Latest Offenders

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The mother of a girl who was raped when she was just 12 after she was groomed online by a Derbyshire paedophile is warning parents to make sure they know what children get up to on the internet.

The 42-year-old mum has issued the warning after Jordan Richards, formerly of Walton Street, Long Eaton, was jailed for two years for rape and sexual activity with a child.

The pervert, now 21, had pleaded guilty to rape and not guilty to the other charge of sexual activity with a child but was convicted by a jury following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court in February.

On two separate occasions, in 2013, Richards befriended two young girls aged 12 and 13 on Facebook and, after some months of messaging, arranged to meet up with them which is when the sexual activity took place.

The mother of the girl who was raped now wants to raise awareness of what happened to her daughter.

She said: I didnt have any suspicions that my girl was up to anything out of the ordinary online. She would chat to boys but everything seemed quite child-like and innocent she didnt seem secretive about it at all.

During the trial, the court heard how Richards had claimed that he thought the 13-year-old girl was older but the messages read out showed that he was aware of her true age.

The court was also told how he had sent suggestive and flattering Facebook messages to the girls. The mother of the 12-year-old said, when she found out the extent of what had happened to her daughter, she was devastated.

She said: To think that he had taken our innocent little girl, taken advantage of her naivety and age with the messages he sent, then arranged to meet up and raped her is absolutely disgusting. She was obviously going to look up to him because he was an older boy.

She didnt know what he had in mind, he should have known better.

Richards will now have to sign the Sex Offender Register for 10 years and was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which limits his internet activity and contact with girls under the age of 16. These include having unsupervised contact with a girl under 16, using the internet to contact a girl under 16 and deleting internet history.

The mum said the family has been through a lot over the past four years but this made it all worthwhile.

She added: Im glad that Richards received a custodial sentence in the first instance because hopefully thatll make him realise the seriousness of what hes done. But the fact that hes got these prohibitions against him means that when he does come out of jail, he wont be able to target other girls in this way.

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A Cambridge University poetry professor who had more than 2,000 child abuse images - including one of a baby - has walked free from court.

Professor Simon Jarvis, 53, was found with the vile images on various computers and in online accounts when his city home and college room were raided by the National Crime Agency in September, but a judge said he posed a 'low risk' to children.

Of the almost 2,000 indecent images found, 45 were in the most serious Category A. 

The 53-year-old was found with the vile images on various computers and in online accounts
Yahoo chat logs containing 'extremely graphic' child abuse fantasies and software allowing access to the Dark Web were also found on some of the four computers seized, the court heard.

Other images shows 'pubescent and pre-pubescent' girls as young as 10 being sexually abused, and one of a baby.

He also posed pictures at the lower category C on a page on the Tumblr microblogging website under a pseudonym, the court heard. 

Dressed in a smart grey suit the Gorley Putt Professor of Poetry broke down in tears as he heard his crimes being recounted at Cambridge Crown Court.

Jarvis pleaded guilty to four charges of making and two of distributing indecent images of children, five charges of possessing prohibited images and one of possessing extreme pornography, at Friday's hearing.

Jarvis, 53, was found with the vile images on various computers and in online accounts when his city home and college room were raided

Sentencing him, Judge David Farrell QC said: 'You are an intelligent man, a professor of English literature at the University of Cambridge.

'As such, in my judgment, you must have know that by accessing and viewing indecent images of children you were indirectly encouraging the abuse of children.

'You were looking at these images for your own perverted sexual gratification.'

