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A police officer who was caught trying to arrange the abuse of an eight-year-old girl and accessed indecent images of a vulnerable teen has been jailed. Det Con Lee Cunliffe admitted seven offences including arranging the commission of a child sex offence. The 40-year-old Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer has been suspended from duty since his arrest in 2020. Cunliffe, of Wigan, was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court for eight years and four months. The court heard Cunliffe had been a serving officer for 17 years when, in September 2020, he began messaging a woman whom he believed was the mother of the eight-year-old girl on instant messaging app Kik. Prosecutor Arthur Gibson said Cunliffe told the woman, who was actually an undercover Met Police officer, that he would visit London to sexually abuse her daughter. Police investigations revealed Cunliffe had sent the messages from several devices, including a police-owned computer at Swinton police station, and he was arrested in October 2020.

Perverted desires

A subsequent search of the married father's home revealed a laptop he had used to access indecent images of children, including of a "plainly vulnerable" teenage girl who made a complaint to GMP in 2018. Mr Gibson said the girl had alleged her boyfriend had taken indecent images of her and distributed them without her knowledge. Cunliffe, then a trainee detective, was allocated to the case and the suspect's computer and phone were seized after his arrest. Mr Gibson said he later wrote an entry on the crime log stating there was nothing on either device relating to the offence, when "in fact, both devices contained both still and moving indecent images of children, a total of 227 being accessible". The computer was returned to the suspect with the indecent images still on and no further action was taken. Evidence of files from between 2014 and 2018 which were indicative of child abuse were also found on Cunliffe's laptop. Julian King, defending, said Cunliffe had been going to see a psychotherapist, who said he had compulsive sexual behaviour disorder. Cunliffe, of Hindley Green, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to arranging the commission of a child sex offence, perverting the course of justice, misconduct in a public office, distributing indecent photos of a child, and three counts of making indecent photos. Sentencing him, Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Andrew Menary QC, said the actions Cunliffe was "contemplating with this very young child could hardly have been more serious". "What you did in relation to this girl and this case is shocking and strikes at the very heart of that foundation of trust that the public have invested in the police service," he added. Speaking after sentencing, Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods of GMP, said Cunliffe's "deplorable behaviour" was "absolutely inexcusable" and had "undermined the very essence of policing's core value of protecting the public and helping those in need". Det Insp Suzanne Keenaghan, from GMP's online child abuse investigation team, described his offending as "depraved". "Cunliffe deliberately created an online profile with the perverted intention of arranging to commit a child sex offence and having indecent images in his possession for his own sexual gratification," she said. He will now face disciplinary action under the Police Conduct Regulations, GMP added. Child protection charity, the NSPCC, said: "Cunliffe's actions were an appalling abuse of his position of trust. "Through his police training and employment, Cunliffe would have been very aware of the devastation sexual abuse has on children's lives. "Despite this, he chose to pursue his own perverted desires."

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A Devon man has been jailed for sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl.

Jason Pagan, 48, told the child he was just playing when his tickling turned into sexual touching, Exeter Crown Court heard.

He touched the child over her clothing and then massaged her naked buttocks.

The factory worker, of Higher Roborough, Ashburton, was convicted of sexual assault by a jury after a trial in October. He denied doing anything wrong.

He returned to court on Tuesday [January 11] and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. The judge was told he still denied the offences but was sorry for the effect on the child.

A judge said she had 'lost her innocence' as a result of the assault. Judge Peter Johnson said: "I've considered with care whether it is appropriate to suspend the sentence and in my view it is not. Whilst it may be said you are capable of being rehabilitated this offence is so serious that only immediate custody is appropriate.

"There is ongoing harm to the young child.

"She has lost her innocence and that's why this must be an immediate custodial sentence."

Ms Kelly Scrivener, prosecuting, said Pagan maintained he had just been innocently playing with the child.

"What the jury did not hear is that he has a number of sexual offences recorded against him," she added.

Pagan was convicted back in 1993 of three offences of indecent assault on a female under 16. The defendant was sent to a Young Offenders Institution for 42 months for those offences. Since then he has been in trouble for criminal damage, dishonesty and threatening a person with an offensive weapon.

Ms Emily Pitts, defending, said the public would be better served with Pagan receiving a suspended sentence.

He had endured a difficult childhood and his life had fallen apart since committing the offence.

She said he was 'ashamed, embarrassed and disgusted' and was living a 'terribly isolated life'.

