Latest Offenders

Description

A Leeds man has been jailed after pleading guilty to ten child sex offences.

Simon Macfarlane-Smith, 43, from Tealbeck Approach, Otley, was charged with ten offences. These include three offences of making indecent images of children, three offences of sexual communication with a child, three offences of causing a child under 16 to engage in sexual activity and one offence of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

He was discovered when West Yorkshire Police received information in December 2020, indicating the user of an IP address was sharing images of indecent children. A warrant was then executed at the address and numerous items were seized.

Items from his devices were also sent off to the digital forensic unit. On his computer, hundreds of indecent images were found dating from December 2012 to February 2021.

The police also found information that he was engaging in sexual communication with a child. These communications offences took place form January 2021 to February 2021.

On Monday, June 19, 2023, he was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court to 40 months in jail. He was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and must sign on the sex offenders register for life.

Police Constable Kate Davis of Bradford District’s Policing Online Investigation team said: "Macfarlane Smith is a dangerous sexual predator.

"He went to extreme lengths to cover up his activities and his intentions to cause serious harm to children. We hope this sentence sends a clear message that we take all reports of online activity seriously and we"are committed to protecting children from sexual abuse."

Description

THE furious victim of a ‘despicable’ rapist who went AWOL before his trial ended has blasted the coward - as he was jailed for eight years.

David McCue, 40, absconded before the jury returned its guilty verdicts at the High Court in Glasgow was on the run for two months.

Defence counsel Sarah Livingstone told the court that the beast, from Springboig, Glasgow,  had a ‘mental health meltdown’  and camped in a forest to avoid getting caught.

But the survivor rubbished the pitiful excuses for his disappearing act which prolonged the agony for her and the child victim.

She said: “There are no forests in Springboig - it’s all complete lies.
“He’s protecting the paedophile and rapist lovers who let him stay in their homes for two months.

“Playing the mental health card is pathetic as well.

“The enormity of what he had done has hit him and he’s run away like the coward he is.”

McCue, also known as David Ross, had been found guilty of repeated attacks on a woman in the Glasgow’s  Townhead and Barlanark areas  including while she was asleep.

He was further convicted of sexually assaulting a girl with all  the offences taking place between 2010 and 2018.

His lawyer told the High Court in Inverness: “He was intending to come but everything came crashing down.

“A juror had been excused due to her conduct - shaking her head and he formed the view that matters were not going for him.

“He was overhwelmed and scared of going to prison. He also had suicidal thoughts, went drinking that day and didn’t stop. He was at rock bottom.”

On the sex offences, Ms Livingstone said her client still protested his innocence.

She added: “There can be no mitigating factors to these offences. But there is an absence of anything analogous and there was no evidence in the trial that this was premeditated.”

Sentencing him to seven years for the sex offences and an extra year for contempt of court by failing to appear, judge Olga Pastportikov told him: “Your actions were despicable.

“You robbed a child of her innocence and left a woman thinking she was responsible.

“Both of your victims will hopefully regain some of their lives. Crimes such as yours must attract a custodial sentence.

“Turning to the question of your absconding, you remained at large for two months, acting in wilful defiance of the court’s authority.”

McCue was also placed on the sex offender list indefinitely.

Description

A man shared images of children being sexually abused with "like minded people" during the Covid lockdowns. Leigh Davies also engaged in sexual conversations about children with contacts on the Kik messenger app. Swansea Crown Court heard that some of the indecent images which the 66-year-old defendant collected showed young girls who were clearly "in pain and distress".

Craig Jones, prosecuting, said on November 24, 2021, police officers executed a search warrant at the defendant's home address in Port Talbot in relation to an investigation into the possession and distribution of indecent images. The court heard a significant number of electronic devices were seized, and Davies said to the officers: "I'm on Kik and Snapchat and get sent all sorts of stuff".

