Latest Offenders

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A "prolific" sex offender who molested a Wirral schoolgirl on her way home received a nine-year sentence today.

A judge sentenced Andrew Bradshaw to seven years imprisonment with an extended licence of two years.

"Your record shows you are a prolific and determined sexual offender, in particular against girls of school age," said Judge Alan Conrad, QC.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that on November 14 last year 46-year-old Bradshaw parked up near a pathway in Bidston.

"You decided to take advantage of the fact it was the time of day that school girls would be on their way home.

"You parked up and lay in wait on a quiet residential road and there you saw your victim walking past.

"You got out of your car and followed her down the path and caught up with her and subjected her to a frightening and distressing sexual assault," said Judge Conrad.

After she began screaming and pushed him away, Bradshaw, a painter and decorator, ran to his distinctive black Peugeot 106 and drove back to a house in Chester, where he was working to help establish his alibi.

Bradshaw, of Hoole Way, Chester, denied sexual assault and breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order, but was convicted by a jury.

The court heard he has convictions in 2002 and last year for indecent exposure and had been jailed for seven years in 2004 for indecently assaulting six women and girls.

He has also been convicted of possessing extreme porn.

Simon Killeen, defending, said that Bradshaw, who was ordered to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life, had dropped his daughter off and the offence had been opportunistic during a small window of opportunity.

Detective Constable Andy Cullen, said: "Bradshaw committed despicable offences against his young victim and thankfully she plucked up the courage to report her ordeal. Her bravery in coming forward means that Bradshaw has now been brought to justice.

"Bradshaw now has seven years in jail to reflect on the torment he put his victim through and the lasting impact it will have on her and her family for the rest of her their lives.

"Hopefully this sentencing will bring her and her family some closure now that justice has been done.

"This was a very thorough investigation by officers from the force. I would like to thank all of those involved in the investigative process who have worked so hard to bring this man to justice."

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A MARRIED teacher was found hiding in a drawer under a pupils bed by her mother, a court heard.

Andrew Welsh, a teacher at Canon Slade School, was discovered under the single divan bed when the mum came home early from a shopping trip.

The highly regarded father-of-one was yesterday given a 14-month suspended jail sentence after Bolton Crown Court heard that he had lost his career and good character following his two-month affair with the girl.

The court heard his doctor wife is standing by him and that he now works as a double glazing salesman.

Geoff Whelan, prosecuting, told how the teacher and the 16-year-old girl would meet at each others homes where they would kiss and cuddle. On two occasions, they had sex.

Welsh sent the girl numerous text messages telling her he loved her and mentioning the sexual contact between them.

Mr Whelan told how Welsh, who was not the girls form tutor, was providing unofficial pastoral care to her and that they would meet in his classroom.

She had sought his advice because she believed she suffered from depression but the relationship changed during one meeting.

Mr Whelan said: He told her he was having a bad day and asked her for a hug.

Within days Welsh suggested they spend a free afternoon together and they went back to his home where they kissed on the sofa in his young sons playroom.

The teacher, who was the assistant head of Year 10, met the girl at his house on three occasions and her home three further times.

Another time they engaged in sexual touching in his car parked in a Sainsburys car park.

But the court heard that one day the girls mother arrived home unexpectedly at 11.30am and was met by her daughter at the bottom of the stairs.

When the mother noticed that the girls hair was messed up, and lipstick she had applied two hours earlier was gone, her daughter explained she had been lying down because she had a headache.

After putting shopping away in the kitchen the mother went upstairs and pushed open the girls bedroom door to see her holding a mans jacket. A pair of mens boots were also on the floor.

The mother said: What are you doing? Whos here?

But as her daughter replied Andy the mother noticed movement coming from the compartment under her daughters single divan bed.

Mr Whelan told the court: The mother ordered the defendant to get out from under the bed and she recognised him immediately.

The mother contacted the school and police and he was arrested.

He told officers that he thought the relationship was not illegal because he believed she was no longer a pupil at the school.

Nicola Gatto, defending, said Welsh had been teaching for seven years and was a well-regarded member of staff.

She said: This was a man who clearly had a very bright future ahead of him.

Quite what possessed him to embark on this course of conduct is really unclear.

She added that it is not suggested the girl led Welsh on.

