Search the database
clearly and quickly

Description

A man has been jailed for four years and three months after being convicted of a sexual offence in Edinburgh.

Antonio Pollio, 24, pleaded guilty to the offence involving a young female at the High Court in Edinburgh on Monday, 21 August, 2023.

He was sentenced at the same court on Thursday, 28 September.

Detective Inspector Mhairi Cooper said: Antonio Pollio is a dangerous man who manipulated and coerced a young female. He will now face the consequences of his actions.

"We treat all reports of sexual crime seriously and I would urge anyone who has been a victim to come forward, no matter how much time has passed, and report it to police.

"Be assured, we will fully investigate and you will be supported by police and our partner agencies.

Description

A former school caretaker who targeted seven children in a 20-year campaign of sexual abuse has been jailed for life and warned he may never be set free again.

John Lyon, 50, sat hunched over on a videolink to the Old Bailey on Friday as he was sentenced for the rape and abuse of a girl which started when she was just 11-years-old.

It was the third time Lyon had been hauled before a court to be sentenced, and comes 10 years after he was first sent to prison.

Imposing a life sentence with a 15-year minimum term, Judge Brian Cummings KC said Lyon’s offending “amounts to a campaign on your behalf of extremely serious child sexual offending, committed over a period of nearly 20 years.

It involves seven young children”, he said, adding: “The question of whether you may be released is a question to be decided by the parole board, and there’s absolutely no guarantee you will ever be released from prison.”

Lyon previously worked as a caretaker for twelve years at St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School in Churchbury Lane, Enfield.

The Old Bailey heard Lyon was first jailed in 2013 over the sexual abuse of children aged six and seven, where he “used his position as a caretaker” to commit offences.

He was handed a 12-year prison sentence, and in 2021 he was back before the courts for the sexual abuse of four more children, including one aged just four-years-old.

He was then sentenced to an 11-year prison term, and his seventh victim then came forward to police to reveal abuse she suffered in the early 2000s.

Prosecutor Tim Starkey said the girl was 11-years-old when the abuse started, and by the time she was 13 Lyon had started raping her.

She said she lost count of the number of times she was raped”, he said.

Lyon first groped the girl during the pretext of a game of hide and seek, and she recalled to police how he had once taken her to a cabin in a forest for sex.

“She described being scared and said the defendant knew she was scared”, said Mr Starkey.

She described the cabin as “horrible, muddy, damp, and dirty”.

The victim sat in court for the sentencing hearing, and said in an impact statement: “He groomed me to be able to exploit me for his own selfish, repulsive urges.”

The court heard a report in 2021 found Lyon – after more than seven years in prison – continued to pose a risk of sexual offending.

“He can’t acknowledge any sexual attraction to female children and blamed substance misuse”, it said.

Lyon pleaded guilty to four counts of rape and seven counts of indecent assault.

Detective Constable Andri Andreou of the North Area Command Unit who led the investigation said: “There is no doubt John Lyon is a dangerous sexual predator who will always pose a significant risk to children. The safest option for all is that he spends years of his life in prison.

“The trauma he has caused this victim is so significant that some 20 years on she is still dealing with the aftermath of his actions and the damage he has caused.

Description

A man who formerly edited both the Independent on Sunday and New Statesman has been sentenced for making indecent images of children.

Peter Wilby, 78, was arrested by the National Crime Agency (NCA) at his home in Essex in October.

Wilby admitted to officers he had a sexual interest in children and had been viewing indecent images since the 90s, while employed by national titles.

He was given a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for two years.

Investigators found 167 indecent images of children, 22 of which were Category A images, the most serious.

'Betrayed trust'

He admitted three charges of making indecent images of children at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Adam Sprague, operations manager at the NCA, said: "The material accessed by Wilby and recovered from his computer showed real children being cruelly and sexually abused.

"He was viewing this content while working as the editor of prominent national news outlets, a role in which he was entrusted to form the news agenda for the British public. A trust which he has greatly betrayed."

