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A student travelled 225 miles from his Essex home to meet a 12-year-old girl in Leeds for sex, after a CGI image of her was planted on Facebook.

Ahmed Sablu caught the train and had booked a room at Leeds Ibis hotel after targeting what he thought was a child. But the profile was a decoy run by the hunter group, Predator Exposure, who had created the image of the girl using CGI. They confronted Sablu when he arrived at Leeds Railway Station on February 12.

The 24-year-old first made contact with the girl on December 30, sending a friend request. They traded hundreds of messages over the following weeks on different platforms, including Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, prosecutor Jennifer Gatland told Leeds Crown Court.

She said most of the conversation was “fairly everyday” about what they had been doing, and did not have any explicit content, although the profile repeatedly made it clear she was just 12 and was attending school.

But Sablu then said he was planning to come to Leeds, would book a hotel with a double bed and wanted to have a shower with the girl. They agreed to meet on February 12 when Sablu was intercepted, having caught the train from his home on Spring Road, Clacton-on-Sea.

Predator Exposure livestreamed the confrontation before he was arrested and led away to be put in to the back of a police van. He told officers: “I’m sorry, I messed up.” However, he then gave a no-comment interview at the police station.

They later found that he had booked the room at the Ibis in Leeds for that day. He later admitted attempting to meet a child following grooming. He appeared in court via video link from HMP Leeds, where he has been held on remand.

A pre-sentence report prepared by probation had suggested Sablu had minimised his offending, but his barrister Matthew Harding, said many such child-sex offenders often have a “degree of reluctance” to accept their attraction to children.

Mr Harding said: “He accepts what he did was wrong. The majority of messages he sent were mundane. There was little of the gratuitous or explicit language often found in offences of this nature.”

Sablu, who is from Bangladesh, was in the UK on a student Visa, which has now expired.

Judge Richard Mansell KC told him: “It was perfectly clear that she was just 12. It became clear you were sexually interested in her.”

Judge Mansell made reference to Sablu’s comments to officers about “messing up”, and told him: “The only way you messed up is that you got caught, travelling many miles to meet someone you thought was a 12-year-old girl.

“You were fully intent of having sex with her in that hotel room. You have absolutely no insight into the gravity of your actions.”

He gave him 12 months’ jail, with a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), and put him on the sex offender register for the same period of time.

He was also told he was “liable” to be deported once released from prison.

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This is the face of a paedophile who preyed on a schoolgirl in a vile attempt to sexually abuse her as she walked to school. Predator Daniel Ralph grabbed the youngster as she made her way to school through an alleyway.

She was on her own when the 'dangerous' sex offender, 31, pounced on her from behind. He then put her in a 'chokehold' as she battled to get free.

The young girl bit Ralph's hand, forcing him to loosen his grip and run away. A court heard how the pervert even 'went equipped', wearing a jacket with unused condoms in his pocket.

Ralph has since been locked up for his terrifying ambush. Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how the girl was walking through the alleyway just before 7.30am on February 16 last year.

CCTV footage recorded Ralph leaving his home at 7.29am and reaching the nearby alleyway a minute later. He was donning a face covering and gloves as he walked past the girl in the opposite direction

But he then turned and grabbed her from behind. Prosecutor Dylan Wagg said the defendant 'gripped tightly' as he put one hand around the victim's neck and another around her mouth.

The girl screamed and bit his hand, with Ralph rushing home. He changed his clothes and was seen leaving his home again at 7.52am.

Ralph walked in a different direction to the alleyway, the court heard. A concerned passer-by noticed the 'distressed' schoolgirl - who had a cut lip - and called police.

The girl later told officers she had spotted Ralph 'loitering' in the alleyway as she walked to school just days before his cruel attack on her. The convict was arrested at home a few hours later.

Officers seized a number of pairs of gloves and balaclavas, a Rambo knife, a zombie knife and a black quilted jacket with unused condoms in the pocket. The court heard how Ralph previously sexually assaulted a schoolgirl in 'strikingly similar' circumstances.

He also sneaked into a woman's bedroom naked, leaving her fearing she would be raped. Stephen Hamblett, defending, said 'remorseful' Ralph had a 'number of difficulties' when he was younger - including being the victim of a sexual assault.

Sentencing, Judge John Butterfield KC described Ralph as a dangerous offender posing a 'significant risk of causing serious harm' to the public. Ralph admitted assault by beating, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence and breach of sexual harm prevention order.

He was handed an extended sentence of nine years and 10 months. It means he must serve two-thirds of his jail term of five years and 10 months before being released and will be subject to an extended licence period of four years.

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A registered sex offender who breached the terms of his prevention order three times has been sentenced to almost four years in prison.

We received reports about David Hunter’s contact with two girls while on public transport, in Lincoln, between December 2022 and October 2023.