She said: She makes no bones about the fact that she found Andrew Welsh attractive and, unfortunately, he succumbed to temptation and has paid a high price for that.

It seems that he became utterly carried away with himself and didnt apply any real thought to what was going to happen to those around him.

Judge Elliot Knopf sentenced Welsh, of High Bank, Atherton, to 14 months in prison, suspended for two years and ordered him to do 200 hours unpaid work.

He said the relationship could have gone on longer if Welsh had not been caught.

He added: You should have exercised the judgement you clearly lacked when you decided to embark on this relationship.

Welsh, whose 36th birthday was today, pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust at an earlier hearing.

He was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and ordered to pay 500 prosecution costs.

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Judge Derwin Hope said he was “concerned” about the case when he agreed to the application from defence barrister Richard Onslow.

Benjamin Larmer, 20, of Bishops Road, Itchen, had pleaded guilty to three charges of having sexual activity with two 15-year-olds, and one count of meeting a third girl after sexual grooming.

Larmer was further remanded in custody until July 21.

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Update - July 2022

Reportly working in Bury, BL9 under the name Christopher Penguin.

A 29-year-old Weymouth man who groomed and then molested a 15-year-old girl has been jailed for 13 months.

Christopher Barrow, pictured, travelled to meet the child after booking them into a hotel for New Years Eve after making contact online.

But when one of her concerned friends told an older sister what was going on the police were brought in and he was arrested at The Angel Hotel in Chippenham.

Colin Meeke, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court on Tuesday that the child was still 14 years old when she put a message on social media site Kik last year.

She put out a general invitation for people to talk to her and he answered that invitation. They seem to have got on well, he said.

Although the girl made it clear from the outset that she was 14, and he said he was a pub manager aged 28 or 29, the correspondence soon took a sexual tone.

In a game of truth or dare they asked each a series of questions starting with her wanting to know if he would cuddle her.

He said he would and then asked if she were over 16 if she would have sex with him.

It is clear at all times he knew she was under the age of 16. There was an arrangement to meet on or about her 15th birthday in July last year.

Mr Meeke said that had not taken place because her parents had other plans but in September and October she and Barrow hatched the plan for New Years Eve.

He booked a room at the hotel and she met him at the train station on December 31, having told her family she would be staying with friends that night.

During the messaging she had told him she wanted to wait until she was 16 to lose her virginity, but after kissing and cuddling in the room he sexually touched her.

Mr Meeke said after meeting up with him some of her friends, who knew what was going on, tried to text her but got no reply.

After she eventually replied to the texts they went to find her, as they were concerned for her safety, and one of the friends then mentioned it to her older sister.

A policeman was at the reception the next day when Barrow walked past and when asked if he knew the girls age he answered no comment, and was promptly arrested.

Barrow, of Reedling Close, Weymouth, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child.

Mike Jeary, defending, said his client had been honest about what he did with the police and was willing to go on the Thames Valley Sex Offenders course.

He said he was a well educated man but had drifted from job to job and had plainly groomed the girl before meeting her.

Jailing him Judge Tim Mousley QC said: I am satisfied there was a degree of grooming towards her and it only came to an end when a friends older sister contacted the police.

He jailed him for 12 months for the sex offences with a month added on for failing to surrender to custody last week.

He also imposed a sexual offences prevention order restricting his liberty and told him he must register as a sex offender for ten years.

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A justice campaigner who performed a sex act in Heaton Park and was found with sick images of children has been jailed.

Former NHS worker Joanne Foster, 44, pleaded guilty to a series of sexual offences after being arrested in April 2017 with her then boyfriend, Gary Keenan, 43, following a police swoop at the home they shared.

Chester Crown Court heard that Keenan's mobile phone also contained downloaded indecent images of children.

There was also a picture of Foster exposing herself in Heaton Park. Keenan had encouraged her to engage in high risk and sometimes illegal sexual activity, prosecutors said.

The court was told during a sentencing hearing on Friday how Foster had become a campaigner for tougher manslaughter sentences in 2009 after her long term partner died following a 'one punch' attack during a night out in Macclesfield.

In the raid in April last year, devices belonging to Keenan were also seized and hundreds of indecent images of children and illegal pornographic images from the internet were found.