Wilby was also given a rehabilitation requirement of 40 hours is subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and was placed on the sex offenders register for five years.

A New Statesman spokesperson said: "The New Statesman staff and management had no knowledge of Wilby's arrest or charges before they were reported and are shocked and appalled to learn of these horrifying crimes.

"Wilby was New Statesman editor from 1998 to 2005, and remained a contributor."

Description

A dangerous predator has been sentenced after pleading guilty to seven counts of child sex offences at Guildford Crown Court on Monday (14 August).

Stephen Powell, 42 (DOB 15/04/81), of no fixed address, was sentenced to three years in prison after he was reported to police for grooming a teenage girl online. As well as the prison sentence, he was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), with prohibitions. 

Powell was arrested the same day the report was received in April 2020. A search of his electronic devices showed that he was sending sexualised messages via Facebook Messenger to a teenage girl who lived in Surrey. In the messages Powell encouraged the girl to send sexualised images of herself.

He later pleaded guilty to seven counts of child sex offences including two counts of making an indecent photograph of a child, two counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a child and engaging in sexual communication with a child.

Detective Ed Davies, who investigated the case, said: “I hope that this case shows that sex offenders who target children online can expect a knock on the door from officers at any time, and that they will be held to account for their abhorrent behaviour.

“We are relentless in our pursuit for offenders and work around the clock to safeguard children from predators like Powell.

“If there is anyone reading this who has been a victim of online child sex abuse, I would encourage you to speak to us. We will do everything we can to support you.”

Powell was also sentenced to a further two months in prison for two counts of burglary and two counts of fraud.

Description

A man from Stratford who exchanged indecent photos with a young girl has been jailed two-and-a-half years.

Isaac Bramble, 23, contacted the girl online when she was only 13 years old in November 2020.

After chatting normally for a month, the conversation became sexual.

The victim told Bramble she was only 13 years old, and he carried on regardless; in fact, he said he liked the fact she was so young.

Over the next year Bramble sent nude images to the victim and got her to send explicit images to him.

Bramble told the victim he lived in Stratford and that he worked in a shop and a bar.

Police launched an investigation when the victim’s brother reported concerns.

Appearing at court Warwick Crown Court last week Bramble was jailed after pleading guilty to two counts of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity.

Bramble, of Greenhill Street, was also given a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Detective Constable Leanne Ganley from Warwickshire Police CID said: “Bramble is a dangerous man who has deliberately exploited a vulnerable young girl.

“Thanks to the bravery of the victim and her family we have been able to put him behind bars where he belongs.

Description

David Robert Stingemore, 68, was already serving an 18-and-a-half-year prison term for other child-sex offences in the 80s including raping a little girl in Scarborough on numerous occasions, York Crown Court heard.

But evidence of yet more sickening crimes came to light in 2020 when another victim, now an adult, came forward to police about the shocking abuse she had suffered at the hands of Stingemore when he was in his late 20s and early 30s.

Stingemore initially denied the offences when quizzed by police in May 2022, but ultimately admitted two counts of indecent assault against the girl and one count of indecency with a child.

Prosecutor David Povall said the indecent-assault offences involved penetration on 10 separate occasions.

He said that Stingemore, formerly of Eastfield and Barrowcliff, had been sentenced for child-sex offences on three previous occasions, the most recent being in January 2020 when he was jailed for more than 18 years and placed on the sex-offenders’ register for a “campaign of rape” against another young girl in the 1980s and indecently assaulting a young boy.

During those appalling acts of abuse, the terrified girl would be in tears and plead with Stingemore to leave her alone, but he would force her to perform sex acts on him before raping her while telling her, “I love this”.

The female victim in that case said her life had been ripped apart by Stingemore’s evil acts and the male victim had also suffered a lifetime of trauma following the abuse.

