Search the database
clearly and quickly

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.

Record details

Robert Man, 43, is wanted in his home country to complete a jail sentence for abusing seven youngsters during a three-year period.

Some of his victims were reportedly groomed after he landed a job driving children to a campsite run by a humanitarian charity.

Man is also wanted for possessing indecent images of children. His youngest victim was just nine.

He is currently on bail while appealing an extradition order made by a judge at Westminster Magistrates Court in London in July.

Man wears an electronic tag and is under a 7am to midday curfew at his home in Newport, South Wales, which allows him to do night shifts at an Amazon distribution centre in Bristol.

The retail giant confirmed Man was an employee but refused to say if they were aware of his criminal history. A spokesman said: “We are investigating.”

Alarmingly, Man’s rented room in Newport is just 150 yards from Stow Park Community Centre, which hosts weekly martial arts classes for kids as young as four, as well as children’s parties and clubs for youngsters with autism.

Willie Clason, secretary and trustee of Stow Park, said he did not recognise Man and that he has no connection with the centre.

“We have refugees coming here for food parcels, but they are thoroughly checked,” he said.

One neighbour with children, who did not wish to be named, said they no idea of Man’s past.

“It is terrible that someone wanted for such dreadful things against children is living so close by,” she protested. “We should have been told.”

Man has three years and three months left to serve of a five years and eight months sentence imposed by the County Court in Cluj in his absence in January 2020.

He was originally sentenced to 17 years and four months’ imprisonment after he made admissions to prosecutors in Romania in 2017.

However, Man was released months later after an appeal court ruled there had been errors during the original prosecution and that he “had not been fully entitled to exercise his right to defence.”

A judge set aside his conviction and ordered a retrial, where he was found guilty of eight sexual abuse charges, including five assaults, two counts of soliciting a minor for “sexual acts” and one child pornography offence.

Record details

Nicky Ward, who was also deemed a danger to the public in 2005 after committing a violent robbery, had been staying at the probation-run accommodation, Holbeck House on Springwell View in Holbeck, but was kicked out because of his behaviour in January last year.

The 42-year-old must sign the sex offender register for life and inform police of a change of address within three days. But he failed to do so and was at large after the police’s attempts to contact him proved fruitless.

Leeds Crown Court heard that Ward had contacted another resident at Holbeck House in April of last year to ask about borrowing money. The number was passed to police but he would not respond or answer his phone.

He was eventually arrested on August 30 this year, and said he was living in Sheffield. He admitted breaching the terms of the sex offender register.

Mitigating, Lily Wildman said that during his prison terms and thereafter he had done a “lot of good work” with probation and that his “engagement has been excellent”.

Judge Simon Phillips KC gave Ward a six-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, with 20 rehabilitation days.

Ward had been jailed for six years for rape in 2001, and in October 2005 – having been released after serving half of his sentence – he was jailed indeterminately after he tried to hold up an off-licence in Skegness at knifepoint. He was then jailed for 16 weeks in 2017 for absconding from an open prison in Lincolnshire.

Record details

The owner of The Vintage Store clothes business has been convicted of sexually assaulting a young woman after intimately touching her and telling her: "This is what you want."

Philip Waltham made local and national headlines last year when he revealed that he was previously homeless and had sold copies of the Big Issue in London for three years in the 1990s to escape from his drug-taking past. He went on to set up a popular multi-million pound chain of clothes stores.

He kissed a woman on the lips "full on" and touched her in what seemed to be "sexually motivated" advances towards her, Hull Crown Court heard. Waltham, 46, of Ella Street, Hull, denied three offences of sexual assault against the woman last year, but he was convicted by a jury after a trial. He also denied intimidating another woman, who was a witness in the case this year, and he was cleared of that charge.

Recorder Simon Jackson KC said that the woman claimed that Waltham kissed her on the lips "full on". The prosecution claimed that the kiss was "sexually motivated", but Waltham denied that it happened.

The woman also claimed that Waltham grabbed her jacket and pulled her back towards him before putting his hand on her waist under her jacket. She claimed that he touched her on her hips and told her: "This is what you want." She claimed that he moved his hand towards her bottom.

The woman also claimed that he grabbed her hand and placed it on his private parts when he was seemingly aroused. She had "no romantic or sexual interest" in Waltham, said Recorder Jackson.