One of the girls bravely managed to take a photograph of 74-year-old Hunter. He was subsequently formally identified, and arrested.

On Tuesday, 23 April, Hunter, of Kettlethorpe Road, Fenton, was sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court to 45 months in prison for three breaches of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Hunter’s risk management officer, Detective Constable Vanessa Gooseman, said: “I would like to acknowledge the bravery shown by the victims in this case and also recognise the hard work of everyone involved in bringing this repeat registered sex offender to justice.

“Hunter has continued to show a flagrant disregard for his court order, and the sentence he has received is a reflection of that.”

Risk management officers sit in our Management of Sexual and Violent Offenders team.

Detective Inspector Julia Baker, who manages the team, said: “This is a great example of the work that we do to manage the sex offenders in our community.

“Being on the sex offenders’ register doesn’t just mean being on a list.

“Every registered sex offender is managed by a dedicated risk management officer and, while we cannot always prevent any further offending, we know a lot about the registered sex offenders living in our area and get an understanding of their lifestyle and habits.

“We are often able to very swiftly identify registered sex offenders if they do go on to commit further offences, or breaches of their court order.

“Officers across different departments have worked together to bring this case to court, and the victims have seen justice served.”

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An obsessed pervert exchanged "disgusting" sexual messages and pictures with two decoy young girls during what he confessed was a "moment of madness" – but he later went on to do exactly the same thing with a third non-existent girl.

Shane Gorman was already under police investigation after he was confronted by paedophile hunters in 2021 but he ignored the warning and ended up being caught again, this time by a decoy girl set up by the police, Hull Crown Court heard.

Gorman, 35, of Welshpool Close, Hull, admitted two offences of attempting to communicate sexually with a child on September 7, 2021 and a third similar offence on June 22 last year.

Holly Thompson, prosecuting, said that an online paedophile hunters group set up profiles for two decoy girls, one supposedly aged 14 and the other 12. Gorman made sexualised comments to the fake 14-year-old girl and asked for "sexy" pictures in her underwear.

He asked her if she wanted an intimate picture of him and asked what colour her underwear was. Gorman also sent messages to the second decoy girl and made "Wow, sexy!" comments about her.

He asked for more photographs and asked intimate questions. The paedophile hunters went to his home one evening and three of them detained him and alerted the police.

Gorman made significant admissions to police and he said that it was a "moment of madness". He claimed that he did it purely through boredom at work and denied any sexual interest or excitement about children and that he knew that it was disgusting and wrong.

Gorman was released under investigation but he went on to commit the third offence involving a decoy girl, supposedly aged 13, that had been set up by the police.

He asked the fake girl if she wanted to see intimate pictures of him on Snapchat and he told her that she had a nice body. He asked her to send naked pictures of herself.

He was arrested but made no comment during police interview and said that it was a mistake and that he had no sexual interest in children. He had no previous convictions but had a caution.

Tonicha Allen, mitigating, said that unemployed Gorman was a low risk of being reconvicted. "He remains extremely remorseful and regretful of his actions," said Miss Allen.

"He says that are born entirely out of boredom. It's not a situation that he will find himself in again. He hasn't been in any further trouble with the police.

"His main focus now is accepting that he has done wrong. To say that he has learned his lesson would be an understatement."

Judge Richard Woolfall told Gorman: "These three young children were decoys. At the time, you believed they were real children. Clearly, you were sexually interested in children.

"You did it for excitement, the thrill of talking to underage children. You knew it was wrong when you were interviewed for the first time and you were released under investigation.

"You went on to do it again and, even though you knew it was wrong and you knew it was inappropriate, you went on to do it again.

"The fact that you went and did it again makes it so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate. It's not possible to suspend the least possible sentence that I can impose."

Gorman was jailed for 16 months. He was given an eight-year sexual harm prevention order and he must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

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A registered sex offender, described by Bedfordshire Police as “a vile individual”, has been jailed for more than eight years after grooming a vulnerable teenage girl into having a sexual relationship with him.

Ben Wooding, 27, met the girl in August 2021 when he was living in the Bedford area and doing some work at her house. He initially struck up conversations and became friendly with her, before he engaged in sexual activity, and regularly gave her alcohol.

He used SnapChat to message the victim, where he coerced her into sending indecent images of herself to him.

Becoming suspicious, the victim’s mother checked her daughter’s PlayStation and discovered the messages and images they had been sending each other and reported it to the police.

Wooding was initially arrested in May 2022 for other offences relating to the possession of indecent images of children. He served a short custodial sentence and was released on licence the following year. He was also the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

During this time, the victim had come forward and told police that she had been groomed by Wooding and that he had engaged in sexual activity with her.

Wooding was arrested and interviewed in relation to this, and bailed whilst the investigation was ongoing, but shortly after he breached his conditions by failing to notify police of a change of address and was re-arrested.

