Search the database
clearly and quickly

Record details

A former Lib Dem politician has been jailed after having sex with an underage boy and making indecent images of children.

Ryan Langley, 34, of Hessle Road, Hull, admitted causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a teenage boy between January 2019 and April 2021.

He also admitted distributing indecent images of children and three offences of making indecent images of children.

Hull Crown Court heard Langley appeared to "rejoice" when he found out the boy's real age and instead of being "shocked and appalled" carried on with his crime.

It was "very much a fall from grace" for the former councillor who aspired to win a "frontline" role at Westminster, the court heard.

Dale Brook, prosecuting, said the parents of the teenage boy found sexual messages on his mobile phone and he admitted that he had met some adult men for sex, one of whom was Langley.

They met on a website with the boy telling him he was 16. Langley told the court he thought the lad was 18, but it turned out he was actually 14.

When the boy admitted his real age, Langley told him he was "the youngest" he ever "had" and continued to send messages.

The pair carried on swapping photos and videos with Langley talking about having more sexual contact with the boy. Langley was arrested with his phone and laptops seized by police.

WhatsApp messages revealed highly sexualised messages with males aged over 18, during which Langley acknowledged having had sex with the boy, who he had thought was 16.

Images of the youngster were shared and he boasted of wanting more sexual contact with him before he turned 16.

Langley distributed several photographs and videos of his sexual contact with other boys under the age of 16, including with one aged 15, Hull Live reports.

Detectives found other indecent images of children, including 62 Category A, 44 Category B and 75 Category C.

Ayman Khokhar, mitigating, said Langley had no previous convictions but the offences showed he had betrayed others' trust.

Mr Khokhar, describing his client as a talented local councillor, said: "He will be living with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life.

"He does not seek anything other than an immediate custodial sentence. He wishes to reflect on what he has done."

Mr Khokhar added Langley had been paid "very little" as a councillor but did the job because he wanted to help others.

He said: "He has lost what looked like a promising career. He has served his local community for a number of years. Despite mental health difficulties, he threw himself into local politics and had aspirations eventually to go to Westminster.

"He knows that, now, is an impossibility and that he has no future in frontline politics."

Mr Khokhar continued: "His career is over. He has let himself down and he feels that he has let down those close to him."

Judge John Thackray KC said Langley initially thought he was having sexual activity with a boy above the legal age of 16 but he found out he was really only 14.

The judge added: "Against that background, rather than being shocked and appalled, you seemed to rejoice in the activity that had taken place and you demonstrated corrupt behaviour and a level of depravity by exchanging sexual images of the child and discussing future sexual activity."

Langley's behaviour was made worse by his distribution and possession of indecent images of children. Judge Thackray said: "This has been very much a fall from grace for you."

He was jailed for three years and given a 10-year sexual harm prevention order. He must also register as a sex offender for life.

Langley stood down from his councillor role at the local elections in May.

Record details

A construction worker who raped a three-year-old child has been given a 31-year sentence.

Bradley Martin, 29, of Chandler Road in Bexhill, raped his victim multiple times between April and October, 2022.

Police were made aware after the childs mother took them to hospital for examination after finding unexplained injuries. Hospital staff in Hastings raised concerns to Sussex Police and an investigation was launched.

Martin was arrested on 26 October, 2022, and his phone revealed incriminating searches including how do police know if something has been penetrated? and how many years for sex offenders in Bexhill?.

Officers also found 127 illegal images of extreme pornography involving both animals and humans.

He was subsequently charged with three counts of rape of a child under 13 and remanded in custody.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges, but at Hove Crown Court on Monday, 3 July, was found guilty of each of the offences.

At Hove Crown Court on Friday (29 September), Martin was sentenced to 23 years in prison, with another eight to be spent on extended licence.

He will be on the Sex Offenders Register for life and was given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order significantly restricting his access to children and digital devices.

Detective Constable Kelly Yates, of Hastings Safeguarding Investigations Unit, said: Bradley Martin abused his young victim in the most heinous way, uncovered thanks to the care of the childs mother and diligence of medical professionals.

