Latest Offenders

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A sexual predator who abused two young girls after plying them with alcohol and cannabis kept his head in his hands during a Sheffield Crown Court hearing, as he was forced to listen to the devastating impact of his crimes.

Despite being judged to have 'no empathy whatsoever' for the two girls he abused, Darren Oldham barely looked up to face them as he was brought to justice, during a hearing held at the court on February 7, 2024.

Sending Oldham, aged 35, to prison, the judge - Recorder Ian Mullarkey - said his sexual abuse had 'touched almost every aspect' of his victims' lives, and had caused 'perhaps irreparable damage'.

One of the two girls - both of whom were just 14-years-old at the time of Oldhams offending - said she has not been in education since the abuse took place, and has 'missed out' on taking her GCSEs. The girl, in her statement to the court, said she has also lost a dramatic amount of weight, going from eight-and-a-half to six stone, as she attempts to come to 'come to terms with what has happened'.

"I do not feel like myself anymore. [After the abuse] I couldnt shower or do anything without breaking into tears. After what happened, I began to look differently at men, I even began to look at my own granddad differently," she said, adding: "I already had anxiety and depression, but obviously this has made it worse, a lot worse."

"Ive lost all my friendswe were close before but since this I dont want to do anything. For the last year Ive done nothingIve changed as a person since Darren did this to me, and its not changed since."

Speaking directly to Oldham through her statement, his second victim told him: "You ruined my mental health, you made me want to take my own life because of the trauma you caused. I struggle going to schoolI feel like every male will hurt me. You made me feel like that. I feel a shell of a person whos angry because of the trauma in my life."

"I hope you get punished, you deserve to rot in jail," she continued.

The court was told how Oldham abused the two girls - who are not known to each other - in separate incidents, which took place in Rotherham and Cornwall, seven months apart.

Prosecutor, Michael Collins, told the court that Oldham gave both and alcohol prior to carrying out the sex offences.

In addition, in both cases, the two girls were rendered unconscious - with one falling asleep after being given cannabis and one being knocked unconscious after he forced her head back, causing her to hit it on a rock - during the course of Oldhams abuse.

The shameless sex offender persisted with the abuse while the girls - neither of whom can be named for legal reasons - were unconscious, and they both awoke to find him on top of them, the court heard.

Recorder Mullarkey told Oldham: "What we have here are two 14-year-old girls intoxicated by you, asleep or unconscious. Its difficult to think of a more vulnerable situation."

He added: "There was this pattern here, of plying young girls with intoxicants."

Mr Collins said that after abusing one of the girls, he pretended to be asleep after she pushed him off, and fled the scene after the other girl 'screamed' out for help.

Oldham was wanted by South Yorkshire Police for several months, before being located charged with sex offences in connection with the two incidents in November 2023.

He subsequently pleaded guilty to two counts of assault on a female 13 and over by penetration with part of body/a thing at an earlier hearing.

Defending, James Baird said Oldhams best point of mitigation was his guilty pleas, which were 'effectively entered' at his first hearing before Sheffield Crown Court.

Mr Baird continued: "Your Honour knows he is the product of the care system, taken into care at the age of 11he started abusing drugs at a very early age, 12 or 13, and there is also a serious drink problem."

Mr Baird said Oldhams substance misuse issues intensified following the death of his daughter, adding that he was intoxicated at the time of both sets of offences, something Mr Baird said he advanced as an explanation, but did not seek to suggest it as a point of mitigation.

Referring to the conclusions reached by the author of Oldhams pre-sentence report, Recorder Mullarkey told him: "You have no empathy whatsoever for the victims of your offending, and fail to recognise the seriousness of your offending."

He jailed Oldham, of Middleton Road, Banbury, for nine years, and said he felt it necessary to also impose an extended licence period of three years - bringing his total sentence to 12 years.

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Paul Armitt pled guilty to carrying out the attack on the woman on April 28 last year on Seagate.