But she said he was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and was making efforts to get his life back together.

Pagan was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting his access to children and told to sign the sex offender register.

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A Teignmouth man has been jailed for sexually molesting an eight-year-old girl.

Richard Griffiths was visiting a house in Torbay when he assaulted the child.

The 37-year-old denied two charges of sexually assaulting a child under 13 but was found guilty after a trial in December.

He has been jailed for two years and nine months.

Exeter Crown Court was read a victim personal statement by the mother of the child who said the incident had had a profound effect on her daughter.

"This has caused my family immense stress and trauma," she said.

"My daughter has suffered mental trauma and doesn't sleep well." She said the child was now distrustful of men and prone to bursts of anger.

"I feel my daughter's innocence has been taken away from her in such a way that her childhood is ruined and her memories stolen."

The offence dates back to 2019.

Prosecutor Ms Bathsheba Cassel said Griffiths said Griffiths had been drinking the night before the assault. He twice put his hands inside the child's clothes to touch her. He was arrested after the child told her parents what had happened.

The defendant, of Barnpark Terrace, has previous convictions for cannabis growing and was subject to a suspended sentence at the time of the offence.

Mr Richard Crabb, defending, said Griffiths, was a divorced man who had not done anything like this before. He described the offence as 'opportunistic' rather than planned.

Judge Peter Johnson said he had seen Griffiths shaking his head when evidence was heard during the trial.

"You stood trial and the jury disbelieved you," the judge told him.

He said the young victim had suffered psychological damage as a result of the incident.

Griffiths was made subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting his access to children and must sign the sex offender register. He will serve half of the sentence in custody ands the rest on licence.

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A man from Nottingham has been jailed for more than two years after he admitted illegally accessing a number of victims' devices to spy on them and build a collection of indecent images of both children and adults.

Robert Davies, 32, came to the attention of National Crime Agency investigators in 2019 after he purchased a number of cyber crime tools, including crypters and remote administration tools (RATs).

He was also identified as a customer of weleakinfo, an online market place selling stolen credentials, which was taken offline last year following an NCA-led investigation.

Davies was infecting his victims' phones or computers with malicious software by disguising it with the crypters so their anti-virus protection would not detect it. He then used the RATs to gain remote access to their devices and steal any sexual images (mainly of females) they had stored on there.

On at least one occasion, he used his illegal access to spy on a teenage girl through her webcam, turning the encounter into a number of indecent images. Officers recovered this, along with a further 27 indecent images and videos of children, on his computer.

Davies was also using numerous fake online profiles to mask his identity and contact his victims on various messaging apps, in an attempt to build a relationship with them and attack their devices using links sent through the chats. There was evidence that he had been doing this over a number of years.

In total NCA officers identified and visited over 30 victims of Davies throughout the course of the investigation.

He was arrested three times between November 2019 and August 2021, each time being charged with further offences as officers analysed his devices and the true scale of his offending came to light.

On 2 September, Davies pleaded guilty to 24 Computer Misuse Act offences, voyeurism, three counts of possessing indecent images of children (IIOC), making IIOC and possessing extreme pornographic images.

He was sentenced today (11 January) at Nottingham Crown Court to 26 months in prison. He was also placed on the sex offenders' register, given a 10 year restraining order on five of the victims and a 10 year sexual harm prevention order.

Andrew Shorrock, Operations Manager from the NCA's National Cyber Crime Unit, said: "Davies had amassed what can only be described as a cyber criminal's toolkit.

"Not only was he using these tools to break in to peoples' devices, he was using them to spy on his unsuspecting victims and to steal naked images of them for his own sexual gratification.

"Even more disturbing is the fact that at least one of his victims was a teenager and we found a collection of images and videos of child sexual abuse on his computer.

"Increasing the barrier of entry into cyber crime by reducing the availability of, and accessibility to, off-the-shelf tools is a key focus for the NCA. We work with a range of partners to target both criminals and their infrastructure, to ultimately disrupt and deter this type of offending."

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A paedophile referee turned up to children's football matches and started running the line and giving offside decisions.

Roman Fletcher has a history of grooming youngsters and is subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

The 21-year-old, formerly known as Peter Burns, was previously locked up for using his role as a wrestling referee to target victims.

But he then started using his training as a football official to get closer to children - only to be spotted by an eagle-eyed coach.

