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Description

A man who subjected a young girl to a three-year "campaign of rape" has been jailed for over 19 years.

Anthony Reynolds, 42, from Melton Mowbray, pleaded guilty to charges of raping a girl aged 13 and two charges of raping a girl under 13.

He was sentenced to 231 months in prison at Gloucester Crown Court.

Judge Ian Lawrie told the girl: "You should be proud of your courage. You didn't budge an inch."

In a victim-impact statement the girl, who is from Gloucester, said: "I was wondering why this was happening to me and what I had done to deserve it?"

Prosecutor Ellen McAnaw told the court that the victim was about 10 years old when the offending started and was 13 when she told a school friend in January of this year.

Ms McAnaw said it was "effectively a campaign of rape".

Police were alerted and the girl told them how Reynolds had been raping her about once a fortnight for three years or more.

She said: "After he did it to me I would just sit there crying and terrified. At school, I couldn't concentrate and it was all I could think about.

'I lost confidence'

"Now I have told someone about it, I know I will never see him again and I feel safe."

"I lost confidence in myself," she said. "I thought I was fat and ugly. I just wanted to be someone else. I didn't like who I was."

The girl's mother said in a statement: "My daughter will, without doubt, carry this with her for the rest of her life.

"What this man has done to my daughter has completely broken me."

Reynolds initially denied the offences and pleaded not guilty to charges of raping a girl aged 13 on 21 January and two charges of raping of a girl under 13 between 21 December 2019 and 20 December 2022.

But he changed his pleas to guilty when the girl attended court, ready to give evidence against him to a jury.

Emotional pain

Shenaiya Kharegat, defending, said that although Reynolds had not admitted the offences from the start he now "accepts full responsibility and has made no attempt to minimise his behaviour...

"He has reflected on his actions and fully understands the effect of his offending on the victim and her family."

Judge Ian Lawrie told Reynolds that the statements he had heard had made clear the "pain, emotionally and psychologically, that your abuse has caused".

He imposed jail terms totalling 231 months as well as a lifelong sexual-harm-prevention order and a restraining order.

The judge said he had allowed a discount of 12.5% on the sentence to reflect that Reynolds had belatedly pleaded guilty, sparing the girl the "torture" of giving evidence.

Judge Lawrie added that Reynolds will have to serve two-thirds of his sentence before he can be considered for parole.

"It takes courage to come forward about things like this," the judge told the girl. "I know the appalling strain it puts on everyone.

"You should be proud of your courage. You didn't budge an inch and that made him feel he didn't have room for manoeuvre."

Description

A former Hackney councillor has avoided jail after admitting possessing indecent images of children.

Recorder Jonathan Ashley-Norman told Tom Dewey: “You have taken considerable steps since your arrest to address your offending behaviour.”

Handing him down a 12-month suspended sentence, he said: Your actions have had a devastating impact on your life and your closest family.”

He gave him credit for an early guilty plea and the work he had done to overcome his problem in looking at indecent images of children.

He also ordered devices to be forfeited, told Dewey to pay £500 costs and put him on a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, which will restrict his contact with children.

Thomas Dewey, who was elected as a Labour councillor for De Beauvoir ward, was arrested by detectives from the National Crime Agency who seized laptops and tablets at his home in Hertford Road in Hackney, just days before May’s local elections last year.

He had a “huge problem” with looking at indecent images of children from the internet for his own use, Wood Green Crown Court heard.

Last month, the 36-year-old admitted a charge of making five category A indecent images of children, a further charge of making 41 category B indecent images, as well as making 203 category C indecent images of children, on 29 April 2022 in Hackney.

Images are graded with category A considered the worst.

Dewey, now of Hampshire, also admitted a charge of possessing 78 extreme pornographic images of children on 29 April 2022 and having 1,523 prohibited images of children in his possession on or before 20 January 2022.

The court heard images date from between 14 January 2008 to 27 April 2022, two days before his arrest at home in Hackney where he was “the sole occupant.”

The NCA seized two laptops, two tablets and a hard drive and Dewey was arrested and cautioned at 7.03am.

