Latest Offenders

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David Cruickshank admitted one of the rapes.

An Aberdeen man who carried out three rapes and an indecent assault has been jailed for eight years and nine months.

David Cruickshank, 30, admitted one rape and was convicted of the other two.

He also admitted touching an 18-year-old sexually while she was having an epileptic fit.

Cruickshank was jailed at the High Court in Edinburgh, where Lord Uist said the seriousness of the crimes was "self-evident".

The crimes involved four different young victims.

The judge said: "You had an unsettled upbringing and suffered from an autistic spectrum disorder, but that did not effect your criminal responsibility for your actions, although it does explain your apparent lack of remorse for what you did."

Unemployed Cruickshank, formerly of Balnagask Wynd, Torry, raped his first victim, a 12-year-old, between 1999 and 2000.

Cruickshank was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely

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A paedophile who filmed himself sexually abusing a one-year-old girl was caught when he left a disc of his child porn at his former home.

Martin Hunt, 24, has been jailed for 12 years after admitting a string of offences including sexually assaulting a child and distributing child porn.

He was caught out when he moved house and the new owners found a disc of his vile crimes hidden under a kitchen unit, a court heard.

They tipped off police who discovered Hunt, of Frinton, Essex, had emailed his disgusting images and videos to another known paedophile.

Hunt pleaded guilty to 19 offences at Chelmsford Crown Court including sexual activity with a child and making indecent images of children.

The offences dated from January 2012 to February 2014, but were said to have occurred over three or four months from December 2012.

Judge Patricia Lynch QC passed an extended sentence for public protection.

She told Hunt he would have to serve two-thirds of the 12 years in custody before he would then be eligible for parole.

He will then be on licence - subject to recall to prison - and under supervision for eight years after he is released.

The judge told him : "From now on every time you look at your reflection in the mirror, every day you will know that you behaved in the most base, despicable and self-serving manner."

She added that Hunt had shown minimal remorse.

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A college welfare officer and young person's football coach who downloaded thousands of indecent images of children has been jailed.

Daniel Dawson, 36, of Darcy Lever, Bolton, had pleaded guilty to 19 offences of possessing and making indecent images of children.

At Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, he was jailed for 12 months.

He was also given a sexual offences prevention order and made to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Police said Dawson was caught in April following an international investigation into the activities of an online retailer based in Canada selling films containing child pornography and indecent images of children.

1.5 million images

When warrants were executed at the Canadian premises, customers from around the world were identified and cases were passed to the relevant police forces.

Greater Manchester Police raided Dawson's home and seized a number of computers and media storage devices and a total of 1.5m images were recovered.

A computer specialist sampled more than 15,000 of these images and identified more than 6,500 indecent images of children aged six to 14 years old.

Due to the sheer volume of indecent images, the specialist could not examine all of the pictures.

Officers also recovered evidence that Dawson had repeatedly searched the internet for indecent images of children.

At the time, Dawson was working as a welfare officer at Glossopdale Community College in Derbyshire and coached at Middleton Lads and Girls FC.

He was suspended from both roles immediately following the initial police involvement.

Dawson previously held similar positions in other schools across the region.

There was no evidence to suggest Dawson committed any offences against the children he came into contact with in a professional capacity, police said.

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A childrens activity centre instructor has been jailed for nine months after pleading guilty to sexually abusing two young boys

Instructor Adam Craig Sills (35) pleaded guilty to sexual assaulting two schoolboys at the Govilon Activity Centre located at the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park

Prosecution told Northampton Crown court that the offences dated back to 2012. Sills finally admitted the offences in July of this year.

During the trial, the court heard that the 10-year-old boys were on a week long school trip to Wales when the abuse took place. Although Sills had pleaded guilty to abusing two boys, it was suspected he had molested others.

Sills was placed on a sexual offences prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders register

He was also given an order to prevent him from working with children in the future.