The 43-year-old touched the woman’s back and seized her buttocks.

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A scrap metal dealer from Wales who sexually abused a teenage girl in Rustington has been jailed.

Mark Rumbol, 58, of Hewelsfield in Wales, sexually assaulted a girl under the age of 15 repeatedly between 2020 and 2021.

The abuse was reported to police in March, 2021 and Rumbol was arrested while his victim was supported by specialist officers.

He was subsequently charged with rape, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of assault by penetration and one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity (no penetration).

At Lewes Crown Court on 18 December, he was found guilty of all charges except rape, of which he was found not guilty.

At the same court on Friday, 26 January, Rumbol was jailed for 11 years, ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life, and given a restraining order and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order significantly reducing his ability to offend.

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A man has been jailed after attempting to sexually assault two children. 

Alfred Dempster, 57, tried to lure two people he believed were children into sexual activity.

He began talking to someone he believed to be an 11-year-old girl on KIK Messenger - a popular messaging platform with youngsters -  before moving to Whatsapp on New Year’s Day 2020.

Dempster, who was actually speaking with a member of an online child activist group, asked them to send an explicit photo, touch themselves and call him "daddy". 

The contact ended on January 9, 2020. 

Dempster also began speaking to another decoy pretending to be a 14-year-old girl in November of the same year.  

He asked for photos, said he wanted to have sex and also encouraged them to touch themselves.

Dempster was arrested at his home in Nene Quay, Wisbech, on January 11, 2021, and his electronic devices were seized.

He was jailed for two years and six months on February 2 at Peterborough Crown Court after pleading guilty to two counts of attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity. 

Two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, which Dempster denied, were ordered to lie on file. 

DC Zip Lloyd said: “This was a disgusting case where Dempster showed intent to potentially sexually assault two children.”

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A Wigan borough man who admitted making hundreds of indecent images of children has been jailed.

Karl Ashton, 36, of Rugby Road, Leigh, pleaded guilty to having the pictures as a trial was due to start in October.

He made four of the most serious (category A) images, five category B and 133 category C between October 4 and November 13, 2018.

He also admitted making three category A images, one category B and 31 category C between October 20 and November 6, 2022.

It was ordered that a charge of perverting the course of justice should lie on file.

Ashton has now been jailed for 21 months by Recorder Peter Atherton at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court.

He will be on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and a sexual harm prevention order will run for an indefinite period.

He must pay a £187 victim surcharge and the devices upon which the images were found will be forfeited and destroyed.

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A Dundee creep caught with hundreds of child abuse images phoned the police and told them he had watched “bad things”.

Tommy Craig, 22, freely admitted to officers who later arrested him that he had downloaded the vile material.

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Following an investigation by Surrey Police’s Sexual Offences Investigation Team, a man from Woking has been jailed for four years and nine months for multiple non-recent sexual offences against two girls aged 14 and 15 at the time.

Thomas Pattison, 32, (DOB 23.09.91) from Woking committed the offences between 2013 and 2014. Evidence of his offending was uncovered when one of his victims reported to the police that she had been in a sexual relationship with Pattison. Soon after this a second victim came forward. Pattison’s phone was seized by officers and messages were found which corroborated one of the accounts and witness enquiries confirmed the other.

The sentencing at Guildford Crown Court was part heard on Tuesday, 6 February with the victims present but was adjourned until the judge was able to confirm the sentence later that week. On Friday, 9 February, Pattison was sentenced for seven counts of penetrative sexual activity with a child, having pleaded guilty at a pre-trial hearing previously.

He will serve his time in prison and will then be released on license. He will also be subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

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A man from Churchdown has been jailed after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a woman and secretly filming two others.

Alex Russ, aged 34 and of Craven Drive, was sentenced to six years and five months in prison when he appeared at Gloucester Crown Court last week.

He had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault against one woman and two counts of voyeurism against two further women.

The court heard that, the day before the first incident, Russ had used his tablet device to search for sleep disorders involving sexual behaviour.

