Latest Offenders

Description

A man has been jailed after he abused the trust placed in him to sexually assault a child.

William Powell, 66 (29.12.1954) of East Ham Manor Way, Beckton, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday, 13 December. He is also subject to a lifetime Sexual Harm Protection Order.

He was found guilty at the same court on Thursday, 17 June of two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under 13 by touching.

The court heard that in May 2018, allegations of sexual abuse were made against Powell.

These allegations related to incidents that occurred between July 2016 and November 2016 at his home address when he was looking after the victim.

They disclosed the abuse to a youth practitioner on 15 May 2018. Following this, a report was made to the police who launched an investigation.

Powell, who often referred to himself as Bill, was identified by officers and interviewed - he was never arrested as he was already in prison for a separate offence.

On 14 July 2020, he was charged with sexual assault of a female, under 13 by touching.

Detective Sergeant Emma Stockman, the investigating officer from East Area's CID, said: "Powell abused the trust placed in him, and his offences are truly shocking. The sentence reflects the seriousness of the actions of a dangerous and predatory offender.

"I thank the victim for having the strength and courage to come forward. Without this, his abuse may well have continued and impacted on further victims. The trauma that victims suffer can last a lifetime. I hope that the verdict brings the victim some closure, so that they can begin to rebuild their life.

"Given the predatory nature of Powell's offending, there is a possibility that he abused other children. We urge any further victims to contact police right away – a specially trained team of detectives are ready to listen and support you."

Description

A convicted sex offender who was caught with hundreds of indecent pictures of children was jailed.

Christopher Watts, 50, was arrested when police raided his Widnes home in April after receiving intelligence that he was searching for vile content online.

When police searched a number of devices that belonged to Watts they found hundreds of indecent pictures of children.

Yesterday Watts appeared at Liverpool Crown Court and pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images, two counts of possessing indecent images and one count of possessing a prohibited image.

Simon Duncan, prosecuting, told the court that Watts had 109 Category A pictures of children of the most serious type and 143 Category B pictures. Watts' collection also included a small number of extreme images which included child rape and bestiality.

Mr Duncan explained that Watts denied having images of child sexual exploitation when interviewed by police in April after a raid at his home address on Hambleton Close.

However Watts was re-arrested in November which led to him being charged.

Judge Gary Woodall, who jailed Watts for two and a half years, said the Widnes man had been using the 'dark web'.

Judge Woodall said: "You were using peer to peer sites and clearly involved in the dark web. Many of the images found were thumbnail stills of videos which had been deleted."

The judge said that some of the images found on Watts' devices were extreme.

He said: "Some of these stills showed pictures of very young children being raped."

Judge Woodall said there was evidence that Watts had a "sexual interest in young children."

He told Watts, who appeared on video link from HMP Altcourse, that he would serve half his sentence in prison and the remainder on licence.

He also made Watts subject to a sexual harm prevention order.

Jeremy Rawson, defending, told the court that Watts grew up in Guildford and moved to Runcorn when he was a child.

Mr Rawson said that Watts left school at 18, attended a YTS course and worked as a painter and decorator. Watts later completed a computer course and gained a full time job with BT.

He said that Watts had no history of substance abuse and had gained a job in the laundry at Altcourse prison.

Mr Duncan told the court that in 2015 Watts was convicted of four counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child.

Watts was jailed for 10 years after being found guilty following a trial at Guildford Crown Court.

The victim, whose identity was protected, told the court that Watts made her feel "disgusting and dirty."

She said that Watts told her that he would harm her family if she reported him to the authorities.

When he was 15 Watts was convicted after pleading guilty of indecent assault by simulating sexual intercourse with a two and a half year old girl.