Stingemore had previously been jailed in 1987 for indecently assaulting another young girl and there were also sexual offences against young boys when Stingemore was a child himself.

The latest victim finally came forward to police in January 2020 after reading about Stingemore’s offences against the other children in the press.

Mr Povall said there were “repeated” occasions when Stingemore carried out penetrative sexual acts on the girl who was warned not to tell anyone about what had happened.

Stingemore, who was living in East Sussex before his incarceration in 2020, appeared for sentence via video link today from a custody a suite at HMP Albany in the Isle of Wight.

In a statement read out in court, the victim, now an adult, said the abuse had had “many effects on my life, some of which still cause me problems all these years later”.

“Throughout my life I’ve struggled with my emotions and often found I cried over silly things,” she added.

She struggled to trust and form relationships with men and would often “hide myself away, not wanting to face anyone or talk to anyone”.

She had sought help for her problems and was on medication for anxiety and depression.

Kevin Blount, Stingemore’s solicitor advocate, said the serial sex offender’s only mitigation were his guilty pleas.

Judge Simon Hickey said that Stingemore had admitted “three more extremely serious sexual offences” against an “extremely young girl”.

He said that Stingemore had subjected the girl to “degradation” and the “prolonged, sustained” sexual attacks had led to “lifelong, severe psychological harm”.

Stingemore was jailed for six years and eight months. The sentence will run consecutively to his existing prison sentence, which means Stingemore may spend the rest of his days behind bars.

As an “offender of particular concern”, he will also have to serve an extended three-year period on prison licence should he ever be released from jail.

Mr Hickey said that Stingemore would remain on the sex-offenders’ register for the rest of his life.

Description

A Jersey support worker has been jailed for raping a woman in his care.

David William Moody was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after admitting multiple counts of rape and indecent assault against the vulnerable woman between July 2017 and March 2020.

The Royal Court heard that Moody, 59, joined the victim's care team before isolating and abusing her.

The court heard he left the team in 2018 but continued to abuse the woman.

During his time working as a support worker, Moody wrote notes saying they had watched DVDs whilst he was at work, which was found to be code for when he had raped her.

Moody attempted to gain further employment at another care agency, and tried to transfer the victim's care so he could remain as the team leader in her support package.

An adult safeguarding alert was raised in February 2020 after sexual messages were discovered - appropriate support was provided to the victim who then disclosed the abuse she had endured.

Moody was arrested in September 2022 and charged in March.

Det Con Jo Le Maistre said Moody "abused his position of trust with a vulnerable person for his own gratification".

She said: "He went against the basic principles that people who work in the care sector live by.

"He tried to evade detection and justice by silencing his victim with threats, but I am relieved she has now been given a voice."

Moody was placed on the sex offender's register for 10 years, and given an indefinite restraining order.

Description

A sex predator who targeted an eight-year-old girl on a children's online game has been jailed after her mum helped to snare him.

Owen Taylor, who was in his mid-thirties at the time, posed as a teenager to engage in sexual communication with the little girl, trying to get her to send him pictures of her. When her horrified mum realised what was happening, she took over the conversation, posing as her daughter.

She managed to find out who he was by getting his Snapchat username. Taylor had used the name of his neighbour to set up the profile and when the mum traced the neighbour and showed him his picture, the pervert's true identity was revealed.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the eight-year-old was playing on a game called Movie Star Planet, which is aimed at children, in the summer of 2020. She had a profile picture on the game, showing how young she was.

Claire Anderson, prosecuting, said: "She was contacted by the defendant and he engaged in some flirtatious conversation, telling her she was cute and hot. After initially saying she was 17, she said she was only eight.

"The conversation became more sexualised and he asked if she had Snapchat. He asked her for pictures of her belly and bum and sent pictures of his face, torso and lower abdomen, showing some pubic hair.

"Her mother noticed she was messaging someone online. She asked to be shown the conversation and was shocked to see sexualised images."

