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AN offender previously jailed for activity which was deemed to constitute ‘child abduction’ in Warrington has been locked up again.

Ronald Howard was told to ‘stay well away’ from a teenage girl he plied with alcohol, having been incarcerated for six months in April last year.

However, the 26-year-old has now reoffended after he pretended to be a woman during sexualised chats with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl.

He appeared before Liverpool Crown Court charged with attempted sexual communications with a child.

Frank Dillon, prosecuting, told the court that on November 30 last year, six months after he was jailed for the Warrington offence, Howard contacted the fake profile of ‘Milly’, a 13-year-old girl on the Rando Chat app.

This account had been set up by an undercover police officer tasked with rooting out online child sex offenders.

The defendant pretended to be a 19-year-old woman and the conversation became sexualised, with the defendant sending the ‘girl’ an image of a woman exposing her breasts.

The conversation moved to Snapchat, and Howard sent a picture to her which he claimed was of ‘her boyfriend’s penis’. He also encouraged her to send him photographs of herself.

Police were able to identify Howard through his phone number, which was known by the probation service, said Mr Dillon.

He was arrested on December 22 and made no comment to most of the questions when interviewed.

The court heard of his previous conviction for child abduction in April last year, with the court hearing on that occasion that in January last year, police attended his then-flat on Silverdale Road in Newton-le-Willows and issued him with a child abduction warning notice.

At the time of serving the notice, police found the girl inside Howard’s flat and returned her to her place of residence, namely a care home in the Warrington area.

On March 2 last year, , at around 8.30pm, the girl’s carer and a colleague had to leave the home to look for her after she went missing.

They found the girl on a dirt track with the defendant, who was holding her up as they walked as she was unsteady on her feet.

The carer could smell alcohol on the girl’s breath, who was finding it difficult to keep her eyes open and whose head was ‘floppy’.

She asked the man who he was, to which he gave a false name and address, as well as saying he was from St Helens but was currently homeless. He did not reply when asked how he knew her.

As she began to sober up the next day, she confirmed the identity of the defendant and that he had been served with a child abduction warning notice.

She told the carer they had been to a Co-op together for alcohol and that they had kissed, but she could not remember anything else.

Howard was sentenced to six months in prison and handed a restraining order not to contact the girl or enter the Warrington street on which she resides for seven years.

After approving the restraining order, Judge Potter added: “Stay well away from this child.”

For this latest attempted sexual communications with a child offence, recorder Eric Lamb sentenced Howard, of Grange Park Road in Thatto Heath, St Helens, to 15 months in prison.

He was also ordered to sign on the sex offender register for 10 years and hit with a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

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A sex offender who raped a young girl on multiple occasions has been put behind bars for 15 years.

Nicholas Smith preyed upon the girl and raped her up to six times over a five-month period – warning her not to tell anyone or they would both go to prison.

Detectives began an investigation when the girl revealed what had happened to friends, and teachers at her school became aware.

As well as raping and sexually assaulting the girl, Smith also forced her to watch sexual acts and send him indecent images of herself between January and June 2022.

The 44-year-old, of Oakenhall Avenue, Hucknall, was jailed for a total of 15 years at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday (8 December).

He will serve a further five years on licence after his release from prison. Smith is also now subject to a restraining order which bans him from contacting the girl for life and has been placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

Smith had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of raping a girl under the age of 13, sexual assault of a child, causing a child to look at sexual activity and two counts of making an indecent image of a child.

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A sex offender was caught with an illegal smartphone after police noticed he had left the charger plugged in.

Ronald Young has multiple sexual offence convictions, including being caught twice in five months by undercover “paedophile hunter” groups after he went to Newcastle to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

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A PAEDOPHILE previously jailed for grooming a vulnerable boy has been hauled back to court for breaching the terms of his sex offender register requirements.

The conditions were imposed on Terence Grant-Hanlon after her sexually assaulted the child in the 1990s.

The 48-year-old, now of Warrington, appeared before Warrington Magistrates’ Court charged with failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements and obstructing a police officer.

The court heard from Joseph Kindley, prosecuting the case, how this breach occurred in Warrington on November 2.

Grant-Hanlon failed without reasonable excuse to comply with his notification requirements in that he failed to notify Cheshire Police of his current home address.

Then on November 7, he Obstructed a Cheshire Police officer constable in the execution of his duty.

The defendant was ordered to sign the sex offender register for life when he was jailed for 11 years at Liverpool Crown Court in May 2015.