The prosecutor said a forensic examination of the devices found 244 indecent images on an iPhone, including 166 of Category A showing the most extreme kind of sexual abuse. A number of the Category A images showed young females who were clearly "in pain and distress". Officers also found Davies had shared 20 images with people on the Kik messenger application and engaged in sexual conversations with contacts, while an examination of his internet history showed he had been making searches using the term "young boys". The court heard the ages of the children shown in the child abuse photographs ranged from around three to early teens. More than 220 images of extreme pornography were also found.

Mr Jones said it should be noted that a total of 1,214 illegal media files related to the Kik application were not visible during a manual examination of the iPhone, indicating that either the individual images or entire chat threads had been deleted.

Leigh Davies, of Fenbrook Close, Baglan, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images of Categories A, B, and C, distributing indecent images of Categories A, B, and C, and possession of extreme pornography when he appeared in the dock for for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.

Giles Hayes, for Davies, said though the defendant had been married for a long time he was "emotionally separate" from his wife, and he said his "coping mechanism" had been viewing pornography which had "foolishly" developed into looking at images which were unlawful. The advocate said Davies had always been a hard-working family man, and the offending took place during the Covid lockdown when his client was concerned about his job. He added that there was a reference before the court from the church which the defendant had attended for "many, many years", though he said that since his arrest his client had withdrawn from attending the place of worship.

Judge Catherine Richards said the defendant's offending lasted for a period of some 16 months and included distributing images of child sexual abuse as well as engaging in sexual conversations with "like minded people". With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Davies was sentenced to 26 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 will be a registered sex offender for the next 10 years, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order to manage his access to the internet for the same length of time.

Description

A CHILD abuser is beginning a four-year jail sentence for sexual offences committed against a teenage child in Bradford.

Andrew Carroll, 58, had denied two allegations of non-recent indecent assault, but a jury at Bradford Crown Court found him guilty on both charges following a trial.

Carroll, now of Northumberland Street, Salford, appeared before Recorder Christopher Rose and was jailed for his abuse of the teenager, who must not be identified for legal reasons.

In a victim impact statement summarised by prosecutor Camille Morland, the complainant described how the abuse had always been in their mind, but they were finally able to report the allegations because they felt more likely to be believed now.

Barrister Clare Walsh, for Carroll, said he had suffered brain haemorrhages in 2021 and he now had significant mental health and physical difficulties.

She said her client also suffered from claustrophobia and described him as a very unwell man with complex needs.

Recorder Rose said the complainant had been particularly vulnerable and had concealed the abuse for many years before finding the courage to make a complaint.

“The victim impact statement speaks of the lifelong effect that your abuse has had,” said the judge.

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

Description

A former priest in North and West Yorkshire has been sentenced to a further eight and half years behind bars for sex offences against young boys.

David Leslie Crowley, 69, is already serving an 18 year sentence (extended by two years) at HMP Full Sutton for 13 similar offences committed between 1979 and 1985. Crowley appeared before Leeds Crown Court on Monday (June 19) and pleaded guilty to a further 15 offences.

The crimes took place between 1982 and 1993 when the defendant was a priest at St William’s RC Church in Bradford, Our Lady of Lourdes in Huddersfield and St Mary’s and St Michael’s RC church in Settle. There were five victims.

Crowley used his position of authority as a priest to groom the boys, taking them on day trips, plying them with gifts, alcohol and food, and visiting pubs. Some of the victims came forward as a result of media coverage of Crowley’s previous offending.

The abuse he suffered caused one victim to experience flashbacks and to attempt suicide as an adult and left another with drug and alcohol dependence. Graham Guest from the CPS said: “Crowley flagrantly abused his position of authority and trust within the communities he served to commit vile offences against young boys, leaving many of them with lifelong trauma.

“The true extent of his offending when he was in holy orders is now becoming clear. It is difficult to imagine a more appalling breach of trust and complete betrayal of the values of his priestly vocation. Our thoughts remain with his victims, as they have been throughout.”