The mum changed her daughter's username slightly but within a day or two Taylor had worked out the change and was back in touch. The girl told her mum, who then took over the conversation, posing as the child.

During the subsequent conversation, he said he was 16 when he was 36 at the time. He sent more pictures, including of him lying on a bed with the top of his pelvic area on show.

The mother contacted the police and made her own inquiries to find out who he was. She sent a Snapchat username pretending to be her daughter and used his to find out he was in Sunderland. She contacted someone with the name Taylor was using, who was entirely innocent and lived next door to him. That person identified Taylor as the culprit.

The girl's mum attended court to read a victim impact statement and said: "I wish this never happened because it's changed the family dymanic. This will stay with me for the rest of my life.

"She was a typical eight-year-old girl. Three months earlier at Christmas we bought the tablet and activated the parental controls. When a child asks to download a game and create a world of pets and hobbies and it has an age range of 7-12, this gives no indication you should be worried.

"When I saw the conversation I believed this was no child talking to my daughter. I felt sick to the stomach and my hands felt sweaty and I was shaking.

"She told me she felt uncomfortable and didn't like the way he was talking to her. We changed the account and a couple of days later the conversation was instigated again."

The mum said of her daughter: "She thought she had caused it and made mummy and daddy sad and made the police officers come. She spent two-and-a-half to three years in therapy."

She added that she and her partner have been reluctant to let the girl go back online as they are afraid it might happen again. She added: "She said she feels like a baby and that we don't trust her."

Taylor, now 40, who was cautioned in 2011 for outraging public decency by "upskirting" a teenage girl in a shop, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual communication with a child and attempted sexual communication with the same child.

Jailing him for eight months and ordering him to sign the sex offenders register and be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for ten years, Judge Tim Gittins said: "You, in a determined and deliberate way, targeted a website which was clearly aimed at young children under 13.

"You were seeking sexual images but they were not sent or received. You were deliberately soliciting images and targeted someone so young."

He added that the mother's statement "demonstrates the devastating psychological impact your intrustion into the innocence of the girl has had" and referred to "predators on the internet like you".

The court heard Taylor, classed as posing a high risk of similar offences, lost his marriage and home but had secured work with a community charity.

Robin Patton, defending, said Taylor left Sunderland in a hurry after the offences came to light and moved in with his mum in Wales. He added: "He is someone who really does need the help of the probation service. He has recognised his problem and voluntarily sought help.

Description

A SEX offender caught by online paedophile hunters was spared an immediate jail term because he suffers from cerebral palsy.

Anthony Albert Witts gets around with the aid of a walker and had to be helped into the dock at Southampton Crown Court.

Witts, 63, of Mansel Road East, Southampton, thought he was in contact with two 13-year-old girls.

But it was a sting carried out by members of a group set up with the aim of flushing out adults who try to groom children online.

Witts, who had no previous convictions, admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child in 2021 and engaging in sexual communication with a child in 2022.

Keely Harvey, prosecuting, said Witts sent naked and semi-naked pictures of himself to the people he thought were girls.

The first crime came to light after adult decoys identified and then confronted the defendant. He was arrested by the police and gave a no-comment interview but uttered the words: "I did not even realise."

The defendant was released under investigation and went on to commit the second offence.

Thinking he was in contact with another 13-year-old girl he told her not to be shy and said their contact should remain a secret.

Chris Gaiger, mitigating, said the defendant accepted he had been stupid - not just once but twice.

He added: "He can't give any explanation as to why he engaged in such behaviour again. He should have learned from the first time."

Judge Christopher Parker KC told Witts: "You plainly had a deviant sexual interest in children.

"You attempted to communicate with a 13-year-old girl, not knowing she was a decoy set up by vigilante paedophile hunters.

"When you were being investigated for that you did the same thing again with another supposedly 13-year-old."

Witts was handed a 22-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was also made the subject of a ten-year sexual harm prevention order.