Prosecutor Sarah Badrawy said: Some of the pictures and videos show Foster engaging in sexual activity and having sex with multiple males outdoors. One set of pictures of Foster, taken by Keenan, shows her in Heaton Park in Manchester, wearing a white dress and exposing [herself].

Foster, of Percyvale Street, Macclesfield, pleaded guilty to possessing 16 Category A pictures, 18 category B and 69 category C indecent images of children under 16.

Keenan admitted having 159 category A, 231 category B and 536 category C indecent images of children along with 463 extreme pornographic images and 13 prohibited images in the form of animations.

Miss Badrawy said that an image recovered showed Foster with paedo s*** written on her bottom. She added that after starting the relationship, Keenan referred to Foster as his product and encouraged her to engage in high risk and sometimes illegal sexual activity.

The court heard that Foster, a former NHS clerical worker, blamed her partner for the actions, saying the former soldier downloaded the images to her phone.

But it was said that in police interviews the pair blamed each other.

Foster had earlier also admitted one count of possessing indecent images of children and two counts of outraging public decency.

The court heard that in 2009 Foster had lost her long-time partner when he died following in a one punch attack during a night out in Macclesfield.

In the aftermath she became a campaigner on the dangers of drink fuelled trouble and lobbied for tougher sentences for manslaughter cases.

Judge Patrick Thompson jailed Foster for 15 months and Keenan, recently of Altrincham, for two-and-a-half years.

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Claire Semmens gave the boy to Aaron Hughes who filmed the rapes on his mobile phone so he could watch them on his computer.

A babysitter has been jailed for 16 years for giving a three-year-old boy to a known paedophile who drugged and raped him as he slept.

Claire Semmens, 28, handed the little boy to depraved Aaron Hughes, who was jailed for life for the sex attacks on the sedated toddler.

Hughes, 32, filmed the rapes on his mobile phone so he could watch them over and over again on his computer.

He was caught when police did a routine check on his computer because they believed he had breached a court order by downloading child pornography.

The court heard horrified officers found Hughes had filmed himself raping a child twice at the home of Semmens while she was babysitting children.

Both attacks were on the same three-year-old and Hughes claimed they happened on the same night.

But police checked the videos and spotted the little boy was wearing different pyjamas and that Hughes had a different ring on his finger.

Prosecutor Laurence Jones said: "The rapes were carried out at separate times - but both were on the same boy and they happened in Semmens' bedroom.

"Semmens not only supplied the boy but provided a room which enabled Hughes to commit the act and film it in a relatively safe haven.

"By her own admission Semmens knew Hughes was a child sex offender who was banned from having any contact with children.

"But she was trying to satisfy Hughes's perversions for young male children."

The court heard Semmens was sexually attracted to Hughes's gay lover and the three had become close friends.

Hughes had a previous conviction for raping a six-year-old boy and Semmens hoped that by providing children to Hughes it would clear the way for her to have a relationship with his lover.

Mr Jones said: "Aaron Hughes had to be kept happy so she would supply him with a young boy.

"She had the opportunity to do this because she was a babysitter, regularly looking after boys aged between three and six."

The court heard Hughes and his lover moved into a flat in Roath, Cardiff, next door to where Semmens provided a regular babysitting service.

But it wasn't until police raided Hughes's home that they discovered he was preying on one of the little boys staying next door - with Semmens' consent.

Mr Jones said: "When Hughes was interviewed by police he admitted sedating the three-year-old boy before raping him.

"In the video clip you can see the little boys' eyes are closed.

"Hughes told police the rapes happened on the same night but the boy is wearing a different set of pyjamas and Hughes is wearing different jewellery.

"Claire Semmens had also developed a taste for child pornography herself and images were found on her laptop computer."

The court heard police also found computer images of the bare bottoms of two other boys babysat by Semmens.

Hughes and Semmens disappeared when they realised the images found on their computers would send them to jail.

The pair pawned their jewellery and took a train to Gatwick Airport fleeing in such a hurry Semmens' pet hamsters were left to die of starvation.

When they were arrested Hughes told police he suffered from a multiple personality disorder and he was not responsible for raping the little boy.

Semmens and Hughes sat stony-faced in the dock at Cardiff Crown Court with a prison officer sitting between them.