Liverpool Crown Court heard FA coach Natalie Pinnington coaches a girls under 14 team, Brookvale United, in the Warrington area.

Cheryl Mottram, prosecuting, said Ms Pinnington worked with Fletcher, of Halton Road, Runcorn, when he was 14 or 15, because he refereed games she was involved in.

However, she hadn't seen him for a number of years and knew he wasn't allowed to work with children and that she should contact the FA if she saw him at youth football pitches.

On September 26 last year, while coaching at Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub in Warrington, she spotted a man with a Sports Direct carrier bag.

Ms Mottram said: "Ms Pinnington had thought he was either the referee or an assistant of some sort, as he had stood about the side of the pitch and at one point, he gave a decision on an offside."

Ms Pinnington saw the man talking to a fan aged around six, then playing football with a group of youths aged around 10 to 12, before she was told it was Peter Burns.

On October 10, Fletcher returned to the hub and was spotted by Ms Pinnington at the side of the pitch.

Fletcher was told to leave and wait outside, which he did, but at the end of the game he came back and went in goal while playing football with a group of children aged between eight and 13.

The court heard Ms Pinnington took a photo of him on her phone and contacted the FA.

Ms Mottram said Fletcher returned to the hub again on November 7, when he played football with boys aged between nine and 12. This time Ms Pinnington called the police and Fletcher fled.

When arrested and interviewed, he accepted breaching his order but "stated he had no intention of causing any child sexual harm".

Fletcher admitted three breaches of his SHPO.

In 2017, Fletcher was given a youth referral order for four offences of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, relating to one boy and three girls.

In 2019, he was locked up for 12 months for one offence of the same charge, relating to a boy, when he was hit with the SHPO.

Ms Mottram said: "Those offences involve this defendant engaging with children under 13, around 11 or 12, in fact under the guise of wrestling and inviting them to perform wrestling moves with him, to the extent of sitting on his face during the wrestling moves. That is the modus operandi for all of those offences."

Recorder Ian Harris said police examined Fletcher's phone in November and found texts in which he told a friend if police found out he was attending children's football matches, "he was going to go anyway".

The judge said in a "contradictory" pre-sentence report Fletcher said he wasn't blaming his diagnosis of autism for the offences, but also denied any sexual attraction to children.

Recorder Harris said a probation officer found his account "implausible" as he has "a history of grooming behaviour towards children".

Jeremy Rawson, defending, asked the judge to bear in mind his client's autism and "pathological demand and avoidance syndrome".

Mr Rawson said: "He suffered significant bullying whilst he was a young boy, to such an extent he has difficulty in relating to those of his own age."

The lawyer said Fletcher was "football obsessed" and when he came out of prison, tried to join an FA scheme called Man v Fat, set up to help people with weight issues.

But the FA found out about his convictions and barred him from the scheme, so he was "left very much at a dead end as far as football was concerned".

Mr Rawson said Fletcher, who lost a job because of physical issues, expressed "regret and remorse".

Recorder Harris said Fletcher "attended a children's football pitch and seemed at least on one occasion to be helping to referee", but was spotted by Ms Pinnington.

He said: "On October 10 she actually approached you. You said you were helping to run the line."

The judge said Ms Pinnington later called the police, adding: "She is to be commended for her behaviour."

He told Fletcher: "It's a persistent breach that may, and in my judgement would, have led to harm."

Recorder Harris said the pervert's criminal record and latest offences showed a continuing "sexual attraction and infatuation with children".

Jailing him for 16 months, Recorder Harris found Fletcher's mental state and diagnoses didn't affect his culpability.

He said: "You were cunning and deceptive in your actions when you breached the order on those three occasions and you knew full well what you were doing.

"I have no doubt a future form of paedophile offending would have occurred."

