Latest Offenders

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A man from Ashton has been found guilty of 43 sexual offences against seven young boys.

Paul Boardman, 55, was sentenced to 22 years in jail following rape, attempted rape, buggery, indecency with a child, indecent assault and sexual activity with a child dating back more than 20 years.

Boardman, formerly of Bray Street, will be on the sex offenders register for life.

Lancashire Police have described the crimes as horrendous after the sentencing at Manchester Crown Court.

42 of the offences took place between 1990 and 2001 when Boardman lived in the Tanterton area of Preston.

One more offence took place in March this year at an address in Ashton.

Detective Chief Inspector Sue Cawley, of Lancashire Police, said: I am pleased with todays sentence which reflects the gravity of Boardmans horrendous crimes.

This is a dangerous and prolific offender who has repeatedly targeted young boys and subjected them to horrendous abuse, showing no regard for their age or vulnerabilities.

His crimes have left his victims scarred for life in terms of both the emotional and psychological effects he has caused and I would like to pay tribute to them for their bravery in coming forward and in giving evidence to this trial.

I would also like to thank the Crown Prosecution Service and Prosecuting Counsel for bringing the case and for securing the convictions.

We take all allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously and we would encourage people with any information about sexual abuse or who has been a victim of sexual abuse to come forward and report their concerns confident in the knowledge it will be investigated appropriately and with sensitivity.

Boardman pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice. Another man Ryan Shenton, 24, of Hoghton Lane, Hoghton was convicted of the same offence following the trial. Two others, Marie Blythe, 31 and Natasha Hart, 21, both of Tennyson Mill Court, Preston admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice at an earlier hearing. This related to attempts to influence the case.

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Reportedly in Perth

AN ANGUS teenager yesterday admitted underage sex with a 13-year-old girl in his bedroom.

Lee Clark, 19, of Kirriemuir, was caught when the girl confided in a friend and the police were informed.

Clark also carried out a sex act on himself over a webcam while playing a game of Truth or Dare with a 14-year-old girl online.

The 19-year-old admitted the offences when he appeared at the High Court in Aberdeen yesterday.

Advocate depute Ashley Edwards said Clark and the 14-year-old girl got in contact with one another through Facebook.

The pair then started chatting online through the MSN chat site and their conversations became flirty through playing Truth or Dare.

Clark ended up completely naked when they played the game online again the following night.

And he carried out a sex act on himself on his bed with the webcam on.

The schoolgirl dared him to repeat the act when they chatted on MSN on another occasion and he carried it out with his shorts on.

The schoolgirls teachers were later informed about the incident, which happened between February 1 and March 10 2011, and police were called in.

The court heard that Clark admitted to officers that he knew that the girl was either 13 or 14 years old.

Clark had sex with another schoolgirl a few weeks later.

He arranged to meet the 13-year-old girl at his house through a series of texts on June 12 2011.

The girl later revealed that she felt that Clark was being really persistent and repeatedly asked her for sex.

Ms Edwards told the court: She felt it was going to happen and nothing was going to stop it so she gave up.

Shortly after she went home, Clark received a text message from the girl stating: I wont get pregnant will I? He replied: No. Clark was later detained and cautioned and admitted that he knew the girl was under the age of 16.

He was initially charged with rape, but his guilty plea to a lesser charge of having intercourse with an older child was accepted yesterday.

Defence lawyer Matt Jackson said the Crown had recognised that the accused had honestly believed that there had been consent.

Sentence was deferred on Clark until January 8 when the case will be heard at the High Court in Glasgow.

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A BRUTAL sex attacker who terrorised six young women has been jailed for 10 years.

Painter Marc McKillop, 27, raped one woman and attempted to murder another, seizing her by the hair and dragging her down stairs.

He attacked one victim while she was breastfeeding a baby, and put a belt round a womans neck and choked her until she thought she was going to die.

Judge Lady Scott told him he had subjected his victims to a storm of violence.

McKillop, of Rothes, Moray, claimed all his victims were liars.

But he was found guilty of 21 offences including attempted murder, rape, indecent assault, assault to permanent disfigurement and assault to the danger of life. He was cleared of a further rape charge on a not proven verdict.