Semmens, of Roath, Cardiff, admitted two charges of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and possessing indecent images.

She was jailed for 16 years and barred from ever working with children again and must sign on the sex offenders register for life.

Hughes, of Roath, admitted two charges of rape, possessing indecent images and breaching the terms of his sex offenders prevention order.

He was jailed for life and told he would not be considered for parole until he served 12 years in prison.

Hughes will be on license for life and barred from ever working with children and must sign on to the sex offenders register for life.

Judge Phillip Richards told the pair: "These were genuinely horrendous offences which include the rape of a young child who was three years old.

"It almost defies belief that any human being would do such a thing to such an innocent young child.

"You, Semmens, made that child available not once but twice to your paedophile friend and permitted him to carry out his vile activities with that young child in your bedroom.

"You knew full well he was a child abuser and the level of breach of trust is probably worse than Hughes.

"Each of you are going to spend a long time in prison before you see the light of day."

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A man who still denies molesting a child despite being convicted of sexual assault after a three-day trial has been given a six-year jail term.

Aaron Clayton, of College Close, Horringer, near Bury St Edmunds, was sentenced amid stormy scenes at Ipswich Crown Court.

Judge Rupert Overbury said when he had met the victim he had found her to be cheerful and engaging girl who did not appear to have been adversely affected by what had happened to her.

However, he said a victim impact statement painted a very different picture.

This prompted a loud remark from one of the 32-year-olds family and friends in the public gallery.

Judge Overbury halted the hearing and asked for Claytons supporters to be cleared from the court.

Further shouting and swearing followed from a number of people.

When order was restored after police and the courts usher had shepherded the men and women from the court, Judge Overbury resumed sentencing, although he allowed the defendants father back in.

The judge made it clear to Clayton what had gone on would not be held against him and would not sway his sentencing.

The court heard during his trial Clayton had disagreed with various prosecution points.

Judge Overbury told him: You set out to challenge the voracity of some of the police officers (evidence), but plainly you were someone who would seek to take any point that was to your advantage in the promotion of what plainly was an untrue defence.

Earlier in mitigation Claytons barrister Jo Eley stated her client still denied he had sexually assaulted the girl despite a jurys guilty verdict.

However the judge said Clayton who had 27 previous convictions for 43 offences, although none for offences of a sexual nature posed a high, but not substantial risk to children.

In addition to his jail term Clayton was made subject to the sex offenders notification requirements for life and given a sexual offences prevention order to limit his contact with children.

The judge added: It is necessary to protect young people from any future offences by you. I am under a duty to pass a sentence that is commensurate with your offending.

Half of Claytons six-year term will be served in prison, the remainder on licence.

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Ex-BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall has been sentenced to an extra two years and six months in prison for two counts of indecently assaulting a girl.

Hall, 84, from Wilmslow, Cheshire, will start the sentence after completing a 30-month term for similar offences.

He admitted indecently assaulting the girl when she was 13 and was found guilty of one count in a majority jury verdict at Preston Crown Court.

He was cleared of 15 rape charges and four indecent assaults.

The charge Hall admitted involved an incident at a dinner party where he crept into his victim's bedroom and assaulted her.

'Vile bravado'

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Turner, said there had been "an element of grooming" to his offences.

Mr Justice Turner said there had been a "breach of trust" in relation to the assault on the girl when she was 13.

He said that Hall had acted with "a sense of arrogance and immunity... vile bravado and horrible betrayal".

He added that the 84-year-old had shown "a lack of candour or remorse" and criticised him for not admitting to these offences when he was convicted of other offences in 2013.

Hall did not react to the sentence as he listened to the proceedings through headphones, while his victim, who was also in court, wiped away tears with a handkerchief as details of the offences were mentioned.

The former broadcaster, who was accused of abusing two girls between 1976 and 1981, is already serving a 30-month jail term after he pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting 13 other girls, one as young as nine.

His original 15-month sentence, for abuse that occurred between 1967 and 1985, was later doubled at the Court of Appeal.

Speaking after the hearing, the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the North West, Nazir Afzal, said Hall's convictions "were only made possible by the courage of his victims".

"I would like to thank them for coming forward and ensuring that he was brought to justice," he said.

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A pervert who sexually abused a 13-year-old schoolboy has been jailed for three years.