Description

This is the hate filled face of a twisted teenager who raped a 13-year-old girl. "Highly dangerous" Shaun Bennett raped his vulnerable victim in woodland, just weeks after meeting her online. The 15-year-old later subjected her to a second sex attack, then threatened her on Instagram when she went to the police. Now aged 18, a judge branded him "utterly shameful and wicked" when locking him up for seven and a half years. Merseyside Police said they didn't have a mugshot of Bennett, because he voluntarily attended an interview. But we can now reveal the face of the sexual predator and his furious rant in a foul-mouthed Snapchat video. The ECHO understands Bennett filmed the clip in response to being accused of being a rapist by another teen. The expletive-laden clip shows him screaming and using a homophobic slur, which we have censored. He then yells: "Get Liverpool right now, I'm telling you lad, get f*****g Liverpool right now!" Bennett, formerly of Liscard, Wallasey, but now of Bishopgate Street, Wavertree, added to his victim's suffering by denying any wrongdoing for more than two years. Just a week before a trial - and four days before his 18th birthday in September - he finally pleaded guilty to rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration. However, a judge said the vile teen hadn't shown any remorse, had a "misogynistic approach to young women" and "finds it funny causing someone to be upset". Bennett already had a conviction for sexually abusing a young girl when he was aged just 14, for which he received a 12-month referral order in 2018. In 2019 he was caught with a knife. For possessing a bladed article, common assault and battery he was handed a Youth Rehabilitation Order. That summer, he befriended his 13-year-old victim online. Ben Jones, prosecuting, said the girl went out with friends one night, when she met up with Bennett and headed to parkland in Wirral. He took her into secluded woods, pushed her against a wall and tried to pull her pants down, despite her rejecting his sexual advances. Recorder Ian Unsworth, QC, said it was a "carefully planned" and "horrific" attack. The judge said the young victim "said no and meant no", but Bennett was "consumed by desire" and treated the victim with "utter contempt". Bennett called her a "d**** little c***" and despite her trying to push him off, he raped her. The court heard the victim was subjected to a further "vile and wholly self-centred" sexual assault just days later. Recorder Unsworth said: "She was, relatively speaking, significantly younger than you. "I have no doubt that at the time, she looked up to you. "You were grooming and targeting her and making her believe you had a significant romantic interest." The judge said Bennett had downed "large quantities of neat vodka" before carrying out his sick attack. He said the traumatised girl was "too scared to tell anyone" but later confided in a school counsellor and a report was made to police. Recorder Unsworth told the rapist: "Her bravery contrasts with your cowardice." The judge said Bennett knew what he did was "very wrong and very serious" and hoped by threatening the girl she wouldn't report him, but he "couldn't have been more wrong". In a victim statement, the girl said she is now scared of boys and she was made to feel "disgusting and vile", having changed her appearance as a result. Recorder Unsworth said: "She wrongly blamed herself for what happened and feels she has let her family down. She couldn't be more wrong." Andrew McInnes, defending, previously told the court Bennett had been physically and psychologically abused as a child. He said his client had limited contact with his dad, some contact with one set of grandparents, and no contact with his mum - none of whom were in court. Mr McInnes said Bennett - sitting in the dock with his long hair covering his face - had difficulty communicating and "complex vulnerabilities". He quoted a report from a member of Wirral Youth Offending Service, which said: "Shaun is a young man who has experienced significant childhood trauma. "He's grown up in a dysfunctional household with a lack of positive attachment, which has led to him existing in survival mode for much of his childhood. "He is a deeply troubled young man who requires significant professional intervention to move away from an egocentric, defensive position and progress into an insightful and responsible approach, allowing for meaningful change and recognition of the harm he's caused." Recorder Unsworth accepted Bennett had a "difficult upbringing" and "suffered significant childhood trauma". But he said aggravating features of the disturbing case heavily outweighed any mitigation at his disposal. He said: "You have shown no remorse for what you did. "It is only hoped as the years go by, you reflect on these utterly shameful and wicked things you did to her." The judge was required by law to sentence Bennett based on his age at the time of the attacks, which limited his sentencing powers. However, he said: "I'm abundantly satisfied there is significant risk you will commit further offences, and in doing so cause serious physical and psychological harm to someone or multiple people. "You are a highly dangerous young man." Recorder Unsworth locked Bennett up for seven and a half years, with an extended five years on licence. This type of sentence means Bennett must serve at least two thirds of the custodial term - five years - behind bars. He will only be released before the end of the sentence if the Parole Board no longer considers him to be a risk. Recorder Unsworth told Bennett to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Description

A MAN who blackmailed young girls into sending him sexually explicit photos and videos saying “listen to me, or else” has been jailed for seven years.