The paedophile was found guilty of molesting the child when he was aged between 11 and 14 in the 1990s.

Grant-Hanlon, who was found guilty of 12 counts of sexual offences including indecent assault, exploited the child by giving him ‘lots of attention, sweets and presents’.

The defendant, of Suez Street in Warrington town centre, pleaded guilty to the two counts he faced before magistrates in Warrington.

As a result, he was sentenced to a 12-month community order, including 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

He was also fined £50 and ordered to pay both costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £120 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £114.

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Nigel Lay, 56, previously of Barnes Close, West Wellow, was found guilty of four counts of rape and one count of coercive and controlling behaviour, following a 12-day trial at Southampton Crown Court.

The trial had heard that the offences took place in Hampshire during a four-year period, between 2016 and 2020. The woman, aged in her 50s, reported that during that period, the man had controlled her life, including finances and access to food, lighting and heating.

He had also repeatedly raped her during this time, the jury was told.

The victim said: The court case has been extremely difficult, especially sharing personal and embarrassing information. I found the strength to do so only that (he) would face his actions and accept responsibility for them.

Speaking after the hearing, officer in the case, police staff investigator Keely Osborne said: This is a case that will remain with me, and everyone else who worked on it, for a long time. The victim, who is vulnerable, has been so incredibly brave, as have her family and friends.

Lays behaviour has left scars that are likely to remain for some time to come. I sincerely hope this sentence goes some way in helping the victims closure and recovery. We take every report of rape and sexual assault seriously, and will investigate each one, no matter what the circumstances. We have a specially trained team to investigate and provide support to victims.

We would urge anyone who feels they are a victim of domestic abuse, rape and other sexual offences to report it to us or to a domestic abuse support service. You will be listened to and supported.

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A man who sexually assaulted a lone woman after she left a nightclub in Hull has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.

Shko Khdri, aged 28, of Walliker Street in Hull was sentenced at Grimsby Crown Court on Tuesday, March 12. He'd previously pleaded guilty to sexual assault at a hearing in December last year.

The court heard the victim was walking on Carr Lane when she was approached by Khdri who sexually assaulted her. As she tried to flee, Khdri proceeded to violently sexually assault her.

A struggle ensued and the woman fled to Paragon Street where she thankfully sought safety with a member of the public. Following the attack, officers began to conduct extensive lines of enquiry.

They recovered CCTV footage which captured the assault and a clear image of Khdri. A public appeal to locate Khdri was circulated and as a result, he was arrested three days later at his place of work.

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A jail term of more than eight years has been imposed on a man who raped a woman he had met at a pub.

Robert Mills met his victim in New Romney one evening in August 2019 before they walked back to his home in Hardy Road, Greatstone.

Mills had offered to walk the woman home but instead led her through the woods to where he lived and once inside locked the door and raped her.

The woman was terrified after Mills had shown her he was carrying a knife, but she managed to escape from his property following the attack and ran home to safety during the early hours of the morning.

The incident was reported to Kent Police straight away and Mills was arrested the same day. Despite denying the allegations, the 28-year-old was convicted of two counts of rape following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court on 25 August 2023.

He was subsequently jailed for a total of eight-and-a-half years on Friday 8 December 2023 and will serve an additional five-and-a-half years on licence under the terms of an extended sentence.

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A 17-YEAR-OLD Bournemouth girl woke up to find a drug dealer raping her. 

Lamin Sanneh, 47, sexually assaulted and raped a girl at an address in Bournemouth in July 2019, Bournemouth Crown Court heard. 

The victim has fallen asleep before Sanneh sexually assaulted her after which she woke up and he raped her, police say. 

However, the defendant was was also found to have supplied drugs in September 2021 when a raid in Poole uncovered a package containing wraps of cocaine while Sanneh was there. 

A phone belonging to Sanneh had also been seized that contained messages which appeared to relate to the supply of illegal drugs.  

He was eventually arrested by detectives in March 2023 and later charged. 

At a hearing at crown court held on Thursday, December 7, the judge sentenced Sanneh, of no fixed abode, to 10 years in prison. 

He will also serve an extended licence period of a further three years. 

He had previously been found guilty at a trial at the same court of offences of rape and being concerned in the supply of class A drugs. 

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A man has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of multiple rapes and sexual assaults spanning more than 20 years.