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A SMIRKING paedo walked free from court after admitting hiding secret cameras in his stepdaughters room to spy on her when she was just 13. David Brown, 57, smirked as he was spared jail for leaving Zara Montgomery, 19, damaged by taking covert videos in her room in Pollokshields, Glasgow. He recorded her through a gap drilled in her wardrobe and the keyhole of a chest. And the creep also videoed her on holiday with a tiny device inside her bedside clock. Brown was tagged for four months and placed on the sex offenders register after pleading guilty to voyeurism at Glasgow Sheriff Court. Sheriff Lindsay Wood told him: These were planned. They led to, you admit, sexual arousal and you taking alcohol to disinhibit yourself. Your behaviour was utterly shameful. Its had a profound impact on your victim and her family. You have a significant sexually deviant problem which needs to be addressed. Zara who has waived her right to anonymity was eight years old when Brown met her lawyer mum Nadine Allam, 47, in 2010. The victim discovered his vile scheme by a reflection from a blanket box when she was 15. The teen was left confused when she played back footage on a Samsung phone which showed him switching it on. And she later found the handset taped to the inside of a wardrobe door after spotting a hole drilled through it. Zara would spend hours locked in the bathroom and would stay late at school to keep away from the weirdo. But she kept the abuse to herself over fears he would turn violent and the discovery would break up her family. Former taxi driver Brown was finally nailed when the teen bravely confided in her mum in January last year, after the couple split in 2019. Cops raided his home and found pictures of the girl including images taken by a camera hidden in an alarm clock at their holiday home in Florida. Zara previously told The Scottish Sun: He did what a dad never should. Brown, of Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, last month admitted tampering with furniture and hiding his phone to record videos between August 2015 and April 2017. BIZARRE CLAIM He also pled guilty to filming Zara in Florida from August to December 2018. Defence lawyer Jacqueline White bizarrely claimed her client was monitoring the girl for her own safety. She said: It has taken him quite some time to recognise what he did. Sheriff Wood spared the pervert a jail stretch because he had no previous convictions but barred him from meeting with anybody under-17 alone. He added: You should realise what you did for your own sexual gratification caused untold harm to a young lady. Brown was placed under supervision and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.

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A man who subjected a young girl to a string of sickening sexual assaults rang police almost two decades later to report what he had done.

Kenneth Kesans, who also goes by the name Kenneth Rowles, told officers he needed to "come clean" about what he had done in his past.

Swansea Crown Court heard the abuse he subjected his victim to in the early 2000s has had a devastating effect on her life.

The 43-year-old defendant has now been given an extended sentence as an offender of particular concern.

Carina Hughes, prosecuting, told the court that Kesans carried out a series of indecent assaults on the girl over a lengthy period which culminated in an attempted rape of the crying child. On occasions he plied the girl with alcohol, made her perform sex acts on him, and threatened her into silence.

The court heard the abuse went unreported for almost two decades until 2021 when Kesans rang the police from a public phone box in Swansea 's Maritime Quarter. During the call he told officers he couldn't stop thinking about what he had done, adding: "I need to get it off my chest - I need to come clean."

Miss Hughes said police tracked down the victim of the abuse, and went to her house to speak to her. The woman told them she had always been terrified that if she did report the abuse it would her word against his, and nobody would believe her.

In a statement from the victim which was read to the court she detailed the devastating impact the abuse has had on her life, saying she as a youngster she became socially isolated and withdrawn, then started self-harming and suffered nightmares of having snakes in her bed. She said she had felt embarrassed and ashamed at what had happened but it wasn't until she had gone to university that she had sought counselling - though even then she had not disclosed the abuse to her counsellor.

Kenneth John Kesans, of Heol Frank, Penlan, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of attempted rape and to seven counts of indecent assault when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.

David Singh, for Kesans, said the fact the defendant had contacted the police to report the offending demonstrated a degree of "responsibility, remorse and regret" for what he had put the complainant through.

Recorder Mark Powell QC told Kesans he had committed extremely serious offences, offences which meant he was regarded as what is known as an offender of particular concern.

He said it was clear from what he had heard and read about the victim that she was a young woman of "considerable fortitude", and he said she should feel no shame of guilt over what the defendant had done to her.

With one-third discounts for his guilty pleas Kesans was given a 13-year extended sentence comprising 12 years in custody with an extended one-year licence period. He will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life, and was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

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A "sexual predator" who raped five women he met on dating app Tinder has been jailed for a minimum of 12 years. Tom Rodwell initially appeared as "perfect partner material", police said, but manipulated his victims, who he met between 2017 and 2020. The 31-year-old trainee paramedic from Middlesbrough had previously admitted 10 rapes as well as one attempted rape and sexual assault. Judge Paul Watson sentenced Rodwell to life at Teesside Crown Court. The judge described the defendant as a "callous, unfeeling sexual predator" who was "addicted to a sense of power" and only interested in his own gratification. He described Rodwell as a "significant danger" to women and said he had left his victims with "long lasting emotional scars which would take years to heal". During the hearing it emerged that the former Royal Navy and HMRC employee, who has no previous convictions, faced similar charges in Scotland in 2018 but was acquitted.