In 1998 Crowley was given an 11-year sentence for 15 sex offences against young boys. The latest sentence will be served consecutively

Detective Inspector Oliver Coates, of Kirklees Child Safeguarding Unit, West Yorkshire Police, added: "This conviction follows a lengthy and comprehensive investigation by DC Moorhouse into the West Yorkshire offences. It ensures that this dangerous man will remain behind bars where he belongs.

"These offences were reported to the police many years after they occurred, and I hope the work that has been done to bring Crowley to justice shows that we will investigate historic offending. I would urge anyone who has been the victim of sexual offences, whether recent or non-recent, to report it. By doing so, we can ensure that you are supported and get the justice you deserve."

Description

A man who sent indecent images and videos of himself to what he thought were young girls has been jailed for more than nine years.

Adam Giles, 47, began contacting one of the girls on Snapchat in September 2020.

The girl, who was actually an adult, told him she was 12, but he persisted, sending her messages of a sexual nature, and suggesting he could book a hotel so they could meet.

He asked the girl if she was good at keeping secrets and told her not to tell anyone about their conversations, before sending her an indecent image of himself.

In November 2020 officers executed a warrant at his home in Paston, Peterborough. Giles was arrested and electronic devices seized for examination.

Analysis of two mobile phones and a hard drive revealed 12 indecent images or videos of children. Of these, seven were rated category A the most severe.

Giles was charged, but while on court bail he began sexualised conversations with four more adults he believed were children on the social media platform Kik.

Giles was charged and remanded in relation to these offences in January this year when examination of a new phone took place.

This revealed three other chat streams on the social media platform Kik, with three more girls aged 12, 13 and 14, who were also adults. Giles sent them sexualised content and discussed meeting two of them, despite them being clear about their age at the start of the conversations.

Analysis the phone also revealed 11 indecent images or videos of children five of which were category A.

Giles, of Havelock Drive, Peterborough, admitted attempting to cause or incite a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, five counts of attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child, two counts of arranging or facilitating sexual activity with child and five counts of making indecent images of a child.

On Friday (16 June) at Cambridge Crown Court he was jailed for 115 months. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.

DC Melanie Bull said: Giles behaviour was absolutely disgusting. He persistently went looking for young girls to approach on social media platforms and did not stop communicating with them when they told him how old they were.

Im pleased he has now appeared in court and faced justice for his actions.

Protecting the countys children remains one of our top priorities and we will do all we can to bring people who attempt to prey on them to justice.

Description

A SEX offender who poses a “substantial” risk to children has been sent back to prison.

Ashley Connock has a history of child sex offences and flouting court orders while living in Thatcham.

At Reading Crown Court on Friday, May 26, the 29-year-old was sentenced for his latest breaches of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) designed to protect children from him.

The court heard that Connock was first convicted of sex offences in 2008 and by 2009 had committed the first breach of the SHPO.

He defied the order again in 2013 and was jailed in 2016 for breaching a restraining order.

There were subsequent, serious child sex offences and further breaches of the SHPO.

Judge Heather Nott remarked: “And here we are again.”

Gabrielle McAvock, prosecuting, said the latest SHPO breaches involved Connock, who was living in Pound Lane, Thatcham, repeatedly lying to his offender manager.

Connock admitted two SHPO breaches and three counts of failing to comply with the SHPO notification requirements.

He had been secretly using the internet without allowing his browsing history to be checked and without risk management software being installed, said Ms McAvock.

Connock also had several different bank cards without notifying his offender manager of them, she added.

Ms McAvock concluded that Connock had told a “catalogue of lies” to avoid scrutiny and had persistently flouted court orders designed to protect children from him.

Caroline Stewart, defending, said her client was “the author of his own misfortune.”

She said that Connock’s latest deceits had not been aimed at covering up paedophile activity but at concealing his gambling.

Ms Stewart went on: “It is foolish and self destructive behaviour because it makes people fear he is doing something far more serious.

“He had begun to use illegal drugs and got into financial difficulties.”

