Latest Offenders

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A DANGEROUS sexual predator strangled and punched a 21-year-old woman after following her from work in Widnes.

Patrick Sullivan, of Cleveleys Avenue in Widnes, had been drinking at the bar where his victim worked before the assault on Cross Street just after midnight on January 26.

The father of four had admitted ABH but had denied any sexual motive. He was subsequently found guilty of intent to commit a sexual offence at trial.

Judge Andrew Hatton said when sentencing Sullivan: This a young womans worst nightmare. She was alone late at night in a quiet, secluded location and became concerned that she was being followed.

She crossed the road twice deliberately to see if she really was being followed and you matched her every move. She was then jumped on from behind, strangled by your arm and wrestled to the ground.

Further violence followed, including punches to her face. Your interest was not in her money or phone as she offered you both in an attempt to stop the assault. Nor was your interest in her upper body or breasts.

Your hands went straight to her jeans. You intended to commit either rape or a very serious sexual offence.

The court heard how heavy snow fall that evening meant a colleague, who was supposed to give the victim a lift home, was not prepared to risk driving.

Judge Hatton continued: Within moments of parting from her work colleague, the victim turned onto a quiet residential road of terraced houses where she was strangled from behind and then subjected to an assault occasioning actual bodily harm."

During the incident Sullivan was disturbed and fled, pursued by a man and the police were called.

Judge Hatton added: What was described as old fashioned detective work led to your arrest. Had it not been for footprints in the snow you would never have been detained.

Sullivan, aged 52, was jailed for four years at Liverpool Crown Court on August 21. He will serve at least two thirds of his sentence before remaining on license for six years when released.

Judge Hatton concluded: You argued that you were just messing about, a defence which was quite rightly in my opinion, nonsensed by the jury.

I accept that you had been drinking but I do not accept you were intoxicated to the extent that you describe.

You dealt a gratuitous kick to the back of the young women as you left and you did so as an act of frustration that your plans to sexually assault her had been thwarted.

I consider the extended license to be necessary for the protection of members of the public from an extremely dangerous sexual predator.

Sullivan will also be placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

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A MAN who subjected a woman to a frightening ordeal in her own home, where she feared she might be raped or murdered, has been jailed.

Najaf Khan edged his way into her Brierfield home after earlier chatting to her in the street.

Once inside, he insisted upon kissing her and then tried to do it a second time, but failed.

Following his arrest, Khan, 32, exposed himself to officers at Burnley police station, Preston Crown Court heard.

Khan, a married man, of Stanley Street, Brierfield had earlier been convicted after trial of trespassing, with intent to commit a sexual offence, sexual assault, an attempted sexual assault, plus four other charges of exposure. He was also dealt with for two offences of shoplifting. He was jailed for 26 months.

In November last year, Khan got chatting with a young woman in the street. He invited her to join him on his walk, but she refused.

He remained close as she went to open her front door. He got into her home and sat down in the living room.

In a statement, the young woman said his behaviour caused her enormous fear. She said the thought of possible rape and murder was running through her mind. Khan said he wouldn't leave until he had kissed her. The defendant kissed her against her will.

Khan told police he had not entered the woman's home and said he was in Burnley at the time.

Philip Holden, defending, said Khan had plainly been unwell at the time. He had no history of such offending.

He said: “His biggest concern is his family. He has now spent nine months in custody – the equivalent of nearly an 18 month sentence.”

Judge Christopher Cornwall told Khan that although the woman suffered no physical harm, the consequences for her had been extremely considerable. She no longer felt safe in her home and had increased security.

Khan will be on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

A restraining order was made, barring him from having any contact, attempting to contact, or enter the woman's street until further order.

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An "incorrigible" Moray sex offender has been given a life sentence.

Donald Main, 24, of Elgin, was given a mobile phone for his own safety by police - but used it to contact boys.

Lord Uist told Main: "It is plain to me that you are an incorrigible sex offender and a serious danger to the public."

The judge, at the High Court in Edinburgh, ordered Main to serve at least 18 months, and will be kept under supervision for the rest of his life.

Main contacted three boys he did not know aged between 10 and 16.

He began making contact with youngsters within days of being freed from a two-year jail sentence imposed after he followed a 12-year-old boy.

