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Following an investigation by Thames Valley Police, a man has been jailed after he was found guilty of two sexual assaults in Wokingham.

Dean Dowlutta, aged 40, of Crowthorne, was found guilty of the offences in a trial lasting four days at Reading Crown Court, which concluded on 3 November 2023.

Returning to the same court for sentencing last Friday (12/1), Dowlutta was jailed for a total of three and a half years.

The offences occurred on 1 September 2021 and 13 October 2021 in Wokingham.

On 1 September 2021, Dowlutta was at a gym studio in the town when he digitally sexually assaulted his victim with his finger.

The second offence occurred on 13 October 2021 when Dowlutta sexually assaulted the victim over her clothing by inappropriate touching.

Dowlutta was arrested on 16 October 2021 and was charged with the offences on 14 October 2022.

Investigating officer PC Hartnell said: “I am pleased that Dowlutta has been sentenced to prison for these offences.

“I would like to pay tribute to Dowlutta’s victim, who put her trust in our investigation to bring him to justice.

“She showed tremendous courage to report the offences and patience while we investigated and held Dowlutta to account.

“We will always investigate offences of this nature with utmost integrity and support victims throughout.

“Dowlutta will now serve a significant custodial sentence as a result of his actions, and I hope that the victim in this case will be able to put this ordeal behind her and move on with her life.”

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A manipulative rapist has been jailed after raping a woman twice in the toilets of Kings Cross railway station following a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation.

Abdifatah Mohamud, 35, of Bingfield Street, Islington, was sentenced today (12 January) at Inner London Crown Court to 11 years after he was found guilty by a jury for two counts of rape. He was also handed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a life-long signature on the Sex Offenders Register.

The court heard how, on 12th October 2022, at around 5pm, the victim was at a local park with a group which included Mohamud. He proceeded to claim he knew the victim, giving her his nickname and began talking to her.

Later, at around 10pm, the victim returned to Kings Cross railway station and joined the same group from earlier in the day. She was approached again by Mohamud where he proceeded to coerce her into the toilets where he raped her. 

Following this, Mohamud took the victim for food to manipulate her into believing he meant no harm. However, he later proceeded to coerce her once again into the toilets, forcing her to take drugs and raping her again. After the victim began getting upset and becoming vocal, Mohamud left the scene.

The victim was found in the toilets by a cleaner who in turn informed security and a report was made to British Transport Police.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Adrienne Curzon, said: “Mohamud is a calculating offender who used coercion and manipulation in order to rape the victim. This has been an extremely frightening experience for her, and I hope this outcome goes some way to help her move on from the traumatising ordeal she was subjected to.

“We take all reports of sexual offences seriously and I hope this sends a strong message to offenders that we will do everything in our power to ensure that justice is served.”

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A jailed sex offender from Whitstable will serve a further prison term after a new investigation uncovered crimes that took place almost sixty years ago.

On 10 May 2022 and whilst in prison, Graham Kemp, previously of Gosselin Street, Whitstable, was charged with six new counts of indecent assault, one count of unlawful sex with a girl under 13 years old and one count of rape.

Previous sentence

Kemp, 76, had previously been sentenced in 2018 to five years and three months in prison, for committing a number of sex offences between the late 1990s and 2004. Those offences included the indecent assault of a young girl and indecency with a child.

After Kemp’s original conviction, further victims came forward and Kent Police began a complex investigation into reports of child sexual assault and rape that dated back to the 1960s.

New conviction

Kemp was sentenced to a further 21 years in prison on 5 January 2024, following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court.

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A Chatham sex offender who offered money to children he groomed and abused has been jailed for 13 years.

Matthew Lockwood used social media apps to target and manipulate teenage boys as young as 13.

Lockwood, of Edgewater on St Mary’s Island, accessed online platforms including Snapchat and Grindr during a campaign of abuse between 2016 and 2023.

He was arrested in February 2023 and an investigation linked the 47-year-old to a catalogue of offences, which included sexual activity with at least four children.