Judge Parker told him: "If it were not for the fact you have cerebral palsy, there is no question you would have immediately been sent downstairs to custody.

"It's difficult to fathom how you could have been so stupid. Had these been real children, the damage caused by you cannot be estimated."

Judge Parker said Witts would go straight to prison if he committed another offence, adding: "Be in no doubt, if I see you again there's no way out."

Description

The victim of a sexual abuser said she wanted him to go to prison ‘so he can’t hurt me’.

Michael Hilton, 52, was jailed for six years at Oxford Crown Court on Friday (August 18) for repeatedly sexually assaulting his victim by touching her.

The Greater Leys man had used his acquaintance with the girl’s mother to sexually abuse her daughter over a number of months when she was barely of primary school age.

In a moving victim impact statement, which the victim read from behind a screen in courtroom three, she said: “I just want the whole thing to finish. I want Michael to go to prison so he can’t hurt me.”

She needed ‘all of this’ to be ‘over and done with’, she said. “I’m not happy. I’m not sad. I’m just numb.”

The girl said she wanted to do something in the future to help those who found themselves in the same position she had been in.

“I would really like to be a lawyer to help people like me,” she said in a quiet voice, muffled still further by the curtain behind which she spoke.

The girl, who is still under-16, cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Sentencing, Judge Maria Lamb said Hilton ‘exploited’ the trust the girl’s mother had placed in him.

“The situation was compounded as far as she was concerned by the fact you told her not to say anything,” she said.

“She said you said to her something bad would happen to her and you would both get into trouble and you, that is what you said to her, that she would get ‘really hurt’.

“That obviously had an effect upon her, because it was several years before she felt able to speak out even though she had an increasing awareness as she got older that what had happened to her was wrong.

“It was not until 2021 she felt able to voice to others what had occurred.

“I have heard her read out to this court this morning her victim personal statement and it makes for sad listening.”

Hilton, of Woodpecker Green, Oxford, was found guilty of seven counts of sexually assaulting a girl under-13. He had previous convictions in the 1980s and 90s for dissimilar matters.

Defending, Gareth James said his client was supported by a number of character references. In his own letter to the judge, Hilton asked her to consider not sending him to prison immediately but deal with his case in ‘alternative ways’.

Hilton’s advocate, Mr James, challenged the probation service’s assessment that his client was a medium risk of reoffending, suggesting it was in fact low.

He conceded that a prison service was inevitable, but asked the judge to keep the term as low as possible ‘commensurate with her judicial responsibilities’.

The defendant will spend half his six year sentence in jail before being eligible for release on licence. He will remain on the sex offender register for life.

Description

A pervert with an unhealthy interest in sexual images of children as young as four has been jailed after failing to learn his lesson from a previous conviction and continuing with his "addiction" to viewing the shocking pictures.

Andrew Joinson had been given a chance to turn his back on that type of offending through rehabilitation but he was caught with stashes of 441 indecent images, some of them in the worst category, Grimsby Crown Court heard.

Joinson, 48, of Merton Road, Bottesford, Scunthorpe, admitted three offences of possessing indecent images of children on September 28, 2021.

Jeremy Evans, prosecuting, said that the National Crime Agency contacted Humberside Police with information about illegal images of children that were linked to Joinson's address.

He was arrested and his electronic devices were seized. It was found that he had been searching for and uploading images to a Dropbox. Police found 103 images of children in the most serious Category A as well as 46 images in Category B and 292 in Category C.

They included children aged as young as four years old in all three categories. The vast majority of the children were aged between five and seven.

Joinson had a previous similar conviction in 2016 involving distributing and making indecent images of children and he had been given a 26-week suspended prison sentence and put on the sex offenders' register.

Bianca Brasoveanu, mitigating, said that Joinson was open with the police and made frank admissions. "The highest number of images were in the lowest category and there are no distribution charges for him," said Miss Brasoveanu.