Judge Heather Nott told Connock: “These are serious offences; you know how serious they are.

“Your record highlights the risk you pose and that risk is substantial.

“You have a long history of committing sex offences and breaching court orders.

“These are persistent and deliberate breaches and I don’t accept that here the only risk was you gambling with your own money.”

Judge Nott pointed out that, since his initial child sex offences, “there have been further, serious offences against children and further breaches of the SHPO – and here we are again”.

She sentenced Connock, who had recently been living on Oxford Road, Reading, to 20 months imprisonment, half of which will be spent locked up and the remainder on licence in the community.

Description

A paedophile who had been performing sex acts outside the home of a woman he had become 'obsessed' with was snared after she set up a 'makeshift trap' using a bucket and a fishing line.

His victim turned detective when she suspected something was amiss. It later emerged Farhan Zafar, 22, had been seen standing naked in the woman's garden illuminating himself with a phone torch whilst performing the disgusting acts.

When he was arrested he was found with dozens of indecent images of children on his phone. Zafar had, a year earlier, had sex with a 14-year-old girl on multiple occasions during four months of abuse. He has now been jailed for over four years. He met the girl in the summer of 2021, the court was told.

"They began a relationship at the defendant’s suggestion about two weeks afterwards," John Close, prosecuting said. He said Zafar invited her to her his house to 'do what grown-ups do' and in August they had sex at his house, this was one of six occasions he sexually abused her with other encounters taking place in his car.

The girl told her mother what had happened in November that year and he was arrested. During his police interview he said he said he did not know it was a crime to have sex with a 14-year-old if both consented. However, a judge said he 'clearly knew' it was a crime as Spain has the same age of consent.

Zafar was released on bail and moved to Nelson in Lancashire. And it was in September 2022 that he became 'fixated' with an adult woman he met there. Several days after first meeting her, he knocked on her door and asked via Google translate if she would teach him English. The woman declined and thought this was a 'little strange', Mr Close said.

A few days later he returned and again using the translation app asked if she would go out with him. Despite her saying no he came back on numerous occasions, asking her to borrow things and asking her out again. She also saw him on numerous occasions near her back door.

"On several occasions, (the victim) had noticed residue on her back door which she initially thought was bird faeces but which she began to believe was semen," Mr Close said. "Such was her concern and suspicion, she set up a makeshift trap of a fishing line and a metal bucket which meant that any intruder to her backyard would cause a noise when entering.

"On one occasion in early November, she heard the bucket clatter late at night when she was in the bath and heard a male voice which sounded disgruntled. The backyard was walled and accessible only through a locked gate, so she thought the intruder must have come over the wall." She reported the incident to the police.

Police investigations found that during this period neighbours had seen Zafar wiping something on the woman's front window. "They had also seen him stood at the window in the early hours of the morning, completely naked, illuminating himself with a phone torch whilst masturbating," Mr Close said.

Police arrested him at his home on November 23 last year. His phone was seized and 384 indecent images of children as young as 12 were discovered. 137 of these were classed as most serious in nature. In a victim impact statement his adult victim, who lives alone, said he had left her feeling 'anxious and uncomfortable.'

Zafar, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to 16 offences; five counts of sexual activity with a child, one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, four counts of outraging public decency, three counts of making indecent images of children, one of possessing a prohibited image of a child, one of possessing an extreme pornographic image, and stalking.

Sonya O'Brien, defending, said that Zafar came to the UK from Spain six years ago after his father discovered his cannabis habit. However, she said he had continued smoking strong variants of the drug here in the UK prior to and whilst committing the 'very peculiar set of offences.'

She said Zafar had now disclosed to a professional that he was the victim of a 'very serious sexual assault' himself as a youngster and that he 'carries a great degree of shame' regarding it. The offences were, she said, 'born out of isolation and drug misuse and his childhood trauma that he's carried into adulthood and that he's not yet addressed.'

Judge Maurice Greene told him: "You are still young, and were only 20 at the time of the sexual offences."