McKillop attacked his victims over seven years at addresses in Moray and Aberdeen, often grabbing the women by the neck.

He also thrust his fingers into one victims eyes, put a pillow over a womans head and scarred a victim by striking her in the chest with a car key.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that victims had been left profoundly depressed and in some cases suicidal.

McKillop will be supervised for three years after release and was placed on the sex offenders register indeifinitely. His lawyer said in mitigation that he had a good work ethic.

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SOME of them had waited years for justice so it was no surprise that there were tears of relief from victims and their family and friends as serial rapist Paul Kent was jailed for 19 years.

Kent, who is now 39, raped four different women in Basingstoke over a period of eight years, forcing them into depraved sexual acts, some during the course of relationships. Two other victims were subjected to crimes including sexual assault, blackmail and intimidation.

Kent was found guilty of 20 crimes, including sexual activity with a child, and acquitted of 10 others, following a trial in the summer.

Last Friday, some of the victims and their friends and family wept in the public gallery as Kent was jailed for nearly 20 years by Judge Guy Boney.

Sex beast Kent showed little emotion in the dock throughout the sentencing hearing, although he was seen to smirk as he was led away to the cells.

Meting out the punishment, Judge Boney told Kent: You have no moral compass at all its an instrument that does not appear on your dashboard.

Not once did you express a smidgen of remorse, sorrow, sympathy or compassion about the appalling acts you put these women through.

He said there were two reasons for Kents lack of remorse a dislike of women and an aura of armour-plated sexual arrogance that led him, at one point in the trial, to portray himself as the victim.

Judge Boney told Kent: Its all utter nonsense. You have a turbo-charged sex drive, and you are utterly ruthless in the ways you go about it.

Kents address during the trial was given as Maybrook, Chineham, but the sentencing hearing was told it was now listed as Belle Vue Road, Old Basing.

During the trial, he had either denied having sex with the women or said that the sexual acts some of which Judge Boney said were amongst the most depraved the court had ever heard about were consensual.

During the sentencing hearing, Stephen Parish, prosecuting, read out the victim impact statements from the seven women who had made allegations against Kent.

The court heard that most of them suffered from recurring nightmares that Kent was going to come back and harm them, and many of them described how difficult it was to be questioned about the allegations in court.

One woman told how she turned to self-harming after making her allegations. Another said: Paul has left me feeling I cannot trust anyone, and I feel that I have lost confidence in myself.

Mr Parish said that while the allegations made by the seventh woman did not result in convictions, her bravery in coming forward to the police gave confidence to some of the others to tell their stories.

Iain Lawrie, defending, said Kents mitigation was meagre but added that his client hoped to be moved to a prison on the Isle of Wight to take part in a sexual rehabilitation course.

Judge Boney ruled that Kent poses such a risk to the public that a parole board will only be able to decide whether he is fit for release after he has served two-thirds of his sentence.

If he is paroled, he will serve any remainder of his sentence on licence, and that licence period will be extended by four years, the judge said. Kent was also ordered to remain on the sexual offenders register for life.

After the hearing, Detective Constable Louise Trigg, who was praised for her work by the judge, welcomed the sentence, which she said marked the end of a long and complex investigation.

She said: Paul Kent is a dangerous man who spent many years manipulating, controlling, and abusing women in the Basingstoke area.

His behaviour towards women and girls was vile and degrading and has had lasting effects on all of their lives.

The victims in the case may never be able to forget what happened to them at the hands of this man.

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A 29-year-old man was jailed for three years and four months for having sex with a girl of 14.

The teenager thought Barry Masters was “a really nice man” and said he made her laugh by doing stupid things on the trampoline, Bradford Crown Court heard.

But Masters, of Lawkholme Lane, Keighley, abused the child’s trust by having sex with her at his flat after he had been drinking, prosecutor Andrew Kershaw said.

The court heard yesterday that the girl’s parents were deeply damaged by what Masters had done to their daughter.

Mr Kershaw said the teenager’s mother challenged Masters about the nature of their friendship after he was seen hugging her.

Masters said he was comforting the girl because she was in trouble at school.