The registered sex offender was also previously jailed for 40 months after being convicted of abducting a 12-year-old boy.

He was also sentenced to 12 months detention in 2007 after breaching a probation order following indecent conduct towards boys aged between 11 and 13.

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A PAEDOPHILE rapist who repeatedly assaulted two young girls has been jailed for 16 years.

Winchester Crown Court heard last week that one of the victims was only nine when Stewart Thomas McDevitt, 50, began abusing her.

McDevitt, from Amesbury, denied the abuse when he was arrested in March last year but was found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault and two of rape by a jury sitting at Portsmouth Crown Court following a one-week trial starting on July 2.

He was cleared of a further three counts of indecent assault.

Speaking after the sentencing, DC Darren Ambrose of Wiltshire Police said: McDevitt preyed on two innocent girls, which had a long-lasting and devastating effect on them.

They have shown great courage in coming forward and speaking to police and we hope that this case will encourage any other victims of sexual abuse to report it.

McDevitt has continued to deny any involvement but the jury found him guilty and the prison sentence imposed today reflects the vile nature of his crime.

McDevitt, now of Barne Barton, Plymouth, was also made subject to a sexual offences prevention order.

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Simon Austin, previously known as Simon Austin Hamilton, 43, now of Vadel Ayre, North Roe, Shetland, but previously of Sutton Avenue, Rustington, is due to appear on bail at Worthing Magistrates Court on Tuesday (July 30).

The 20 charges, authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) follow an extensive investigation over the past two and a half years by the Paedophile On-Line Investigation Team (POLIT) of Sussex Police.

Austin is charged with 12 offences of making indecent videos and images of children from the Internet between 2007 and 2009, with seven offences of outraging public decency by making indecent videos of women, filmed covertly on the London tube network in 2008 and 2009, and with one offence of refusing to disclose his computer password in May 2012.

At the times of all the alleged offences Austin was living in Rustington.

A police spokesman added that the allegedly indecent videos of children did not involve any youngsters from the area.

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Two men have been sentenced to a total of 16 years for raping a woman in Eastbourne last year.

Seedy Tambedou, 39, a doorman, of Hever Close, Eastbourne, and Omar Sanyang, 40, a care assistant, of Amherst Road, Bexhill were found guilty on Monday.

Tambedou was also found guilty of assisted rape at Lewes Crown Court.

Police said the men showed no remorse for the nasty assault, which left the victim severely traumatised.

The men raped the victim on September 28 2012 during a birthday celebration.

During a second assault by Sanyang, two witnesses tried to help the victim and stop the assault.

Tambedou was sentenced to a total of nine years for the assisted rape which will run consecutively.

Sanyang was sentenced to seven years.

Both will be put on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Detective Constable Tod Stewart, who led the investigation, said: "This was clearly a very nasty assault leaving the victim severely traumatised and in need of specialised counselling. The events of the evening were extremely distressing for the victim but she found a huge amount of courage to come forward and report this awful crime.

"The victim and her friends and family are very pleased both Tambedou and Sanyang were found guilty and have been sentenced for substantial periods of time. She is now able to move on with her life and start to recover from the ordeal.

"Judge Hayward said there was compelling evidence against both men who showed no remorse for their actions.

"Anyone who has been a victim of sexual assault is encouraged to report it to the police. We will take the report seriously and give the victim all the support they need to make sure the offender is brought to justice."

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A sex offender who assaulted a woman indecently as she slept has been ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work.

Iain Charlton, 36, from Tripwell, Brough, Whalsay, was placed on a community payback order with a supervision requirement for 18 months when he appeared for sentence at Lerwick Sheriff Court yesterday.

He will remain on the sex offenders list for the duration of the order.

Charlton previously admitted rubbing his hands up his victims back and unhooking her bra as she slept at an address in the towns St Magnus Street.

He had been at a party and was keen on the woman, although that interest was not reciprocated.

The woman, on becoming aware of him in the room, felt unable to say anything. She rolled out of the bed and landed on the floor, before running out of the room for help.

Defence agent Tommy Allan said Charlton had struggled to come to terms with the incident, although he accepted he had committed the offence.

He said the incident was not prolonged, adding Charlton had left the woman alone once she had made clear his actions had not been consented.

Sheriff Marion MacDonald warned Charlton: This must have been a very upsetting incident for the woman in this case.