My thanks go to the victim and their family for their courage and determination through what has been an extremely difficult process.

With their support we have been able to put Martin behind bars for a significant amount of time and put steps in place to ensure he can cause no further harm to the public.

Record details

A convicted sex offender breached a court order after a 16-year-old boy was discovered in his house when police were investigating an assault. He admitted the boy had visited his home a number of times as they liked listening to music together.

Martin Tavener, 32, of Maesteg, was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) in 2020 after he was found in possession of indecent images of a child under 18. In 2008, he was sentenced to three years and 164 days imprisonment after he was convicted of attempted rape, for which he was made subject to sex offender notification requirements indefinitely. A condition of the SHPO prevented him from having contact with children under 18-years-old

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday heard police were called to Station Hill, where the defendant lives, on June 18 after there were reports of violence and fighting. They knocked on Tavener's door, a 16-year-old boy answered and the defendant was seen at the top of the stairs.

He was detained and after police ran a check on him it was discovered he was subject to a SHPO. He was arrested and interviewed, with the defendant admitting he had allowed the 16-year-old into his flat and they enjoyed listening to music together.

Tavener later pleaded guilty to breach of a SHPO. Prosecutor Gareth James said the defendant had previously breached the SHPO in 2020 after he was found in the company of 17-year-olds in a graveyard, for which he received 24 weeks imprisonment.

In mitigation, Adam Sharp said there had been an altercation outside his client's home in which the defendant and the youth had suffered injuries. The barrister said Tavener had offered the youth sanctuary in his flat before the boy's mother arrived. He said the defendant had a "traumatic childhood" and has been registered unfit to work since 2010.

Sentencing, the Recorder of Cardiff Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke said: "You have a fixed view you are not a sex offender, that you pose no risk and the SHPO is not necessary. You were well aware of the terms of the SHPO and you made a deliberate decision to not to obey them. You say you are not guilty of your previous convictions, that you are not a risk to children, that you should not be subject to the order and you choose to breach it."

Tavener was sentenced to one year imprisonment. He will serve half the sentence in custody before he is released to serve the remainder on licence.

Record details

A 57-year-old Devon man who arranged to sexually abuse a child has been jailed for five and a half years thanks to a police sting operation.

James Pidgeon, of Crest Hill, Buckfastleigh, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, as well as the distribution of indecent photographs of children and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which places restrictions on a person's access to the internet.

Pidgeon was sentenced at Exeter Crown Court on Tuesday, 3 October, to the jail term with an extended five years on license. He was also given an indefinite SHPO and forfeiture of digital devices order.

Exeter Crown Court heard how Pidgeon, a registered sex offender with prior convictions for possession and making indecent images of children, was already subject to an SHPO.

Despite the prevention order, he continued to commit online offences relating to children.

Following work carried out by the Devon and Cornwall Police Paedophile Online Investigation Team, Pidgeon was identified by investigators and an investigation was launched.

Meanwhile, a sting operation by the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU) revealed that Pidgeon was engaged in online conversations with someone he believed had access to a child. In fact, the person was a NEROCU police officer.

Transcripts of their online conversations showed that Pidgeon had bragged about how he had been a paedophile for more than 30 years and sent multiple indecent images and videos of children being sexually abused, some of which featured babies being abused.

Within these transcripts, Pidgeon talked of his desire to rape children, with his sexual preferences being female toddlers, and that the purpose of the meeting was to gain access to a child that he could rape.

They arranged to meet up on Torquay seafront where officers swooped in and made their arrest.

Pidgeon was remanded into custody in July this year and was charged with arranging/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, distribution of indecent images of children and breach of a sexual harm prevention order.

Investigating Officer Detective Constable Sophie House said: “Despite being subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, this did not deter Pidgeon from continuing to commit online offences relating to children.

Record details

POLICE have released the mugshot of an army veteran who asked who he thought was a 14-year-old boy to carry out sex acts in the back of his van in a supermarket car park.

Sean Golder, formerly of the Royal Engineers, was arrested in the car park of Morrisons in Carmarthen on March 10 after arranging to meet the ‘boy’ – who was actually an undercover police officer.