The judge added: "You were isolated at the time because of the fact your English was so poor. You have had a traumatic time in your youth. Perhaps as a result of that, you started using cannabis regularly, and to extremes, so much so it's clear from the psychiatric report that it has affected you.

"Although I don't accept that it reduces your culpability in any significant way as it was self-induced over a prolonged period of time. There's some remorse but I do note you seek to blame the taking of cannabis."

He jailed Zafar for four years and two months. He was also ordered to sign the sex offender's register and was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years. A 10-year restraining order was also put in place preventing him from contacting in any way his adult victim.

Description

Two men who kidnapped two women have been jailed and one will be on the sex offender register for life. 

The Met said both men laughed in their police interviews when shown CCTV footage of their attack and told the officers the women had consented.

At around 5.30am on July 16, 2022, both Dhari Alshammari, 28 of Hester Road, Wandsworth, and Badr Alhadidi, 39, of Talbot Street, Birmingham, targeted two women in a nightclub along Albert Embankment in Vauxhall, first approaching them on the dance floor. 

CCTV footage inside the club showed Alshammari pour a vodka into some glasses while Alhadidi waited for the women outside the toilets.

All four left the club around 6am when Alhadidi and Alshammari forced the victims into a car.

They drove the women to an address at Beauchamp Mansions, Kensington. Further CCTV footage nearby showed Alshammari drag one of the victim-survivors along the pavement. Both were forced through a doorway where they collapsed.

Inside the property Alshammari raped one of the women. After he went to a nearby McDonald’s to order food before returning to his home address.

Later that morning, Alhadidi drove the woman to a petrol station in another area of London and left them. 

One of the victims reported to police they had been on a night out and couldn’t remember a portion of the evening. She stated she remembered being pinned down in a car and sexually assaulted in a room.

Officers began an investigation which led them to identify and arrest the two men two days after the attack.

Alhadidi was sentenced to six-and-a-half years for kidnap at Isleworth Crown Court last Wednesday.

Alshammari was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years for rape and kidnap. He will be on the sex offender register for life. 

Detective Sergeant Tony Larkin, who led the investigation, said: “Alhadidi and Alshammari are two predators who set out that night with only one sinister intention in mind. 

“They had a clear plan of how they were going to target the victims and thought they could get away with it. 

“They’ve shown no remorse and have no idea how much harm and distress they have caused. 

“The CCTV footage reviewed as part of our investigation was harrowing and showed real violence and monstrous treatment of the victims.

“I would like to thank the victims in coming forward and reporting this to police, they have been extremely brave.”

Description

A persistent sex offender says he "holds his hands up" after he was found to be hiding a mobile phone inside a sock when police searched his home.

Liam Hunter, 29, was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order - due to end in 2025 - in 2019 after he was convicted of two counts of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16 and meeting a girl under the age of 16 following sexual grooming.

Hunter was jailed for three-and-a-half years and released, but was still subject to the order which means he had to tell police if he acquires a device that is capable of accessing the internet within three days.

Prosecutor Austin Newman told Leeds Crown Court on Friday that Hunter was visited at his home in Harehills by his police offender manager on February 28 this year and was asked about his possession of any devices capable of accessing the internet.

Mr Newman said: "He denied having any, saying he was waiting for the probation service to supply him with a phone. Shortly after, a mobile phone fell from his pocket, only his table. It was seized by the officer and it was apparent it was a smart phone capable of accessing the internet. He was asked why he lied and said he had only got the phone that day but this was plainly another lie."

When officers viewed the search history of the phone, there was a search history going back to February 18. An examination of the device showed Hunter had searched the internet using the term "animal porn."

Mr Newman told the court Hunter was arrested and during that arrest he indicated he wanted to take some clothing with him. A search was carried out and another mobile phone was found inside one of his socks. During his interview, the court was told, he made "full and frank admissions." He went on to plead guilty to two breaches of the sexual harm prevention order.