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A teaching assistant has been jailed for two years and four months after admitting a string of sex offences against children.

The youth worker, originally from Jewson Road, Norwich, was jailed for grooming a boy over the internet, child abduction and sexual assault.

The offences involved four boys in Swaffham and Norwich.

Following the case, Norfolk police urged parents to become more aware of the 'dangers of the online world' and to not be afraid to check their children's social network use.

Reuben Poll used the alias Jordan Green on social network site Facebook to chat to one 11-year-old.

The court heard how he groomed the boy by making sexual comments in private messages.

He encouraged the child to send explicit photos of himself and sent the child pornographic images.

Reuben, who volunteered at a youth club in Swaffham and worked as a teaching assistant at primary schools around Norfolk, then met up with the boy at a park in January this year.

But he was caught after the child's mother became suspicious.

William Carter, prosecuting, told Norwich Crown Court that the 11-year-old's mother noticed a change in his behaviour and discovered the messages from 'Jordan Green' when she checked her child's Facebook account dating back to early December 2012.

She took the laptop to police and Poll was arrested on January 12.

Her son told officers how Poll had 'drawn me in' through the messages in which he claimed he was 16 years old rather than 20.

He told the child: 'I want to be like your big bro and look after you.'

When Poll was arrested by police two boys, aged 12 and 15, were in his white Renault Clio without their parents' consent.

They said they were going to Poll's flat to do some decorating, but the children's parents said they were 'horrified' when told by officers, and Poll admitted two counts of abduction.

He also admitted sexual assault by touching a child at a Swaffham youth club where he volunteered. The case was dismissed by the club when reported by the boy last year as they believed Poll's denial.

Poll will now be placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years.

Andrew Shaw, mitigating, said Poll had a very troubled upbringing and was 'damaged' and 'confused'.

He is the son of a woman described in court as 'probably Norwich's most notorious prostitute' Carmen Dye. He was taken into foster care aged eight and grew up in Dereham.

But Mr Shaw said that his attempts to get his life on track by becoming a teaching assistant were scuppered when his sister Natasha Dye died from a drugs overdose supplied to her by her mother's partner. He fell into depression and lost his primary school job.

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A paedophile teacher found with 14,500 sick images of children told police he was looking at them for research purposes – so he could get them taken down from the Internet.

But science master Melvyn Carter, who taught at East Sussex County Council-run Heathfield Community College at the time of his arrest in August 2011, eventually admitted this was a lie.

He confessed he had been looking at such images for “several years”

while continuing to work as a teacher.

Carter has now been jailed for 15 months.

The 69-year-old left the school, in Cade Street, Heathfield, in November 2011, five months after he was initially arrested.

Pupils at the school yesterday spoke of their shock.

One former student,who asked not to be named, called Carter “sick”.

Another student added: “I can’t believe it.”

Heathfield head teacher Alan Powell said: “Melvyn Carter previously worked at the college as a cover supervisor and, before that, as a teacher.

“As soon as we were made aware of these allegations we took immediate action.

“He was dismissed from his post in November 2011 following an internal personnel investigation and we referred the case to the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

“None of the offences he was charged with in any way relate to the school or to any pupils from the school. Nor had any previous concerns of this nature been raised about him.”

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: “Carter was a teacher at Heathfield Community School when he was arrested in August 2011 but he resigned shortly afterwards.

“There was no evidence of any link between the school and his offending, which was carried out on his home computer.”

At Lewes Crown Court Carter, of Malvern Way, Hastings, was also served with a ten-year sexual offence prevention order severely restricting his access to children and computers and will have to register as a sex offender on his release from prison.

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A man who sexually abused a teenager after throttling her until she passed out has been jailed for 14 years.

Darren Cowland, 37, of Union Close, Bideford, Devon, ripped out clumps of his 18-year-old victim's hair during the attack, Exeter Crown Court heard.

Cowland was on bail for attacking a man with a bottle in a nightclub when he assaulted the woman.

He admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and sexual assault.

'Long recovery'

Judge Francis Gilbert said: "It was a very, very violent assault on a young woman who will probably be a long time recovering from what you did to her.

"I am satisfied that you are a dangerous offender who poses a significant risk of committing further offences."