Adam Greenhough, 30, drove over to the Bradford area in January 2011 to pick up the boy after school and a judge heard yesterday that the teenager was still wearing his school uniform when he was driven on to moorland where the abuse took place.

Bradford Crown Court heard how Greenhough, who has since been diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome and autism, initially contacted the boy through an internet chat site which was meant for over 18s. But before their meeting he became aware that the youngster, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was under 16.

Judge Peter Benson said despite that Greenhough, who had no previous convictions, went on to arrange a meeting with the teenager where the sexual abuse took place.

The judge said Greenhough, who was himself 26 at the time, must have appreciated that the complainant was much younger than him and a vulnerable young man.

You, nonetheless, went on to seek sexual gratification with him, said the Judge Benson.

Greenhough had always denied the offences until he entered guilty pleas in March this year and last September a previous trial at which the complainant gave evidence had to be abandoned.

Judge Benson said the impact statement relating to Greenhoughs offences indicated the strain and misery suffered by the boy and his family as a result of his refusal to accept his responsibility until a late stage.

Greenhough, of Mixenden Court, Halifax, pleaded guilty in March to two offences of sexual activity with a child and one of meeting the youngster after sexual grooming.

In addition to the three-year prison sentence, Judge Benson made an order banning Greenhough from having any contact with the boy again. And he will also have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life.

Barrister Edward Bindloss submitted that a suspended prison sentence could be considered in his clients case, particularly bearing in mind his difficulties and the impact that any prison sentence would have on him.

Mr Bindloss pointed out that the case did not involved any threats or inducements towards the young boy and Judge Benson accepted that it was not the usual case of predatory grooming.

This was out of character and there is no pattern of misbehaviour,'' said Mr Bindloss. It is a single incident and it is three-and-a-half years ago. In the three-and-a-half years there has been no repeat of this incident at all.

After the case Detective Inspector Chris Stones, of West Yorkshire Polices Protective Services Department, said: Greenhough took advantage of his victims age and vulnerability to carry out a sex attack on him. I would like to thank the victim for his courage in coming forward, and hope that the sentence passed down today will give him some closure.

West Yorkshire Police will always investigate offences involving the abuse of children thoroughly and sensitively, with a view to bringing those responsible to justice.

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A man who raped a 12-year-old while on bail awaiting trial for having sex with a girl of 14 has been jailed.

Wesley Roberts, 22, of Old Colwyn, Conwy, attacked the girl in a park after he had befriended her on Facebook, Mold Crown Court heard.

Roberts admitted the rape and sexual activity with the 14-year-old and was jailed for six years and two and a half years consecutively.

Judge Niclas Parry told Roberts he had considered an extended sentence.

Roberts was ordered to register with the police as a sex offender for life.

The court heard Roberts formed an online relationship with the 12-year-old while he was on bail awaiting trial for the other offence.

He raped the girl the first time they met, the court heard.

Judge Parry said: "You knew she was only 12.

"You are a high risk of harm to children in the form of sexual offences and rape."

The court heard Roberts had previously befriended the 14-year-old on Facebook in the summer of 2012, and they had sex five or six times.

Det Insp Lisa Surridge said: "It is important that people understand the part that social network sites such as Facebook can play in this type of offence.

"The victims in this case and their families have demonstrated immense courage and resilience in standing up to the offender.

"North Wales Police takes matters of this nature very seriously and it is reassuring to see this reflected in the sentence passed out."

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Mark Loten, 51, now of Dorset Close, was found guilty at Lewes Crown Court on Thursday, of two indecent assaults and the rape of a woman known to him at another address in Littlehampton in 1991.

He was sentenced to two years for one of the assaults, three years for the second assault and to six years for rape. All three sentences will run concurrently.

In an exclusive interview with the Gazette, his victim who for legal reasons cannot be identified said the past 23 years since suffering the abuse had been a living hell.

She said: What he did to me is something that I will never forget.

It has been really hard to get over. I felt like I had no one to turn to and it has been something that has been with me for 23 years.

But it is such a relief to finally have this off my chest and to finally have justice done.

Lotens victim said she plucked up the courage to approach police following the recent rise in historic sex cases coming to court, nationally.

She is now encouraging other people who have been victims of abuse to speak to police.