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A teacher and football coach has been jailed for 16 years after being convicted of sexual assault offences against a child. Micheal Smee was found guilty of raping a child aged under 13 years old, following a trial at Cambridge Crown Court. He pleaded guilty to five further counts of sexual activity with a child, with the offences occurring between January 2013 and April last year. On top of the jail term, Smee will spend a further eight years on extended licence. The 39-year-old former PE teacher and football coach from Stevenage must serve at least 10 years behind bars before being considered for parole. Upon sentencing, the judge told Smee: I am in no doubt whatsoever that you pose a significant risk to members of the public, particularly young boys. You are every parents nightmare. Smee will remain on the Sex Offenders Register for life, and a restraining order has been put in place banning him from contacting his victim or family members. Detective Constable Zoe Maddison, who was the investigating officer on the case, said: Smee abused his position of trust as a teacher and football coach to groom his young victim over a significant period of time. The victims family trusted Smee and they have been left devastated by what has happened. I hope that, following Smees conviction and his substantial prison sentence, his victim is now, with support, able to rebuild his life and move forward. I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the victim for his bravery throughout the criminal investigation and court proceedings. Frances Bush from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Smee took advantage of a position of trust and his victim's love of sport to commit these terrible acts. "It is thanks to the victim's bravery in coming forward and the hard work of specialist detectives and specialist CPS prosecutors that he will be unable to continue his offending." Detective Inspector Lynda Coates, from Hertfordshire Constabularys Joint Child Protection Investigation Team, said: It takes tremendous courage for victims of sexual offences to report them to police and I would like to reassure the public that Hertfordshire Constabulary has specialist officers to support victims of these types of crimes. Whilst the Constabulary does have a dedicated team of trained specialist staff who investigate these types of offences, I understand that victims may still feel more comfortable contacting another agency first.

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Derry McCann subjected woman to two-hour ordeal in east London park while on parole for similar crime A bridegroom who raped a stranger hours before his wedding after being released on parole for a similar crime was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday and must serve a minimum of nine years. Derry McCann, 28, raped a 24-year-old woman as she walked back from an art show hours before he married his pregnant girlfriend in January. He dragged her into Victoria Park in east London and subjected her to a two-hour ordeal, raping her three times, taunting and degrading her, playing mind games with her, and stealing her bra and mobile phone. Snaresbrook crown court heard that he had been on parole at the time, having being released from prison 13 months earlier from a life sentence for a carbon copy rape committed in 2006, when he was 17. Sentencing him, judge Martyn Zeidman, said McCann would not be considered for parole for at least nine years and that it may never happen. The parole board will need to appreciate that in my view you are, and are likely to remain, an exceptionally dangerous violent criminal who poses the most dire risk to women even after the expiry of the minimum term. The judge said he was sending a copy of his remarks directly to the board. McCann was arrested as a result of the distinctive modus operandi and striking similarities to the 2006 attack. He pleaded guilty to three counts of rape, assault by penetration and robbery. Kate Bex QC, prosecuting, said McCann had been drinking with his girlfriend and family, left the pub and lay in wait in Victoria Park shortly before midnight. He was seen on CCTV following another woman before the one he targeted. He subjected his victim to degrading sexual acts and interrogated her during a long drawn out psychological game. He kept asking her what are we doing and when his victim replied you are raping me he appeared to like hearing the phrase, Bex said. McCann was convicted in 2006 of raping and robbing a 30-year-old woman in nearby Mile End Park, taunting her and ordering her to make noises like youre enjoying it. At one point he stroked her hair, telling her she was his girlfriend. He tried to claim the sex was consensual, but was convicted of one count of robbery, two of sexual assault, one of assault by penetration, one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity, six counts of rape and one of attempted rape. He was jailed for life, to serve a minimum of 3,094 days, but appealed and the minimum sentence was reduced to seven years. He was released on parole in December 2015. Zeidman said: Friday 13 January 2017 is a date that your victim will never forget. You behaved as a monster. Raping the victim in every possible way, and doing it in a manner that amounted to torture. Playing mind games, asking her what she thought you were going to do next and taunting her for almost two hours. In addition to the physical pain you set out to degrade and humiliate her in ways that are so cruel and gross that I will not identify them any further. I am worried that you might even relish a recital of them. Just hours later you married your pregnant girlfriend. I just wonder what sentence you would impose if someone had done this to your wife or female friends. This wrongdoing is made even worse by the serious violence that you have carried out before and the 2006 offence was a further horrendous rape with many aggravating features, he said. He had taken McCanns guilty plea and remorse into account, he added. Edmund Vickers QC, for McCann, said: He is disgusted at himself and that disgust has culminated in a failed suicide attempt. He added that his client was on suicide watch, had experienced violence in childhood and had a dis-social personality disorder. McCann was granted parole despite the judge in his 2006 trial warning he had serious concerns he would remain a danger to women, and sending a transcript of his sentencing remarks to the prison. The parole board has said: The board is deeply concerned to learn of the circumstances which led to the further serious offence and we can only imagine the trauma and pain this has caused the victim. We are committed to doing everything we can to learn the lessons to help prevent such terrible events happening in the future.