Golder was jailed for a total of 19 months in prison for attempting to meet a child after grooming and attempted sexual communication with a child.

Swansea Crown Court heard that Golder began messaging the ‘boy’ on social media on March 8, saying he was on his way to Carmarthen and was “looking for fun”.  

The profile said the ‘boy’ was 19, but in their first message he said was 14 – asking if that was too young, prosecutor Ieuan Rees said.

Golder replied: “Lol where are you? Are you looking for fun?”, adding “We could have fun in my van”.

The pair exchanged numbers and moved the conversation on to WhatsApp.

Golder asked the ‘boy’ for a photograph, and when the officer sent one, replied: “Wow is that really you?  I need you to run here now”.

“It is plainly very obviously a picture of a young boy, I would say no older than 14,” said Recorder Simon Mills. “The very idea that he thought the person was an adult is simply ludicrous.”

The defendant also spoke about them touching each other in the back of his van, and suggested “getting undressed” and video calling, Mr Rees said.

Golder suggested meeting the ‘boy’ at his home, but the officer replied it would be “too risky”. Instead, it was agreed they would meet in the Morrisons car park in Carmarthen on March 10.

Ahead of the meeting, Golder asked: “Do you want me to touch you, w*** you, and suck you?”.

When Golder arrived at the store, he was arrested by police.

Golder had also taken ‘poppers’ – or alkyl nitrites – to the attempted meeting, and told the ‘boy’ the drugs would “turn him in to a s***”.

Golder, 55, formerly of The Pound in Pembroke Dock and now of Cosheston, has no previous convictions.

Helen Randall, defending, said that Golder had left school at 16 and joined the army. He was in the army for 23 years and served in Germany, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ms Randall said Golder had made use of his time in custody by completing English and maths qualifications and by taking up jobs.

She said the defendant “has been punished to a high level already by the time he’s served waiting for today’s sentence”.

Dyfed-Powys Police worked alongside officers from Tarian Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) in taking down Golder.

As well as his prison sentence, Golder must now register as a sex offender for 10 years, and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same period of time.

Record details

William Stubbs, 64, enticed the victim with alcohol and money and sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions between April 2017 and December 2019.

He was convicted after a trial last month on seven counts of sexual assault and a further count of causing/inciting sexual activity.

Stubbs, formerly of Bircotes, but latterly of Portland Meadows, Retford, was jailed for four-and-a-half years when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on September 29.

He was also made subject of a restraining order and must sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

Record details

A 'creepy' maths teacher made a schoolgirl play a game of sexual dares before luring her into bed.

Married James Stromfield, 39, who taught at a secondary school in Sussex, devised a sex game for the 15-year-old pupil to play at his home while his wife was out.

He wrote down 12 sexual dares, such as 'remove an item of clothing' or 'make out', on a piece of paper.

The teacher then produced a pair of dice and told her to roll them with the number corresponding to a sexual forfeit.

The game of sexual dares in February ended when he got her into bed where he sexually assaulted her.

Last week Stromfield was jailed for 12 years after he pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape, one charge of sexual activity with a child and one of inciting sexual activity with a child.

The tearful victim said she had been 'sickened' and 'disgusted' by his actions and was left 'completely broken'.

Reading a statement to court she sobbed as she told how her life had been destroyed and she had been left suffering 'flashbacks and nightmares' over her ordeal.

She said: 'James Stromfield's actions have affected me and my daily life in a way I wouldn't wish on anyone. I feel like a part of me died on February 27.

'I was keeping a big secret to myself and it was destroying me day by day'.

She said: 'I wasn't the one who should have known better. I was a child and still am. Mr Stromfield is now 39.

'He has taken away many significant experiences teenage girls should be able to feel.

'I would claw at my skin as it no longer felt like it belonged to me after it had been touched by him'.

Hove Crown Court heard the girl had been a pupil at a secondary school where Stromfield taught maths.

When the teenager began to suffer problems at home, she spoke to the teacher frequently and came to trust him.

The head teacher was forced to step in and formally warned Stromfield not to have any further contact with the pupil.