In 2015, while staying at the home of a woman, she had started to go sleep when Russ pulled her pyjama bottoms down and sexually assaulted her. She was able to stop him and challenge his behaviour.

On another two occasions Russ got into bed with her while she again tried to sleep and he sexually assaulted her.

Russ also admitted secretly filming women without their knowledge or consent. One incident saw him set up a camera phone in a washbag and leave it in a bathroom, where he was able to film a woman before and after she showered. 

The other incident involved a camera hidden in an alarm clock which he set up in a room being used by a different woman.

Although he initially denied the offences, Russ pleaded guilty at the first day of trial in October 2023.

As well as being jailed, Russ has been put on the Sex Offenders Register for life and restraining orders have been put in place to protect the women.

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A former sports coach from Portsmouth who supplied videos of naked swimming pupils to an Australian paedophile has been jailed.

Terry Neale, 55, from North End, was tracked down and arrested by National Crime Agency officers in January 2021, after the Australian Federal Police (AFP) recovered the videos and shared them with the Agency.

Neale had sent the videos to Stephen Porter, who was arrested by the AFP in June 2020 and later jailed for 20 years for child sexual exploitation offences.

The pair had known each other for more than 20 years and met up in Australia when Porter was coaching Australian rules football youth players.

AFP officers recovered two videos from Porter taken by Neale in 2013 of a young boy getting dressed after bathing at his house. Neale can be seen speaking with the child and providing towels.

Other videos shared by Neale showed pupils getting changed at swimming pools in the Portsmouth area. In one video, Neale appears to place a bag on a bench and adjusts a hidden camera. He’s then seen walking around the changing room and talking to naked boys.

In further videos of children’s swimming lessons, taken with a hidden camera in August 2013, Neale is wearing wet clothing and goggles, suggesting he has been in the water with pupils.

He was employed by a swimming school at the time and also worked as a local amateur youth football coach for various teams. NCA investigators identified all of the children in the videos, and they have since been spoken to and safeguarded.

Neale pleaded guilty to voyeurism and indecent images of children offences (possessing and making) at Winchester Crown Court on 27 September last year. One count of arranging / facilitating the sexual exploitation of a child under 13 and two counts of possessing extreme pornographic images will lie on file.

He was sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment at the same court today (6 February). He was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

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A former cheerleading coach has been jailed after being found guilty of sexual offences against children as well as possessing and distributing child abuse images.

Today (Monday 5 February 2024) Tom Walsh (DOB: 06/08/1986) of Shaw Lane, Prescot was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court after he was convicted of multiple counts of sexual abuse against three girls, as well as possession and distribution of child abuse images. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail with a further 5 years on license. He also received a lifetime sexual harm prevention order and was registered as a sex offender for life.

The 37-year-old was found guilty of 28 charges relating to sexual offences against children which took place between 2011 and 2020, following a criminal trial at Bolton Crown Court that concluded on Friday 2 February 2024.

Walsh was a cheerleader and assisted in the coaching of children for a number of years where he met two of the victims, whilst the third he groomed online.

The sexual offences against the three victims were committed in Manchester and Liverpool, although Walsh also communicated with a number of girls across the UK to obtain child abuse images from them.

An investigation into his offending was launched following an investigation by Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCU) where covert officers communicated with Walsh online. As enquiries progressed, Walsh’s sexual interest in children – young girls - became apparent.

The investigation led to Walsh being arrested on 20 August 2020 on suspicion of possession and distribution of child abuse images.

The investigation subsequently uncovered numerous indecent images of children saved on Walsh’s device and messages between himself and a number of victims. He primarily used the app Snapchat to communicate with his victims and evidence of screen recording software was recovered which showed how the defendant had saved child abuse images and his conversations with victims.

Following an extensive investigation, a number of victims were identified, including the three girls who were victims of child sexual abuse. Walsh contacted one victim online when she was just 13-years-old and over the next 6 years groomed and sexually abused the girl, even sending her child abuse images. Two further victims, who were teenagers at the time and came contact with Walsh through cheerleading, were identified during the investigation.