They had identified four “CyberTipline” reports which has user ID to a google drive and Dewey had uploaded indecent images of children to his personal account

Description

A former well-known Manchester DJ has avoided jail after being caught with indecent images of children breaching a court order. Scot Reedy, 36, had previously been before the courts for similar offences when he was sentenced to a suspended prison term in February 2021.

Along with the sentence, he was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which stated he must inform his offender manager of any devices he owns that are capable of accessing the internet.

However, during an unannounced visit from Greater Manchester Police, officers found twelve devices, with one containing computer-generated indecent images of young children.

Appearing at Manchester Crown Court today (August 14), Reedy admitted to breaching the order and was sentenced to a community order.

Brendan O’Leary, prosecuting, told the court that on September 5 2020, Reedy appeared before Tameside Magistrates in relation to offences of possession of indecent images of children. He was sentenced for those crimes on February 15, 2021, to a 16 month jail term which was suspended for two years, and ordered to complete the Horizon programme, which is delivered to male sex offenders who are at risk of reoffending.

He was also handed a SHPO to run until February 2031, with a number of conditions including that he must inform his offender manager of any devices that can connect to the internet.

“On March 23 of last year, the offender manager from GMP’s Sex Offender Manager Unit along with another officer attended his home address to conduct an unannounced visit to assess the defendant’s behaviour in the community,” the prosecutor said.

“Found on the defendant’s phone were photos which were prohibited. As the phone was seized, the defendant said: ‘I can prove to you I didn’t download them on purpose’.”

The phone was examined, and officers found 330 inaccessible prohibited images of children, along with social media searches for indecent images which took place on one day in December 2021.

The searches included ‘paedo bait’, ‘minor NSFW’, ‘incest’ and ‘IRL shota’. The court heard that ‘shota’ is a term used to describe sex between a child and an adult.

Reedy was arrested, and a further 12 devices were recovered, each capable of accessing the internet. They also found a ‘childlike’ sex doll in his possession, for which he was not subject to prosecution.

He was said to have three previous convictions for 16 offences including for making indecent images of children.

In mitigation, Joshua Bowker said the 12 devices found did not have any criminality on them. Of the images recovered, he said they were 3D generated images, and so no actual children were pictured.

“There is significantly more harm in actual images of children, rather than computer generated ones,” he said.

He said his client had a ‘lax attitude’ towards the court order and said there was a degree of ‘forgetfulness’ in his compliance with it.

Mr Bowker added that Reedy has an autism diagnosis, of which he is still coming to terms with, and is willing to work with probation to assist him. “He is ashamed of himself,” he said.

Sentencing, Judge Elizabeth Nicholls said Reedy had served the equivalent of a 10 month sentence in custody whilst waiting to be sentenced, and there would be ‘greater protection to the public’ if dealt he was with in the community.

“It will be hard to find anyone who will take a risk that I have today, in the hope that you will be rehabilitated or that you will be able to manage the addiction that you currently have,” she said.

“You have cooperated well with the course in the past, and the probation service are satisfied you can be sentenced in the community.”

Reedy, of Meadowgate Road, in Salford, was sentenced to an 18 month community order, 25 days of rehabilitation activity requirements and 130 hours of unpaid work. He previously pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited image of a child, failure to notify with the requirements of the Sex Offences Act and breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He remains under the terms of the Sex Offenders Register and Sexual Harm Prevention order for 10 years.

Description

A BRAZEN sex offender nicknamed himself “Amapedo” when he contacted what he thought was a 14-year-old girl online.

However, William Wilson later discovered that “Sophie”, the target of his predatory behaviour, was actually a fake identity set up by a paedophile hunter group, a court heard.

After making disgusting requests of the decoy “schoolgirl” and sending her indecent images of himself he was confronted by members of the Wolfpack group at his home in West Lothian from where video of his confession was streamed live on Facebook.

Wilson, 51, from Kirknewton, pleaded guilty on Monday to attempting to communicate indecently with a person he believed was an under-age girl.