Callum Sellers told one teenager he was a 17-year-old photographer from Yorkshire with an interest in railway engines before persuading her to send him topless images, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

Then he pestered her for more, threatening to send the pictures he already had to her mother, prosecutor Nick Adlington said.

The girl, who was 15 and from a different part of the country, was blackmailed into sending Sellers videos of her performing sex acts on herself.

He messaged: “Tick-tock, hurry up,” and “how badly do you want the pics deleted?” leaving her crying, shaking and feeling utterly degraded.

She told a friend what had happened and then a teacher and her mother were alerted.

Sellers, 21, formerly of West Bowling, Bradford, now in HMP Leeds, had 1,624 indecent images of children on his phones when they were seized by the police in November last year.

He went on to plead guilty to a total of 24 offences of possession of indecent photo-graphs at Categories A, B and C; inciting or attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity and making an unwarranted demand for sexual images and videos with menaces.

Mr Adlington said other threatening messages to Sellers’ victims included “let me see you or else” and “Do as I say or I’ll post it because I know your Facebook.”

Hundreds of indecent images of different girls from around the country were found on his phones. Some were traced but others couldn’t be found, the court was told.

One girl, who was 15 at the time, said in her victim impact statement: “I still feel rubbish.”

She had panic attacks and nightmares and stated: “I feel guilty like it’s my fault and I shouldn’t have been so stupid.”

Sellers’ barrister, Victoria Smith-Swain, said he was of previous good character and had just turned 20 at the time he began offending.

He had worked as a picker/packer at a warehouse and his interests included photography and railway engines.

Sellers had traits associated with autism, including highly restricted interests. He felt lonely outside of work and began to engage with girls over Snapchat. His sexual interest in them became obsessional and helped to manage his depression, the court was told.

He had written a letter of apology to his victims expressing his remorse and conceding that his behaviour had been “degrading and debilitating” for them.

Sellers had been working in prison as a painter while on remand since March, Miss Smith-Swain said.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC, said Sellers groomed, pestered and intimidated the 15-year-old into sending the explicit videos of herself.

She had the presence of mind to take screenshots of his messages and hand them to the police.

In all, there were 92 images of young girls on Sellers’ phones. Several were identified by the police and contacted, Judge Mansell said.

Sellers sent threatening messages to some of the girls, including “ignoring me now?” before demanding more explicit images.

Two of the girls were just 13 at the time Sellers targeted them.

One girl pleaded: “OMG delete it. You said you’d leave me alone” while another told him: “Stop, please, you’re ruining my life completely.”

Judge Mansell said Sellers’ demands could have led girls to self-harm or even commit suicide because of the psychological damage he had done to them.

But he was just 20 at the time and very immature, with developmental difficulties from childhood. He became “obsessed if not addicted” to gaining sexual gratification from the images, Judge Mansell said.

He warned Sellers he was “right on the cusp of being deemed dangerous,” and receiving an extended sentence of imprisonment.

A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was made for an indefinite period and Sellers must sign on the sex offender register, also indefinitely.

Judge Mansell made a restraining order banning him from having any future contact with any of his victims.

He told Sellers to reflect long and hard on the damage he had caused to the girls.

Description

Kirsty Nicholls admitted working with Elahi to make indecent images of a child and also sexually assaulting a child Kirsty Nicholls, 35, of Northolt, west London, who admitted working with Elahi to make indecent images of a child, was jailed for six years and nine months. Nicholls met Elahi on a so-called sugar daddy website, targeting financially desperate women. "You committed these offences with Elahi - your offending was motivated entirely by financial gain," the judge told Nicholls. "The offences are so serious that only an immediate sentence of custody can follow."