Representing himself, Hunter said: "I'd just like to apologise for my behaviour. I fully admit it and hold my hands up. I was wrong and that's why I thought I didn't need a defence."

Hunter told the judge he "fully respects" his decision and added: "There's nothing more I can really say."

His Honour Judge Batty jailed him for 20 months and said he will be released on licence halfway through the sentence.

Description

Justice has finally caught up with a child sex offender who abused two young girls decades ago.

Behind the facade of Kenneth Runciman's apparent respectability lurked the secret of his vile behaviour years ago, which left his victims traumatised. Now the 66-year-old is finally behind bars after jurors convicted him of 13 offences.

As he was locked up at Newcastle Crown Court, statements were read from both victims outlining the devastating impact his offending had on them.

One woman said: "I coped with what happened to me as a child by pushing it to the back of my mind. I did this while it happened and afterwards and years later."

She said Runciman told her his abuse was "our secret" but added: "I felt disgusting, like it was my fault.

"I went to school and tried to be normal with my friends. I wanted their life, not a life where I was worrying about the next sexual abuse happening."

The other victim added: "I don't feel like a victim, I feel brave, strong and justified. My conscience is clear and I'm glad I don't have to live with yours."

Runciman, formerly of Ayton, in Berwickshire, was found guilty of 11 counts of indecent assault and two of indecency with a child. He was jailed for 13 years and must sign the sex offenders register for life.

Judge Tim Gittins told him: "You fall to be sentenced for sickening behaviour." The judge said Runciman had sought to "blacken the name" of one of the victims by claiming she had an ulterior motive for reporting his offending and claimed the second victim was lying - which was rejected by the jury.

Judge Gittins added: "It says something for their strength of character and determination that they have been finally vindicated, having lived with the burden of your abuse while you have got on with your life...as a man of apparently good character and respected in the community."

The judge labelled his abuse "vile" and paid tribute to the "eloquent, poignant and powerful" victim statements, which "make it clear you blighted their childhoods". He added: "It appears, thankfully, they will come through this not as victims of your offending but survivors of it, but that's no thanks to you.

"No sentence can replace two lost childhoods."

Brian Mark, defending, said Runciman continues to deny the offences.

Description

A takeaway and supermarket worker who sexually attacked a Little Red Riding Hood-costumed student on Cowley Road was caught in part from the DNA he left on her red cape.

Bilal Haider, 27, who worked shifts at the takeaway and Tesco while he studied for a masters degree in Oxford, was caught on CCTV running after the young woman as they both headed east towards Cowley.

The victim was on her way home, having spent the night at the Fishies club night at the O2 Academy in early November 2021.

Jurors at Oxford Crown Court this week heard she was alone, had lent her phone to a friend then lost sight of her, and although she had been drinking was not drunk.

As she walked down the Cowley Road, Lonsdale-tracksuited Haider – who it later emerged had pictures on his phone of random young women - could be seen jogging to catch up with her.

Opening the case earlier this week, prosecutor Henry James said the lone woman heard footsteps behind her then a man’s voice asking whether he could kiss her.

“She said she was fine and said he could not,” Mr James said.

Undeterred, the man offered her money.

He went on to try and kiss her, groped at her body and pushed his hand beneath her dress.

The woman was ‘terrified’, the jury was told.

She ran to a university halls on nearby Glanville Road, where she knew a security guard would be on duty, and knocked at the window to raise the alarm.

The guard made sure she was okay and, later, the woman was able to get back home, the court heard. 

She told friends about what had happened to her.

But it was not until police officers searching for a missing child found her distressed on a bridge in Oxford that she told detectives what had happened to her.

Using CCTV, the detectives were able to trace Haider’s route backwards down Cowley Road to the takeaway where he worked.

When they visited the eatery they found he was working behind the counter, the court heard.

DNA tests on woman’s Little Red Riding Hood cape showed the presence of the defendant’s saliva on the item of clothing.