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A gun smuggler who admitted he was a bit of a paedophile has been convicted of importing illegal firearms through the post.

A National Crime Agency probe found that Aaron Bishop, 39, took a delivery of guns with Martin Beard, 38, via the dark web.

A court heard that police searched Bishops house and found child pornography on a USB drive buried in his garden.

Bishop and Beard were convicted of importing firearms but a jury at Birmingham Crown Court cleared them of importing ammunition.

Bishop also admitted possessing indecent images of children and Beard admitted producing cannabis.

Mark Richards, 38, who delivered guns to the pair, was jailed for five years and four months.

Senior investigating officer Dawn Cartwright of NCAs border policing command, said: Richards used Beard and Bishop to accept the guns because he believed they were off law enforcements radar.

It has been a long wait to put these men before the court and we are very pleased with the jurys decision.

We will continue to target and pursue those supplying illegal guns regardless of how long it takes.

Bishop, of Andover Way, Aldershot, was jailed for four years and 10 months and Beard was sent to prison for four years and six months.

Richards, of Cramhurst Lane, Godalming, admitted conspiring to import prohibited Glock handguns and ammunition.

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Asked whether he raped his 15-year-old victim, footballer replies, 'No, I wish I f***ing wish I did' Former England footballer Adam Johnson has been filmed laughing in prison and joking about his conviction for sexual activity with a 15-year-old fan. Johnson was found guilty last year of sexual activity with a child after meeting with the girl in his Range Rover in County Durham in January 2015. In footage obtained by The Sun, the 29-year-old is seen sitting in what appears to be a laundry room at Moorland Prison in South Yorkshire. Another inmate asks him: Its not like you f***ing raped her or owt like that? No, I wish I f***cking did for six years, he replies, laughing. The former Sunderland and Manchester City winger can also be heard saying in the video that he believes he was brought to court and handed a long sentence because he was in the public eye. At the start of his trial at Bradford Crown Court, Johnson admitted one charge of sexual activity with a child, relating to kissing her. He also admitted a charge of meeting a child with intent following grooming her. Johnson lost a challenge for permission to appeal against his conviction last month and Court of Appeal judges also rejected his bid for a reduction in his six-year jail sentence. In 2016, the footballer was also arrested for possessing images of bestiality on his laptop. The Ministry of Justice declined to comment on the footage captured at Moorland Prison.

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A paedophile who filmed up the skirt of a child has been jailed for four and a half years.

Philip Goodwin was sentenced on Friday April 21 at Blackfriars Crown Court having pleaded guilty to multiple charges.

Goodwin was spotted filming up a 14-year-old schoolgirl's skirt as she walked up a set of stairs at Moorgate London Underground station in October 2016, by a member of the public.

The commuter reported the incident to station staff, leading to a British Transport Police investigation.

When Goodwin, of Swakeleys Drive, Hillingdon, was arrested and brought in for questioning, he admitted possessing multiple indecent images of children and had further images and videos of him filming up women and schoolgirls skirts.

The footage was mostly taken in public places, the majority of which were on tubes and trains, the police said.

After a forensic examination of the material, he was charged with two counts of outraging public decency, one count of voyeurism and ten counts of possessing or making indecent images of children.

Goodwin has also been placed on the Sex Offenders Register and a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order has been imposed.

Investigating officer, DC Andrew Parkinson, said: Goodwin is a predatory offender who will now spend the next four and a half years behind bars for his actions.

"Whilst he was travelling to work one morning, he spotted his victim, a young girl in school uniform, and targeted her.

I welcome todays sentence as it has taken a child sex offender off the streets - I hope this jail sentence brings a level of comfort to his victims.

This result clearly identifies how important it is to report behaviour such as this.

"This member of the public spotted a man who she thought was acting suspiciously and reported him and in doing so she has helped us bring a paedophile to justice.

"If you are ever a victim or a witness to a sexual assault, I would encourage you to report it to us.

"Just texting the details to 61016 you can start us build a picture of a perpetrator.

"Ultimately, this small step could help us catch a criminal.