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A Halewood man has been jailed for breaching an order by possessing sexual images of children.

John Charles Hamilton, 40 years, of Ribble Road, Halewood was sentenced to two years and nine months imprisonment at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday 1 February.

Hamilton pleaded guilty to breaching of Sexual Harm Prevention Order and possess indecent photograph/pseudo - photograph of a child.

The court heard that in October last year, officers conducted a routine visit to his home under the Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed on him. Officers were checking his electronic devices and noticed a screen shot of a toddler saved to his tablet which is a breach of his terms.

All his devices were seized and detectives found more images of children under 16 years on them.

The Sex Offender Unit ensure that sex offenders living in the community are closely monitored.

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A Southampton man has been jailed after being found guilty of communicating with an undercover police officer, who he believed to be a 12-year-old girl.

Manoj Kumar, 26, of Avenue Road, appeared before Southampton Crown Court on Friday (2 February) having previously been found guilty of child sex offences.

The court heard how Kumar was arrested following an investigation by undercover officers posing as a 12-year-old girl. Kumar engaged in explicit, sexual conversation with officers via KIK Messenger, Whatsapp and Telegram on a number of occasions in 2021.

In messages sent to officers Kumar, who was 24 at the time of the offences, told the fictional girl that she was ‘cute’, ‘sweet’ and ‘gorgeous’ before speaking to her in a graphic manner and attempting to incite her into sexual activity. He sent messages claiming to be her boyfriend and asked her to keep their conversations to herself, as well as asking her to delete all of their messages.

On 17 February 2021 Kumar went to the Sainsbury’s car park in Victor Street, Southampton, thinking that he was meeting the young girl. Instead, police arrested him and took him into custody.

Following an investigation which involved the analysis of three mobile phones, a tablet and a laptop, Kumar was charged with attempting to cause or incite a female under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity involving penetration and arranging or facilitating commission of a child sex offence.

He pleaded not guilty to the offences, however a jury found him guilty following a trial in December 2023.

He has now been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten years.

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A SERIAL paedophile was told by a judge to throw his laptop away in order to prevent him committing further crimes.

Andrew Davidson, 63, from Belmore Gardens, Lymington, has a history of downloading child abuse images and breaching sexual harm prevention orders.

He was jailed for ten months in 2018 in Nottingham, where he was living at the time, for possessing thousands of indecent photos of children including Category A – the most severe.

At that time Davidson was under a SHPO imposed for a similar offence in 2006, for which he was given a suspended sentence and ordered to take part in an internet sex offenders treatment programme.

In 2021 he again breached an SHPO order and was given a suspended prison sentence. Another order was also imposed.

But a jury a Southampton Crown Court heard in November he breached it again.

An offender monitoring firm were alerted in October last year that he had downloaded software on a laptop which enabled him to browse sites undetected.

It meant, said prosecutor Harvey Keely, the company could not see what Davidson was looking at on the internet. There was also no search history.

Police were alerted and went to Davidson’s home, where they seized all his internet capable devices including a Samsung mobile phone on which there were five child abuse images including three within category A.

The defendant pleaded guilty to breaching the order but denied making an indecent image of a child between 25th February 2018 and 1st June 2021. However, he was found guilty by the jury at the city’s crown court and sent to Portsmouth for sentencing.

In defence, barrister Nicholas Gammon said his client had claimed he had used the software to look for old emails and did not know how the indecent images “got there.”

The defendant cares for his partner, added Mr Gammon, who is “seriously ill” and “would not be able to cope” if he was jailed.

Mr Gammon continued: “The police are not going to leave him alone; they will monitor him very closely and he is not someone who can escape the net. My advice to him was to throw his computer away.”

Sentencing the defendant, Judge Newton-Price KC said he agreed with the barrister, adding: “You are extremely lucky to escape an immediate custodial sentence and might want to consider Mr Gammon’s suggestion to get of rid all internet devices.”