He attempted to cause her to participate in sexual activity and asking her to photograph of the genitals of a seven year-old girl and send the image to him for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification or of humiliating, distressing or alarming her.

Christine Brownlie, prosecuting, told Livingston Sheriff Court that the fake profile picture posted on the website Meet24 around 20 March 2022 was of a young white girl aged 12-14. She said it was clear that the photo was of someone under the age of 18.

Within a few hours of setting up the account it was contacted by Wilson, calling himself 'Amapedo' and stating "I like you”, quickly followed by explicit messages.

The decoy replied as Sophie telling the accused that she was 14 years old and from Birmingham.

'Amapedo' then sent Sophie a message stating: "I just love young girls your age. Any pics of you in your school uniform with skirt? Can I see?"

When she replied that she didn't think she had any pictures he asked, "Any of you with your legs open?"

The decoy told 'Amapedo’ that she didn't have pictures like that on her phone, but she was then asked if she had a younger sister and if she did would she be willing to provide a picture for him.

The accused asked to take the conversation to WhatsApp, and the decoy provided a phone number and told the user to add her on WhatsApp, but rather than communicating via WhatsApp, she received a phone call from someone asking to speak to Sophie then began to receive text messages.

Two days later further contact was made with the profile Sophie on Meet24 with someone using the username Grampa70, who also turned out to be the accused.

The user Grampa70 also sent her explicit messages.

The child profile was thereafter contacted by a user also identifying themselves as Grampa70 on the app Meet4u and she asked him to confirm the last 4 digits of his phone number to confirm it was the same person.

Wilson did so and again sent her sexual messages in which he asked if she could take pictures of her seven-year-old sister due to having "a big thing for young girls".

Following this the user Grampa70 told to her to forget it and asked her to delete his number.

Details of the chat between the decoy and Wilson were passed on to the West Lothian Wolfpack paedophile hunting group, as was the accused’s home address.

At about 7.30pm the same day three members of the group – one woman and two men – knocked on Wilson’s door and the woman streamed his reaction live on Facebook.

When she informed Wilson she was at his address because of his online activity he replied “Aye, aye” and invited them in.

Police were contacted and screen shots of the messages and images sent by the accused were handed to them.

They also watched the video stream which showed the accused sitting within his living room admitting to communicating indecently with who he believed to be a child aged 14 years old.

The accused was cautioned and charged and replied: “I’m sorry, I don’t know what else to say.” He later added: “Yes, I done it. I put my hands in the air.”

Sheriff Susan Craig called for a background report before sentence, warned Wilson that he may face a custodial sentence and added his name to the sex offenders’ register.

She said he would be told the length of time he would remain subject to notification requirements when he returned to be sentenced on 14 September.

Description

A sex offender who grabbed a woman and tried to kiss her has been jailed. Bhavesh Voralia, 50, attacked the victim in a block of flats in The Drive, Peterborough, at about 9am on September 3 2021.

He grabbed her breasts and smacked her, telling her he loved her. The terrified victim then managed to run back to her flat.

On Tuesday (August 8, 2023), at Cambridge Crown Court, Voralia, of The Drive, Peterborough, was jailed for one year, having been found guilty of sexual assault and two counts of failing to comply with Sex Offenders Register notification requirements.

Voralia had been on the register since being convicted of another sexual assault at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on June 13 last year. However, he flew from Heathrow Airport to Ahmedabad in India three days later, meaning he did not notify police within three days of his conviction, of his name, date of birth and home address, as required.

It also meant he’d failed to notify the police no less than seven days in advance of any intended period of foreign travel.

PC Mohsin Raja said: “This was a despicable assault by Voralia and I would like to thank the victim for her cooperation with us in seeking a prosecution.

“In failing to adhere to his notification requirements, he has shown a blatant disregard for the law.”

Description

The victim of vile sexual and physical cruelty as a child described the abuse she suffered as a ‘tattoo for all to see’.

The woman was in court on Monday (August 14) to see now 80-year-old Lionel Wood finally face justice for his years of abuse, committed when she was a child some four decades ago in Banbury.