At Canterbury Crown Court, Lockwood pleaded guilty to 22 counts. These included charges of sexual activity with a child, paying for sexual services of a child, sexual exploitation of a child, and sexual communications with a child. He also admitted offences relating to the possession and distribution of thousands of illegal images of children, many in the most serious category and which included videos of some of the victims he had contact with.

Lockwood was sentenced on Friday 12 January 2024 to 13 years in jail. He was added to the Sex Offenders' Register for life and handed a 15 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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AN EDEN Valley pub worker has been jailed after his perverted behaviour was exposed by paedophile hunters who posed as children online.

Over a ten-day period, 53-year-old Daniel Walker exchanged sickening sexual messages and images with two people whom he mistakenly believed were 14-year-old girls.

They were actually adults posing as children.

At Carlisle Crown court, the defendant, of Greystoke Park Road, Penrith, was sentenced after he admitted seven offences, though his claim from the dock to have no sexual interest in children flew in the face of the evidence, said the judge.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke outlined the facts.

He said Walker sent Facebook friend requests to the two people who had created profiles that made it clear they were ‘14-year-old girls.’ Their conversations included references to parents and homework.

During his messages to the ‘girls,’ Walker, who claimed to be 22 years old, indulged in sexualised conversation and sent them a picture of his genitals as well as a video of a child performing a sex act.

He spoke also of being a chef and running a pub and restaurant, suggesting that one of the girls could visit it. With both decoys, he later moved to another social media app which uses more encryption, said Mr Burke.

The prosecutor then outlined how the defendant had shared child abuse images with online contacts. They included images of a ten-year-old being sexually abused.

The defendant admitted two counts of attempting to sexually communicate with a child, downloading hundreds of abuse images, including 462 Category B images, and more than 800 Category C.

He had 124 images classed as Category A, the most serious kind. Walker also admitted having extreme pornography, which featuring “extreme violence,” as well as distributing child abuse images.

Charles Brown, defending, said the distribution offence involved a “relatively small” number of images to a limited number of individuals. A single man, working in a pub, the defendant said his only real conversation was online.

The lawyer said: “He would maintain that he has no sexual interest in children but the Probation Service are obviously cynical about that.”

The defendant now regarded his online activities as a “stupid way” of addressing his issues.

Mr Brown added: “He is a solitary individual, whose life started to go downhill in 2006 when a child he and his wife had died after only a few hours.

“That caused him gradually to retire from the world.

"The internet and the communications it provided gave him conversations and social intercourse and that was as valuable to him as any sexual aspect.”

Judge Nicholas Barker dismissed Walker's claim to have no sexually interest in children, telling him: “The evidence would suggest significantly to the contrary.”

His communications had displayed “classic grooming” techniques. “I have no doubt that you knew exactly what you were doing,” said the judge. He then listed the hundreds of child abuse images collected by Walker.

“Overall, this is a significant body of offending,” concluded the judge.

He jailed Walker for 33 months and ruled that the defendant must be on the Sex Offender Register for life and subject also to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

Two of the volunteers from the Protection of Kids group, which confronted Walker at his home after exposing his online activities, were in court to see him sentenced.

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A man posed as a taxi driver in order to kidnap a lone woman and sexually assault her. Andras Jancso lured his victim into his car in the early hours of the morning and drove her to an isolated car park before telling her he would not release her until she agreed to sex.

Swansea Crown Court heard the attack has had a profound effect on the young victim leaving her feeling "numb" and wishing for her old life back. She said when she realised the driver was not taking her home but was stopping in an empty car park she believed he was going to rape and kill her.

The court heard that in the early hours of July 2 last year Jancso was "cruising" the streets of Swansea city centre in his black car looking for women to have sex with. He identified a lone and intoxicated female who was making her way home following a night out with friends and after following her for some time persuaded her to get into his vehicle. The 45-year-old then drove her to the car park of Swansea Tennis Centre near the Morfa retail park – a location which at 4am was deserted – and demanded sex. The defendant then touched the woman's thighs over and under her clothes. The court heard the young woman managed to contact a friend on her phone and when Jancso realised what she had done he stopped the assault and drove the woman home.