Joinson, who is married with a son, had been assessed by the probation service as being at a low risk of reoffending. "This type of offending is a form of addiction, with all the associated risks, the first of which is relapsing," said Miss Brasoveanu. "This is exactly what happened to him."

Joinson was jailed for 10 months.

Judge Mark Bury told him: "You have been to court before for offences like this. You were not sent to custody on that occasion. You were given an opportunity of rehabilitation including a sexual offenders' programme requirement.

"Well, that didn't do any good. You are still offending. You are looking at images of children.

"It's wholly unrealistic to expect that you should be dealt with in any other way than an immediate custodial sentence when you have done exactly the same thing and carried on your addiction to indecent images of children.

"You plainly have a sexual interest in children, otherwise you would not be looking at these things."

Description

An online groomer has been jailed after being tricked by a paedophile hunter who was posing as a 13-year-old girl.

Gary Lewis was depressed and lonely when he contacted a woman on an adult dating site without realising it was a fake profile which had been set up as a trap. The decoy then told him she was actually only 13 but he carried on the conversation.

Lewis broke off the sex chats for a while but resumed them on his birthday just before Christmas last year because he had received no seasonal greetings and was feeling anxious, depressed and isolated.

He went on to suggest that the decoy, who was using the false identity of a girl called Charlotte, should perform a sex act on herself.

It led to him being confronted in the street by a group of paedophile hunters who spent 40 minutes humiliating him while screening the footage live to their supporters. His ordeal only ended when the police arrived.

Lewis, aged 48, of Manor Road, Camborne, denied attempting to inciting a child to sexual activity and attempted sexual communications with a child but was found guilty by a jury at Truro Crown Court last month.

He was jailed for three years by Judge Simon Carr, sitting at Exeter Crown Court, and ordered to sign on the sex offenders register for life. He was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will allow the police to monitor his online activity after his release.

The judge told him: “At the time, you were living on your own and I accept you have mental health issues and a diagnosis of an unstable personality disorder, significant depression and a history of self-harm.

“That is the background but it is no excuse for what you did. A significant feature of this case is that the initial contact was through a site which requires users to be adults. You accept that many users use fake biogs and it is difficult to tell which is real.

“You moved the chat to WhatsApp at which point the illusion was gone and although it was an older person masquerading as a child, they made it clear repeatedly that you were communicating with a 13-year-old girl.

“The jury concluded that you could not reasonably have believed they were over 16. You continued over many weeks with numerous communications. I have no doubt you believed she was 13. You are 48 and a man of impeccable character.”

Mr Jason Beal, prosecuting, told the original trial that Lewis had sent messages over a considerable period of time leading up to one in which he invited the decoy Charlotte to touch herself sexually.

Lewis claimed at his trial what he knew he was talking to an adult decoy and went along with the chats in a game of cat and mouse.

Mr Piers Norsworthy, defending, said Lewis was suffering from serious mental health issues at the time and resumed the chats because he was lonely and isolated when he received no birthday of Christmas messages.

He said he had to undergo a gruelling experience at the hands of the paedophile hunting group when they confronted him and effectively detained him and that his ordeal only ended when the police arrived.

Description

POLICE have released the mugshot of a paedophile who was jailed for 17 and a half years for abusing two young girls.

Dominic Dewick was found guilty of 20 historical offences against the girls between 1993 and 2017.

Following a four-day trial, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on each of the charges on August 4.

The court heard during the trial that one victim had been just seven years old when her abuse started, with it continuing until she was 15. The second victim was abused between the ages of nine and 12.

Sentencing Dewick, Judge Paul Thomas said: “The impact on the lives of those two girls, now women, has been utterly profound.

“There is, I’m afraid, little to no mitigation that can be identified on your behalf.”

Dewick was jailed for four years for the abuse of the first victim, and a further 13 and a half years for abusing the second victim. He will also serve an additional two years extended licence period.