The teenager visited him at his flat and when her mother called him “a paedophile” he admitted he had had sex with her on one occasion.

Sophie Drake, Masters’ barrister, said: “It was a one-off, much-regretted incident.”

He had lost contact with his two daughters because of what he had done and he hated himself, the court was told.

Masters had a drink problem and he had been seeking professional help to cut down his alcohol intake, it was said.

He pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had no previous convictions for sexual offences.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC made a Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning Masters from contacting the girl or having any unsupervised contact with girls under 16 for an indefinite period.

He must sign on the sex offenders’ register, notifying the police about where he is living.

Judge Durham Hall said Masters had robbed the girl of her childhood and abused the trust she had placed in him.

Her parents had been caused very real suffering by his actions.

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A PAEDOPHILE army officer with a distinguished military career has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after being caught filming naked children on a beach just three months after being spared a prison sentence for similar offences.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Smyth, pictured, who was based at Tidworth, was caught filming girls as young as 18 months old, on a beach in Pembrokeshire while on holiday with his wife and two sons in August.

The 43-year-old, who was in charge of a battalion of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, was already subject to a community order for secretly filming children aged between five and 16 years old at swimming pools and supermarkets near his barracks between January 2011 and November 2012.

He put a micro camera in shopping baskets to take shots up childrens skirts and took pictures over the top of changing room cubicles, then uploaded the content onto film-sharing websites.

After admitting six charges of distributing, six charges of taking and four charges of making indecent images he was given a community order when he appeared at Bristol Crown Court in May. He had downloaded more than 5,000 images, with 205 images and four videos in the most serious level four and five categories.

Judge Geoffrey Mercer QC considered his distinguished military career and glowing references when sentencing him. But three months later Smyth, who now lives in Nailsea, Bristol, was spotted filming a six-year-old girl changing on the beach.

Police found two cameras hidden in his car that he had used to film naked children over a four-day period while on holiday with his family.

James Hartson, defending, said Smyth had served his country with distinction and would be dismissed from the army immediately, losing a pension pot valued at 1.1m.

Judge Paul Thomas said Smyth had serious psychological and sexual problems and was a devious and calculating individual who will not be stopped except by the deprivation of your liberty.

You have lost a great deal; your marriage, your high flying career and your social status, he added.

Smyth, who changed his name to Mark Radway during the first police investigation, admitted 16 counts of making indecent images of children when he appeared at Swansea Crown Court on Monday.

He was jailed for 16 months for the Tidworth offences, ten months for the fresh offences and four months for breaching a sexual offences prevention order.

He was ordered to register as a sex offender indefinitely.

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A roller skating star who performed in front of millions at the London Olympics opening ceremony has been jailed after having sex with a 14-year-old fan in a car park.

Nathan Wright, described by a judge as a 'role model for young people', was first contacted by the schoolgirl through YouTube after she had seen one of his skating clips.

The pair then began to message each other regularly, with the teenage victim 'flattered' by Wright's interest in her.

Edna Leonard, prosecuting, said it was clear from the start of their contact that the girl was only 14.

Derby Crown Court was told Wright, 26, of Tooting, London, went on to persuade the teenager to carry out a sex act on a webcam before he filmed himself performing a sex act and sent a recording to her.

Miss Leonard told the hearing they went on to meet at a rolling skating event, where Wright was approached by a number of fans wanting to be photographed with him.

She said the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was among them and the pair slipped away to perform sex acts on each other.

The court heard they met again at an event at Rollerworld in Derby on October 21 last year. Wright had told the teenager to wear clothes that could easily be removed.

Wright persuaded the schoolgirl to slip away from a group of adults and they had sex in a car park.

Recorder Paul Mann QC, sentencing, told Wright, who also took part in the Paralympic Games opening ceremony: 'You are known as an accomplished roller-skater and have your profile on the internet.

'You have, through your skating, the opportunity to become a role model for young people.

'There must be young people who have followed you who feel let down by the offences you have committed.'

Wright, who admitted sexual grooming and two counts of sexual activity with a child, was jailed for five years.

He was also told he could not use the internet to contact anyone under 16 and was put on the sex offenders' register.

The court heard that he had previously been jailed for four-and-a-half years for a rape he committed when he was 18.