But Stromfield downloaded an app, Proton, which automatically deletes messages, and continued to contact the girl using it.

Orlando Gibbons, prosecuting, said: 'The victim initially saw him as a friend, father figure as well as a teacher. Over time his messages to her became flirtatious and sexual, which she did find a little creepy.'

The court heard she put up with the messages because she did not want to lose the support and friendship of the teacher.

When his wife was out, Stromfield arranged for the girl to come to his home in West Sussex.

The pair played the game of sexual forfeits before getting into bed where sexual activity took place.

However the girl had been tracked to the address by her then-boyfriend using the Snapchat app.

Stromfield was arrested by police on suspicion of child abduction but refused to comment. He was released on bail with strict instructions not to contact the victim.

Stromfield ignored the bail conditions and the pair met again at his house in February while he wife was out.

They went to an upstairs spare bedroom where sexual activity once again took place before he drove her back in his car.

The girl's father found handwritten notes in her handbag written to the teenager by the teacher.

The note read: 'Sorry to hear things were tough for you, hopefully it helps I am thinking and missing you. If you want to meet sometime see instructions on reverse. I will be there every day at 11.00am just in case you turn up.'

A second note read: 'I miss you so much and being apart is really tough. If you do want to come and see me come alone and be 100 per cent sure you can't be tracked. Love you loads Xx.'

Two days later the victim went to his home again and went to his spare room where he raped her.

However police had already been called and turned up at the house while the victim and the teacher were naked in bed.

Stromfield ordered her to quickly put on some clothes before he answered the door.

Police found the victim curled up in a ball on the floor of the spare bedroom and the teacher was arrested once again.

He was charged with a series of serious sexual offences including rape, attempted rape and sexual activity with a child.

Jailing him Recorder Quincy Whittaker said: 'You groomed the victim. Your behaviour was abusive, exploitative and harmful to her.'

She said the teenager had suffered 'psychological trauma' that may last her entire life.

Recorder Whittaker said through 'distorted and dysfunctional thinking' Stromfield had managed to convince himself that his sexual attention was in some way helping with girl with her problems at home and self-esteem.

She told Stromfield he must serve at least eight years before being considered for parole and ordered him to pay his victim £5,000 compensation.

Record details

Convicted sex offender James Lorenzo King, (48) of no fixed address, was convicted of multiple counts of indecent assault and gross indecency. The Judge at Preston Crown Court ordered that King’s nine-year sentence would only start after he had served the 13-year sentence he was given at Leeds Crown Court for similar offences in 2019.

Lorraine Widdas, of East CID, said: “King is a dangerous individual who has a clear and sordid sexual interest in young girls. He groomed the victim in this case, made her think they were in a relationship and took advantage of her innocence."

The victim was just 14 when King began grooming her online – boasting that he had previously been in a relationship with a girl of the same age.

King, who was 28 at the time and living in Scarborough, would pick the victim up from school and take her to secluded spots in Darwen and Burnley to have sex in the car, despite knowing she was underage. He would also drive her back to Scarborough.

When the victim told him to stop, King would continue having sex with her.

He would also order her to have sex with his friends and would get angry when she refused, holding a knife to her throat on one occasion.

Record details

A man who sexually abused children on Portland has been jailed.

Predator Roger McColm, aged 82, abused three girls between 1969 and around 1980. 

An investigation began in April 2019 after one of the victims came forward and reported what happened to Dorset Police.

In interview, McColm, of Southwell on Portland,  denied all of the allegations that had been made against him.

He appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on June 13, where he was convicted of four counts of indecent assault, two counts of sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 years old and one count of indecency with a child.

He was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment at Salisbury Crown Court on Friday. 

Victims 'exceptionally brave' 

Detective Constable George Boast, of the Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “All three of the victims in this case have been exceptionally brave in coming forward and speaking to officers about the abuse they suffered.

“I am pleased that following an investigation, McColm was held accountable for his actions, which have had a long-lasting impact on the victims.

“I hope this case shows that no matter when an incident occurred, we will always support victims and carry out detailed enquiries to ensure sexual offenders are brought to justice.”