The prosecution had claimed that Waltham made "indirect threats" to another woman after an investigation was launched into the sexual assaults. He was said to have asked the second woman: "Do you think I did it?"

Waltham claimed that he was not trying to influence the second woman in any way. He agreed during a police interview that he had spoken to her, but he denied talking about the case.

Recorder Jackson said that Waltham told the jury during his defence evidence that he was in the "fashion business" and was the owner of The Vintage Store, originally based in Hull, but also with stores in places including Sheffield, Liverpool and Newcastle. There was a "huge warehouse" at the former Topshop premises in the St Stephen's shopping centre, Hull.

Waltham claimed that the allegations of sexual assaults by the woman were false and were "lies". He claimed that there had been no physical contact between them.

After the verdicts from the jury, sentence was adjourned for reports and Waltham was allowed bail until the next hearing. An updated victim impact statement will be requested. Waltham was not ordered to register as a sex offender, but he will have to do so at the next hearing.

In an interview published on Hull Live in January last year, Waltham revealed that he sold the Big Issue for three years after running away from his Hull home as a teenager to escape his drug addiction.

He said: "The Big Issue helped me put money in my back pocket and feed myself. They taught me how to respect myself. They taught me how to budget my money and how important a roof was.

"I had to have money to buy Big Issues so I could sell Big Issues and that taught me how to budget. The thing that has saved my life is selling second-hand clothes and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Big Issue."

After three years as a Big Issue vendor in Clerkenwell and Hampstead, London, Waltham opened a market stall in Camden. He said of his sustainable clothes business: "We fight fast fashion. We save clothing from landfills, we go to big factories and take clothing.

"Last year, we saved around 600 tonnes of clothing and then repurposed them to sell on." His firm, Bulk Vintage Wholesale, was turning over more than £9m a year, it was reported at the time of the interview last year.

Record details

A sex offender who abused a young boy in Sheffield in the 1980s/1990s has been jailed for over 16 years.

Michael Copeland, aged 74,  groomed the victim over a number of years when he was aged between eight and 12 years old.

The victim, who is now an adult, bravely reported what had happened to him in November 2022. Copeland, who lived in Sheffield at the time of his offending but later moved to Cornwall, was arrested at his home in Truro. Following a thorough investigation, he pleaded guilty to 15 charges of non-recent sexual abuse.  

At Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday (26 September), Copeland was sentenced to 16 years and six months in prison. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life and made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Investigating officer Wendy Howe, who led the investigation, said: “The victim in this case showed tremendous courage in coming forward to tell us what happened to him when he was a child. I am pleased Copeland has been handed a significant prison sentence for his vile actions and hope it may help the victim to begin to find closure and move on with the rest of his life.

“As this case demonstrates, it is never too late to report sexual abuse to us, even if it happened many years ago. If you have suffered sexual abuse in the past, please tell us. We will investigate and we will pursue justice on your behalf.”

Record details

Warped David Shanks, 75, latched onto the profile, before sending pictures of his genitals and said he would “bring condoms” for the meeting with the supposed 14-year-old boy.

Leeds Crown Court heard that Shanks, of Dewsbury Road, Hunslet, made contact with the fake profile on July 18 via the social-media site for gay people, Hornet.

He sent several messages before the recipient replied, who made it clear they were only 14, but Shanks wanted him to come to Leeds for the weekend “for the gay scene”.

Having traded phone numbers, Shanks asked him if he wanted sex, told him he had contraception and had baby oil “in the fridge” and “could not wait” to meet him, prosecutor Beatrice Allsop told the court.

On August 3, police went to the railway station where they found Shanks near the entrance and arrested him. He told them he was waiting for the 14-year-old boy, but claimed he had no intention of meeting for sex, telling officers during his interview that he had planned to buy him food then put him back on the train. His claim was rejected by Judge Simon Batiste.

Appearing in court from HMP Leeds, where he has been held since his arrest, he admitted attempting to meet a child under 16 after grooming, and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. He has no previous convictions.

Mitigating, Michael Morley said: “He is not the first man to find himself in this position. Despite entering guilty pleas he has struggled to come to terms with the position he has landed himself in. He has never been in trouble before.

"He has worked from the ae of 16 to 74. He accepts that he does need help.”

Judge Batiste jailed him for 26 months, gave him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use and put him on the sex offender register for the same period.

He told Shanks: “It was not simple fantasy because you went to the railway station to meet him. It’s clear your intention was for sexual activity.”