Siwan Hayward, TfLs head of transport policing, said: This case shows how much every report of unwanted sexual behaviour on Londons public transport matters and helps police build a picture, so they can catch sex offenders like Goodwin and sentence them for their disgusting crimes.

"We do not tolerate unwanted sexual behaviour and I commend the woman who came forward to report what she saw.

"Sexual offending has no place on our network and offenders will be identified and brought to justice."

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TWO men who filmed a video of themselves having sex with a teenage girl that was subsequently put on the internet have been jailed.

William Wright, aged 24, of Andover Green in Bovington, and Connor Hayes, aged 24, of Namu Road in Bournemouth were sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court.

Police have used the opportunity of the sentencing to urge victims of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) to report offences.

Detectives said Hayes and Wright exploited their victim's vulnerability to engage in sexual acts with her.

 Although the girl was over the age of consent, she was under 18, making it illegal to make or possess indecent images of her.

Wright pleaded guilty to taking an indecent moving image of a child, intentionally obtaining for himself the sexual services of a child under the age of 18, distributing an indecent moving image of a child and making indecent images of a child.

Hayes pleaded guilty to taking an indecent moving image of a child, possession of indecent images of a child and paying for the sexual services of a child.

The pair were sentenced to two years in prison and also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.

The court heard that Hayes befriended his victim in 2014. The girl was over the age of consent, but under the age of 18, meaning it is illegal to make or possess indecent images of her.

In November that year, Hayes got his victim to take part in a sex video with his friend Wright, telling the girl that the video was just for them and would not be shown to anyone else. Hayes told her that if the video got out he would be in trouble as she was under the age of 18, the court was told. After it had been recorded the victim asked the pair to delete the video.

The video was discovered to have been uploaded onto the internet around November 2015.

On December 15, 2015 both men were arrested at their home addresses. Several computers and phones were seized.

An examination of the iPhone belonging to Wright showed that there were ten video clips and 27 still images of the victim. Examination of a laptop used by Hayes showed there were 18 images of the victim which were indecent.

The pair were charged on May 3, 2016.

Detective Constable Mandy Brimicombe, of the Integrated Missing Persons & Child Sexual Exploitation Team (IMPACT), said: "Hayes and Wright exploited their victim's vulnerability to engage in sexual acts with her. They knew full well that she was under the age of 18 when they published videos of her on the internet. This is a serious criminal offence.

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36-year-old Kevin Finch, who has been branded an extremely dangerous offender, has today (Wednesday) been sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 10 years, following 3 sex offences including the rape of an 18-year-old girl in Niton. The former landscape gardener from Church Path, East Cowes, who traded under the name of Greenpaws Landscaping, will also be added to the sex offenders register for life following todays sentencing at Portsmouth Crown Court. Finch pleaded guilty to: - Rape of an 18-year-old woman in Niton on 7th October 2016 - Indecent assault against a woman in Newport in 2003 - Sexual assault against a 16-year-old girl in East Cowes in 2015 As previously reported by Island Echo, Finch was arrested following a horrific attack on an 18-year-old girl at Old Blackgang Road, Niton in October last year. According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Finch contacted the woman via Facebook and offered her work as a cleaner. He arranged to pick her up from Sandown High Street on the understanding that she would be working for him for the day. Shockingly, Kevin Finch drove the young woman to a secluded car park on Old Blackgang Road, punched her in the face causing a fracture to her eye socket, and then forced her in to the back of his van and raped her. Finch said that he would kill her if she told anyone what had happened before releasing her from his van. Prior to the attack last October, Finch had looked up on the internet the Islands school bus routes, secluded Isle of Wight locations and how to dispose of a body. As a result of the police investigation, 2 other victims were identified in relation to sexual assaults committed by Kevin Finch in 2003 and 2015. In December 2003 he indecently assaulted a woman when he grabbed her from the street after she left Chicago Rock to go home in the early hours of the morning. He pushed her to the ground and pinned her down, before the woman was able to escape and run to the safety of another passer-by. In 2015, Kevin Finch messaged a 15-year-old girl via Facebook offering her work doing general handy jobs for his business. She worked for him on a number of occasions before he sexually assaulted her. Andrea Hills, of the CPS, has today said: Kevin Finch is an extremely dangerous offender who poses a very serious risk to women. As well as violently attacking a stranger, he used social media to target young women and pretend that he was genuinely offering opportunities of employment. The evidence of the victims in this case and the thorough investigation conducted by the police, ensured that the CPS was able to present a robust case, securing guilty pleas from Kevin Finch without the need for a trial. The victims have shown incredible bravery in supporting the prosecution and I hope that todays sentence is of some comfort to them. Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Dave Brown, said: Following the horrific serious sexual assault in Niton in October 2016, we carried out a thorough and detailed investigation, in which we were able to identify further offending by Finch and so we put him in front of the courts for two further incidents. Finch pleaded guilty to all three offences. I hope the admission of guilt and todays life sentence can provide all of the victims with closure, so that they can move on with their lives. Thankfully these type of incidents are rare and I would like to reassure the community that the Isle of Wight remains a safe place to live and to visit. Our thoughts are with all of the victims at this time.