Record details

A SEX offender who repeatedly raped three women during a catalogue of abuse that spanned two decades was jailed for seven years today.

Clark Thomson carried out attacks on victims in his home town of Paisley and other addresses in Renfrewshire.

Thomson, 45, formerly of Dunard Way, in Paisley, had denied a series of charges during an earlier trial but was found guilty of three offences of rape and a further three crimes of assault.

One of the assaults was to the danger of life of the victim and she also suffered an attack that resulted in severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh that a jury had convicted him of "sustained, serious sexual abuse".

Judge John Morris KC said: "Only a substantial custodial sentence is appropriate in your case."

He told Thomson that statements provided to the court by victims disclosed continuing trauma suffered after his actions.

Thomson began his offending in 2001 at addresses in Paisley, including his former home in Spoolers Road, when he assaulted a woman and subjected her to rape attacks.

He also grabbed her, held her out a window and throttled her. Thomson threatened to pour boiling water over and spat on her face.

He also inflicted injury on her after he repeatedly headbutted, as she held a baby, resulting in her falling to the ground.

Thomson went on to subject a second woman to rapes at an address in Renfrew in 2011 and attacked a third woman who was seized by the body and pushed onto a bed at a house in Lochwinnoch in 2015.

His fourth victim was also subjected to rapes at a house in Johnstone between October 2020 and New Year's Day in 2021.

Defence counsel Joe Barr said that Thomson had previously accepted in his evidence that he could be aggressive.

He said: "He has asked me, even at this late stage, to convey his apologies to the complainers for his behaviour."

Mr Barr told the court: "He understands he will be offered courses and he has assured me he intends to take any opportunity given to him."

Thomson was told that he would be on the sex offenders' register indefinitely following his sentencing.

Record details

Oliver Hough was suspended from his job after he was arrested and charged. Leeds Crown Court heard that the 30-year-old had groped a man whom he was sleeping next to following a new year’s party at a house in Hertfordshire in 2020.

The victim kept telling him to stop and continually had to push him away. Hough later apologised to the man over Snapchat and the police were not called on this occasion.

But on January 14 this year, after a night out in Leeds, a group of friends stayed at Hough’s home on Town Street, Armley.

In the middle of the night, one of the men woke to find his underwear pulled down and Hough kneeling next to the bed performing sex acts on him.

Prosecutor Nick Adlington said the victim pretended to be asleep. Hough was detained by others when it became apparent what he had done, and the police were called. He later gave a no-comment interview, but his saliva was found on the victim.

It later emerged about his previous assault three years ago. Hough admitted three counts of sexual assault and one of digital penetration.

Mitigating, Lee Marklew KC said: “He has lost his career and his work so he has already been punished. He has had the shame of having to front up to colleagues and superiors, let alone all of his family.

"He has had a considerable amount of time to think about his behaviour.”

Mr Marklew described Hough’s conduct during the first assault as a “misplaced confidence”, and he had suffered from severe depression since his arrest. He has since moved back to the midlands with his family and Mr Marklew said that had deep-seated fears, over how he will be treated in custody as a gay man.

Judge Simon Phillips KC jailed him for 43 months and placed him on the sex offender register for life. The Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service website states that Hough is currently subjected to an interim suspension from his job.

Record details

A FLINT man has been branded a sex offender and put behind bars after asking a young girl for sexual pictures of herself.

Ben Gleeson, of Bryn Derw in Flint, appeared at Mold Crown Court for sentence on Monday via video link from HMP Berwyn.

The 36-year-old had been convicted at a previous hearing of engaging in sexual communication with a child.

John Wyn Williams, prosecuting, told the court that the victim had been contacted by Gleeson via social media.

She became upset and spoke to her mother after the defendant made sexualised comments and asked her to send him indecent images of herself.

The messages were reported to the police and when he was arrested, Gleeson made no comment.

Mold Crown Court heard how Gleeson initially pleaded not guilty, but then changed his plea on the day of trial.