In a statement from the victim that was read to the court she said she had always prided herself on being streetwise and thought she would be safe using what she thought was a licensed cab. She said she would never forget the feeling of "sheer panic" she experienced when she looked up to see the driver was pulling into an isolated car park with nobody around and no prospect of rescue. The victim, who has automatic lifelong legal anonymity, said: "I thought: 'This is how I am going to die. He is going to rape me and then he is going to kill me'." The woman also said she used to be a positive and outgoing person but now just feels "numb" and she said she wishes she could have the life she used to have.

Andras Jancso, of Coleshill Terrace, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, had previously been convicted by a jury of kidnap, sexual assault, and committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence when he returned to the dock for sentencing. At the time he preyed on the woman in the city centre the defendant was subject to a community order for possession of indecent images and extreme pornography.

Judge Paul Thomas KC said on the night in question Jancso had been "cruising Swansea city centre" posing as a taxi driver and looking for women for sex in what was a "planned course of conduct". He noted that police subsequently found photographs and videos of women's behinds that the defendant had taken while driving around. The judge said CCCTV footage showed the defendant had followed his target in his black car for some time until she was alone and had then encouraged her to get into the vehicle by "effectively telling her you were a taxi driver" before driving her to the tennis centre car park and assaulting her. The judge said he had no doubt the defendant would have gone on to carry out a more serious sexual assault had his passenger not had sufficient wits about her to make contact with a friend via her mobile.

Jancso was sentenced to six years in prison comprising four years for kidnap, two years for sexual assault, and six years for committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence all to run concurrently. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence. The defendant will be a registered sex offender for life and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

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A judge has praised a young girl as he jailed her abuser.

Bradford man Habib-Ur Rehman, 40, was told by Judge Colin Burn that he had abused the youngster, who must not be identified for legal reasons, in an atrocious way and the psychological damage done to her could be lifelong.

He told him: “I should say that (the complainant) showed, in my view, great bravery and fortitude in coming forward so soon after and at such a young age."

Rehman, of Ransdale Road, was found guilty by a jury of one charge of rape, two allegations of sexual activity with a child and one offence of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity following a trial at Bradford Crown Court last year.

Due to the nature of the offences Rehman was classed as “an offender of particular concern," meaning that if he is released on licence after serving two-thirds of his 14-year jail term that would be extended by a further year.

Judge Burn said the complainant had suffered severe psychological harm and that was supported by a victim impact statement. He said: “The sentences therefore in this case have to reflect the seriousness of the offending. There can, of course, be no reduction to reflect any admissions or guilty pleas for there were none in this case.”

Rehman will now have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life.

Record details

A man who raped an Exeter University student as she was asleep in bed has been jailed for eight years.

Adam Mohammed, 24, of New Bridge Street, Exeter, was found guilty of rape at a trial at Exeter Crown Court in June 2023.

The rape happened in student accommodation at the university campus in March 2021.

A university spokesperson said this was an extremely rare incident and that it was supporting the victim.

As well as praising the victim's courage, Det Con Alex Powe, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said there was "no place to hide" for "predatory men".

Mohammed will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life, the court heard.

Presiding over the sentencing, Judge David Evans said he was in no doubt that in March 2021, Mohammed had gone to the University in Exeter hoping to find a party where he would meet a woman.

The jury had heard how he had made sexualised comments during a night of socialising in the accommodation block.

Pushed him off

The victim went to bed at about midnight and left her door open so her friends could check on her as she was feeling unwell, the court was told.

Later that night, Mohammed entered the victim's bedroom and began raping her while she was asleep.

She woke up, pushed him off and ran to a friend's room, the court was told.

The student was so traumatised by what happened she moved out of her room.

Police said DNA linked to Mohammed, who denied the offence, was found on the victim's clothes.