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The heir to the Greggs bakery chain has had his jail term for sexually abusing young boys cut by five years.

Colin Gregg was jailed for 13 and a half years in March for indecently assaulting four boys aged between 10 and 14 over three decades.

The 76-year-old, from Newcastle, lost a bid to have his convictions overturned at London's Court of Appeal.

But senior judges said his prison term, imposed at Newcastle Crown Court, was too long and should be reduced.

The original trial heard Gregg, who helped build up the family business and was also a social worker and teacher, was a "predatory paedophile" who abused his position of trust.

Swimming pool
Trial judge Robin Mairs described him as "charismatic, inspiring teacher and mentor" who used those attributes to groom young boys.

The assaults began in 1963 and continued over a period of almost 30 years, during which Gregg was a teacher.

He abused one child in a swimming pool and others were molested in a gym, his study or a car.

Sasha Wass QC, representing him at the Appeal Court, argued his sentence was excessive in light of the fact his offending was not in the most serious category.

Lord Justice Davis, sitting with Mrs Justice Nicola Davies and Judge Nicholas Dean QC, said the appeal against sentence must be allowed.

He said: "Having reflected upon the matter, the view of this court is that a total sentence of eight-and-a-half years is appropriate for this offending and for this offender."

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A murderer who spent 17 years in prison for dousing an ex-girlfriend in petrol and setting fire to her is back behind bars after being caught with child sex abuse pictures.

Ian Anthony Harris downloaded the indecent pictures after visiting internet sex chatrooms.

However, officers from the South Wales Police On-line Investigation Team (Polit) were alerted to his activity and swooped on his Swansea house.

In 1988 Harris murdered his ex, Mandy Jackson, after she ended their relationship - he went to her flat in Uplands, poured petrol over her as she made a cup of tea and threw a match on her. Police later found her charred body by the kitchen table.

Harris was given a life sentence for murdering the 21-year-old.

Dean Pulling, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that on February 10 this year officers from Polit received information about activity involving a computer linked to an address in the Ravenhill area of the city.

Harris was out, but officers went to his place of work and took him back home - in a bedroom at the property they found a desktop computer containing 18 indecent images including one of Category A, the most extreme kind. Officers also found evidence Harris had shared a Category B image.

The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of distributing an indecent image of a child and three of possessing indecent images when he appeared in custody in the dock.

The court heard that during his police interviews Harris said he had downloaded the images after visiting internet chatrooms where the talk was invariably sexual, and in a variety of forms. He said he had uploaded an image - of Category B - after somebody in a chatroom asked to see it.

The prosecutor said Harris had convictions for some 22 offences including murder.

Harris was released from jail in 2006.

He was recalled to prison after his arrest on the indecent images charges.

Dan Griffiths, for Harris, said his client accepted that in due course he would have to convince the parole board he was no longer a danger.

The advocate said his client was a family man who had started a new relationship after his release in 2006, and had spent six years working as a greenskeeper at a Swansea golf course.

Recorder Ifan Wyn Lloyd told him possessing indecent child images was a serious matter.

He said: Behind every one of these images there is a child being abused - these are not just images, these are real children being abused so people like you can get some sort of perverted pleasure from viewing them.

Harris was sentenced to a total of eight months in prison, and will be on the sex offenders register for the next 10 years. He was also made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order controlling his access to the internet.