From the witness box this week, he flatly denied sexually assaulting the woman.

Despite not saying so in a legal document prepared ahead of the trial and setting out his defence, he claimed to have seen the woman fall to the ground and had helped her to the feet and across the road.

On Friday, jurors returned unanimous guilty verdicts after more than six and a half hours of deliberations to charges of sexual assault.

They returned to court later in the afternoon, having found Haider guilty by a majority of 10 to two of sexually assaulting the victim by penetration.

Judge Michael Gledhill KC told the defendant: “You have been convicted on very clear evidence, in my judgment, of these three serious sexual offences.”

Haider, of Hawkins Street, Oxford, was jailed for four and a half years and will remain on the sex offender register for life.

Description

An Oxford college kitchen porter who molested two girls in the woods has been jailed for four years – as his victims told the Cowley man they just wanted him to accept he had done wrong.

Barry Walton, 61, who worked in the Hertford College kitchens, used a ‘thorny stick’ to sexually assault one of the girls, and sought to bribe her with sweets and money.

He later sexually assaulted the younger girl in Spindleberry Park, Blackbird Leys, telling her to sit on him.

In a victim impact statement read to Oxford Crown Court on Friday (June 16) by prosecutor Gabrielle McAvock, the older girl said: “Because of what he did we never got a normal childhood.”

The younger child said that, if she did wrong she would acknowledge it. “[The defendant] has never said sorry for what he has done,” she said.

Walton, of Saunders Road, Oxford, was found guilty in April of multiple counts of sexually assaulting girls under-13. He had no previous convictions.

Jailing him for four years, Judge Michael Gledhill KC recognised that Walton had a number of intellectual difficulties.

“That said, you knew perfectly well what you were doing over those years,” he said.

“You knew it was wrong.

“You couldn’t stop yourself doing it and you carried on time after time, knowing what you were doing was wrong.

“And the consequences have been dreadful. You have heard the victim impact statements read of both your victims this morning. They make chilling listening.”

Paul Mason, defending, asked the judge to ‘take seriously’ the concerns raised in a psychological report about his client’s intellectual difficulties.

In the report, Walton was described as an ‘extremely naïve individual who lacked the self-confidence and intellectual prowess to protect himself in a custodial setting’.

Initially dealing with the case on Friday morning, Judge Gledhill adjourned the case until after lunch in order to read the psychological report and consider whether he could impose a community order or suspended sentence, allowing Walton to receive rehabilitative help. 

Returning to court at 3pm, the judge said: “Well, in order to even consider that route [a community order], I would have to have the assistance of a pre-sentence report prepared by a probation officer to set out what programmes could be offered to you to make you understand the gravity of what you’ve done and change you.

“As [the psychologist] Dr Wilson says, there is no point because you don’t accept you’ve done anything wrong and therefore there is no basis in putting you on any programme or giving you, in my view, a community order.”

Walton was given a seven year sexual harm prevention order and will remain on the sex offender register for life.

Description

A WHITEHAVEN man serving a community sentence for possessing child abuse images committed a similar offence within a year.

But for unexplained reasons it took police two years to charge 34-year-old Liam Rothery, who this week entered a guilty plea the downloading 23 indecent child images of Category C.

These are considered the least serious category of child abuse imagery. At Carlisle Crown Court, prosecutor Gerard Rogerson outlined the facts.

He said the Rothery, of Ceda Park, Whitehaven, was sentenced for his previous offending in August 2020, with his three-year community order including rehabilitation and a sex offender treatment programme.

But in April 2021, police made an unannounced visit to his home because of suspicions over the delivery of 'equipment' to his address.

Though there was no issue with that equipment, police did ask Rothery to hand over his Apple iPhone while they were at his home so they could check it.

On the device they found a bookmark that linked to a website which was being used by people wishing to share illegal child images.

“It appeared to be Eastern European or Russian in origin,” said Mr Rogerson.