Det Con Alex Powe, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "Mohammed took advantage of the victim while she was asleep.

"I am pleased that he will now serve a considerable amount of time in prison where he can no longer be a threat to women."I am incredibly grateful to the victim and her friends for the courage they have shown and their tenacity to bring this offender to justice."

Record details

A prolific sex offender breached his sexual harm prevention order by uploading indecent images to the internet via Snapchat and was found to have more than 800 indecent images of children.

Joshua Newton, 25, was given a five-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) in 2017 along with a community order. He was then given a 13-month custodial sentence and had a 15-year SHPO in February 22 for breaching that order.

On April 22, 2023, after his release, Newton’s offender manager DC Harrison received information that Newton had uploaded indecent images via Snapchat.

He visited Newton’s address and the defendant handed over a mobile phone which, upon examination, showed a Snapchat page that had not been logged with police.

A further analysis of the phone, after Newton had been arrested, uncovered a TikTok account that had also not been registered.

Permission for Newton to access both of these apps had not been granted as they allow the user to delete data.

These accounts were registered using an email address that had not been given to the police.

That email address was also linked to two Google accounts, and the phone was found to contain access to a Mega cloud storage account.

Found within that account were more a total of 846 indecent images of children – 465 category A, 146 category B, and 238 category C, as well as three extreme pornographic images.

The Mega app where the images were located was found to be installed on the phone on January 23, 2023.

Sarah Gruffydd, prosecuting, said there were a “large number” of children depicted in the images though there was no evidence he had communicated with real children.

Anthony Horsfall, defending, said his client was under no illusions about the seriousness of his conduct.

He added Newton lived a “lifestyle of isolation” which was exacerbated by the pandemic and increased his “willingness to divulge in some of his interests.”

Judge Robert Altham, sentencing, said: “You are a persistent offender. So far you have shown no intention of complying with the orders made by the court and that is troubling.

“You have a persistent and enduring sexual interest in children such that you do pose a risk.

“Every one of these images of a child represents the abuse of a real living, breathing child somewhere.

“Each time you obtain one of these images you are encouraging people to abuse real living children.

“You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself for seeking to perpetuate that industry. You are going to have to learn you must abide by those orders otherwise the sentences are going to get longer and longer and you will spend much more of your young adult life in prison.”

Newton, of HMP Risley but whose last known address was Albert Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching a SHPO, one count of failure to comply with notification requirements, three counts of making indecent images, and one count of possessing extreme pornographic images.

He was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Record details

A Ceredigion sex offender has admitted a slew of breaches of a sexual harm prevention order and still faces a charge of making indecent images of children.

Ifan Evans, of Brynawel, Cross Inn, Llanon, appeared before Aberystwyth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 10 January.

The 36-year-old is accused of making two category C indecent images of a child in Ceredigion between 25 December 2021 and 27 May 2022.

No plea was entered on that charge at the hearing.

Evans did admit seven breaches of a sexual harm prevention order imposed on him for previous making and possessing indecent images offences by Swansea Crown Court on 30 May 2018.

He indicated a plea of guilty to breaching the order by creating and accessing a Telegram account between 23 November 2021 and 20 May 2022; creating and accessing an Instagram account between 5 June 2021 and 17 April 2022; creating a Discord account on 3 May 2022; using the Facebook Messenger app between 11 September 2021 and 30 April 2022; and using the Instagram and Messenger app between 13 September 2022 and 7 February 2023.

Evans also admitted a charge of failing to make his mobile phone available for inspection on 8 February 2023.

A charge of breaching the sexual harm prevention order by using an alias online between 11 September 2021 and 30 April 2022 was withdrawn and replaced by a charge of failing to comply with notifications requirement of the sex offender’s register for the same offence.

Evans indicated a plea of guilty to that offence.

Evans is next due to appear at Swansea Crown Court on 9 February for a trial and preparation hearing on the indecent images charge.

He will be sentenced on the other eight charges following any trial.

Evans was remanded on unconditional bail until that date.