Description

A sadistic online blackmailer has been jailed for 32 years after targeting nearly 2,000 people globally to commit some of the most sickening sexual offending the National Crime Agency has ever investigated.

Abdul Hasib Elahi, 26, masqueraded as a stockbroker or rich businessman on sugar daddy websites and promised payments of thousands of pounds for naked or partially clothed images.

He singled out victims who were in debt or too young to legitimately be on the sites and tricked them into sending him photographs.

He also targeted some victims on social media.

Elahi, of Sparkhill, Birmingham, sent fake screenshots of money leaving his account in similar transactions to convince victims.

As soon as possible, Elahi moved victims onto WhatsApp - which is protected by end-to-end encryption - and away from the websites he met them on.

When he received enough revealing images he threatened to expose the pictures to the victims' families and friends unless they sent more increasingly horrendous photographs and videos.

Elahi's horrific offences included forcing victims to abuse themselves in sickening ways including self-mutilation, blackmailing women to send him footage of them abusing young children and making girls abuse siblings.

Some of the victims were so terrified they felt they had no choice but to comply.

The National Crime Agency investigation showed there were at least 196 victims in the UK and that he had contacted at least 600 people online in the UK.

Elahi had also tried to contact 1,367 women in the United States and there were also victims in 20 other countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The Agency worked with international partners to safeguard those Elahi had contacted.

Elahi systematically categorised all the abuse within cloud storage sites.

He then sold the content as 'box sets' through the cloud and via the encrypted app Telegram making more than £25,000.

That resulted in further misery for the victims, with their family and friends becoming aware, and often with more offenders trying to blackmail them again.

Unemployed Elahi admitted 158 charges - all committed between 1 January 2017 and 7 August 2020 - in separate hearings at Birmingham Crown Court this year.

The charges include multiple counts of blackmail, disclosing private sexual films and photographs to cause distress, making and distributing indecent images of children, encouraging the sexual assault of children, sexually assaulting a boy, causing or inciting children to engage in sexual activity, fraud and possessing more than 65,000 indecent images of children (IIOC) – including babies being raped.

There were 72 victims on the indictment.

Their ages ranged from eight months to adults.

Where they could be identified, all have been safeguarded.

National Crime Agency officers arrested Elahi on 19 December 2018 following an allegation he was blackmailing a 15-year-old girl in America. His mobile phone and computers were seized and forensically examined.

The complex investigation involved work across multiple foreign jurisdictions. He was charged by the Crown Prosecution Service and remanded in August 2020.

As Elahi he was sentenced today at Birmingham Crown Court, a series of victim impact statements were read.

One victim – a schoolgirl at the time of the offences – said she tried to take a paracetamol overdose after learning Elahi had uploaded her images to Twitter.

It was 12 months after she had sent him images that she received messages on her phone one morning showing her images online.

She said: "I still think about these incidents often which makes me sad.

"I would say for two years this person has ruined my life, I was heartbroken. I remember my 16th birthday, I spent the night crying, I was severely depressed.

"I had to basically pick up the pieces of my life and glue them back together.

"I am trying to move on but I find it very hard, I feel that this will be with me for the rest of my life."

Another teenage victim said: "Knowing that this cancerous polyp of a human being has been caught gives me great relief. To know his vile reign of terror is over gives me relief.

"I am however shaken to my soul and completely horrified that I was part of this. I have a feeling of dread when I think about it that I can't even describe and it will never leave me."

Another victim said she considered taking her own life and is now on medication for anxiety and depression and is constantly worried that videos of her will emerge online again.

"I wish that this had never happened to me," she said.

"I hope I can put this behind me and get on with the rest of my life."

Tony Cook, NCA Head of CSA operations, said: "Abdul Elahi is a depraved sadist who got sexual gratification through power and control over his victims whom he often goaded to the point of wanting to kill themselves.