A forensic examination of the phone revealed that the defendant had downloaded 23 child abuse images. When interviewed, Rothery gave no comment replies to the questions put to him by the police.

Mr Rogerson added that the police found evidence on the phone that Rothery had made 'deliberate or systematic searches' for images of young children and that he had saved some of those illegal images.

Judge Nicholas Barker said that if the case had been dealt with in a timely manner the sentencing judge may have concluded that Rothery was not minded to change his ways and dealt with him accordingly.

“For a reason I am struggling to understand the police did not charge you for this offence until two years later,” the judge told the defendant.

But in the last two years, said the judge, the sex offender treatment programme that Rother had now completed and his work with the Probation Service had rehabilitated him.

His pre-sentence report was positive and there had been no repeat offending, observed the judge. In view of this, Judge Barker imposed an 18-month community order, with 20 rehabilitation activity days and an eight week 6pm to 6am curfew.

Rothery will be on the Sex Offender Register for five years.

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Disgust as Ayrshire sex beast first aider worked at charity event while on bail

Scott Faulkner appeared at a string of events after being released on bail in 2021 including the Ayrshire Hospice Go Purple Walk.

A caged sex beast continued to work as a first aider despite facing trial for rape and abduction of a teenage boy.

Creep Scott Faulkner continued to carry out his job providing emergency care at major events.

The Ayrshire Post can reveal the shameless first aider from Cumnock attended a string of events between July 2021 and September 2021, despite being charged for offences in February of that year. 

The 34-year-old was jailed at Glasgow High Court last month for 12 years after he was previously convicted after a trail in Edinburgh of six charges.

But despite facing those charges in 2021, Faulkner popped up at UK music festivals as far away as London and Peterborough.

Scott Faulkner continued to work with now defunct Burnside Event First Aid (Image: Burnside Event First Aid) 

The then suspected rapist also appeared at events back home, including the Ayrshire Hospice Go Purple Event.

Another chilling image shows Faulkner smiling behind a mask as he raises his hands up in the air in celebration.

This week the Ayrshire Hospice have stressed they were unaware of charges Faulkner was facing and that he broke their trust by appearing at their event.

Burnside Event First Aid boss at the time, Jonathan Peffers, has claimed he wasn’t aware of Faulkner’s attendance at such events until this newspaper alerted him to Faulkner’s appearances.

 Scott Faulkner was sentenced at Glasgow High Court last month 

Following his arrest Faulkner was removed as director of Burnside Event First Aid with Jonathan Peffers appointment in March 2021, as listed on Companies House.

Mr Peffers who now owns his own first aid firm Skylark Event Medical Services claims he was “out of the country” when Faulkner ghosted in to work three events, including the Go Purple Walk.

A spokesperson for Skylark Events Medical Services: “Both Jonathan Peffers and Skylark Event Medical Services Ltd deplore the behaviour and actions of Scott Faulkner that were the subject of his conviction.

“Mr Peffers was not aware of Scott Faulkner’s behaviour and actions. After he was charged and released on bail, Scott Faulkner strenuously denied to Mr Peffers that he had committed the acts of which he was ultimately convicted.

“Following Scott Faulkner’s release on bail, Mr Peffers did not give authority for Mr Faulkner to attend any events. Mr Peffers was unaware until yesterday, (6 June 2023), that Mr Faulkner had attended an event at Ayrshire Hospice in September 2021.

“Mr Peffers was unaware until today (June 7, 2023) that Mr Faulkner had attended events in Peterborough and London in July 2021.

“Mr Peffers did not authorise Scott Faulkner’s attendance at these events, all of which occurred when Mr Peffers was out of the country. Neither Mr Peffers or Skylark Event Medical Services Ltd have a continuing relationship with Scott Faulkner.

“Skylark Event Medical Services Ltd prides itself on providing excellent medical and rescue support services for its customers’ events and the priority now is to continue working with those customers to ensure all their future events are adequately supported.”

Faulkner was put on the sex offenders list indefinitely