In June, jurors at Oxford Crown Court heard how he repeatedly molested the girl, including subjecting her to what now would have been charged as oral rape of a child.

He was found guilty in less than an hour and a quarter of four counts of indecent assault.

In an impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Brian Reece, the victim said her earliest memories were of being physically and sexually abused by a man she ‘should have been able to trust’. 

She described the abuse as making her feel like ‘damaged goods’, comparing it to a tattoo ‘for all to see’. “It’s something you can’t hide from,” she said.

The woman detailed how she had struggled with physical ill-health, difficulties with self-destructive substance misuse, depression, suicidal thoughts and a series of abusive relationships.

“[The defendant] made me feel intense fear, humiliation, like a possession to be controlled and used at will,” she said.

The girl was molested while she was alone with the defendant. The abuse developed, with the girl subjected to what would now have been charged as oral rape of a child but at the time was an offence called indecent assault.

In her impact statement, the victim detailed an awful catalogue of physical abuse at Wood’s hands, although he faced no criminal charges for physically assaulting the girl.

Recorder Samantha Presland jailed him for 14 years, telling the defendant: “What should have been happy childhood memories have been completely and utterly distorted.”

He will serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody before being eligible for release.

In mitigation, Catherine Ravenscroft said her client continued to deny wrongdoing and, since being remanded in prison after his trial, had made an attempt on his life.

He was particularly concerned for his elderly partner, who was in her 90s and for whom he was providing a significant amount of support before he was remanded in custody.

The judge imposed an indefinite restraining order, preventing Wood, of Broadway, Worcestershire, from contacting his victim for the rest of his life.

Having been jailed for 14 years, he will also remain on the sex offender register indefinitely.

Description

A murderer who strangled a teenager to death before leaving her half naked body in a field has walked free from court after breaching rules imposed on him by the courts.

James Duggan was found guilty of the murder of Rebecca Ryle in Australia back in 2006 and was jailed for life, having emigrated Down Under from Liverpool as a child. He has since been released from this sentence and was deported back to the UK last year, but has continued to have brushes with the law.

Liverpool Crown Court heard today, Monday, that the now 38-year-old was subject to indefinite notification requirements in January this year after being convicted of breaching a sexual risk order (SRO) and battery. Duggan, of School Lane in Rainhill, had been given this SRO in August 2022 following his return to this country due to a "sexual motive" behind the killing.

Shannon Stewart, prosecuting, described how he then failed to inform his offender manager of a relationship he had formed with a woman as he was required to do as part of the order, which the police became aware of after an incident in which he punched her in the stomach. The killer was released from this 26-week sentence on July 11 and was required to sign the sex offenders' register within the following three days, but failed to do so.

Duggan was subsequently arrested again on July 17 and told detectives under interview that he had "phoned probation but got no reply". He has been remanded in custody since.

The defendant received life imprisonment with a minimum term of 11 years in April 2006, having been convicted of Ms Ryle's murder. The Western Australian Supreme Court heard during his trial that Duggan, who moved to the country from Merseyside aged 11, had met his 19-year-old victim in a pub in Perth on the evening of May 5, 2004 and offered to walk her home.

But he then strangled her for three minutes in a park just metres away from her home and left her half-naked body in a field, to be found by police officers a few hours later. Justice Lindy Jenkins said she had died "alone and degraded", with her murderer - who was also a teen at the time - ultimately serving nearly 18 years.

Duggan was refused parole following a hearing in 2019, due in part to his "lack of acknowledgement of wrongdoing and apparent lack of remorse". But his case was reviewed again in September 2021, when the Attorney General recommended his release after he had "imparted remorse and regret towards the offence, as well as acknowledging the victim" - leading to him being freed in March 2022 and later deported.

Ken Heckle, defending, told the court that his client had gone to an address on Round Hey in Stockbridge Village following his latest release, having been instructed to live there by the Probation Service. He was also ultimately found at this house and detained.

