added that while his client had been attempting to set up a business and at the time of the hearing had the use of a smartphone and laptop, discussions had taken place about whether

Greaney should be completely deprived of the internet.

Judge Rhys Rowlands told the defendant: "At this court in 2019, you were made the subject of a community order. Attached were rehabilitation and programme requirements meant to address the risk you pose to young children.

"Sadly, you're now back before this court for three more offences.

"The pre-sentence report makes depressing reading.

"You continue to deny having any sexual interest in children.

"In view of your past offending, your continuing to offend whilst subject to a previous order and a clear lack of insight, I'm afraid I am driven to the view that adequate punishment can't be achieved in the community."

Overall, Greaney received a custodial sentence of 32 weeks.

He must register as a sex offender for 10 years and will be made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same period of time.

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A DANGEROUS paedophile has been jailed for 18 years for sexually abusing and raping a boy as the victim is praised for his courage in speaking out.

Robert Hampton, aged 77, of Somers Court in Upper Howsell Road, Malvern was found guilty of seven counts including the rape of a boy under 13.

He was convicted of: one count of rape of a boy under 13; two counts of offender of any age causing/inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity-penetration; one count of attempted rape of a child under 13; three counts of assaulting a boy under 13 years of age by penetration with a part of his body/ a thing.

He was sentenced yesterday at Worcester Crown Court to 18 years in prison and one year on licence for his crimes committed between January 2007 and December 2018.

Detective Constable Hannah Croft, said: “I would like to commend the bravery of the victim and their family in this case. Without their courage, perseverance and tenacity, Hampton would not have been brought to justice.

“Hampton is a dangerous individual and I’m glad his sentence reflects the heinous crimes he committed. I hope if anything positive is to come out of today is that it gives other victims the confidence to come forward and speak with the police”.

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A sex offender is back behind bars after being caught with 20 indecent images of kids. Police say that of the 20, eleven of them were category A, images classed as the most serious.

Registered sex offender Christopher Wood was caught out when officers from the Warwickshire Police Sex Offender Management Unit (SOMU) made an unannounced visit to his house in Alcester in November last year.

The visit was made as part of his five year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). As part of this SHPO he was required to make electronic devices capable of accessing the internet available to a police officer upon request.

Officers also found evidence that the 23-year-old had deleted things from his phone in breach of his SHPO. Wood was arrested and his phone was sent away for further analysis. This analysis discovered 20 indecent images of children, 11 of them category A.

Wood of Kingfisher Way was jailed for 16 months at Warwick Crown Court last week. Detective Constable Matt Collins from the SOMU said: “We welcome the sentence handed down to Wood and hope it demonstrates how police and the courts are acting to enforce court orders put in place to protect the public.

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A paedophile's sick haul of abuse images was uncovered after he was caught speaking online with someone he thought was a child.

Kaylum Forrester, 34, was arrested after detectives from Regional Organised Crime Units in the North West and North East gathered evidence that showed he had interacted with someone online who he thought was a child and this communication was sexual in nature.

When he was arrested a number of electronic devices were seized and sent for analysis. During examination of the devices officers recovered more than 800 indecent images of children. Forrester, of Liverpool Road, Huyton, pleaded guilty to arranging/ facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, and making, possessing, and distributing indecent images of children.

He was jailed for six years, given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be on the Sex Offenders Register for life. Detective Inspector Jon Weir from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit said: "Although there is no evidence that he had met with a child while committing these offences, Forrester is undoubtedly a sexual predator who preyed on vulnerable children with no regard for the effects this would have on his victims and their families.

"I hope this conviction will act as a reminder that there are no borders when it comes to sexual abuse, it can happen anywhere and the impact is devastating. If you have experienced any form of sexual abuse, or know of a child being abused, please come forward and report this to police."

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A 58-year-old man who sexually assaulted a young child over a three-year period has been jailed.

Anthony Jarrett, of Maple Close, Larkfield in Kent, previously admitted four charges of sexual assault.

The abuse, which took place in the south of Lincolnshire, related to a single victim, Lincolnshire Police said.

Jarrett was jailed for 10 years and 10 months at a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

A restraining order was also imposed.

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Benjamin Bull, 40, of Clare Gardens in Petersfield, has been jailed for 13 years following several sexual atrocities in Waterlooville. He was found guilty by jury today (May 20) of five charges committed in 2020 and 2021 against a girl.

This included rape of a child under 13, causing a child to watch a sexual act, causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity and two counts of assault of a child under 13 by penetration. Bull was handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

At the end of the five-day trial at Portsmouth Crown Court, the judge commended the victim's bravery for speaking out. They added that Bull remains a significant risk to members of the public and in particular young girls.

Detective Constable Hannah Owen, from the Eastern Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “The victim in this case showed immeasurable bravery in coming forward and incredible courage throughout the investigation and court process. Without her, we would not have secured this result.