"He has wrecked lives and families.

"NCA investigators were horrified by what Elahi had done and stunned by the industrial scale of his worldwide offending.

"The effects on the victims in this case will continue throughout the rest of their lives.

"I commend them for their bravery and I urge anyone who is being abused online to report it. There is help available.

"There are very many offenders like Elahi who mask their real identities with convincing personas to exploit both children and adults.

"It's vital that parents speak with their children about who they communicate with online and what they share.

"These offences can happen to anyone.

"We thank our international partners especially the FBI for the support given to us on this case."

The NCA investigation sparked a series of other inquiries into Elahi's associates.

Several other men have been convicted.

Sophie Mortimer of the Revenge Porn Helpline said: "This is a long-awaited day for Elahi's very many victims.

"The Revenge Porn Helpline has been working for two and half years and has removed 135,000 individual images on behalf of those affected, equalling a 90% takedown rate.

"We hope that every person affected by this feels some small sense of closure today, we know that their priority is the removal of this content. We will continue to work in the weeks and months ahead to report this content and we would encourage anyone with any concerns about their own images to get in touch with us and we will do everything we can to offer advice and support."

A second defendant Kirsty Nicholls, 36, of Northolt, Middlesex, also admitted offences.

She knew Elahi from a sugar daddy website and together they admitted two sexual assaults against a child and both admitted making indecent images of the child.

She was sentenced to six years and nine months.

Description

Police have praised the bravery of a King's Lynn teenager who was groomed and raped by a man who has been jailed for 25 years.

Investigators branded Florian Petrica Calin, 39, a "determined and calculated" abuser after he was sentenced for three charges of rape against the 14-year-old girl in 2019.

The Romanian man, who lived in Sir Lewis Street in King's Lynn, was found guilty following a trial in October.

Calin, who had denied all charges, was found not guilty of a further three charges of rape, plus one of making threats to kill.

Appearing at Norwich Crown Court on Friday to be sentenced, Calin, who spoke through a Romanian interpreter, was jailed for 25 years for rape.

Judge Maureen Bacon also sentenced him to 10 years to be served concurrently for two further charges of rape.

Calin was placed on the sex offender register for life and told he faces deportation back to Romania upon release from prison.

Norfolk police said his victim had shown courage throughout the lengthy investigation into the abuse she had suffered.

Investigating officer, DC Carl Richie, said: "Calin systematically groomed and abused this victim in a determined and calculated manner.

"He completely destroyed the trust of those around him after he continued to abuse a child for his own perverted needs.

"I would like to commend the victim, who has shown great strength and courage throughout this investigation and I hope this sentence provides them with some closure."

Description

Boots shop assistant, Bethany Funnell repeatedly pleaded for Chinwem Nwachuku to leave her alone.

However, on multiple occasions, he turned up at her store in Above Bar Street making comments about her appearance and making her feel uncomfortable.

Prosecution barrister, Richard Martin, told how the defendant was asked several times to leave Boots despite being banned.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Nwachuku looked Miss Funnell up and down and told her "you know you're my type".

Mr Martin told how the incident left the victim scared to walk through Southampton on her own.

In her victim personal statement dated from October this year, Miss Funnell said: "When this man started stalking me, I said that I was 'concerned for my welfare as I do not know where his boundaries lie,' I can tell you today that I am no longer concerned for my welfare, I am terrified."

She added: "I should be able to go about my day-to-day life without having to call my mum in hysterics because I'm scared... without my dad telling me that I need to leave my place of employment, as I am no longer safe there... without my partner having to continuously listen to my worries."

During a separate occasion, involving another victim, the defendant went into a store in Westquay - where he was also banned - and approached an assistant.

After asking for her name and number, Nwachuku touched the woman's hair telling her "you're nice" and "you have a nice shape to you".

Appearing before Southampton Crown Court, he was charged with sexual assault, and stalking without fear/alarm/distress.