Mr Heckle added: "He goes to where he is directed to go, but simply forgets to advise the police. This is not somebody who has gone off the radar.

"It is not a sinister breach. It is a breach borne out of stupidity.

"There are family members on Merseyside who still are supportive of him. His grandmother is certainly one of them.

"The defendant maintains that he has been drug-free since January. He is fit and healthy and is trying to rehabilitate himself into the country.

"Circumstances have got in his way and he can only blame himself, but in this instance it is more of a technical breach rather than a sinister breach and someone trying to avoid the authorities. I ask your honour to give him this one chance."

Duggan, who appeared in the dock wearing a white t-shirt and black Adidas tracksuit bottoms and sported greying dark hair and a beard, admitted failing to comply with notification requirement and failing to comply with a suspended sentence order. He was handed a nine-month imprisonment suspended for two years, 180 hours of unpaid work, a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 30 days, a six-month alcohol abstinence requirement and a 12-month drug rehabilitation requirement as well as being told to complete a relationships programme.

Sentencing, Recorder David Knifton KC said: "This is not a case of going off the radar, it is simply a case of failing to notify the police of the address at which you were living. I am unable to accept that this is an inadvertent breach.

"You have a history of drug and alcohol misuse. This is your second breach in the first six months of the order being made.

"I am satisfied, given the acceptance on your part of the seriousness of your offending and your need to address your underlying issues, that this is a case in which I can suspend the sentence of imprisonment I must impose. There is, in your case, a realistic prospect of rehabilitation."

Description

A "dangerous" man has been jailed for 13 years and 8 months after pleading guilty to sexual offences relating to two children in Hertfordshire.

Michael Hargrave, 31, from Loch Crescent in Edgware, admitted six charges at St Albans Crown Court on August 10.

He was arrested at and address in Kings Langley on May 11, 2023, after a 14-year-old girl from Hemel Hempstead reported engaging in sexual activity with a man she had met online.

While Hargrave was in custody, further investigations found there was a nine-year-old victim in Hemel Hempstead, whom officers were then able to safeguard.

He had been speaking to the girl via Snapchat using his online alias.  

Hargrave was subsequently charged with:

• Two counts of sexual communication with a child.
• Three counts of sexual activity with a child.
• Two counts of causing a child to watch a sexual act.
• One count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activities.
• Three counts of a breach of sexual harm prevention order.
• One count of failure to comply with notification requirements.

The offences took place between January 2022 and April of this year.

Hargrave met both victims initially on Snapchat and then arranged to meet the 14-year-old victim in person, and subsequently committed offences against her.

Detective Sergeant Sam Jarvis, from the child online safeguarding team, said: “This was a good result for the team, who have taken another very dangerous offender off the streets thanks to the bravery of the two victims.

“We will continue to identify and proactively target those within Hertfordshire who pose a sexual risk towards children.”

His sentence was extended for another five years on licence, he will be on the Sex Offenders' Register, and must abide indefinitely by the conditions of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Licence conditions are a set of rules that an individual must follow if they are released from prison but still have part of their sentence to serve in the community.

The licence can be revoked, and an individual can be recalled to custody at any time during the licence period if the probation service considers that an individual has breached conditions of their licence.

Description

A sex offender who raped a young girl in Birmingham has been jailed for 18 years.

Daniel Guest carried out a sickening series of attacks against the girl over five years. Guest told the girl – who was under 16 - on a number of occasions not to say anything about the abuse, telling her no-one would believe her. Thankfully, she bravely came forward and reported him, resulting in his arrest.

When interviewed by officers, Guest even tried to blame the girl for making up stories and looking for attention. Despite this, a strong case was built against Guest, and he was convicted in May of rape of a child, sexual assault against a child and causing or inciting sexual activity with a child. Guest, from Birmingham, was sentenced on 2 August and will also be on the sex offenders register for life.

‘We are committed to investigating and convicting sexual predators who abuse young children’

Detective Sergeant Nicky Simms, from the Complex Child Abuse Investigation team, said: "I would like to commend the victim in having the courage to report this matter to the police, and to relive the horror of this abuse.