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A VICTIM who was targeted by a 'disgusting vile paedophile' over a 10-year period has spoken out after he was jailed for 14 years.

The 31 year old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was raped by mobile disco entertainer Graham Horrix - also known as DJ Elvis - between the ages of four and 14.

Horrix, 59, who maintains his innocence, first attacked the young girl in a toilet block near his seaside caravan before raping her on a mattress in the back of the vehicle.

Prosecutor Corinne Bramwell said: "When she was alone in the van Horrix used that opportunity to sexually abuse her and she describes wanting to scream, but being too frightened to do so."

On another occasion, he forced the victim to give him oral sex and raped her for the second time in his bathroom.

Speaking after Horrix was sentenced, the victim said: "I've finally got the news Ive waited so long to hear. The disgusting, vile paedophile Graham Horrix is now in prison.

"I have spent so much of my life feeling ashamed of what happened, made worse by it being constantly dismissed and being told to forget about it.

"He will no longer have any control over me."

During the trial the court heard that Horrix, of Priestwood Avenue, had a collection of porn and condoms in his touring van and has previous convictions for sexually abusing other young girls.

Jailing Horrix at Kingston Crown Court, recorder Sallie Bennett-Jenkins QC told Horrix, said: "They are grave offences. You were an adult yet committed a range of sexual offences against a child, who was young and extremely vulnerable.

"She was a child who had her innocence stripped from her by your brutal actions and she has suffered severe psychological harm."

Horrix, who shook his head in defiance during the hearing, says his partner has split with him and destroyed all his property, leaving him with nothing.

Horrix was convicted of two counts of raping the girl and was also convicted of three counts of indecently assaulting the girl in Clapham.

Recorder Bennett-Jenkins ordered Horrix to remain on licence for an extra twelve months when he is finally released and made an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and Restraining Order.

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A CHILD sex offender who moved to Swindon has been warned he is on his last chance after failing to do his unpaid work. Daniel Kerwood, 31, who is on a community order for failing to comply with his registration conditions, said a bad back made it too hard from him to get to the appointments. But a judge at Swindon Crown Court told him that the problem with the order was his attitude and said he was getting a 'last chance'. Andrew Stone, prosecuting, said Kerwood was first put on a six-month suspended sentence in 2014 for sexually assaulting a child under the age of 16. Soon after it was increased to nine months because he failed to notify the authorities of where he lived, as is required under sex offender registration. Then last year Kerwood, of Alpine Close, Shaw, was back before a judge for again failing to comply with the requirements by having contact with a child. Mr Stone said the defendant, then living in the Andover area, was told as part of the order he must not have contact with a child for more than 12 hours at a time. "Mr Kerwood tells me he accepts misunderstanding, he thought it was being alone with a child," he said. After admitting the breach he was put on a 26-month community order with supervision from probation. But he first breached the order in September last year, then again shortly before Christmas when 60 hours of unpaid work was added to it. Mr Stone said he failed to turn up for the work on December 28, February 23 and 24 and the first three days in March. He said the defendant had told him that he lives an hour's walk from the unpaid work centre and he has sciatica. "He says the distance is beyond him with his back in that condition," adding that Kerwood couldn't afford public transport. "He tells me he has applied for universal credit. He applied in January but the checking is still going on." Passing sentence Judge Tim Mousley QC said: "You have breached this order yet again. "As I have said the underlying reason for you not doing what you were ordered to do was because your attitude towards it. "It is suggested in the pre-sentence report that your compliance with this order has been nothing but problematic. That is putting it mildly. "You are now on your last chance, do you understand that. I am going to add 40 hours of unpaid work. That makes a total, less any you have done, of 100 hours. "That is the position you find yourself in. You must do it. There are no more excuses. If you come back before the court, as I have said, you have run out of chances."

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Joe Shanks is an Irishman from Co. Westmeath, who moved to England. He is a member of the Mormon 

An Irish Mormon missionary who tried to have sex with three children he thought he had lured over the internet, was nabbed in a sting operation by UK police.

Pervert Joseph Shanks, originally from Co Westmeath, claimed he was doing “charity work” and would be rewarded by GOD.

But the twisted predator didn’t realise the children’s mother he met online in England was really an undercover officer and he was arrested before any abuse took place.