David Evans, prosecuting, said the bottle attack took place at Caesar's Palace nightclub in Bideford in July 2011. The victim was left with a 4cm scar.

Gareth Evans, mitigating, said Cowland was a victim of abuse as a child and has been determined to turn his back on alcohol since he had been remanded in custody.

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A 19-year-old man who had sex with a 14-year-old girl has been given 12 months custody.

Grant Pearson, of Aintree Road, South Shore, had pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual activity with a child.

Preston Crown Court heard Pearson had sex with the girl twice after they had met by accident at a bus stop and continued to contact each other by text and on Facebook.

Hanifa Patel, prosecuting, said Pearson had been fully aware of the her age.

The girls mother went on to find out what had happened and the police were called.

Janet Ironfield, defending, said: He entirely accepts that he is to blame. He hasnt sought to transfer any of the blame to the girl.

There was genuine affection between the two. There had been Facebook chatter which in the main of entirely flirtatious.

The court heard Pearsons mother had died when he was 13 and his father had later left him imprisoned in Singapore.

Passing sentence on Monday, Judge Andrew Woolman also told Pearson he recognised there was very profound mitigation in his case.

He said: You had very troubled years.

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SERIAL sex attacker Dean Goodwin tried to contact one of his terrified victims on Facebook, just weeks before he committed the brutal early morning rape in Poole.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Echo, the woman, who was just 13 when Goodwin molested her, said: I contacted the police after he attempted to add me as a Facebook friend and he was arrested.

He was bailed but released without charge because I had deleted the message from my phone; otherwise he could have been jailed for two years.

It's shocking that just a month later he was on the run again after another life had been destroyed.

The woman, now 25, was moved from her Poole home to safe accommodation in Bournemouth and said she was petrified Goodwin would try to track her down again.

She said: It's always been my worst fear. We were uprooted before when Goodwin was released from prison after he came to live in the same area.

We're still too close and need to be moved out of the county; for the sake of my three young children.

We are all holed up in one room; we can't go anywhere.

The woman was just 13 when Goodwin sexually assaulted her in Parkstone on May 3, 2000, grabbing her and putting his hand over her mouth to stifle her screams.

She said: I'd never seen him before that day; he threatened to cut me up if I screamed again. If my sister hadn't walked past I believe he would have done much worse. I've tried to rebuild my life but I still suffer from extreme anxiety and have difficulty trusting. I've needed intensive counselling.

I'm also very protective of my children; they are my main concern. There is no way I would let my five-year-old even play in the garden which is very sad.

Goodwin is still affecting all our lives; he is an extremely dangerous man and I wasn't surprised to hear that he was being hunted again.

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A "predatory bully" who groomed a girl in Lancashire from the age of 13 before abducting and abusing her has been jailed for four years and three months.

Mohammed Imran Amjad, 26, of Halifax Road, Brierfield, admitted sexual activity with a child and three counts of child abduction in 2009 and 2010.

A jury heard he drove her around the streets in his silver BMW.

Prosecutor Chris Long said he knew the victim's age yet continued to "corrupt and abuse her".

Amjad initially denied the charges but changed his plea part way through the trial at Manchester Crown Court.

'Coercing into submission'

He groomed the youngster after he was given her mobile phone number, said prosecutors, then took her out in his car before having sex with her aged 14.

The girl's mother contacted the police but the girl refused to make a complaint at the time and the relationship continued, the court heard.

Amjad was acquitted on the direction of the judge of other charges of rape and aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring rape, encouraging or assisting an offence and witness intimidation.

Five other men were also acquitted of various sex offences against the same girl.

Haroon Mahmood, 22, of John Street, Brierfield; Mohammed Suleman Farooq, 23, of Berry Street, Brierfield; Omar Mazafer, 22, of Halifax Road, Brierfield; Mohammed Zishan Amjad, 25, of Halifax Road, Brierfield; and Shiraz Afzal, 26, of Mansfield Crescent, Brierfield, had also been on trial.

After Amjad was sentenced at Burnley Crown Court earlier, Mr Long said: "Mohammed Imran Amjad was a predatory bully who befriended the victim when she was just 12 or 13-years-old.

"He was well aware that the victim was underage yet he continued to corrupt and abuse her for his own gratification, wielding his power over her and coercing her into submission."