He was found guilty of stalking but admitted to the charge of sexual assault.

The 40-year-old had been living with his brother in Southampton at the time of the offences during the summer of last year.

However, he now lives with his mother in Vale Road, Finsbury Park, London.

Defending, David Kemeny said a sentence would be best severed by his client learning how to talk to women and how to talk to other people in a respectful way.

Judge Nicholas Rowland jailed him for ten months, however, suspended the sentence for two years.

Nwachuku must complete 150 hours of unpaid work, 31, sessions on the Horizon programme and ten rehabilitation activity days.

He has also been made the subject of a restraining order not to contact his victims.

Description

A dangerous sex offender has been jailed for grooming a teenager he met online.

Christopher Johns, a 40-year-old farmer from Barnstaple, told the child he was 20, Exeter Crown Court heard.

He lavished her with gifts, including lingerie, sent her explicit photos and persuaded her to meet him.

During eight visits he groped, kissed and engaged in sexual activity with the 15-year-old girl. He was so convinced of his control over the child that he boasted to a friend online about seeing her.

Johns has a history of targeting young girls and was known to authorities as a dangerous offender.

Back in 2011 he was convicted of similar offences against a 14-year-old girl. He was jailed then for four years and has since received help and support from probation and a sex offender course.

Mr Herc Ashworth, defending, said Johns was a lonely, 'simple' man who led a secluded existence with only his elderly mother and dogs for company. His loneliness had increased during lockdown. The offending was limited to a five week period. He knew he had done wrong and was sorry.

The defendant, of Lyndhurst Avenue, admitted nine offences, including sexual activity with a child, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, communicating with a child to commit a sexual offence, and breaching the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He was jailed for five years and three months with a further extended licence period of five years.

Judge Peter Johnson said: "In 2011 you were convicted of offences of a very similar type. You were convicted of sexual activity with a female child involving penetration and for that, after a successful appeal at the Court of Appeal, were given an extended sentence of seven years - four custodial and three extended.

"You were also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and were subject to that when you committed these offences."

He said within two days of meeting the girl online he was bombarding her with sexually explicit messages, despite knowing she was just 15.

He sent her sexual images and she did the same.

"You also bombarded her with a substantial number of presents, including a mobile phone and lingerie and make-up," said the judge.

"This was all part of the grooming. 

"It was all towards one aim - so you could engage in sexual activity with her."

He said he had considered the question of whether Johns posed a danger to the public.

A risk assessment tool had assessed Johns as posing just a nine per cent risk of offending again in the next two years.

Judge Johnson said he could not agree with the low assessment and neither did probation. The court in 2011 had also found him dangerous. Judge Johnson said Johns had known the child was 15 but still met her in breach of his SHPO.

"I do find you to be dangerous still."

Johns must serve five years and three months in prison before being released. He will then be subject to the extended five year licence period in the community.

The defendant was made subject to a SHPO order banning his contact with girls under 16 and limiting his use of internet devices.

Description

Ryan Marshall abused a teen from the Southampton area.

His actions left her with diagnoses for anxiety, PTSD and depression.

Prosecution barrister, Rose Burns, told how on one occasion the defendant met his victim at Eastleigh Train Station.

The two then went to a field where they had sex.

However, Marshall threatened to send out intimate pictures of her.

He even pressured her into having sex with someone else.

When he was finally arrested, police seized a number of devices found to have a stash of indecent images of his victim.

Ms Burns read out the girl's victim personal statement which stated how the abuse had started when she was "only 12-years-old".

Furthermore, she said how Marshall made her do things she never wanted to do.

he expressed how she "was terrified and scared and could not tell anyone anything".

The girl said: "I feel like you have destroyed the person I was."

Appearing before Southampton Crown Court, Marshall, 24, was charged with four counts of sexual activity with a child and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also stood to be sentenced for grooming, attempting to incite sexual activity with a child, possession of indecent images of children and malicious communications.

He pleaded guilty to the offences which happened between 2018 and June 2019.