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A family wept as the bus driver who sexually abused their teenage daughter was jailed at Bradford Crown Court today (Monday). Dale Codling, 26, of Kirk Lane, Hipperholme, who had previously pleaded guilty to two charges of grooming and engaging in non-penetrative sexual activity with a 13 year old girl on October 21, 2013 was jailed for 12 months. The offences took place while Codling was working as a First Bus driver on a school route in Calderdale. Judge Rose, sentencing Codling - a father of one - said: The grooming of a child is not something that happens as an error of judgement or a one-off mistake - you were 25 and she was 13. No man of your age has the right to act in such way with a child. Codling groomed her by lavishing her with compliments on Facebook and by phone, which the prosecution said made her feel good about herself. The court heard that when Codling took the girl for a drive on October 21, 2013, he kissed her. After she kissed him back, he then touched her inappropriately and the girl asked him to stop. Codling drove the girl home but continued to remain in contact with her. The girls mother later found out a month later and reported him to the police. Gerald Hendron, defending, said Codling felt ashamed of himself and asked the judge to consider his immediate admission following his arrest and subsequent guilty plea.

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A 21-YEAR-OLD pervert has been jailed after watching a woman try on a bikini under her changing room door and groping a woman in the same day.

Sean Taylor, of Layton Close, Birchwood, was out on licence from Appleton Thorn Youth Offenders Institution on July 1, 2012 when he committed both incidents and pleaded guilty to voyeurism and sexual assault.

Warrington Crown Court heard a 22-year-old woman was shopping in Peacocks when she saw the man’s head peering underneath the door and reported it to staff.

Later Taylor grabbed a 35-year-old woman from behind and shouted offensive remarks until she screamed.

Ian Criddle, prosecuting, said: “The changing room victim said she was almost in tears and felt shocked and upset.”

Michael Scholes, defending, said Taylor was ashamed and mortified and had covered his ears during parts of the hearing.

Judge David Hale sentenced him to 10 months imprisonment.

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A BIRCHWOOD man with a history of sex offending has been jailed after grabbing a woman and groping her. Sean Steven Taylor, aged 23, of Layton Close, attacked the 51-year-old woman during the afternoon of July 19, in Birchwood. Cheshire Police says Taylor grabbed her from behind, forcing his hands up her top and assaulting her. Taylor then threw the victim to the floor and ran off. Police officers identified the pervert from CCTV footage at the scene. He was arrested and charged with sexual assault of a female aged over 18. Taylor pleaded guilty at Chester Crown Court on Friday, and was jailed for 28 months. He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register. DC Richard Kirby said "Sexual offences are horrific crimes which cause great distress to the victims and their families. The use of CCTV in this case was essential to swiftly identifying the offender and bringing him to justice."

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A SOUTHAMPTON sex offender serving a suspended sentence from a court in America has been jailed in the UK after being caught with images of an underage girl.

Adam James Robinson was arrested by police in this country after officers received a tip-off about an "inappropriate online relationship" with a 14-year-old girl in America.

The 28-year-old was later released under investigation.

But when police revisited Robinson 10 months later, they found indecent images of the same girl – which he had accessed after his initial arrest.

Yesterday, at Southampton Crown Court, Robinson was jailed for two years.

The court heard Robinson, who was once convicted of having sex with an underage girl in America, was initially arrested in September 2016 after police received information he was talking to another 14-year-old girl in the US.

Prosecutor Nick Saunders said a number of items were seized from Robinson and he was informed that the girl was 14.

Officers then arrested Robinson again in July 2017 and seized a computer, a USB stick and a hard-drive.

Mr Saunders said that while police were inspecting the devices, they found indecent images of the same underage girl Robinson had earlier been talking to.

He said that among the 65 images were 21 Category A images – the most serious kind.

Mr Saunders said that by being in possession of the images, Robinson had breached a Sexual Harm Prevention Order set up in 2014.

He added that Robinson had attempted to conceal the images by using a hard-drive which required a separate USB stick in order to work.

In mitigation, Damian Hayes said his client had not committed any offences, including sexual offences, since his arrest in 2017.

He said Robinson had initially stopped talking to the girl after his arrest.