Det Ch Insp Sion Hall said it was the culmination of a long and complex investigation, adding: "We've worked extremely hard with the young victim over a long period of time and she has shown a tremendous amount of courage and bravery throughout the case.

"I hope this sentence acts as a warning that this type of predatory crime will not be tolerated."

Amjad was also given a seven-year sexual offences prevention order which bars him from contacting or seeking to contact any female aged under 16 without the permission of their parent or guardian.

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A sex beast who carried out "appalling and depraved" sexual abuse of two young girls has been jailed for 16 years.

Lee Ashurst, of Parr Avenue, Gillingham, was told by a judge: "You chose to oppose these matters and have been convicted. You can expect and receive no mercy from this court."

The 29-year-old pervert denied six charges of rape of a child but was convicted of each by a 10-2 majority.

Judge Jeremy Carey said the jury of nine women and three men had to listen to the evidence of two little girls who gave in graphic detail an account of Ashurst's depraved sexual behaviour.

"Each of them described how you indulged yourself in the most appalling way," he said. "In their innocence they did not realise, and still do not realise, the enormity of the depravity of which you are now rightly found guilty.

"The impact on them I judge to be significant. When they do understand it is likely to be enormous and long lasting. It is that impact which makes that offending so grave."

The victims' families would feel the impact and shock waves for years to come.

After the guilty verdicts, Ashurst's lawyer spoke of the "horrific and appalling nature" of the offending.

Maidstone Crown Court, where Ashurst was sentenced

Ashurst, said to have a low IQ, will be on the sex offenders' register for life and banned from working with children and vulnerable adults.

After he had been led away to the cells to begin his sentence, Judge Carey told jurors, one of whom wept: "I turn to you with some feelings of anxiety.

"This case must have put you through an ordeal. It is your misfortune you had to sit on this case. Others have been through the ordeal you have had to go through.

"I don't suppose it will come to an end for some time. You have done your duty. After the dreadfulness of the evidence, you can sense that justice has been done."

He added: "Forget about this as best you can."

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SERVING police officer in Hampshire was caught distributing indecent images of children online by an undercover operation, a court heard.

Gary Prince, who resigned within days of his arrest, was jailed for three years yesterday after a court heard how thousands of images were discovered on his computer.

A court was told how a user on a file -sharing network, who had been sharing images of children, was traced back to the 49-year-old police constable.

Prince, who had been in the police for 21 years and was at the time an area car driver working in Fareham, had been unaware that he had been engaging with an undercover officer at the time, the court heard.

He was also a school governor and had been a trainer with a children’s motorcycle display team.

Tammy Mears, prosecuting, told Portsmouth Crown Court how the father’s computer contained more than 500 moving images and more than 2,000 photographs.

The court heard Prince had shared these images with at least 12 other people.

The offences stretched from 2008 to 2012.

Ms Mears said police discovered on Prince's laptop a screen shot of a girl, allegedly aged around ten, being sexually abused by a man who claimed to be her father and claimed to be in America.

The court heard that Prince had directed the activity between the man and the girl through a video link.

Prince, of Prinsted Walk, Fareham, confessed in interview his involvement and accepted that he had an interest in girls aged seven to 11, the court heard.

He also admitted having different profiles, including one where he claimed to be an 11-year-old girl.

Prince pleaded guilty to three charges of distributing indecent images of children, three charges of possessing indecent images of children, another of taking an indecent image of a child and one of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.

James Bloomer, mitigating, said that the 49-year-old had no previous convictions, had addressed his behaviour through counselling, told friends and family, and reports showed he was not seeking to rationalise or excuse what he had done.

He said that Prince was described in one of numerous references from friends and family as “the world’s best father”.

Judge Iain Pearson said he had taken into account Prince’s early guilty plea, remorse and action to treat his addiction to indecent images of children.

Prince was put on the sex offenders’ register for life, disqualified from working with children indefinitely and the judge ordered that the computer and images be destroyed.

Detective Inspector Richard Wheeler, of the Paedophile and Online Investigation Team, said: “Clearly, while none of the offences are linked to Prince’s role as a police officer, he was trusted by his colleagues and by the public and has let them down.

“We must remember that every one of the thousands of images in Prince’s possession was an image of a child being subjected to abuse.”