Defending, Alejandra Tascon, said that her client had lived an "isolated and secluded life" and didn't have any friends.

She told how Marshall spent the majority of his teenage years looking after his mother.

iss Tascon added: "He should have known better, and he should have stopped because she was a child."

However, Marshall "felt they were in a relationship. He cared for her, and he loved her".

Judge Nicholas Rowland jailed him for a total of three years and nine months.

Marshall, of Caymer Road, Scarborough, was handed a ten-year sexual harm prevention order and must register as a sex offender for life.

Description

A sex attacker who raped a vulnerable teenager before committing a further rape on another victim has been jailed for seven years.

Andrew Brannan assaulted his first victim after the 16-year-old had been drinking in 2003.

He pretended to her mum that he would sober her up but raped her at a house in Buckhaven, Fife.

The 41-year-old struck again four years later when he attacked another woman, aged 21, at a house in Methil, Fife, when she was asleep.

A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh: “On her evidence you acknowledged the next morning that you had done wrong.”

Lord Braid said the offence was aggravated by Brannan telling the victim that there was no point going to the police because she would not be believed.

Brannan had earlier denied raping the teenager between May and July in 2003 and assaulting and raping the second woman between April 23 and May 31 in 2007 but was found guilty of both offences.

The court heard that he continued to deny the charges a jury convicted him of committing.

Defence solicitor advocate Iain Paterson said: “He is entitled to maintain his innocence as he has done.”

He said the dad-of-three was assessed as posing low risk of similar offending.

The court heard that Brannan, who was earlier remanded in custody, has not previously served a jail sentence 

Lord Braid told Brannan that following the sentencing he would be placed on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period.

Detective Constable Kenny Watt said: “The young women who agreed to testify against him have shown enormous courage from the time of being approached by the police to having to give evidence in court and their actions means Brannan will now face the consequences of his actions.

“We hope this outcome will help them and their families to move forward.

“I hope the bravery shown by the victim will encourage others who have suffered to come forward. 

“We will thoroughly investigate all reports of sexual offences to bring perpetrators of these crimes to justice.”

Description

A man has been jailed for his role in arranging the sexual exploitation of a teenager.

Trevor Webb, 38, met the victim online and she was then taken to hotels and other addresses in King's Lynn where she had sexual encounters with other men.

Norwich Crown Court heard the teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, received money in exchange for acts carried out by the victim.

Nicola May, prosecuting, said "some of those encounters had been very concerning" in that they had gone "beyond what had been agreed".

Webb, of Dobby Drive, King's Lynn, appeared at court on Tuesday (December 7) to be sentenced after previously admitting two counts of arranging to facilitate the sexual exploitation of a child between February and April 2018.

He had also previously admitted making an indecent image of a child between January and June 2018.

Stephen Spence, mitigating, said his client should be given credit for his pleas.

He claimed his client was essentially a man of good character who had suffered a "significant and substantial" delay in the case.

He said: "He's had these proceedings hanging over him for some three years now" adding that he was now signed off work as a result of being unwell due to it.

Mr Spence added: "This is a man who has suffered, not insignificantly, by not knowing what his fate was."

Sentencing Webb to a total of 22 months in prison, Judge Maureen Bacon said he had taken advantage of the victim who had been troubled and vulnerable.

Judge Bacon said she accepted he had entered guilty pleas and that there had been delays in the case due to necessary research into the case and the pandemic, but insisted a custodial sentence was necessary.

Webb was also made the subject of a restraining order, meaning he cannot contact the victim directly, or indirectly until further order.

He must also sign on the sex offenders' register for the next 10 years.

Description

Teenage sex offender Tristan Shaughnessy was caught living in the same house as three children.

The 19-year-old had stayed over at a neighbour's address for four days without telling the police.

And he also set up a Facebook account in the name Jay Shaughnessy.

It meant he breached the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register after being handed a conditional caution last September.