But he said Robinson had later resumed their "inappropriate relationship" after she had sent him messages and handwritten notes in which she had expressed her upset at their break in communication and had threatened to kill herself.

Mr Hayes said Robinson also suffered from autism, depression and anxiety.

Sentencing Robinson, who pleaded guilty to one count of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and three counts of possessing indecent images of a child, judge Gary Burrell QC said: "You are not an unintelligent young man, in fact quite the reverse.

"This was a blatant breach and you must have known what you were doing.

"It is aggravated by your previous convictions and by the fact you tried to cover up what you were doing."

Robinson, of Shirley Road, Southampton was jailed for a total of two years.

As previously reported in the Daily Echo, Robinson's Sexual Harm Prevention Order was put in place in 2014 after he was convicted of an act of voyeurism.

On that occasion, Robinson rigged up a camera so he could record and view pictures of a semi-naked 13-year-old girl with whom he was infatuated.

He was sentenced to four months in prison.

Robinson is still currently under a suspended sentence, imposed in America, after admitting having sex with an underage girl in 2013.

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AN “INFATUATED” married man who sexually abused a 13-year-old girl in his Audi car on Baildon Moor has been jailed for six years.

Farooq Miah, 29, groomed and manipulated the child, buying her a gift, drinks and ice cream and isolating her from family and friends, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

When concerns about the “relationship” were raised on a trafficking website, Miah told his victim to lie to the police, prosecutor Gerald Hendron said.

The child at first denied that Miah, of Grosvenor Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD8, had abused her and tried to conceal her phone from investigating officers. She then disclosed that he had met her late at night in a fast food restaurant and taken her in his Audi on to Baildon Moor.

He bought ice cream and drinks and they smoked cigarettes. Miah began by touching her indecently and progressed to having oral sex with her, Mr Hendron said.

He took a video on the girl’s phone of her performing a sex act on him.

It was found by the police, along with the 996 calls and texts between Miah and the child.

Miah pleaded guilty to eight charges of sexual activity with a child and a single count of making an indecent image.

She told the police that Miah sulked if she refused to engage in sexual activity with him. The girl said in her victim impact statement that she believed at the time that Miah was in love with her.

Miah’s barrister, Taryn Turner, said he had pleaded guilty to all the offences and been held in custody since June 7.

She conceded: “This is a bad business and it is accepted that it must be marked with an immediately effective custodial sentence.”

Mrs Turner said that Miah was a married man whose wife was expecting their child.

“He had an infatuation for this young girl and that led to this appalling series of offences against her,” she said.

Miah felt remorse and disgust about what he had done.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, said Miah seduced a 13-year-old girl.

He knew her age and solicited her affections with grooming and manipulation.

“The girl has been deeply affected by the abuse of a paedophile,” Judge Durham Hall said.

Miah must sign on the sex offender register indefinitely and the judge made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order until further order.

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A paedophile who subjected a young girl to a decade-long campaign of sexual abuse was jailed.

Toxteth man Stephen Furmedge, 52, preyed on his victim, who was between the ages of three and 12, through the late 1970s and 1980s.

But she was not the first child who had her life destroyed by the sick pervert.

He had already been jailed in 1989 for raping a young girl and a young boy, and sexually abusing another girl when he was living in Kirkby and had also been convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old girl in the early 1970s.

Robert Wyn Jones, prosecuting, said that some of the girls earliest memories were of being abused by Furmedge including him kissing her on the lips when she was just three.

The abuse happened weekly over the years and at one point he even tried to rape her when another girl was sharing a double bed with her.

She said the last time he tried to make a pass at her she was 12 and better able to stop him.

The victim said she knew what was happening to the other children, crimes for which Furmedge served nine years after they reported it, but didnt tell police at the time.

Furmedge denied all the accusations but was found guilty by a jury of nine counts of sexual assault, nine of indecency with a child and five of attempted rape.

Judge Andrew Hatton, sentencing, said if Furmedge was being sentenced under todays laws he would have jailed him for life but because he had to be sentenced under the law of the day the maximum he could sentence him to was seven years in jail and he did so.