Record details

A pervert from Dawlish has been jailed for amassing a huge collection of child abuse images and videos downloaded from the dark web. Paul Powell, 56, also set up a spy camera to secretly film a woman in a bathroom.

Police seized computers from his home and found he had been looking at more than 50,000 images and movies showing the sexual abuse of children. About 3,000 were in the most serious category showing the worst type of depravity.

The defendant, of Springfield Gardens, has been jailed for two years and four months. The judge said Powell had been heavily addicted to viewing porn online and the material became more extreme over time.

Prosecutor Mr Nigel Wraith said police traced an IP address linked to illegal downloads to Powell. They searched his property in February 2022 and took away a number of devices.

A pervert from Dawlish has been jailed for amassing a huge collection of child abuse images and videos downloaded from the dark web. Paul Powell, 56, also set up a spy camera to secretly film a woman in a bathroom.

Police seized computers from his home and found he had been looking at more than 50,000 images and movies showing the sexual abuse of children. About 3,000 were in the most serious category showing the worst type of depravity.

The defendant, of Springfield Gardens, has been jailed for two years and four months. The judge said Powell had been heavily addicted to viewing porn online and the material became more extreme over time.

Prosecutor Mr Nigel Wraith said police traced an IP address linked to illegal downloads to Powell. They searched his property in February 2022 and took away a number of devices.

Analysis showed a large number of indecent images of children "downloaded from an extremely secure dark web network," said Mr Wraith. There were 2,967 in Category A; 2,403 in Category B; and about 50,000 in Category C. He also searched Google looking for child abuse material, the investigation showed.Police also found footage from a spy camera he had bought. Powell saved footage showing a woman visitor using a shower. She had no idea she was being filmed.

The defendant pleaded guilty to three offences of making indecent images of children, possessing extreme pornographic images and possessing prohibited images of a child.

Mr Warren Robinson, defending, said Powell was a man of previous good character who had sought help for his behaviour. He had tried to stop before but had slipped back into his deviant habits. He had not shared any of the images and is sorry.

Judge James Patrick made Powell subject to a sexual harm prevention order and told him to sign the sex offenders' register. Both for ten years.

Record details

Sick Joshua Mahoney was also found in possession of a “paedophile handbook”, a guide to avoid being caught out when downloading illegal images. Yet the 34-year-old, who was found to have more than 1,000 images and videos, continued to plead not guilty despite contacting a counsellor and confessing.

He was jailed for 28 months this week. Prosecuting the case at Leeds Crown Court, Gareth Henderson-Moore said police attended Mahoney’s home address on Queen Street, Morley, on July 13, 2021, armed with a search warrant.

Intelligence had been passed to West Yorkshire Police that the IP address linked to his home was being used to download the illegal images. They arrested Mahoney and seized a Mac Book and computer hard drive.

Police found 817 category A images – depicting the most serious kind of abuse. Of them 113 were videos. There was also 430 category B images including eight videos, and 566 category C images including six videos.

In addition, they found 17 extreme pornographic images including people engaging in sexual acts with animals, and a dead baby. They also recovered the paedophile “manual”.

The court heard that Mahoney gave a no-comment interview to police, then continued to deny three counts of possessing indecent images, and one of possessing extreme pornographic images up until his trial at Leeds Crown Court had started in December last year.

However, he had bizarrely enrolled in the Safer Lives sex offending programme. Mitigating, Satpal Roth-Sharma said: “That’s his downfall in these proceedings. His saving grace is that he has admitted his wrongdoing in all of this, and admitted there is problem that needs addressing.”

She said it became an addiction and “a form of escapism perhaps” for Mahoney during lockdown.

Judge Ray Singh told Mahoney: “You stood there and uttered the words ‘not guilty’ when for two years you were admitting this to a counsellor. I have no understanding why on earth you pleaded not guilty. Some of the images have been described as being the most vile one could ever imagine.”

He put him on the sex offender register for 10 years and gave him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use.