Now Shaughnessy has been sentenced to a 12-month community order with 60 hours unpaid work at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Ben Lawrence said the defendant was given a conditional caution on September 27 last year with conditions not to stay for more than 12 hours at an address with children without notifying the police and to inform them of any social media names.

Mr Lawrence said the neighbour felt betrayed when she found out what had happened.

Shaughnessy, of Tiverton Road, Berryhill, pleaded guilty to three offences of failing to comply with notification requirements.

Barry White, mitigating, said the defendant, who has 10 siblings, did not commit any offences while at the neighbour's address. He added Shaughnessy is remorseful and understands he needs to comply with the order.

Judge Paul Glenn said: "You are 19. It is a high time you grew up. You pleaded guilty promptly and the breaches are far from being the most serious of their type. You stayed with your next door neighbour on a couple of occasions. There is no suggestion you behaved inappropriately.

"If you keep following the terms of the notification requirements you will not have any issues at all. You have to make sure the police are made aware of any change of address or the setting up of any social media accounts.

"I do not think that these matters merit a custodial sentence."

Shaughnessy was ordered to pay 150 costs.

Description

A navy sailor was yesterday convicted of raping a female colleague after a prosecco-fuelled 'naked mess' party.

Able Seaman William Stewart attacked the woman after she stripped down to her bra, showered her half-naked male shipmates in fizz and 'crashed' on his bed.

The pair were part of a group of sailors who had been out celebrating her birthday before returning to a Holiday Inn, Bulford Military Court heard.

Several sailors took their tops off and were sprayed with prosecco after someone shouted 'naked mess' before the woman went with Stewart to another room to get changed.

The victim said she later woke up to find the 26-year-old engineering technician 'fondling' her breasts. She said he then sexually assaulted a male sailor on the other side of the bed before raping her.

Stewart was found guilty of rape, assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity. He will be sentenced later this month.

The incident took place during a night out in the North-East while the sailors' ship was undergoing maintenance.

Prosecuting, Wing Commander Michael Saunders said: 'AB Stewart had recently joined the ship. They all had a significant amount to drink. [The female victim] was given a bottle of prosecco, as it was her birthday.

'[Videos from the conference room] show [her] pouring the prosecco over herself and onto some males with their tops off on the floor. One of them was AB Stewart.'

Giving her evidence, the female sailor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court: 'It was my birthday the day after. We were celebrating that and a couple of people were promoted, so we were celebrating that, too.

'We were all having drinks and everybody was having a good time. [Later on] we were all in the conference room, and we ordered pizza.

Naked mess' was shouted - it was just tops off... we all had a bit of the prosecco and I got a bit wet [from] the alcohol.

'I remember people laying on the floor when I had the prosecco... I was stood up with the bottle.'

The 'scared and confused' woman later awoke to Stewart, an engineering technician she hardly knew, 'fondling' her breasts and touching her.

She said Stewart then moved to the other side of the bed and sexually assaulted a male sailor who was also asleep before returning to her.

Stewart told the court martial all sexual activity with the sailors was consensual and instigated by them.

Description

An army cadet instructor who raped a "blind drunk" woman then boasted about what he had done has been jailed.

Robert Wilkinson forced himself on the victim when she was so intoxicated she had thrown up.

A court heard she became aware of having had clothing removed and being abused by the 22-year-old.

Wilkinson, of Newcastle, denied rape and sexual assault but was found guilty by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court and has now been jailed for seven years.

Sentencing him, Judge Penny Moreland said: "(She) was extremely drunk, she was vomiting.

"She was blind drunk. That's the state of the girl you sexually assaulted and raped.

"She was particularly vulnerable.

"You then boasted of what you had done to her in a text to your friend on the way home."

When originally questioned by police, Wilkinson denied any sexual activity took place then when presented with scientific proof that it had, he changed his story and claimed it had been consensual, an account jurors rejected.

As well as the prison sentence, Wilkinson will be on the sex offenders register for life and will be barred from working with vulnerable adults or children.

Annelise Haugstad, defending, said he was of previous good character.