“We are very happy with today’s result, which means that Bull will now face the consequences of his predatory and unthinkable actions. I am pleased we can give the victim the outcome the case deserved and sincerely hope that this sentence helps her begin to move forward with her life.

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A sick predator has been jailed after jurors found him guilty of raping a woman

Philip Gaddis, 24, was found guilty following a trial at  Leeds Crown Court and earlier this month was jailed for six years. His victim was 20 when Gaddis, of Main Street, Glasgow, attacked her in the Mirfield area in 2019.

Following his conviction, the woman's sister - who must not be named for legal reasons - has spoken out and said he had admitted the offence in a message. She said the first trial resulted in a hung jury, but Gaddis was finally convicted this year.

The woman said: "She woke up to him having sex with her...She told me the day after it happened and I said, 'It's rape, we need to go to the police,' but she didn't want to talk about it or report it.'"

It was said the rape was eventually reported after Gaddis "admitted it over message a number of times in different circumstances," the woman said. She said: "He was charged and released on bail."

The court confirmed that Gaddis was also released on bail between the guilty verdict and his sentencing, something which the victim's sister said was "unjustifiable". She said his strict bail conditions included him not contacting her sister, but said the decision to release him on bail was still an "unjustifiable risk in my eyes".

She added: "He could have done anything else he wanted for three weeks. He went to a concert in that time...We were a bit worried he wouldn't turn up because he lived in Scotland but he did.

"She read her victim impact statement in court - it was one of the hardest things I have seen...When he was found guilty at the end of the trial he started crying. He was crying and said, 'I didn't do it.'"

The woman said she was "just relieved" when the verdict came in and said: "It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to see my sister and best friend go through. It has destroyed her in so many ways and I am just grateful it is over and it was recognised, what he did.

"I'm just happy he is going to be put away for years and it's going to protect other women and hopefully when he is in prison he gets the time to reflect and reform."

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A PAEDOPHILE jailed for 20 years for repeatedly raping a young girl was caught after she saw an NSPCC sex education talk at her school.

Andrew Flecknell’s victim told her mother of his “hideous” abuse following the showing of the children’s charity PANTS programme.

The 38-year-old defendant from the Bedwas area of Caerphilly was condemned by Judge Lucy Crowther who told him: “This was a campaign of rape.”

Flecknell sexually assaulted the girl “more times than she can remember”.

Clare Wilks, prosecuting, said that the child’s mother made a victim impact statement on her behalf which she read at Cardiff Crown Court.

It stated: “This has had a massive impact on her.

“I still don’t feel as if this is real, it’s heart-breaking. This is hideous.

“She amazes me with her bravery and resilience.”

The victim was described as a “fun, caring and smart child” who could now become “upset for no reason”.

Flecknell admitted four counts of rape and three of sexual assault.

Kevin Seal representing Flecknell said: “His best mitigation is his guilty pleas and he also has no previous convictions.

“He has suffered from anxiety and depression.

“The defendant has deficiencies in his thinking.

“He knows he’s going to receive a lengthy custodial sentence and that he deserves that.”

Judge Crowther told Flecknell: “It was as a result of the PANTS class that she told her mum of what you had done.

“She told her you had put your private parts into her.

“The victim said this had happened more times than she can remember.

“It is too early to say what the future holds for her.”

The judge added: “You initially denied that you had no sexual interest in children.

“That’s nonsense because you clearly do.

“You are a paedophile and you are sexually interested in children.

“You are a dangerous offender and you don’t seem to realise what you have done.”

Flecknell will have to register as a sex offender for life.

Record details

A sex offender’s repeated attempts to evade police scrutiny over his online activities have landed him behind bars, again.

Christopher Penrice, then known as Lloyd James Christopher Ditchburn, and living in Workington, in Cumbria, was jailed at Carlisle Crown Court in January 2022 for downloading indecent images of children and two counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Those offences stemmed from his use of specialist software to put his phone into “incognito” mode, disabling police monitoring software and enabling him to download indecent images of children undetected.

The 26-year-old defendant, now living in Embleton Street, Seaham, under the name Penrice, appeared at Durham Crown Court on Thursday (May 16) where he admitted a further count of breaching the terms of his SHPO, as well as notification requirements as a sex offender, having indicated guilty pleas to two SHPO breaches at the magistrates' court, last month.

Charlie Thompson, prosecuting, told the crown court sentencing hearing there has been, “a pattern of like offending, in breach of court orders”.

The SHPO was updated at court in Carlisle when he was sentenced in January 2022 and was to run for ten years, superseding a previous order imposed in 2020.

Among the terms of the order, he was prohibited from using cloud storage without informing the police or accessing file-sharing and chatroom facilities unless he provided his user name or password.

But on a monitoring visit at his home in Seaham on April 17, an officer checked the defendant’s mobile phone and discovered he had accessed a social networking site application, which was downloaded on April 2, without him having notified police, while also failing to provide a user name or password, in breach of the order.

He was also using a file-sharing system which he had failed to disclose to police and was using alias names, including Seaham2023 and hannaharris82.