He then tried to 'play the system' - postponing the sentencing date by several weeks by having a further change of heart and claiming he was innocent, telling the author of his pre-sentence report as such, and that he intended to apply to vacate his guilty plea.

However, the application wasn't made and according to Max Saffman, defending, Gleeson had finally accepted his guilt.

Mr Saffman told the court: "It was a slightly different Mr Gleeson who was in denial when the pre-sentence report was prepared.

"Alcohol has been at the root of all of his offending including the vast majority of his previous convictions.

"It's something he has struggled with for the entirety of his adult life.

"But he's been in custody for four weeks now and he sees things clearer."

Mr Saffman urged the court to step back from immediate custody, explaining his client wished to use the month he'd already served as a "platform" to "move on from."

He suggested there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation, and that impositions by the court such as a restraining order and notification requirements would safeguard the victim and wider public.

But Judge Rhys Rowlands disagreed, telling Gleeson: "I've read your pre-sentence report, and I'm bound to say it makes depressing reading.

"Despite what Mr Saffman says about you having some insight, I see that with some scepticism.

"I can't ignore the way you have tried to play the system; entering not guilty pleas, changing your mind at the last moment and thereafter blaming your solicitor and saying you weren't guilty, all of which shows precious little remorse on your part."

The Judge said Gleeson's crimes were too serious for anything other than an immediate custodial sentence, jailing him for 10 months.

Gleeson was also sentenced for two other offences - criminal damage and common assault - both of which received no separate penalty given the sexual communication was taken as the lead offence.

He must sign on as a sex offender for 10 years. A restraining order was put in place for five years to protect the victim.

Record details

A paedophile jailed for historic sexual abuse dating back to the 1980s has been branded a “vile monster” by the family of one of his victims.

John Ritchie was snared when one young girl recorded the abuse on her mobile phone and alerted police.

Record details

A paedophile collapsed in the dock moments before he was due to learn his fate from a judge after plotting "fun meets" with girls at an Aldi supermarket.

Shaun Moynihan engaged in lewd discussions with what he believed were 13-year-old children in online chatrooms. But, unbeknown to him, he was actually speaking to undercover police officers.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Friday, that the dad began communicating with a PC posing as a 13-year-old girl on RandoChat on November 3 last year under the name "Anonymous Man 51" and using a photograph of himself as his profile picture. Fiona McNeill, prosecuting, described how he gave his first name and said he was "looking for fun meets".

Moynihan, of Clifford Road in Birkdale, "asked if she had big boobs" and stated he "wouldn't meet her until she was 16 or 18", but then "backtracked and said he would meet up as long as she looked older". The chat then continued on November 8, with the now 52-year-old suggesting that they meet on the coming Saturday.

The messages then became "extremely graphic and highly sexualised", with the defendant asking if she was a "naughty girl" and questioning her on her sexual preferences. Moynihan asked to meet up for sex, stating that he would drive to her location and they could then "go wherever she liked"

He proposed going to a hotel afterwards and said he would buy her underwear. The pervert asked whether she was in school at the time and instructed her to go to the toilet to record a voice note for him.

Moynihan then started a second chat with another decoy, who was also supposedly aged 13, on the same platform that day. But he was again talking to a police officer.

He stated that he was "Shaun from Southport" and again said he was "looking for fun meets". Moynihan suggested meeting at an Aldi store at 6.30pm the same day and asked whether she was "into naughty stuff".

The messaging continued on November 10, with him by now going by the username "Sean, Man, 51". He was reminded of her purported age, but said they could still "kiss and play with each other".

Moynihan detailed sex acts he wanted to perform on her and again suggested meeting at Aldi that night before "taking it from there". He asked her to turn up "without wearing any underwear" and said he would be there "at 6.30pm in his silver car".

Officers subsequently searched Facebook for users called Shaun in the Southport area and identified him from his profile picture. Moynihan was arrested at his workplace on January 16 this year and, after being cautioned, replied: "I have engaged in online chats but never knew they were children."

Under interview, he accepted that he had been chatting to children but "denied any intention of meeting a child" - instead saying that it was "fantasy only". He has no previous convictions.