On Friday (19 April) Wooding, of Exeter Road, Scunthorpe, received a custodial sentence of eight years and three months, after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child, and a further count of breaching both his Sex Offender Notification Requirements and Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

He will also serve an additional five years on licence, will be the subject of a lifetime SHPO, on the Sex Offenders Register and was also handed a life-long restraining order.

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A man who raped a teenage girl has been locked up for more than a decade for his crimes.

Mark Fairman, 24, targeted his victim during a gathering in the early hours of December 27, 2018.

Things took a sinister turn when Fairman, who had remained at the address afterwards, attempted to ply the girl with alcohol over a number of hours.

The pair had been sat on the sofa together before Fairman pinned her down and raped her.

The victim was so traumatised by what had happened that she didn’t tell anyone straight away.

However, three months later, the terrified teenager confided in friends and family and an investigation was launched by Northumbria Police.

Fairman, of Rowanberry Road, Longbenton, North Tyneside, was subsequently arrested and charged with one count of rape.

He denied the charges but was found guilty during a trial at Newcastle Crown Court earlier this year.

And on Friday (April 19), at that same court, he was sentenced to 12 years behind bars.

He was also made to sign to the Sex Offenders’ Register for life, given a restraining order preventing contact with this victim and handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

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The mum of a little girl who was followed into a playpark by a flasher has said her daughter is now terrified to walk anywhere on her own.

Jack Allan appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court where he admitted exposing himself to the child – then aged just nine – in a public park in the Kincorth area of the city.

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A paedophile downloaded a manual on how to sexually abuse babies and accessed nearly 6,000 indecent images of children online.

Arif Azad, 21, of Newham, has been jailed after police first began to investigate the man in March 2023.

It was found that out of the nearly 6,000 indecent images, 3,500 of them were found to be in the most extreme category.

And a number of the images had been sent to him by an unknown child who he was communicating with online.

Azad pleaded guilty on October 25, 2023 at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

On April 19 this year, he was sentenced at the same court to four years’ imprisonment – two for making, distributing and possessing indecent images, and another two for engaging in sexual communication with a child.

He is also subject to Sex Offender Notification Requirements for life and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten years.

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A pensioner has been jailed for sexually abusing two young children in the 1990s. The victims came forward and told police they were assaulted by Mukhtar Singh Bajwa between 1990 and 1995.

A specialist team of detectives from the West Midlands force's Public Protection Unit began an investigation. Bajwa, now 67, was found guilty of two counts of gross indecency and four counts of indecent assault at an earlier hearing at The Park Hall Hotel, Wolverhampton.

He was jailed for nine years. Survivors of sexual abuse are protected by law and have life-long anonymity.

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A sex offender has been jailed for 14 years for abusing two girls and a woman.

Nicholas Lumsden, of Birmingham, was found guilty of committing numerous offences in Kent, including indecent assault, sexual assault and sexual activity with a child.

Police say evidence the 40-year-old had carried out historic attacks on children in Ashford surfaced while investigating allegations he sexually assaulted a woman in Dover in 2019.

Lumsden, of Selcroft Avenue, denied the charges but, following a recent trial at Maidstone Crown Court, was convicted of a string of offences, including indecent assault, sexual assault of a child and sexual activity with a child.

He was brought back before the same court on Wednesday April 17 and jailed for 14 years.

He was ordered to serve an extra five years on licence following that term and made the subject of a 25-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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On 12 April 2024, Mark Mitchell (53 of Orton Road in Warton) was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court to 21 months in prison for sexually assaulting a girl under 13 and inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.

He has also received a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, a ten year restraining order, and will be required to register as a sex offender.

On 24 March 2019 at 5pm, officers received a report that Mitchell had inappropriately touched a 12-year-old girl’s groin for a period of around 15 minutes.

The girl had messaged a friend in the early hours of 24 March saying “Scared, need to tell you, can’t even tell mum”, and “Mark sexually abused me”. The friend told her mother, who informed the victim’s parents.

The girl had not initially wanted to tell her parents, in fear of getting Mitchell into trouble, but did eventually disclose what had happened. Her parents called the police shortly afterwards.

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A man has been jailed for 10 years after admitting sexual offences involving children at a nursery in Burton-on-Trent.

Craig Ordish, 39, of Burton-on-Trent, who worked at the Co-operative Childcare Burton nursery, was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, with an extended license period of three years, today (Friday 19 April) at Stafford Crown Court. 

He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of assault a girl under 13 by touching at a hearing on 19 November 2023 and then pleaded guilty to cause/incite a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity, five counts of making indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child and possession of extreme pornographic images on 19 January 2024.

Ordish was given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and put on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

He was arrested in October 2023 after being reported to us. He was charged with the offences and remanded.