He added that if the judge sentencing Furmedge in the 1980s knew the full extent of his crimes then he probably would have sentenced him to life as well.

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A DRUG-FUELLED sadist has been jailed for 17 years for raping, beating and degrading a Bradford woman after repeatedly violating a previous girlfriend.

Ashley Barber, 26, attacked his victim in her Bradford home on July 22 last year after laughing at her and threatening to suffocate her with a pillow, Bradford Crown Court heard.

He forced her into a submissive "handcuff position", slapped her, spat on her and rubbed his sweat into her before raping her.

The court heard during Barber's two week trial that he turned to internet pornography and cannabis when he tired of his first girlfriend, who lives in Midlands.

Barber because obsessed with increasingly violent sexual experimentation. He bought sex toys and began to dominate the woman, who initially went along with his demands because she loved him.

Barber was found guilty by the jury of raping the woman three times as part of a course of conduct from January 2010 until December 2011.

On one occasion, she cried as he beat her with a paddle until her bottom bled.

Judge John Potter told Barber: "You used her as a sexual object on which you could violently carry out your sexual desires. It was violence for your sole gratification."

Barber was arrested for the repeated rapes after his victim found out that the Bradford woman had reported him to the police for raping her.

Like his first victim, she had at first gone along with his demands for sex with bondage because she loved him.

Barber, of Stockbrook Street, Derby, was convicted of one charge of raping the Bradford woman.

The case was adjourned until today for the preparation of a probation report with an assessment of dangerousness.

The court heard Barber had a previous conviction for battery on his first victim.

He was held in custody throughout the trial and stood impassively in a grey sweatshirt, hands clasped in front of him, as sentence was passed.

Judge Potter said: "Mr Barber, you have shown not a shred of remorse."

He must sign on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life and the judge made a Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning him from having any contact with his victims.

After the case, Detective Sergeant Suzanne Hall, of the Bradford District Safeguarding Unit, said: "Barber carried out repeated sex attacks and physical assaults against his victims, which must have been harrowing ordeals for them.

"We would like to thank them for their courage in coming forward and reporting his crimes, and we hope the lengthy sentence which has been passed down today will help to give them some comfort.

"We also hope it will encourage other victims to come forward and speak to our specially trained officers, who will investigate all reports of sexual abuse thoroughly and sensitively, with the intention of bringing the offenders to justice."

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A SOUTHAMPTON man posed as a young teenage girl to talk to fellow paedophiles on Internet chat room sites, the city crown court heard.

Nathan Long was arrested after police had received a tip-off from computer giants Microsoft who provided details of an email account being used to download pornographic pictures of children.

They traced the information to a house in Southampton where Long immediately confessed he had been responsible. His computer and iPhone were then seized for analysis.

Long told investigators he had been using the site for up to two years after someone had sent him an image. He said he knew it was wrong but he continued.

He then went on to describe how he had posed as a 13-year-old girl to talk to older men, and had traded images.

Prosecutor Rachel Robert-son told the city crown court: He had also discussed at various times the kidnap, rape and murder of children and encouraged others to act in that way. He also claimed he had been abusing children but insisted it was all fantasy.

Long, 24, of Westwood Road, admitted 35 charges incorporating the possession and distribution of more than 850 still and moving images Recorder Nicholas Haggan QC jailed Long for two years. After his release he must attend a probation service run Internet sex offenders programme.

Long also received a sexual offenders prevention order to run indefinitely, was banned from working with children and placed on the sex offenders register.

In mitigation, Mark Florida-James described Long as a depressed and lonely man. He is terrified of going to prison, said Mr Florida-James. Long was of previous good character.

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Maxwell Hallahan, a retired Church of England Vicar has today been sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court to 21 months for a series of offences against a boy while he was the vicar at Saint Faiths Church in Cowes (Isle of Wight). He will be subject to a 10 years notification on the Sex Offender Register and subject to a Safeguarding order.