Jonathan Straw, defending, said the girl was a willing partner in their meetings and had sexual experience before meeting him.

He added: 'Before the text friendship developed, however inappropriately, there was genuine feeling on both sides. This is not a case where she was pressured.

'Unfortunately, the very rapid, almost explosive use of social networking among young people can give rise to this sort of difficulties.'

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LERWICK man John Millarkie had his prison term extended by six months on Thursday when he appeared before the towns sheriff court to be sentenced on a charge of possessing images of nude children.

Fifty-five-year-old Millarkie is currently serving a three-years-and-eight-months jail sentence for a failed robbery attempt on the Lerwick bookies on 17 February.

Millarkie, a convicted sex offender, had pled guilty to the charge of possessing indecent images in March this year but sentence had been deferred until now to await the outcome of the high court case.

On Thursday, sheriff Philip Mann said although the images found on Millarkies computer were not the most serious, a further custodial sentence was nevertheless called for.

He gave Millarkie an extended prison sentence of two years, of which he will have to serve six months in custody and a further 18 months on licence.

This latest jail term will be added to the time he is already serving behind bars.

He was also put on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

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Now living in North Cornwall, with ties to Bath and Ramsgate, Dover (Kent)

A man who made indecent film clips of a child in Farmborough has been sentenced.

Matthew Ian O Dare, 38, of Canford Lane, Bristol, admitted making seven movie clips when he appeared before Bath Magistrates Court last week.

These ranged from the more severe category four images to category one images.

He also admitted being in possession of 19 movie clips and 78 indecent images of children.

O Dare was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for the next seven years and must undergo a 42-day rehabilitation order.

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A shamed youth sports worker has escaped an immediate jail sentence for possessing more than 1,200 indecent images of children.

But in sentencing former Thanet School Games organiser Phil Pittock, Judge James O'Mahony told him: "This sickening trade is only made possible by people like you.

"You must have realised that a great number of these images do not appear by magic. They are real children, some as young as nine, and in some cases, a few, of extreme sexual imagery."

Pittock - who admitted five charges of possessing indecent images of children and one charge of making them - was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for two years.

Crispian Cartwright, prosecuting, told Canterbury Crown Court: "This is a sad but familiar story."

He said Pittock's home, in Brandon Road, Birchington, had come to the attention of police and on January 15 they arrived at his home with a search warrant.

Pittock told police he had been very silly, Mr Cartwright said. His laptop, two memory sticks and an iPhone were examined and found to contain a large number of indecent images of children - most at the least serious level - although some were at the serious end of the scale.

Mr Cartwright said Pittock had been candid with police and said he was a poor sleeper and looked at the images late at night. He said he had stumbled across the websites and it grew from there.

"Pittock said he found the girls attractive, but wanted to stop and on the day he was arrested he had been looking at how he could cancel the account," Mr Cartwright said.

"There were three particular sites he used to visit and he says he looked at images of girls as young as nine but not lower than that."

Mr Cartwright said 50-year-old Pittock, was a man of "excellent character".

"He feels devastated by what has happened and wishes he had never started," Mr Cartwright said.

"He has found adjustment incredibly difficult and a week after his arrest he attempted suicide..." - Nicholas Jones"

Pittock took on his Thanet School Games organiser role in September 2011, based at the Ursuline College, in Westgate.

In October 2012, Pittock had been presented with a gold medal for bringing together Inspire PRIDE Awards in Thanet and the summer 2012 schools engagement programme.

His role involved arranging inter-school competitions in different sports, many as local qualifiers for the bi-annual Kent School Games.

Nicholas Jones, defending, said Pittock had spent most of his adult life in athletics and promoting sport in schools.

"That life is now over," Mr Jones said. "He has found adjustment incredibly difficult and a week after his arrest he attempted suicide. With the support of his friends and family he has managed to turn his life around.

"He made a full and frank confession to the police and has sought help to tackle what he sees as a problem."

Judge O'Mahony also ruled that Pittock would be subject to a sex offences prevention order for seven years.

He told Pittock: "You are a highly intelligent, well qualified and resourceful man. Your conduct since has been as constructive as it could be in the circumstances."