When the 63-year-old married father turned up to rape the ‘victims’ he thought were aged nine, six and three, he was arrested by officers.

Shanks, who lives in the Church of Latter Day Saints missionary home in Chorley, Lancashire, was jailed for seven years on Monday after admitting ten sex charges.

The former civil servant had turned up for the rendezvous carrying a USB stick with thousands of vile abuse images of children.

Canterbury Crown Court in England heard how a police officer posed as “Sarah”, a mother to three fictitious children, was contacted by Shanks - who used the name Andy Brown.

Prosecutor Daniel Stevenson said: “Following conversations between ‘Sarah’ and Shanks it was clear from their conversation that the meeting was to facilitate him engaging in sexual activity with all three children.”

Shanks claimed he was in the army and volunteered for the church.

He rang from a mobile number but when that didn’t work - he called from a landline registered to the Mormon Church’s missionary training centre in Preston.

In November last year, the missionary worker left his wife in Lancashire and drove in his Hyundai Tucson 260 miles to the M23 Pease Pottage services, Kent, when he was arrested.

Shanks told police he was a member of the Mormon faith living in a Mormon community since 2016 and claimed he was doing “charitable work of God who would reward him with blessings as he tried to bring light into the lives of the three children”.

But Judge Simon James told him all he was doing was to act out his twisted sexual fantasies.

He said: “She used the name Sarah and her children were said to be aged three, six and nine.

“The two youngest were girls and the nine year old a boy.

“During the course of online communications, ‘Sarah’ spoke with a man who used the name Andy Brown. Andy Brown was in fact the defendant.

“Following these conversations, Mr Shanks made arrangements to travel to meet her and on November 26 they were scheduled to meet at Pease Pottage Services on the M23.

“Upon arriving he was disappointed to be greeted by officers of Kent Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team, rather than the willing mother of three children.”

The prosecutor added that Sarah and Andy had been in contact from October 2016 after the undercover officer received contact from [email protected].

He said he had a sexual interest in children and stated he was 63 years old, he was called Joe and claimed to have come originally from Ireland but was now living in Preston.

He told her he wanted to meet her children and promised to bring KY jelly, some of which was later found in his car.

During sentencing on Monday, Judge Simon James told him: “It is clear that you are an individual who is sexually attracted to children.

“That’s abundantly clear by the large amount of images you had depicting sexual abuse which were found in your car, including images depicting the rape of children as young as two years old.

“It is clear that you made efforts to act out your fantasies, by arranging to meet a mother of three children with the intent of having sex with them.

“What is also clear is that you had no idea that the person you were talking with was an undercover officer.

“You intended to subject those children to a whole catalogue of abuse.”

Mr Stevenson, prosecuting, said that Shanks had contacted a covert investigator on line, who was posing as the mother of three fictitious children.

Description

Not on official sex offenders register. A hardworking McDonald's staff member lived a secret double life as a burglar breaking into houses to steal womens underwear. John Junior Sillah worked at the fast food restaurant in Mold during the day and was valued there. But once he had had a drink, he was unable to control his urges and twice broke into one womans house to steal her knickers in order to satisfy his fetish. In between two of the break-ins, he sent the terrified woman a Facebook friend request. He had first broken into one womans home in April last year, but went back again on Christmas Day and stole more. On the same day, he burgled other homes in Mold . One young woman had been out when he rifled through her knicker drawer. Along the same road, at around 2.20am on Christmas morning, a man was awoken by Sillah standing at the foot of his bed. Sillah fled with the mans coat. At Caernarfon crown court today, his defence barrister Oliver King described him as not a conventional burglar, and argued for a novel approach to sentencing him. He said: He seems to have led a double life working at McDonalds at Mold during the day and hes valued there, yet he has this fetish. When he has a drink, it disinhibits him. Psychiatric reports found Sillah had a mental disorder which could be controlled when he was sober. Judge David Hale, sentencing Sillah, said it seemed that he had this compulsion to steal underwear. Sillah pleaded guilty to four burglaries and one attempted burglary. A 2012 offence was also taken into consideration. Judge Hale told him: These offences are far too serious for me to look to any non-custodial option. He jailed Sillah, 20, of Mornington Crescent in Buckley, for two-and-a-half years.