Jonathan Hutton, 39, of Campus Way, Lincoln, has been ordered to serve a minimum of 14 years in prison for sexual offences that took place between 2001 and 2023 across Norfolk, Cheshire, and Lincolnshire.

He appeared at King's Lynn Crown Court today after being convicted by a jury in October following a 12-day trial.

His convictions included six counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault by penetration and one count of sexual touching, against four victims over the 22 years. 
 
All of the victims said the sexual activity was not consensual as well as physically and emotionally abusive.

One victim described how Hutton pushed her down the stairs and held her head underwater in the bath.

The Judge in the case described him as sociopathic, misogynistic, calculating and a dangerous and manipulative figure who showed no remorse.

Another victim said he was 'unpredictable and scary'.

Norfolk Police conducted the investigation and arrested Hutton in April while he was a student at the University of Lincoln.

He will serve a minimum of 14 years in prison before he is eligible for parole and he will also be on the On Sex Offenders Register for life.

Detective Constable Jack Moore said: Hutton had a long history of offending which has only come to light due to the bravery of his victims, some of whom have suffered in silence for many years.

He is a clear danger to women, and I hope this sentence gives his victims some sense of justice and peace.

Their actions have doubtless saved other future victims from harm.

"The victims have been supported through the whole process through a number of support services including ISVAs (Independent Sexual Violence Advisors).

We also hope this sentence reassures victims of sexual crimes that they will be listened to if they come forward so that violent and controlling men like Hutton who have no respect for women can be given substantial jail terms for their crimes.

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A ‘callous and devious’ child abduction and sexual offences. from Ipswich who groomed and exploited a teenage girl has been jailed.

Jay Anderton, 20 of Foundation Street, appeared before Ipswich Crown Court yesterday (December 7) for sentencing.

At an earlier hearing, Anderton was convicted after pleading guilty to two counts of child abduction and two counts of sexual activity with a child.

The court heard how he had been grooming, manipulating and coercing a teenage girl into sexual activity since May 2023.

However, the victim being reported as missing on June 27 sent alarms ringing.

A search of the town’s waterfront resulted in officers finding Anderton – with his victim nearby.

Following the incident, Anderton was arrested and charged.

At his sentencing yesterday, Anderton was jailed for 46 months.

In addition, he was also handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and told to sign the sex offender register for life.

DC Lauren Patterson, from the Safeguarding Investigation Unit, said: “Anderton was someone who callously and deviously manipulated a vulnerable teenage victim and exploited this vulnerability for his personal, perverted desires.

“This job involved some great team working with the Child Exploitation and Gangs Team, working alongside the Safeguarding Investigations Unit in order to achieve this result and to ultimately safeguard other vulnerable children within the community. My thanks go to all my colleagues involved in securing this conviction.”

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A depraved sex offender who masturbated in front of two women before going onto rape another while she was unconscious on the Piccadilly Line has been jailed for rape and sexual assault, following a British Transport Police (BTP) investigation.

Ryan Johnston, 37, and of HMP Thameside, Greenwich, was sentenced today (8 December) at Inner London Crown Court for nine years imprisonment. He was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a life-long signature on the Sex Offenders Register.

His sentencing followed a jury finding him guilty of: one count of rape, one count of attempted rape, two counts of sexual assault, and one count of outraging public decency at Inner London Crown Court on 2 August.

On Sunday 23 February 2020 at around 4.45am, two women left the Piccadilly Line at Bounds Green Underground station.

They noticed a man stood outside a house with his trousers round his ankles, looking through the window and masturbating.

Feeling scared, the women ran away, and Johnston then began shouting and chased them down the street to their home.

Thankfully, they managed to safely get inside and hide under a stairwell while Johnston banged on their door and put his hand through the letterbox before eventually leaving.

Three hours later, Johnston boarded a Piccadilly Line train at Heathrow Terminal Five.

He walked confidently through the carriage and approached a young woman who was asleep.

He sexually assaulted her and then raped her as she sat unconscious.

The horrific attack was witnessed by a tourist and his young son, who reported what they had seen to police later that morning.

The incident was not captured on CCTV and despite extensive enquiries, officers were unable to identify the victim or any other report made to police.

Two years later, following a BTP review of historic rape cases, Johnston was identified, and he was arrested at HMP Brixton in December 2022 where he was serving time for burglary.

Further enquiries led to detectives identifying the victim in the same month, who hadn’t realised the extent of what had happened to her. She was just 20-years-old at the time.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Kathrine Spencer said: "The offences committed by Ryan Johnston show him to be a dangerous individual who viewed women with contempt.