Raped on second date

Richard Bennett, prosecuting, told the court Rodwell contacted the first woman and told her he was into "rough sex" but "did not realise or seem to care that he needed consent". Rodwell admitted raping her four times. He told his second victim her wanted to get her pregnant and attacked her on their second date, after which he messaged her asking when he could "rape her again", Mr Bennett said. The third said she considered killing herself having been raped by Rodwell several times. The fourth recalled that Rodwell raped and hit her in a hotel. He later claimed he could not remember what happened but said his "ex liked it", Mr Bennett said. The final victim said Rodwell had wanted to "own her" and "choke her", the court heard.

'Doubt themselves'

Det Con Rick Sainsbury, from Cleveland Police's domestic abuse unit, said Rodwell came initially across as "perfect partnership material". The victims, some of whom were university students, were not just physically abused by Rodwell but also manipulated emotionally, leaving some to believe they were to blame for his violence. Det Con Sainsbury said: "He'd ask them to marry him, have kids with him, and it would be within a few days of meeting. "That would soon change - sometimes even by the second meeting - when he would start to manipulate them, make them doubt themselves. "If they had some doubts about themselves already he would centre in on that and exploit it. He's managed to get into their heads so much they've doubted what was happening to them." He praised the bravery and strength of the victims who came forward and urged any women who have been subjected to any kind of abuse to contact police.

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A man already serving a jail sentence for sexual offences against a girl has been convicted of abusing two other child victims years earlier.

Ian Bennett, 57, was jailed for 24 years in 2016 after being found guilty of a campaign of sexual abuse against a young girl between 2005 and 2015.

But Bennett, currently of HM Prison Bure, was back in court after admitting 11 sexual offences against another child, between 1987 and 1992 and two offences against another girl between 1999 and 2001.

Will Carter, prosecuting at Norwich Crown Court, said there was a period of 25 years when Bennett was "routinely abusing young girls"

The offences, which occurred in Norfolk as well as Lancashire, included two counts of gross indecency against one girl as well as two counts of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13.

Bennett also admitted six counts of sexual assault as well as well as indecency with a child and indecent assault.

In an impact statement one of the victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said her confidence and self-worth were "shattered into pieces".

She said what happened was "terrifying" and "still haunts me today" adding she had "wanted to die".

Another woman, who was abused by Bennett between 1999 and 2001, said the defendant "ruined my life".

She said her "childhood was not a childhood" and that she had been a "scared little girl".

The woman felt "disgusted" at the thought of what Bennett had done to her and wished she could have a normal life.

Judge Katharine Moore said Bennett was already serving a sentence for "the most appalling sexual abuse" and was to be dealt with for "serious sexual abuse" against two other young girls in the preceding years.

Bennett was sentenced to an extended determinate sentence of 28 years made up of 20 years custody, and eight years extended licence.

The sentence, which is concurrent to the sentence he is currently serving, means he will not be eligible for parole until 2035.

Andrew Oliver, mitigating, said Bennett stands by his guilty pleas.

He said Bennett's pleas have spared two women from having to give evidence about highly traumatic events.

Bennett, who must sign on the sex offenders register indefinitely, was also made the subject of a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting either victim directly or indirectly.

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A man has been jailed for raping two women in attacks that took place several years apart.

Alexander Philip Rowley, 26, of Easingwold, repeatedly denied the offences and claimed his victims were lying.

However, he was convicted of two counts of rape by a jury and sentenced to 11 years in jail today.

Rowley's victims, both young women, were targeted in separate attacks at residential addresses in North Yorkshire. Both happened in recent years.

He was sentenced by a judge at Hull Crown Court today. Upon his release, he will have to sign the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

Speaking after sentencing, Detective Constable Gillian Gowling, who led the investigation by North Yorkshire Police, said: "Both of Rowley's victims have shown great courage and tenacity in coming forward and working with us, especially given Rowley's constant denial of what happened.

"While this is never an easy process for victims, I hope today's sentencing gives them some degree of closure. It also takes a sex offender out of our communities, which ensures no-one else can come to harm."

DC Gowling urged anyone who believed they may have been raped or sexually assaulted to seek support and advice.