"I hope this conviction shows that West Midlands Police are committed to investigating and convicting sexual predators who abuse young children, and I would encourage anyone who has been the victim of any such offences to come forward.

“We have specialist officers who will support you through every step of the investigation and criminal justice process. We also have links with a number of partner agencies who can support and offer you the opportunity to have your voice heard and not silenced by your abuser.

"By coming forward, you could not only get justice for yourself, you can also be a part of protecting other people who may become victims of this kind of abuse."

Description

A man has been spared jail after sexually abusing a girl when he was 10-years-old by acting out his porn fantasies.

Daniel Shufflebotham-Reeve, now 25, played out sex acts on a younger girl he’d watched in online pornography, a court heard.

At the time, Shufflebotham-Reeve, of Kidlington, Oxfordshire, was not brought to justice, despite the victim's teacher being aware of the allegations.

The police only became involved in 2019 when the defendant walked into the business where his victim was working. 

After a conversation with her partner, she reported the abuse she faced back in primary school. In court, she said much of her life has been spent "crying and refusing to leave the house" because of the sexual abuse.

A jury at Oxford Crown Court last month found him guilty of four charges, including rape and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

In a victim impact statement read to Shufflebotham-Reeve’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday (September 20), the woman said: "So much of my life has been wasted crying and refusing to leave the house due to extreme anxiety, all because of him and what he did to me."

She would "never forgive" her abuser or understand why he carried out the sexual abuse, she said.

The court heard that he had played out sexual acts he had seen in pornography watched on his laptop.

He both sexually assaulted her and got the girl, who was younger than him, to carry out sex acts on him.

Shufflebotham-Reeve warned his victim that, if she did not do as he asked, he would "tell everyone and no one would love her".

Sentencing, Judge Maria Lamb told the defendant, who continues to deny that the incidents happened: "You committed upon that little girl acts which no child should have to endure. She wanted none of it."

Had he been an adult when he carried out the abuse, he could have expected years behind bars, the court heard.

However, because he was only just of an age when he could be prosecuted, it was likely he would have received a type of youth court community order – called a youth rehabilitation order – had his case been dealt with when he was 10 or 11.

By law, judges dealing with adults who committed their crimes when under-18 must take into account the sentence a defendant would have received if they were dealt with as a child.

Judge Lamb imposed a two year community order, saying: "I think, taking all these matters into consideration, the likely sentence had I been dealing with you as a 10-year-old would have been one of a youth rehabilitation order.

"The circumstance of the offending cry out, it seems to me, for the type of help that would offer.

"I can see no reason for departing from that approach to sentencing, where you have gone on to lead a life in which you have not offended further."

The judge gave an extensive set of sentencing remarks, recognising the sensitivities of the case. She noted that the defendant and his victim had been known to each other and, as children do, had ‘held hands’. 

"Sadly, that acting out of adult acts went beyond the playground and on occasions when the two of you were together in your bedroom you showed her the discovery you had made on your laptop: pornography,” Judge Lamb said.

"You wanted to do the same with her and you told her you wanted to copy it and the expressions she remembers you using to her – for example, ‘you’re making me this way’ – was you I am sure, echoing the sort of expressions you had heard spoken by adults in the footage that you had viewed."

She added of the victim: "She said that you told her if she did what you wanted, whether that was an act done to her by you […] or getting her to do acts to you […] if you complied with that it wouldn’t happen again.

"If she didn’t do it, you would tell everyone and no one would love her. She was scared to go to your house because she feared what might happen. She was more scared of the consequences if she didn’t.

"She was ashamed of what you had made her do and, of course, it goes without saying she has no cause to reproach herself for that which you did to her." 

The judge hit out at the ‘corrosive impact’ on children of watching adult pornography, quoting from a pre-sentence report written by an experienced probation officer.

"‘It,’ he says, ‘would be difficult to overstate how damaging the consumption of pornographic material could be to a child’s sexual development.’ He refers to the corrosive impact of the routine consumption of online pornography and that is as far as adults let alone children are concerned.