Following sentencing, Senior Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in Wessex Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit (Rasso), Richard Powell said: Maxwell Hallahan abused his position of authority as vicar in his parish. He abused the boy, who is now an adult but was only 13 years of age when the abuse started, for a period of approximately three years between 1974 and 1977.

Hallahan had already been convicted of similar offences in 2011. There is no doubt that he is a sexual predator who did not hesitate to take advantage of his position as a pillar of the society at the time to abuse young boys. The victim in this case has shown great courage in coming forward after living with the memory of the abuse for all these years.

This, we hope, will encourage anyone who has been the victim of such crime to report it to the police. CPS Wessex Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit works very closely with the police and relentlessly to bring these types of cases to court. We trust that this prosecution will bring some closure to the victim of this horrible crime.

If your or a loved one have been subject to abuse please do not hesitate to contact our specialist child abuse solicitorS. We will treat any communications with the strictest of confidence.

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A HAMPSHIRE university lecturer tried to kill himself after being caught in an international sting operation set up to tackle child abuse.

David Clarke, 46, was duped into believing he was chatting to another paedophile in reality he was talking to a special agent stringing him along about exchanging sickening images of children.

The case was so disturbing that one officer investigating it had to take a break from her work at one stage because she found the work so distressing.

Clarke, a senior lecturer in psychology at Southampton Solent University, was later arrested at his home which he shared with his partner and their three young children.

An examination of his laptop and a memory stick revealed about 1,800 images involving children as a young as three being subjected to a horrifying catalogue of bondage, rape and sadism.

Prosecutor Tom Wright told the city crown court Clarke, who had been using chatrooms under the aliases of Davyboy, Emma Watson 27, and Kirstyandlouise, refused to give his password to the police who were unable to gain access to his accounts to determine the full amount of his trafficking.

Clarke, of Median Road, Shirley, admitted 20 charges of making, possessing and distributing still and moving images between the summer of 2009 and last November and was jailed for 30 months.

He had pleaded guilty to the charges at his preliminary hearing but sentence had been adjourned after he had tried to commit suicide.

Judge Peter Henry said: The images concern a high number of different victims and there was a deliberate and systematic searching of the Internet for images for your sexual gratification.

You deny you find children sexually attractive but in my view, sexual gratification is at the forefront of your offending.

The judge said he accepted Clarke had suffered mental health problems, depression and alcoholism but he could not have misunderstood the harm he was causing children.

Stephen Tricker, defending said Clarke had strayed into viewing the material after searching the Internet for interest in other areas and then going into adult sites.

He has expressed remorse and knows the shame he has brought upon himself and his family. He is motivated to tackle the treatment programme.

Mr Tricker added: His self-destruction is complete.

In addition to the jail term, Clarke was placed on the sex offenders register and banned from working with children.

Under the terms of a sexual offences prevention order, he has restricted use of the Internet and cannot not be left alone with children except with the knowledge of the police or the childs parents.

After the case a spokesman for Southampton Solent University said: The individual concerned has not been present or teaching at the university for many months now.

The university was first notified of this issue last week and has already put in place steps to address this as a matter of urgency.

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A man who raped a young girl during years of abuse has been jailed for three years and four months. Connor Greer, 22, pleaded guilty to rape and two charges of lewd and libidinous conduct between 2003 and 2011 at houses in Glasgow. The High Court in Glasgow heard how he began abusing the girl when she was aged seven and raped her when she was 14 or 15. Police were called after she told a friend who then alerted a teacher. Jailing him, judge Lord Turnbull told Greer: "It is obvious that your conduct caused enormous stress on the young victim in her teenage years. "It is also obvious that the conduct is of such a serious nature and harmful form that a custodial sentence is the only disposal." Repeat attacks The court heard the attacks repeatedly occurred at houses in Glasgow's southside area. The abuse would often happen at night when Greer would "change". The victim did not disclose what was happening - but in 2012 she told a friend which eventually led to police getting involved. Euan Dow, defending, said Greer, from the city's Pollok area, was "unable to provide any explanation" for what went on. At a previous hearing he was also placed on the sex offenders' register.