"Regardless of how long ago it happened, there are advice services available to help people explore their options, which may involve prosecution or may involve emotional and practical support, or a combination of all," she added.

"Those decisions are always made by victims, so I want to ensure people know what help is available to them."

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A Halloween-loving pervert who enjoyed cosplay dressing up has been jailed for having sexually abused multiple underage girls over a number of years.

Billy Bradshaw, who dressed as a vampire for his own wedding, devastated the lives of his five victims by assaulting them in a string of revolting attacks that spanned a decade.

The 31-year-old's offending, which began when he was a teenager, was exposed when two girls told the police he had assaulted them in 2019.

Subsequently, three more victims bravely came forward alleging he had also abused them when they were children.

Bradshaw, of no fixed abode, and a father of four, had denied the offences and took the matter to trial, cruelly forcing his victims to relive their experiences in the courtroom.

Despite his denials, a jury at Derby Crown Court took just 90 minutes to find him guilty of all offences of which he was accused.

A number of his victims were in court to bravely face their attacker as he was imprisoned for more than a decade for his vile crimes on Friday, January 7.

Barnaby Shaw, prosecuting, described the devastating toll on Bradshaw's victims through their impact statements in court.

One said how she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered from anxiety and depression as a result.

"I just wanted him to tell the truth about what happened," she said.

"[When I found he pleaded not guilty] it broke me. I wanted him to tell the truth.

"I want a normal life, I feel this is unlikely to happen because of what he did to me."

Another victim said how she hated things that reminded her of him including alcohol, menthol and Halloween - a seasonal event he liked so much he had a Halloween-themed wedding.

She said: "I became depressed and would feel unworthy. It has had a devastating effect on my family.

"I see the pain in my mum's eyes feeling she didn't protect me enough and the anger in my father's."

Another of his victims said she missed the person she used to be before the incident.

"After what happened to me I couldn't bear living in my own skin. I tried to take my own life because of what happened.

"I try to cut the pain physically from my skin. I don't like the way my body feels.

"I have outbursts of rage which I cannot control.

"I hope one day I may be able to live some kind of normal life. I want to be the person I was before all this happened and not as I am now."

All victims said they no longer trusted men and could not stand physical contact such as hugging or people touching them.

He was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault of a girl under 16, three counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, one count of sexual assault of a child under 13 and one count of causing/inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Ian Way, defence counsel for Bradshaw, said he could offer "no real mitigation" for the offending, but added his client had health problems including depression, anxiety and gout.

"He will know that by having a trial he is deprived of any discount or credit," he said.

"What perhaps is the most significant factor for him - he is the father of four young boys, he won't be seeing them or having contact with them for a considerable time.

"The sentence is inevitably one of custody measured in years, not months.

"There's precious little else I can say."

Recorder Adrian Reynolds said Bradshaw's offending was "despicable".

"You had the chance to think of your wife and children when you decided whether you were going to admit what you had done," he said.

"You showed no compassion for them [his victims], I will give none to you because you don't deserve it.

"If I passed the sentences that your individual offending merited and made them consecutive, tempting as that might be, the overall sentence would be disproportionate. That may be difficult for your victims to understand."

Describing his actions as "appalling", Recorder Reynolds said he had torn apart the lives of his victims.

He added that one the victims movingly said how "her dignity and soul were robbed by what you did" and that another had tried to take her own life.

He jailed Bradshaw for a total of 12 years, with an extended licence period of an additional year.

He also ordered that he sign the sex offender's register for life and imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until further order.

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A convicted rapist has avoided deportation back to Afghanistan because the Taliban 'take a dim view' of sex offenders.

Ibrahim Ahmadi was stripped of his refugee status when he was jailed for preying on a sleeping woman in Glasgow. But he has now won the right to remain in the UK after judges decided he might incur the anger of the hardline Taliban regime if he were returned.

The 29-year-old successfully claimed he would be persecuted in his homeland for being a member of the minority Hazaras ethnic group, even though two members of the sect have been appointed to the new Afghan government.

The judges also decided that it was 'reasonably likely that the Taliban would take a dim view of an individual who had committed a violent sexual offence in a Western country'.

Ibrahim Ahmadi (pictured) was stripped of his refugee status when he was jailed for preying on a sleeping woman in Glasgow

The ruling has sparked fury. Russell Findlay, the Shadow Community Safety Minister in Scotland, said: 'This judgment is extremely concerning and suggests the human rights of a rapist are deemed more important than the safety of the public.