Its never too late for people to come forward, she said. Theres a lot of people out there who have been abused.

It is hard talking about it to police. But they are very understanding and supportive. I couldnt recommend it more.

Sussex Police said Lotens crimes were only reported to the force in 2012.

Detectives carried out a thorough investigation to achieve justice for the 51-year-olds victim, a spokesman said.

The spokesman added: It shows that we will always take such reports seriously no matter how long ago they happened.

The victim was supported by ourselves and appropriate welfare and counselling through the case and her evidence was key in securing Lotens conviction.

Lotens victim said she can now move on with her life.

The memories of what he did will always be with me but now I can move on and get on with my life. For me, justice has been done.

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A pervert who groomed a schoolgirl for sex on the internet and downloaded child abuse images has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

James Newman made contact with the girl on a social media site called BearShare in January last year when she was aged 12.

They continued to chat on Skype with Newman claiming he was 18.

He told her his true age - 23 - before arranging to meet her shortly after she turned 13.

Prosecutor Paul Valder said Newman picked the girl up in his car at Rochester railway station and drove her to an industrial estate in Strood.

They kissed and undressed before having consensual sexual intercourse in the back of the car.

It was the same scenario when they met on two further occasions, Mr Valder told Maidstone Crown Court.

Newman did not use a condom and the girl was concerned on the second occasion that she could be pregnant. He advised her to have a pregnancy test.

It proved negative but she had the same fear after the third occasion and confided in a teacher at her school. Her family and the authorities were informed.

Newman was arrested at his home in Longfield Avenue, New Barn, near Longfield, in November.

Computer equipment was seized and almost 200 images and movie clips at all levels of seriousness were found.

He admitted three offences of sexual activity with a child and five of possessing indecent images of a child. He denied a rape charge and a not guilty verdict was entered.

Louise Oakley, defending, said Newman became isolated and incredibly withdrawn after he was bullied at school.

He was spending more and more time in his bedroom and turned to the internet, she said.

He accessed images and received them from other people. He desperately wanted to seek help but didnt know where to turn.

Miss Oakley added: Prison is having a significant impact on him. He is not a lost cause.

"He is young and has a lot to learn. He will come out, no doubt, a different man than when he went in.

Newman was sentenced to four years for sexual activity with a child and six months consecutive for possessing the images.

"He is young and has a lot to learn. He will come out, no doubt, a different man than when he went in - Louise Oakley, defending

Judge Charles Macdonald QC said there had been planning and grooming and there was a significant disparity in age.

Custody is the only possibility here for this kind of offending, he added.

You are truly sorry and, perhaps most importantly, there is a lack of maturity which has affected your responsibility.

A sexual offences prevention order was made for 10 years and Newman will be on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

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Evil rapist Jonathan Mallon has been jailed for life after a 13 year reign of terror over vulnerable women. The creep met his victims at church events and raped two in public places, including a swimming pool changing room and the toilet of a busy cinema.

A vicious pervert was branded a “monster” yesterday as he was handed a life sentence for a campaign of terror that lasted 13 years.

Jonathon Mallon raped five women and sexually abused a sixth during a string of horrific offences that took place between December 1999 and March 2013.

One of his victims was a 21-year-old woman who was raped at addresses in Paisley, Renfrew and Greenock.

Mallon also forced a 31-year-old woman to perform a sex act on him at a Paisley house.

He was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow after a lengthy trial.

Mallon, 32, raped one of his victims in a cinema toilet and another was attacked in a changing cubicle at a busy swimming pool.

Each of his victims – who are now aged between 21 and 31 – was described as “vulnerable”.

Jailing Mallon for life and ordering him to spend at least 10 years behind bars before being able to apply for parole, judge Bill Dunlop QC told him: “This was a course of conduct that can only be described as monstrous.

“These offences were carried out against six women, each of whom was vulnerable in one way or another.

“It’s clear that you saw women who were vulnerable and ruthlessly exploited them for your own sexual gratification.

“The evidence all spoke of you meeting them and, at first, you charmed them, then very quickly became controlling.”

Judge Dunlop said Mallon’s victims had been left “devastated” by what happened to them.

He added: “The distress of your victims at the time must have become obvious to you and you simply ignored that.”