Following the sentencing, PC Paul Kelly, the investigating officer for Dyfed-Powys Police, said: “I would like to thank the jury on the guilty verdict on Friday, August 4, and the sentence handed down by the Judge. 

“More importantly I would like to thank the two extremely brave and courageous victims in this case.

“They have both showed immense strength and character to firstly report the abuse, and also they have remained strong throughout the trial.

“This is an important message to everyone that justice can still be served years after any abuse.

“I hope that both the female victims in this case, and their families, who have been effected greatly by the actions of Dominic Dewick, can now try and move on with their lives and this gives them some kind of closure.”

Dewick, 45, of Harrier Road in Haverfordwest, had denied all charges, maintaining that both girls had fabricated their evidence.

“I would never do anything like that,” he told the jury in his evidence.

“That was sick.”

Nicola Powell, prosecuting, told the court at trial: “This is a man in complete denial, who convinced himself that he'd got away with it, all those years ago.

“But now his past has come back to haunt him.”

A statement from one of the victims was read out in court as Dewick was sentenced.

“I feel absolutely broken. A broken person inside and out,” she said.

“I was a child and very vulnerable when I was abused.”

James Hartson, defending, acknowledged there was little mitigation he could put forward, except that Dewick had no previous convictions.

“That’s rather offset by the fact that you have been offending for most of your adult life,” Judge Thomas directed at Dewick.

Dewick was made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order, and must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Description

A paedophile who amassed an enormous collection of child sex abuse pictures and videos sobbed as he appeared in Liverpool Crown Court yesterday.

Callum Latimer, 23, was caught with 165 indecent images and videos - including 58 of the most serious category A - on his phone following a police tip-off on November 30 last year. He also had 1,578 prohibited images of children.

Chat logs on his Samsung device also showed Latimer requesting indecent images of Japanese manga-style underage girls.

At Liverpool Crown Court yesterday, August 16, prosecutor Christopher Hopkins said images found on Latimer's phone showed young girls aged between three and 10-years-old.

Latimer, of Keswick Crescent in Warrington, pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, possessing indecent images of children, and possessing prohibited images.

Anthony O'Donohoe, defending, said his client was of previously good character with no previous convictions. The court also heard the 23-year-old had "a number of significant neurodiverse conditions".

Judge Andrew Menary, sentencing, said: "It's plain that for a time you were active online soliciting or talking to others about these images and you acquired these images. They involve the serious abuse of very young children and it's for that reason people who possess these images and look for them in this way are encouraging this evil trade."

However, he decided not to impose an immediate prison sentence, saying: "A more constructive option would be to give you support within the community from the probation service."

Latimer cried as he was sentenced to a total of six months in prison, suspended for 18 months. He was ordered to complete the Horizon programme for sex offenders, and carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. He was placed on the sex offenders register and given a sexual harm prevention order for five years.

Description

A fish and chip shop owner was confronted by online paedophile hunters after sending explicit messages and pictures to what he believed to be 12 and 13-year-old girls.

David Maynard, 43, thought he was communicating with young girls but they were in fact members of a group known as Defending the Innocent.

Norwich Crown Court heard he communicated with three profiles on a chat app called Wink, one pretending to be a 12-year-old called Chloe and others he thought were girls called Madison and Elle, both aged 13.

Prosecuting Chris Youell said: “While the adults were pretending to be those three girls he was chatting sexually to them, sending them pictures of his penis and making references to owning a chip shop.”

Video of him being confronted by members of the group outside the Fryers Delight, on Nelson Road North in Great Yarmouth, was live-streamed on Facebook shortly before he was arrested by police in July 2022.

Maynard, of Beck Avenue, Ormesby, had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

A further three counts of attempting to cause a child to watch/look at an image of a sexual act will lie on file.

He ordered him to do 200 hours unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation days and to attend a programme to address his sexual offending. 

A 10 year sexual harm prevention order will also bar him from owning any device capable of hiding or deleting his online search history.