But Judge O'Mahony said the images represented a serious sexual abuse of children and he added: "You have suffered, as you deserve to suffer, significant punishment."

Judge O'Mahony also ordered that Pittock should pay 1,200 costs.

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Serial offender Aaron Bremner raped a stranger in a sustained and terrifying attack – and now he has been jailed for 16 years.

Bremner subjected his victim to a horrifying ordeal in her own car after she kindly offered him a lift.

Southampton Crown Court heard Bremner threatened to stab his terrified victim, and said he would set the car on fire with her locked in the boot if she screamed.

Bremner, who has 31 previous convictions for 101 offences, was described by Judge Derwen Hope as “extremely dangerous”.

Bremner had pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape, four counts of assault by penetration, one count of sexual assault and one count of common assault but was found guilty of all eight counts by a jury.

The 29-year-old swore, shouted and punched the walls as he was sentenced, before being removed from the dock by security staff.

The court heard how Bremner met his victim, who said she had never spoken to him before, by chance in March this year on the steps of a Basingstoke town centre gym after he had been out to dinner with friends.

Bremner, of Glamis Close, Oakley, asked her for a lift to the South Ham area of Basingstoke, and she agreed – but the court heard from David Richards, prosecuting, that once he was in her car, Bremner “quickly dropped the charming act”.

When the woman told Bremner to get out of the car, he became aggressive and forced her to drive to a remote country lane in Wootton St Lawrence, where he subjected her to a sustained and terrifying assault, sexually assaulting her several times and raping her twice.

Bremner made violent threats towards his victim and her family if she screamed or raised the alarm.

When the shocked victim got home, she called the police, and Bremner handed himself in soon after as enquiries were being made by officers.

The assault lasted more than an hour, and Mr Richards said the impact on the victim had been devastating.

He said: “She finds it hard to do any normal things any more. She is always thinking about the incident and she finds it hard to sleep.”

Richard Onslow, defending Bremner, said he had no previous convictions for sexual offences, adding: “He has never done anything like this before.”

Sentencing Bremner to 16 years in custody, with an extended licence period of eight years for the two counts of rape, Judge Hope described the victim’s ordeal as “horrendous”, and said: “She was terrified.”

Detective Constable Sol Koranteng of Basingstoke police, said: “Aaron Bremner is a dangerous man, and I welcome the sentence he has received for this horrendous crime.

“The victim was left extremely distressed by this violent attack and has then had to endure giving evidence at the trial.

“The sentence Mr Bremner has received reflects the seriousness of this crime and should send a message to people that anyone found guilty of committing a serious sexual offence should expect to face a lengthy prison sentence.”

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A paedophile who carried out a life-threatening sexual assault on a toddler after social services failed to conduct background checks has been jailed for seventeen and a half years.

Christopher Atkins remained impassive in the dock at Nottingham Crown Court as the city's most senior judge described the 32-year-old's offending as being "almost beyond comprehension".

Atkins, from Cotgrave, Nottinghamshire, committed the "wicked and vile" sex attack two years ago after lying to social services about his personal life.

After Atkins was found guilty of sexual assault in July, it emerged that he was already known to the authorities before the offence, having been suspected of abusing another child in the Manchester area.

Sentencing Atkins, the Recorder of Nottingham, Michael Stokes QC, told him: "The child in this case was a vulnerable, innocent little girl when you committed an offence of unspeakable cruelty and perversion, an offence which all right-minded people would regard as repellent.

"You are in my judgment a predatory and sadistic paedophile and unless whatever issues you have are addressed you will present a serious risk of causing harm to other children.

"How any human being could do this to a little girl is almost beyond comprehension, but the fact is you did.

"I have no doubt that you would have been content for the grievously injured child to go without medical attention of any kind."

Atkins, whose offences will now be the subject of a serious case review, was sentenced to 16 years for sexual assault and a consecutive 18-month term for child cruelty.

Atkins, formerly of Westway, Cotgrave, was told he must serve half his sentence before being released on licence.

The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was treated for severe internal injuries after being taken to hospital, where medical staff also found 18 bruises on her face and scalding to her back.