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The former landlord of a Flintshire pub has been jailed after he was found guilty of rape and sexual assault offences.

Following his trial at Caernarfon Crown Court, Gareth Lambert, of Moore Lane, Frodsham was today sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Lambert will serve an 18-year custodial term, with a further six years to be served on extended supervision.

The 31-year-old was found guilty of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault.

The offences occurred in January and February 2022, when Lambert ran the Crown and Liver public house in Ewloe.

Lambert was arrested following reports from two female victims, that he had committed sexual offences against them in a flat above the pub.

At the time these incidents occurred, his victims were aged 25 and 38 respectively.

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A MAN who raped a 15-year-old girl in the sea off Bournemouth Beach in a ‘brazen’ act in broad daylight has been jailed for six and a half years.

Gabriel Marinoaica, of Darlastan, Walsall, West Midlands, was found guilty of three charges of sexual assault and another charge of rape in March and was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court today, April 19.

Marinoaica, now 20, ‘took what he wanted and used his victim in the process’, Richard Tutts, prosecuting, said.

This was a ‘brazen act committed in broad daylight with many people around’ on someone who was ‘entitled to believe she would have been safe in such a circumstance’.

Marinoaica was 18 at the time and dragged his victim out to sea off the beach on July 18, 2021.

She was visiting the beach with two friends and were playing with a ball in the shallows, which floated towards him.

Initially, he refused to give it back, and then after returning it to her and exchanging names, he pulled her arm deeper into the water where she could not touch the bottom.

The victim told him ‘repeatedly no’ and that she was feeling uncomfortable, something Judge Evans said was ‘plainly frightening’ to her and ‘made her vulnerable’.

He then asked the victim if she wanted to ‘smash’, meaning to have sex, to which the victim said no, before Marinoaica touched her ‘everywhere’.

Judge Evans said: “I know what you were asking and she made it clear she wasn’t comfortable with that.”

He then raped her for about a minute, placing his hand over her mouth meaning she could not scream for help.

“That was a very significant thing to do,” Judge Evans said.

“It is quite apparent from that action that you knew full well that she was not consenting.”

He then ‘pursued’ the victim to get her Snapchat details.

“It may have been on your mind to try and make it look consensual, but you knew full well it wasn’t,” Judge Evans said.

Marinoaica was arrested 11 months later after semen found in the girl’s bikini matched his DNA.

In a victim impact statement read out by Mr Tutts, the victim said she suffers panic attacks and nightmares.

“During the day, my mind wanders and I think through the attack,” she said.

“I’m left with the image of him in my mind.”

The statement said she feels ‘mentally drained’ and that she has been ‘left feeling wary of male motivation towards me’.

“I used to have a huge love for the beach and the sea but I have lost it and I am left feeling uneasy,” she said.

“I feel so unsafe in the water now, going into the water makes me feel sick, I do not think I will ever be able to go in without someone with me as I am full of fear it will happen again.”

She added: “Even on my better days it is forever a part of me that will never be undone.”

Mitigating, Sophie Murray said that Marinoaica was immature and had a ‘lack of consequential thinking’ because of his age at the time, being 18.

He was on holiday with his family and had not been expected to have any interactions with ladies, and so was ‘overexuberant’ in response to her attentions.

He was ‘unable to see the consequences of his actions’ and ‘unable to control his sexual attractions’.

Ms Murray said he will have to ‘bear the brunt’ of the impact this has had on his family, and that he ‘feels the shame’ of that.

Judge Evans said the incident would ‘undermine the public confidence’ of being safe on a busy beach.

“Young people should be safe on a busy beach on a sunny afternoon. Sadly, that was not the case,” she said.

The judge also told the court how Marinoaica had been questioned by police in June 2021 about an unconnected allegation of rape but no further action was taken as the sex was found to have been consensual.

She said: “The police were involved and that interaction with the police doesn’t appear to have acted as a sufficient warning to you on how you should conduct yourself in sexual matters in the future.”

She sentenced Marinoaica to six and a half years in a young offenders’ institute, and will serve two thirds of the sentence in custody, before being released on licence.

Marinoaica was placed on the sexual offenders register for life and was given a sexual harm prevention order for 20 years.

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In November 2021 he sexually assaulted a young woman at a house in Blackburn.

The victim woke up to find 40-year-old Rashid was in the same bed as her. He then engaged in sexual activity with her without her consent.

The victim was so traumatised that she ran from the scene.

Rashid, formerly of Cheetham Street, Blackburn, and now of no fixed address, was arrested later the same day and charged with rape.

He pleaded guilty to sexual assault by penetration when he appeared in the dock at Preston Crown Court on Monday (15th April) .

Rashid, who has previous convictions for sexual offences and is a Registered Sex Offender, was remanded into custody to be sentenced on 3rd June.