"With those sentiments, I agree."

Mitigating, Sumita Mahtab-Shaikh said her client had been suspended from his job as a receptionist at the Premier Inn. There were question marks over whether he would be able to continue working at the hotel.

He was supported by a number of character references that spoke of ‘highly of him now’, the barrister said.

Description

A man attempted to rape a young woman at a party then tried to paint her as a liar. Joshua Harries' victim was left so traumatised by the attack that she barely left her home for weeks afterwards.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that Harries was sober when he targeted the woman, who had been drinking. The judge, Recorder Greg Bull KC, said: "She became extremely tired and in my judgement she became drunk... He took advantage of her knowing she was more or less helpless."

Harries, then 23, took the woman to a bedroom, removed all of her clothes and sexually assaulted her. The woman later described a feeling of "freezing up". Harries thought she was asleep as he then attempted to rape her, but she resisted and prevented the rape, the court heard.

Read next: Man caught selling cleaning product for 'chemsex' in airport bust

He pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and attempted rape but was convicted by a jury. During the 25-year-old's sentencing hearing, prosecutor Ffion Thomas read a harrowing statement from the victim. "I felt completely helpless," the statement read. "He made me feel degraded, like I was just an object. He took away my power to speak or fight back. I blamed my own body for freezing up. Even when I made it clear I was not consenting, he continued.

"Having to undress in front of officers to get swabs for evidence, I felt even more degraded. For weeks after, I went into a depression. I struggled to leave the same spot on the sofa. I rarely left the house unless I was with someone and it was in daylight hours. I was scared if anyone saw me.

"I am now very wary of every single person I'm around and this heightens my anxiety. I've attempted to get therapy. Because of court delays, and not being able to give evidence for so long, my mental health has been highly impacted due to a lack of support. If [Harries] had admitted what he'd done to me in the first place I wouldn't have had to face the trauma of reliving that night in front of a courtroom of strangers.

"Knowing how few sex offences get to court and convicted, I now feel a sense of relief. All I wanted was for someone to listen to me and know what he did was wrong... I can now begin the healing process."

Harries, of Berw Road, Tonypandy, has one other conviction, for drink-driving last year. Beth Evans, mitigating, said that offence happened because he was struggling with the "stress" of the attempted rape and sexual assault allegations.

Ms Evans added that since the trial her client has apologised for the sexual offences. But the judge responded by pointing out Harries told lies to the jury by claiming innocence.

The defence counsel continued: "He has now been candid. He hasn't sought to minimise his actions to the probation service. It is unusual to see such frankness following a conviction after a trial. He understands that by having a trial, his actions were selfish."

She said there was a "totally different side" to Harries' character and that he still had the support of his mother, his partner, and his partner's parents. He has "always been in work", she told the court.

Recorder Bull told Harries: "Your crocodile tears to the probation officer cut little effect, I'm afraid, with me. [The victim] could have been prevented the trauma of waiting for the matter to come to court. You called on the expertise of a King's Counsel to cross-examine the complainant. That is your right and I do not hold it against you, but it shows the depths you were prepared to go to brand the victim a liar. Well, you failed."

The judge jailed Harries for five years and imposed a 10-year restraining order. He will be on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Description

A Luton man who fled the country after raping a teenage girl has been jailed for 11 years.

Dawood Khan, 41, attacked the girl in a flat in Luton in March 2022 after spotting her alone and distressed in Milton Keynes. He offered to help her and arranged a taxi to an address in Luton, where he raped her.

But his brave victim later managed to leave the property and used a member of the public’s phone to call for help.

Khan fled the country, but three months later he was extradited back to the UK from France, after he handed himself in at a Paris police station. In May this year, he was found guilty of rape at Luton Crown Court following a two-week trial.

On Friday (August 11) Khan, of St Mildreds Avenue, Luton, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, with an extended three years on licence due to his dangerousness.

Description

Donat Cantrell was found guilty after a trial at Leeds Crown Court of a string of offences against the youngster who was 10 or 11 at the time. The 57-year-old is already serving a lengthy jail sentence following an armed stand-off with police Horsforth in March last year.