Record details

A previously registered sex offender who was caught performing a sexual act on himself in the presence of children in Peterborough city centre has been jailed.

Gary Smith, 50, who was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for seven years in December 2013 after being convicted of indecent exposure, is subject of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) banning him from certain public areas.

Police were called at 2.15pm on 14 May by a member of the public in Peterborough Cathedral’s green area, reporting seeing a man watching children while performing a sexual act on himself.

A description of the man was given to officers who identified him as potentially being Smith, and immediately deployed to the area.

Smith had begun walking towards the St Johns Street area but returned to the cathedral grounds a short while later, prompting a further call to police reporting the man’s movements.

Officers found Smith hiding behind a gravestone, lying on the ground, and arrested him for indecent exposure and breaching a CBO.

In 2019, Smith was jailed for a year after being convicted of outraging public decency and was made subject of a ten-year CBO which states he must:

• Not go within 200 metres of a swimming pool or leisure centre
• Not go within 100 metres of any school or college
• Not attend areas of public parks or gardens

Smith, of no fixed address, appeared at Peterborough Crown Court today (Thursday) where he was sentenced to 19 months in prison after previously admitting outraging public decency and breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order.

Record details

A 56-year-old cannabis addict who was high on cocaine and alcohol lured a 16-year-old girl back to his campervan after plying her with drink and drugs, before sexually assaulting her.

Neville Chapman, now 60, committed the terrifying crimes in Darwen in September 2019.

He was finally found guilty of assault by penetration following a trial in June 2023, which had been delayed multiple times, and was granted conditional bail by Judge Graham Knowles KC to appear for his sentence hearing in August.

However, Chapman, previously of Bridgefield Close, Rishton, failed to appear for his sentence hearing, which placed him in breach of bail, and instead, went on the run for almost four weeks.

Preston Crown Court heard his disappearance sparked a major manhunt by Lancashire Police, in which underwater search and rescue teams were deployed, and thousands of pounds spent on a campaign to find him.

When he was eventually apprehended in September 2023, he was charged with breach of bail, and a further charge of breaching his sex offender notification requirements imposed upon him by Judge Knowles at the completion of his trial and was remanded into custody.

The notification breach related to Chapman failing to tell the police he was no longer residing at Bridgefield Close, following an argument with his sister, whose home he was staying at.

On Thursday, January 11, Chapman was finally brought back before Judge Knowles to be sentenced for the crime he committed in September 2019.

The court was told that on September 16 that year, Chapman and others had been out drinking and taking drugs in Darwen.

At some time during the course of the evening, a 16-year-old girl joined him and his party, with Chapman plying her with double vodkas, and even cocaine, to the point where, as she described in her victim personal statement, she was “wasted”.

As the teenager became even more intoxicated, to the extent where she vomited in the toilets of a pub they were in, Chapman and his friends decided to leave so Chapman could “get more cocaine”.

They then went back to his campervan, with the girl being taken along with them.

The court heard the teenager was under the assumption Chapman would “give her a lift home”, but this never happened.

As the night wore on, and Chapman’s friends departed, he and his victim were left alone in his campervan.

Judge Knowles said: “You asked her, ‘do you want to go home or stay here with me’?

“Unsurprisingly, she said she wanted to go home but you drove your campervan, and then parked up and clambered into the back with her, where you tried to kiss her, pulled her top down and pulled her pants down.”

Judge Knowles told the court that the girl, “felt disgusted and tried to push him away before vomiting again”.

Undeterred, Chapman continued to try and undress her and then sexual assaulted her.

He continued: “She said she felt a tightness in her chest and couldn’t breathe.

“She eventually managed to push you off and got out and started walking away.”

At this point Chapman tried to follow the girl in his van, despite being intoxicated himself, until she turned down an alley and ran home.

The teenager told her mother what had happened, and the police were called, but when he was arrested, Chapman told officers: “Look at the size of her, if I wanted to rape her there would have been nothing she could do about it.”