'Most people couldn't care less about his sob story on how the Taliban treat sex offenders. They would rather see him removed from our streets and put on the next available flight to Kabul.'

Ahmadi arrived in the UK in 2007 as a 15-year-old, claiming he had been held hostage by the Taliban but had escaped. He was refused asylum but won an appeal and was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2014. That same year, he was arrested for threatening a woman in Lanarkshire and was given addiction counselling.

But just months later, he carried out a vile sex attack on a 25-year-old woman as she slept in her flat.

He was convicted of rape and jailed for seven years. The sentence was later reduced to five years on appeal, although reports by social workers said he continued to pose a high risk to women.

The Home Office ordered Ahmadi's deportation in 2019 but he used taxpayers' money to fund a legal challenge that was given a boost when the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan last August – just days before the hearing. In their judgment, Upper Tribunal judges Hugo Norton-Taylor and Tom Wilding accepted that Ahmadi 'represents a danger to the community of the United Kingdom [and] there remains a very strong public interest in deportation' but ruled that 'recent events in Afghanistan' meant sending him back would breach his human rights.

Despite efforts by the Taliban to assimilate Afghanistan's six million Hazaras into their regime, for example by including them in the country's new government, the judges concluded that Ahmadi would 'be placed directly into the hands of an extremist Sunni organisation with a history of persecutory treatment of Hazaras and/or Shias'.

Ahmadi received £13,562 in legal aid to fight his rape case and appeal, and has had a further £1,330 to support his deportation challenge with the ruling made in November.

The case has echoes of previous deportation sagas, including that of Iraqi paedophile Howri Hamad Garib, 47, who indecently assaulted three 14-year-old girls in a swimming pool in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, in 2004.

He contested a deportation order issued by the Home Office in 2008 and, following an eight-year legal battle, was allowed to remain in the UK because his crimes were not deemed technically serious enough to warrant expulsion.

In another controversial case, Mr Norton-Taylor was one of two judges who last year granted Kosovan drug-dealer Shaban Binaku leave to remain in the UK.

The 41-year-old had already been deported once but re-entered Britain and set up a car-wash business in London before he was arrested in 2018. The Upper Tribunal ruled it would be unreasonable for the two children he fathered while in the UK illegally to relocate to Kosovo.

The Home Office last night said it may try again to deport Ahmadi if circumstances changed in Afghanistan. 'We always try to remove heinous foreign criminals from this country, but we can be prevented from doing so by the European Convention on Human Rights and Human Rights Act,' it added.

'This individual no longer has refugee protection and we will continue to explore all options to remove him from the UK.' Ahmadi's lawyer was approached for comment.

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A sex offender who once gave two schoolgirls love bites has been jailed for breaching a suspended prison sentence.

Serena Ransom was found guilty by a jury in 2015 of making sexual advances towards two young girls.

The 27-year-old was convicted of sexual assault, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and two of sexual activity with a child.

She was sentenced to 18 months' detention in a young offenders' institution and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order banning her from work or unsupervised contact with under-16s.

In May last year, Ransom was hauled back in front of a judge at Teesside Crown Court for breaching her notification requirements.

The court heard how the qualified bricklayer created a profile on video sharing app TikTok in October 2020 and failed to notify police.

She also stayed overnight in a house where children also regularly stayed and did not tell the police.

Ransom was handed a 12 month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months and made subject to a six-month curfew.

She was also ordered to undertake 120 hours unpaid work and carry out 30 rehabilitation days.

On Wednesday afternoon, the defendant made a further appearance at the court in Middlesbrough.

Ransom, of Brompton Street, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to breaching her suspended sentence.

Miss Recorder Kidd partly activated the 12 month sentence and sentenced her to six months behind bars.

Teesside Live reported in 2015 how Ransom's first and youngest victim was described by a judge as being "particularly vulnerable" when Ransom sexually assaulted her by giving her love bites.

The court heard how Ransom gave the second older girl love bites, kissed her on the lips and asked her to touch her intimately.

During the hearing last year, the court heard how the notification breaches were Ransom's third and fourth.

She was caught after a man, who knew about her criminal past, saw her TikTok profile and sent a screenshot to police.

Nigel Soppitt, defending, said the breaches were "reckless rather than malicious" and that Ransom has "no sexual interest in children".