Davidson was sentenced to a total of 14 months in prison suspended for two years. He was given a 10-year SHPO and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

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A 21-YEAR-OLD man was caught with indecent images of children and animals just two months after being sentenced for sex offences.

Tomasz Willmington was found with the disturbing images by police who were monitoring his laptop.

The defendant was convicted in July 2022, and sentenced the following month, for five counts of similar offences relating to pornographic images of children.

Willmington was handed a three-year community order and made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for ten years, allowing police to monitor his devices.

Prosecuting, Althea Brook, told Bournemouth Crown Court that officers were notified in October 2022 that the 21-year-old was accessing indecent material at his home on Northport Drive in Wareham.

When interviewed by police, the defendant admitted to the offences and later pleaded guilty.

Willingham appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on February 2 to be sentenced for making indecent photos of a child and possessing a prohibited image of a child.

He was also charged with possessing an extreme pornographic image involving animals, specifically dogs.

Mitigating, Kevin Hill, said that Willmington is living at home with his mother and has since started working which is helping.

“He takes this very seriously and is very sorry that he committed this offence again.”

Judge Susan Evans KC noted that the defendant reoffended so soon after his first sentencing that he had not begun his rehabilitation programme.

However, since completing it, he has been making progress.

Judge Evans added that maintaining a job and working with others will improve his social isolation, which is relevant to his current offending.

“You are relatively young and are maturing,” said Judge Evans.

“There is no suggestion you have offended any further.”

Willmington was handed a sentence of 14 weeks, suspended for 15 months.

He must do 100 hours of unpaid work and will be given both a sexual harm prevention order and a sex offender notification order for seven years.

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A paedophile had images of children as young as one being sexually abused on his computer before, during, and after he was sentenced for identical offences last summer.

Andrew McGown was sentenced to 10 months, suspended for 18 months, last June after being found with more than 11,000 images and videos of child sex abuse and bestiality on his computer, phone, and printed out and sorted in to folders.

Prosecutor Sian Cutter told the court that police found evidence of adult pornography and more than 1,000 indecent images of children on McGown’s desktop computer during a routine visit on October 3. He denied that he had looked at either of these.

All of the indecent images on the computer were inaccessible, although there was evidence the files were created in April – on the day after he bought the computer – and some had been accessed and modified while awaiting sentence and after he was sentenced for his previous offences.

The court heard that one of the images involved a child as young as one being sexually abused by an adult male.

Ms Cutter said there was evidence on the computer of extreme pornography, although this was inaccessible and no charges were proceeded with on this.

A USB shortcut was also found with more than 1,000 more indecent images of children on it.

McGown said he didn’t know how these images got on his computer – and suggested it may have been when he was trying to instal Microsoft Office on the device and had inserted what he thought was a blank disc which could have contained the images.

“He couldn’t explain how they were linked to a USB rather than the disc,” Ms Cutter said.

McGown, 62, of Tan Y Bryn, near Llandysul, pleaded guilty to having 117 Category A indecent images, 72 Category B images, and 1,884 Category C images. He also admitted breaching a suspended sentence order.

Hannah George, defending, said: “The strongest mitigation in his case is his guilty plea.

“I accept on his behalf, as does he, that he still accessed some of those images after he was sentenced.

“Since the defendant has been remanded in custody, it has been somewhat of a reckoning for him. He has not enjoyed it. He has found it very difficult.”

Addressing McGown’s continued offending, the judge, Recorder C. Rees KC, said: “It’s a pretty determined pattern of behaviour despite the opportunities the court gave you,

“The sentences of the court will only go up if you commit these offences again.”

She sentenced McGown to 12 months for the Category A offence, with concurrent sentences of eight months and three months for the Category B and C offences. He must also serve an additional six months for breaching his suspended sentence.

The defendant will continue to be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and must continue to register as a sex offender.