Judge Knowles went on: “You are 60 now, and you have been a cannabis user for most of your life.

“You struck when she was isolated and alone with you in your van in the early hours, with little likelihood of anyone coming to her aid.

“You blamed her in your interview and blamed her outright for what happened.

“You pose a risk to young girls, and the sentence I give you must be an extended one.”

Chapman, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to a bail act offence and breach of the sex offender notification requirements.

He was found guilty after trial of two counts of sexual assault - one by penetration, and was jailed for 10 years and eight months, with a three year extended licence period, giving a total extended sentence of 13 years and eight months.

He was also told to sign the sex offender’s register for life.

DS Mark Parrington, of the East Child Protection Team, said: “This was a particularly nasty offence committed against a 16-year-old girl while she was clearly in a vulnerable state.

“This offence has very much had an impact on her, made all the worse by Chapman forcing her to re-live her ordeal during a trial.

“We take all offences of this nature extremely seriously and do everything in our power to put the perpetrators before the courts.

"I would ask anyone who has been the victim of a sexual offence to contact the police, knowing they will be believed and listened to.”

Record details

A paedophile was caught with hundreds of pictures and films of children being abused including videos of boys being brutally sexually tortured and beaten, a court has heard. The discovery was made after members of the public raised concerns about Richard Hill acting "strangely" in popular parkland.

Sending 37-year-old Hill to prison, the judge said some of the films found on his phone showed the "prolonged sexual torture of little boys" and said it was because of people like him that there was a trade in making and distributing such material.

Gareth James, prosecuting, told Cardiff Crown Court that on September 11 last year members of the public approached police officers in Abergavenny town centre and reported concerns about a male "acting strangely" in Castle Meadows. Officers went to the area and found Hill laying face down on a towel. When he was roused, the intoxicated defendant gave his name as Rick Hill and a check of police records showed he was a registered sex offender having previously been convicted at Hereford Crown Court.

The court heard that because of his record police seized his phone and checked it, and though they initially found no indecent images they did find concerning conversations on WhatsApp about underage sex. Hill explained the messages were "fantasy". However a subsequent forensic examination of the device found a total of 759 indecent pictures and videos of child abuse including 263 deemed Category A which show the most extreme kinds of sexual abuse such as rape.

The court heard details of one video of more than 12 minutes in length that showed a young boy in a "dirty outhouse" being bound with rope and stamped on while being sexually abused before he was waterboarded and urinated on. The man carrying out the abuse then gives the camera a thumbs up sign.

The full details of the video are too upsetting to be reported. The court heard the very experienced police forensic examiner who located and viewed the video on Hill's phone found its contents "very distressing", and dealing with the evidence in the case has had a "profound effect" on him.

Also on the defendant's phone were another 864 "indicative" images where it was not clear if the subjects were under the age of 18 along with a dozen prohibited images including very realistic computer generated images.

Richard Hill, of Willow Court, Abergavenny, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of indecent images of categories A, B and C and one count of possession of prohibited images when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has five previous convictions for seven offences including making and distributing indecent images from Hereford Crown Court in 2018, offending for which he was given a 16-month sentence and was made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order and was put on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Ben Waters, for Hill, said the defendant was "appalled at his behaviour" and knows the court and the community will find it abhorrent. He said his client was a "young man dealing with issues from his past" and a pre-sentence report had identified that he wished to "amend the deficiencies in himself". The barrister invited the court to pass a suspended sentence that would allow work to be done to address the issues - he said such a sentence would not just be in the best interests of the defendant but also of the community.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said some of the images found on Hill's phone showed "prolonged sexual torture of little boys", and she said the defendant had watched the brutal torture for his own sexual gratification. She said it was because of people like Hill that there was a trade in making and distributing such material.

With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas, Hill was sentenced to two years and four months in prison - he will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the next 10 years, and will be a registered sex offender for the same period of time. Judge Lloyd-Clarke said even if the sentence had been one that was capable of being suspended - that is a sentence of two years or less - the offending was so serious she would not have suspended it.