But he was handed a new nine-year extended sentence this week, which will only begin when his existing 10-years-and-eight-months sentence expires.

The court heard that Cantrell had groomed the youngster and bought her gifts, including a bikini. On one occasion, he invited the youngster into his motorhome on her own and closed the curtains before undressing himself.

He told her he needed to wash himself and asked her to help, before asking she remove her clothes. He then washed her touching her body, including her vagina. He masturbated himself and made her touch his genitals before performing a sex act on her. He later told her not to tell her mother and that he was “like a grandad”.

On another occasion, he invited the girl into a bathroom and made her masturbate him with the promise of £20. He then took her to a B&M store the next day and gave her the cash, telling her she “earned it”. He also showed her a pornographic video.

Cantrell, formerly of St Helena’s Caravan Park in Horsforth, was found guilty after his trial of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, sexual assault of a child, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, assault of a child by penetration, sexual assault of a child and causing a child to watch a sexual act.

Mitigating, Rebecca Young said Cantrell has problems with drink and drugs which she said did not excuse his behaviour but “went some way to explain it”.

This was shot down by Judge Tom Bayliss KC, who said he could not understand the correlation. He told Cantrell: “You were in a position of trust with that child. You tried to corrupt the child with gifts and then with money. It’s difficult to think of a more cynical and calculated attempt to sexually abuse a child.”

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A man stole a handbag, a bank card from a house and items from a supermarket in a crime spree in Newport. Cardiff Crown Court heard how Robert Devney, who refused to appear before the court, has been required to register as a sex offender indefinitely since 2004. On October 18 last year, he attended a police station to register as having no fixed abode, meaning he should have notified officers of his whereabouts a week later, but he did not.

On December 31 last year Devney entered a house in the early hours of the morning and stole a Natwest bank card, which he was caught on CCTV using at a service station in Newport at 2.48am, spending £33.76. On February 8 of this year, he stole £76.50 worth of goods from Sainsbury's in Newport. He returned to the same store the following day stealing items worth over £62, but this time he was detained and the items were recovered.

On April 7 of this year, he again failed to comply with his registration requirements, and on April 20 he failed to surrender at Newport Magistrates' Court. On June 25, he entered a different Sainsbury's store in Newport and stole items worth £14.75. From there Devney went into an office to the rear of the store, and unsuccessfully tried a safe, but did steal a handbag belonging to a staff member.

Devney, 50, of Chepstow Road, Newport, was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court in his absence having been convicted of two counts of failure to comply with notification requirements, fraud by false representation, three counts of theft from a shop, failure to appear before Newport Magistrates' Court, and a non-dwelling burglary.

No mitigation was offered on behalf of Devney as his barrister was not given any instructions. Her honour judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke sentenced Devney to three years and four months in prison.

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This Derby voyeur secretly filmed a female carrying out sex acts so he could watch them for his own gratification. Derby Crown Court heard how Lucas Smith’s victim had no idea he had caught her on camera and viewed what she was doing.

But his offending came to light and he was charged with multiple counts of voyeurism. Now, the want-to-be university student is on the sex offender register for the next five years.

Handing him a nine-month community order, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: “You summed this offending up best yourself when you said what you did was stupid. It was really, really, stupid.

“You recorded it and she did not know but importantly you weren’t going to do anything with it such as share it or put it on the internet. You did it for your own gratification and you can’t do things like that.

"It was stupid, it was also criminal and I am going to sentence you for being stupid but at least you spared her from having to come to court and give evidence.”

Dawn Smith said the offending took place when Smith, formerly of Lismore Court, Sinfin, and who gave the court a new address of William Street, in the city centre, was a teenager.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism. Anna Soubry, mitigating, said her client lives with his father and grandparents and hopes to go to university this autumn.

Judge Smith told him: “When you go to university you will have to go to the local police station there and tell them where you will be living and you will need to tell the probation service where you are living.” The victim’s identity is protected by law.