Moynihan had previously been due to be sentenced on Friday last week, but the case had to be adjourned after he seemingly suffered a panic attack. After entering the dock, he was heard to say that he was "claustrophobic" and began hyperventilating.

The defendant initially appeared to have been calmed down by a security guard, but his state worsened once more when the judge entered the courtroom. The dock officer remarked that she believed he had stopped breathing and Moynihan appeared to fall unconscious, with his head having fallen back as he sat apparently unresponsive.

An ambulance was called, and he was subsequently taken to hospital. His sentencing was adjourned for seven days as a result.

Jeremy Rawson, defending, told the court today: "References speak highly of him. He has kept the support of his family since his arrest.

"He has always worked, either in the care system or in shop work. At the time of the offence, he was working as a salesman in mobility products.

"He is the sole wager supporting the family. His wife is sitting in the public gallery and is supportive of him."

Moynihan admitted two counts of attempting sexual communications with a child, two charges of arranging a child sex offence and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. He put his head in his hands and cried as he was jailed for two years and 11 months and told to sign the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Sentencing, Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said: "You were making persistent efforts to try to meet up. You are someone of fully good character before this offence took place.

"Clearly, you are remorseful. One hopes, given the indication I have seen in this courtroom, that you are able to bear what you have done.

"It seems you were a long time user of chatrooms. Clearly, this is something that led on to what you did.

"You are 52 and the girls, so-called, were 13 years of age. There is no getting away from that fact."

Record details

A paedophile preyed on children in Sefton Park and at a Butlin's holiday park.

Simon Gerrard raped and sexually abused one victim and assaulted another during a course of sickening attacks in the 1990s and 2000s. He was yesterday described by a judge as "dangerous offender" as he was handed a lengthy spell behind bars.

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Thursday afternoon that the now 53-year-old subjected a boy to a campaign of rape and sexual assault over the course of several years. Gerrard, of Cherry Tree Lane in Aughton, was in his late 20s at the time.

David Polglase, prosecuting, had previously described during a trial that he instructed the youngster to perform sexual acts on him and performed sex acts on the complainant himself. One such incident occurred in Sefton Park.

Reading a victim impact statement to the court, he described how he still regularly suffers from flashbacks and nightmares as a result of Gerrard's vile crimes. He added: "These crimes have shattered my sense of security and safety.

"To this day, I live in fear and anxiety. I have been forced to live with these memories and consequences for most of my life."

Gerrard was said to have told him "not to tell anyone about it, otherwise they would both get into trouble". He also sexually assaulted a second child at a Butlin's resort.

A statement which was read to the court on her behalf said: "I should have been able to be a kid and not have a grown man do what he did to me. I didn't deserve anything that has happened to me."

Gerrard was previously handed a community order in 2018 after being caught in a paedophile hunter sting, in which he messaged a decoy account posing as a 12-year-old girl online "if she wanted to have sex". The ECHO reported at the time that he had arranged a meeting at Ormskirk Bus Station, but was confronted by group members and arrested.

The defendant was said to have a congenital brain injury which has caused "lifelong" learning and communication difficulties and left him with "significantly limited intellectual function". Fiona McNeill, defending, also told the court that her client had "developed some health issues" since being remanded into custody.

Gerrard was found guilty of 21 child sexual offences including rape, attempted rape and indecent assault by a jury. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for 14 years and handed an extended five-year licence period.

Sentencing, Judge Stuart Driver KC said: "This was repeated, serious abuse over a period of about four years, which has had a profound effect on your victim's life. You always knew that what you were doing was wrong, and you were careful to do it when no witnesses would be around.

"The combination of the gravity of the offences on the indictment and the evidence of your persisting sexual behaviour towards children causes me to conclude that you represent a significant risk of serious harm to children by the commission of further sexual offences. Your limited insight and understanding of your behaviour and your tendency to deny and minimise it increase that risk.

"You represent a high risk of serious harm to children. I am satisfied that you are a dangerous offender."

Gerrard was also handed restraining orders preventing him from contacting his victims indefinitely and a lifelong sexual harm prevention order. He will be required to sign the sex offenders' register for life.