“He was simply concerned with his own sexual gratification at any cost. I hope this sends out a strong message to survivors of these offences that we will do all we can to bring offenders to justice to make society a safer place." 

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Paul Attwell of BTP’s Major, Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said:

“Johnston’s brazen attack in front of witnesses highlights his lack of shame or remorse for his actions, something which continued throughout his trial. I am thankful his violence and despicable actions have been recognised by the guilty verdicts and significant sentence.

“His depraved actions will have a life-long impact on the victim and those who witnessed this. I am thankful for their bravery throughout this investigation. I hope they can now find some comfort in the fact justice has been served.”

Record details

A thug is behind bars for the "merciless" abuse of a woman and boy. Kenneth Quinn was convicted of the attacks spanning four decades.

The pair regularly suffered at the 49-year-old's violent hands including the repeated rape of the woman. Quinn admitted to jurors that he was "utterly ashamed" of himself.

He accepted physically harming both - but insisted the sex attacks did not happen. However, Quinn was convicted of a total of 10 charges following a harrowing trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

This included two counts of repeatedly raping the woman, assaulting her to her severe injury and permanent disfigurement as well as engaging in abusive behaviour.

He was further guilty of physically attacking the boy to his injury on various occasions. The crimes occurred between 1994 and 2021 at different addresses in Paisley, Renfrewshire, as well as in the Scottish Borders.

Quinn, of Elderslie, also Renfrewshire, had been on bail during the trial. But he was remanded in custody by judge Lady Stacey pending sentencing.

Jurors heard how Quinn first assaulted the woman in the 1990s. The attacks then occurred "so often" it ended up difficult to say exactly when they happened.

The physical abuse involved him smacking the victim with a dog lead and shoes as well as kicking her down stairs, booting her on the body and chucking food at her.

The woman also suffered a broken arm. The trial heard how the victim - who was humiliated and degraded - would often beg him to stop.

Describing one incident which left the victim scarred for life, prosecutor Greg Farrell put to him: "She said that you held her in place with one hand and used a bank card in the other to strike her repeatedly on the face."

Quinn: "That is a lie." Mr Farrell said the woman especially was "terrorised". The advocate depute: "It was a relentless course of violence by you. It was merciless." Quinn: "It was bad." Mr Farrell: "It was more than bad."

Quinn then stated at one stage: "I am here to accept my failings as an individual." But, although he accepted much of the violence, Quinn denied any sexual abuse. He insisted he was "100% respectful" if the woman didn't want sex.

The court heard, however, that he hung his head in shame and confessed to raping the woman when confronted. Mr Farrell: "You maintain that (the boy) is lying when he heard you admit to raping the woman?"

Quinn: "Both of them are lying." The trial heard how the boy was also thrown down stairs, grabbed by the hair, flung to the ground and slapped on the head.

Quinn's lawyer Euan Gosney asked him during his evidence: "Anything that you would like to say about the repeated violence?"

A sobbing Quinn replied: "I am utterly ashamed of myself. I am sorry to the bottom of my heart." Sentencing was adjourned for reports.

Record details

A paedophile voyeur who was caught with indecent images of children has been jailed.

Police were made aware in August 2021 that Kyle Spires, 35, had uploaded an indecent image of a child onto the internet in June of that year.

Spires was arrested at a property in March on 22 January 2022.

A mobile phone was seized and later found to contain footage Spires had filmed of a child covertly.

There were also 359 images and three videos of a woman, taken without her knowledge.

Spires was rearrested and another mobile phone seized. He refused to give login details for this mobile phone, despite repeated court orders.

He also failed to comply with Sex Offenders Register requirements that said he needed to inform police if he stayed at a property where under 18s were present for at least 12 hours, and tell police of a new address within three days of moving.

On Friday (1 December), at Peterborough Crown Court, Spires, of Eldern, Orton Malborne, Peterborough, was jailed for two years and four months, having pleaded guilty to taking an indecent photograph of a child, voyeurism, making an indecent photograph of a child, failing to comply with a Section 49 Notice to disclose the key to protected information, failing to comply with Sex Offender Register notification requirements and possession of an offensive weapon in public, relating to a knuckleduster.

He was also given a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Detective Sergeant George Neal said: "Spires is clearly a danger to women and children so I am pleased he has faced justice. During this investigation he has shown incredible arrogance and disregard for the law.