Detective Inspector Yvonne Dales, of Nottinghamshire's Child Abuse Investigation Unit, said: "Christopher Atkins was a sadistic and controlling individual who put a defenceless child through untold pain and suffering.

"I hope this sentence sends out a message to people who commit offences against children - we will do everything we can to make sure they are brought to justice."

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HE is the monster who repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted a young woman for nine hours while she was unconscious.

Vile Lloyd Phillips had fed his victim a cocktail of drugs and alcohol, having duped her into thinking he was taking her to a pop concert.

Instead she became seriously ill and suffered seizures, leaving her at the mercy of the depraved 48-year-old who then carried out a catalogue of hellish abuse in a hotel.

Many of the details of what he did to her while she was incapacitated and the injuries she suffered at his hands are too horrific to be reported.

With his 22-year-old victim slumped unconscious in a wheelchair, he pushed her from his car into the hotel telling staff she was his girlfriend who was disabled and drunk.

He then carried out the sickening ordeal throughout the night while she lay motionless on the bed, completely unaware.

The full, horrifying details of Phillips vile crimes which landed him with an 11-year jail term last month can only now be revealed by the Daily Echo after legal restrictions prevented us from reporting the case previously.

It comes as police reveal they believe Phillips is a sexual predator who has raped many more victims and today appealed for them to come forward.

Well known as the former owner of a shop that sold legal highs in Southampton, Phillips had been facing further charges relating to selling illegal drugs.

However, this week, as he prepared to stand trial, he changed his plea and admitted possessing class B and class C drugs, which he had sold as legal highs called Giggle and Magic.

The married man, who lived in Portland Terrace, Southampton, has been behind bars since last month after being found guilty by a jury at Harrow Crown Court of two counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault.

He was acquitted of one charge of supplying drugs with intent.

The case was a retrial after the original proceedings had to be stopped, during which time Phillips was released on bail and was living in Southampton.

The court heard how at the time the victim, who once regarded Phillips as a friend, was at a low point in her life and was having problems at work.

Just weeks before Christmas 2011 he offered her tickets to accompany him to see a concert at Wembley, picked her up from her home and gave her a capsule and a can of the high-alcohol Crunk juice to wash it down.

The drug, which he later said was Ecstasy, was in fact found to be controlled substance BZP, a stimulant that can trigger epileptic seizures and fits.

It had such an effect on the woman that she was left with little memory of the car journey to London.

But CCTV footage recovered by police revealed what happened next as Phillips could be seen arriving at the hotel, near Wembley Stadium, asking staff to give him a wheelchair.

Cameras then showed him wheeling the girl from his car, her head slumped forward and with his bag resting on her legs as he headed to a lift and the room.

Aside from a brief memory of a clock that read 3.48 and a feeling that she was contorted, the woman had no memory of what happened, the court was told.

She woke confused, with Phillips telling her they had engaged in a night of consensual sex.

It was some 24 hours later that the effects of the drug began to wear off and the full, horrifying impact of what had happened to her started to emerge.

Feeling ill, unable to use the toilet, her tongue and her arms bruised, she went to hospital where doctors took one look at her and called in police.

Jailing Phillips, Judge Mrs Justice Levy told him: She suffered two or three seizures outside in the car park, but you did not seek medical assistance because you were worried you could not stay in the hotel.

You told her she had chosen to have nine hours of sex instead of going to the concert. She did not remember anything of the things you talked about. It came as a complete shock to her.

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A TEENAGER has pleaded guilty to a charge of a multiple incident counts of sexual activity with a child.

Ian Josiah Sidney, 19, formerly of Galloway Road, Swindon, changed his plea during a trial at Swindon Crown Court last week.

The court heard that he is alleged to use aliases including Sam Boid, Sammy Boid, Ryan Boid, Joey Sidney, Josiah Sidney, Samantha and Angela McDough.

Sidney met his 14-year-old victim on a bus before assaulting her. The offences took place in Swindon during September 2012.

He will be sentenced at Swindon Crown Court on September 27.

Detective Constable Gemma Vinton, who investigated the case, said: “The victim showed great courage in giving evidence in court, which has no doubt contributed to the successful outcome in this case."

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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.