Mr Thompson said in a further breach it was found Penrice was using a drop box storage application, accessed during March this year.

When interviewed he gave “no comment” replies, , but he indicated likely guilty pleas when he appeared before magistrates the following day.

The court heard his previous convictions stem back to 2014, as a juvenile, when he admitted offences of making and distributing indecent images of children.

He was again convicted for downloading indecent child images plus outraging public decency, an offence of “up-skirting”, in 2020, before the 2022 prison sentence was imposed for more images offences and breaching his SHPO.

Mr Thompson said as part of his post-prison licence conditions following the 2022 conviction, Penrice was subject to the monitoring checks, which were due to expire this month.

He described his recent offending as, “a series of breaches which were persistent in nature.

“Considering his antecedent history and the nature of the offending his recent online offending and having unfettered access to file sharing media is a serious offence.

“Both are aggravated by numerous convictions for having indecent images of children and his past breaches.”

Calum McNicholas, in mitigation, said the defendant merited credit for his guilty pleas, at both the magistrates and crown courts for the offences, for which there was some “overlap”, as they all form part of the same offending.

Judge Jo Kidd told Penrice: “You are a relatively young man who has managed to accrue a pattern of offending all geared towards accessing sexual images of children on the internet.

“These go back to the juvenile court in 2014, when you would have been a very young man.

“You were subject then to an intensive surveillance order, but that doesn’t seem to have had any deterrent effect as several years later you were back at court for further indecent images offences and committing an act outraging public decency.

“You were given the opportunity of direct targeting work to address your behaviour and interests and you were made subject of notification and a SHPO, but, unfortunately, you were back at court for offences of distributing indecent images and breaching a SHPO, in January 2022, for which you received a 32-month sentence and were made subject of a ten-year SHPO.

“The commission of these offences came while you were subject to post-sentence licence conditions and you have come up with new ways of trying to evade the prohibitions placed on you.

“Despite the supervision on you, you continue to use aliases and continue your interest in indecent images of children, in what were persistent breaches of your SHPO.”

Imposing a 24-month prison sentence she also made Penrice subject of a new SHPO and notification requirement, both running for another ten years.

She also made a deprivation order of the phone seized and examined by police on the April 17 monitoring visit.

Judge Kidd reminded Penrice that committing further offences while on licence, following his release from his latest sentence would only land him behind bars for a further period of time.

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A Wolverhampton man has been jailed for child sex offences with the help of undercover police who contacted him online and posed as a teenage girl.

Acting on intelligence, officers first interacted with Nicholas Robinson on a social media platform earlier this year where they presented themselves as an adult.

Robinson declared to them that he had a sexual interest in children and offered money to contribute towards a camera to obtain explicit photos and videos of youngsters.

Videos of child abuse were then sent to the undercover officer.

In February, a second covert officer interacted with Robinson, posing as a 13-year-old girl, and was asked to perform a sexual act.

Robinson, aged 35, from Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty to charges at an earlier hearing and was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on May 16 to three years in jail for four counts of child sex offences.

These included distributing an indecent image of a child and attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child.

West Midlands Police Detective Constable Neil Cunnington said: "We want to create an environment of disruption, fear and apprehension amongst people who operate online to sexually abuse children.

"Arresting and convicting offenders like Robinson is the main way we achieve this.

"If anyone is concerned about someone's online behaviour, or suspects they are grooming children, then please get in touch so we can investigate."

Last year, the force's Major Crime Unit's online undercover work led to the arrest of 73 predatory sexual offenders.

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Stephen Martin Tracey, 65, of Skiddaw, Rugby in Warwickshire appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday 17 May, where he was sentenced for three counts of indecent assault and one count of indecency with a child, which took place between January 1987 and February 1994.

Tracey was found guilty on Thursday 28 March following a four-day trial at Portsmouth Crown Court.

Tracey came to police attention in 2022 when the victim, who was aged between 9 and 15 at the time of the offences, came forward to report the sexual abuse, which took place at a number of addresses in Waterlooville.

During the sentence hearing, the judge said that the offences fell in to the highest category of seriousness of sexual offences and that Tracey was an offender of particular concern due to the nature of the offending. He stated that Tracey caused severe psychological harm to the victim.

Speaking afterwards, officer in the case Detective Sergeant Samantha Brown from the Operation Amberstone team said “I cannot commend the victim in this case enough for the incredible bravery she has shown, not only in coming forward, but throughout this investigation and the resulting trial.

“Whilst no sentence will ever truly be able to give this woman her life back or the justice she deserves, we hope that today’s results, and knowing that Tracey will finally be behind bars, bring some degree of resolution to a horrific ordeal that started over 30 years ago.

“We also hope that today’s result reflects the seriousness with which we treat all reports of this kind and gives other victims of child sexual abuse the courage to come forward. We do however recognise that not everyone has the confidence to speak to police, but there are support services available that can help you if you are a victim of abuse.