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A “dangerous” paedophile and rapist will spend at least nine and a half years behind bars after being convicted of multiple historic sex offences which he committed against three children when he himself was a child.

Warren Templeton has also been jailed for a rape and two sexual assaults he carried out on a vulnerable man between 2008 and 2016, when he and his victim were both adults.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Templeton was between the ages of 13 and 17 when he carried out his first collection of sordid crimes against a boy and two girls, who were between the ages of six and 11.

The incidents, which also involved two acts of gross indecency, took place between 1997 and 2001 in Burnley and left his victims so traumatised they could only find the courage to report the crimes to police in 2020.

His fourth victim, a vulnerable man, was assaulted and raped by Templeton between 2008 and 2016, when Templeton was between 25 and 33 years of age, with prosecuting barrister Peter Barr telling the court that he left his victim in pain for days.

Reading from the victim impact statements, Mr Barr said: “His adult victim said the impact of the defendant raping him has affected every day of his life since it happened.

“He said the rape exacerbated his health issues and the emotional impact it had is massive and no words can ever describe it.

“He said he tried to take his life multiple times as he can’t cope with what Templeton did to him and finds it difficult to develop friendships or romantic relationships."

Mr Barr added: “He said he is scared of what Templeton might do if he ever saw him again and asked the court to protect him.”

Mr Barr told the court that Templeton’s other victims echoed similar statements, with all three having been deeply emotionally and psychologically affected by what he did to them as children, which has in turn affected their personal relationships.

He went on: “None of his victims want to see the defendant ever again and have asked the judge to keep them safe by keeping him in prison for a long time.”

Mitigating for Templeton, now 40, Kristian Cavanagh said: “He recognises this will be a lengthy prison sentence.

“And more than that, he recognises that it’s highly unlikely to be determinate.

“He well understands that the court will be considering a further extended sentence, and that realisation and realistic approach has manifested itself to the extent that he’s already made enquiries as to where he will be placed so he can best undertake the Kaizen program for high-risk males.”

Templeton, currently of HMP Wymott but previously of Florence Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to seven counts of indecent assault against children under the age of 14 and two counts of inciting a child to commit an act of gross indecency.

He was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault and one rape following a four-day trial in August.

He has 11 convictions for 19 offences, the last in 2019 when he received a four-year prison sentence for arson.

Judge Sara Dodd said: “You continue to pose a risk to the public and are at significant risk to causing further harm to adults.

“You are a high risk of causing harm to children and your risk has not diminished while you have been in custody these last four years.

“I have come to the conclusion that you are dangerous and I have to decide whether a determinate sentence is significant enough to protect the public, which is why I will impose an extended sentence.”

Templeton was jailed for 12 months for the offences against his three child victims and a total of nine years, with five years on extended licence, for the rape and sexual assault against his adult victim, which will run consecutively, giving a total extended sentence of 15 years.

He must also sign the sex offender’s register for life and was made subject to a lifetime restraining order against all four of his victims.

Record details

A predatory transgender woman who incited a man to sexually abuse a "vulnerable and innocent" young child has been jailed.

An investigation found Naomi O'Brien, of Tameside, had directed a man from Wales to abuse the four-year-old in March 2023.

The 31-year-old was convicted of five offences and jailed for four years and three months at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court.

Greater Manchester Police said the child had suffered a "terrible ordeal".

O'Brien's crimes were uncovered through what the force described as a "tenacious and lengthy investigation of 1,865 messages" which proved her conversations with the man were "not simply a case of role play or fantasy".

In July, "calculating and deviant" Jonathan Walker, of Merthyr Tydfil, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for sexually abusing the 4-year-old, along with engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and possession of indecent images, South Wales Police said.

'Significant result'

O'Brien, of Ashton-under-Lyne, knew Walker had "an interest in sexually abusing a young boy on the direction of her," Det Insp Zoe Marsden, of GMP's Online Child Abuse Investigation Team said.

She was convicted of three counts of intentionally encouraging and assisting another to commit a sexual assault against a child, and two counts of intentionally encouraging and assisting another to engage in sexual activity in the presence of a child and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

O'Brien was also given a sexual harm prevention order for four years and four months, and placed on the sex offenders register for life when she was sentenced.

Det Insp Marsden said it was a "significant result" for this case and also "other children in the community who could have been subject to similar offending by a predatory female who was inciting others to commit acts of sexual harm".