Prosecutor Kath Harper told the court keen churchgoer Mallon has previous convictions for domestic abuse, violence, carrying a knife and fire-raising.

Mallon met two of his victims at church, while another was ‘chatted up’ on a bus.

He met the others at parties.

One victim, aged 21, said Mallon would demand sex two or three times every day.

She added: “If I said I didn’t want sex, he just didn’t listen. He would say ‘I’m horny’ and just go on and on about wanting sex.

“I would try to push him away but he was just too strong.”

Another victim, who is 26, told the court how Mallon raped her in a cubicle at Scotstoun Swimming Baths, in Glasgow, while families with young children were nearby.

She said: “The place was really full of kids. I said ‘no’ and he told me ‘You know what will happen, don’t create a scene’.

“I said ‘you can’t, not here’ and he just told me to shut up.

“Afterwards, he said ‘do you know what I’ve just done to you? I’ve raped you.’

“It kind of looked like he was gloating.”

A third victim is now dead but statements she gave to police were read out in court.

She told how Mallon raped her in the gents’ toilets at the Odeon cinema, in Renfield Street, Glasgow.

The woman said: “I told him to stop, that I didn’t want to do it in the toilet, but he just kept going.”

In her statement to police, she also said Mallon forced her to have sex with a pensioner.

When she complained that the old man was dirty and smelly, Mallon bathed him and then told her to have sex.

The woman also said Mallon raped her after she became pregnant.

In evidence, Mallon denied all of the allegations against him and claimed that any sex had been consensual.

Defence QC Frances McMenamin said Mallon had suffered a horrific childhood and had been the victim of violence himself.

Last night, the Renfrew-based policeman who led the investigation into Mallon’s reign of terror welcomed the life sentence.

Detective Inspector Mark McGowan said: “Hopefully, we have given these women justice.

“Mallon is a calculating individual, who preyed on the vulnerability of his victims – first luring them into a relationship and then carrying out horrific acts on each of them.”

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A 26-year-old drama teacher who admitted having sex with a pupil has been spared a prison sentence.

Kelly Burgess, of Newport, had a seven-month relationship with the boy, Bristol Crown Court heard.

The matter came to light when the boy, aged between 16 and 17 at the time of the abuse, visited a sexual health clinic with Burgess after she developed symptoms of an infection.

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

'Should have known better'

Judge Euan Ambrose told her: "You are a picture of misery in this courtroom.

"The relationship, albeit conducted as if between equals, was not a relationship between equals. You were older, you were his teacher and you should at all times have known better."

North Somerset District Council said in a statement after sentencing: "This was an isolated incident. The school followed the correct procedures and co-operated with the police."

Neither the school nor the boy can be identified for legal reasons.

The court heard Burgess and the teenager had sex at least once a week between January and August last year.

'Get the story straight'

When staff at the school noticed how close the relationship had become they informed the head teacher who challenged Burgess.

She denied the relationship was sexual and no further action was taken.

But after the visit to the sexual health clinic the police were alerted and an inquiry began.

When she was first arrested Burgess denied the offences, but when officers searched her home they discovered her mobile phone with a text message from the boy.

It read: "Got the police round. Don't text back, don't be scared.

"Just get the story straight for when they come for you."

Burgess later pleaded guilty to four sexual offences of breach of trust - engaging in a sexual act with a child between January and August 2013.

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A Catholic friar who admitted making hundreds and possessing thousands of indecent images of children walked out of court today with a suspended sentence.

Father Timothy Gardner, 42, of Sutton, was caught with more than 500 pictures of children and more than 5,000 prohibited images downloaded onto his computer in August last year. He also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of making indecent images of children.

Gardner had taught religious education at Maria Fidelis Catholic School in Euston, and had also been based at St Dominic’s Priory in Gospel Oak.

After admitting to the charges at a hearing earlier this month, Gardner was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years at Southwark Crown Court today.

He was also given a five year sexual offences prevention order and will be on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Acting Detective Chief Inspector Keith Braithwaite, of the Met's Paedophile Command, said: "Every indecent image accessed by Timothy Gardner was a real child, a vulnerable victim of crime.

"His selfish and abhorrent actions have contributed significantly to the destruction of these vulnerable victim's childhoods. The MPS Paedophile Unit will identify and bring those that possess and distribute these images to justice."