Latest Offenders

Description

A retired court prosecutor who made arrangements to commit "utterly repellent" sexual offences against a young child has been jailed for 12 years after he was trapped in an online police "sting".

Clive Jones, 74, prosecuted cases at Hull and Bridlington magistrates' courts for the Crown Prosecution Service for many years. He became a district crown prosecutor and also oversaw the prosecution of more serious cases at crown courts.

He was arrested, after his retirement, when he replied to an online advertisement in which police pretended to be a woman called Karen, who supposedly had a seven-year-old child. He set off in his car to meet the non-existent woman and her child and he intended to have sexual activity.

He had condoms, ropes and Viagra in his car boot. The decoy woman had been created by the police in a bid to catch sexual predators – and Jones fell straight into the trap. He exchanged messages, apparently not suspecting that the woman and her child did not even exist, a court heard.

Jones, of Bempton, near Flamborough, denied seven offences of arranging to commit sexual offences against a child between January 31 and February 21 last year, but he was convicted by a jury at Durham Crown Court on December 18 after a six-day trial.

The case had been moved from Hull Crown Court out of the area because of his previous links to the justice system. Jones had been remanded in custody after being convicted of the offences and he appeared from HMP Durham via a video link for a sentencing hearing, also at Durham Crown Court.

'Intended to rape child'

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Judge James Adkin said that the sexual offences that Jones intended to commit by making the arrangements included raping a child, assault of a child by penetration, sexual assault, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

The judge said that, because the jury found Jones guilty of all seven offences, it must have concluded that he intended to commit all of those arranged sexual offences at some stage, although this was "extremely speculative" because they never actually happened. "The evidence against you in the trial was abundant and compelling," said Judge Adkin.

The offences that Jones wanted to commit on a child were "utterly repellent", the judge added. He drove to meet what he thought was Karen and her child.

"It was, of course, a sting and you were arrested," said Judge Adkin. A pre-sentence report on Jones had said that he posed a significant risk to the public of sexual harm. "The circumstances of these offences are intensely concerning," said Judge Adkin.

Tom Storey, prosecuting, said: "No harm was actually caused. There was no child victim in existence. But for that, the defendant would have carried out the intended sexual activity."

Mr Storey, who is included on a recently published list of new KCs, said that Jones had no previous convictions, cautions, warnings or reprimands. He asked that a deprivation order be made for the items that were found in the car boot when Jones was arrested.

'May not live to see his release'

Helen Chapman, mitigating, said that Jones suffered from ill-health and a letter with updated details of his medical condition had been brought to court by his wife.

No real contact offence took place involving a child because the child involved did not actually exist, although messages suggested that this activity would have taken place. Miss Chapman opposed the making of a sexual harm prevention order. "I don't really see what useful purpose it could serve in circumstances where he may or may not live to see his release," she said.

If Jones did live long enough to leave prison, he would, in any event, be subject to strict licence and notification requirements. He was in poor physical health and he was at that time of life when the health conditions had "all come at once". Some of them were interlinked.

"He essentially lives in daily pain," said Miss Chapman. Managing that pain in a prison setting would be extremely difficult.

"Those who go into prison in poor health do not improve," said Miss Chapman. "All the evidence is that they deteriorate. Living day to day will be more difficult for him than for someone who enjoys good health. It will be harder for him than for anybody in a different position."

Throughout the court hearing, Jones could be heard repeatedly coughing and sighing. He sometimes put his head in his hands.

"He is fortunate to receive the support of his wife, who is present today and has been a pillar of support to him." The effect of a prison sentence would "reverberate" on to her. "She is somebody who will feel his loss very keenly," said Miss Chapman.

'Fought and lost'

Judge Adkin said that he had decided that Jones should not be treated as a "dangerous" offender. The length of the prison sentence and the release provisions meant that he would be "very elderly" when he was released.

Jones suffered from a heart condition and diabetes and the complications arising from it. "I accept that the sentence will be more difficult for you to endure," said Judge Adkin.

Because there was no real child, Jones was entitled to a "modest discount" in his sentence to reflect this. He could, however, be given no credit for guilty pleas because he had a trial. "You fought the case and lost," said Judge Adkin.

Jones was given a 20-year sexual harm prevention order and he must register as a sex offender for life. A deprivation order was made for the items found in the car boot.

Jones was a regular prosecutor for many years at magistrates' courts, including Hull and Bridlington, and he was well known at the former, now closed, courts in East Yorkshire, including Driffield, Withernsea and Brough. As a lawyer, he regularly prosecuted people who had committed similar sexual offences as those that were committed by him after his retirement.

He became a district crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service and, in that job, he was a manager. He had worked as head of the crown court trials unit for Humberside.

Description

A pensioner who tried to meet an 11-year-old girl for sex has been jailed after he was trapped by a police sting operation.

Richard Courage thought that a woman who he met in an online chat room was a child abuser with access to an 11-year-old girl. In reality, he was messaging an undercover police officer.

He sent a stream of messages fantasising about having sex with the girl which culminated in him booking a room at a hotel in East Devon where he planned to take her virginity.

He called off the rendezvous at the last minute, claiming to have Covid, but carried on his online messaging with the undercover officer.

He was traced through the hotel booking and found with a small number of child images on his computer when he was arrested. Police also recovered a dismantled shotgun in his car.

Retired businessman Courage, aged 75, from Exeter, admitted arranging or commissioning a child sex offence, possession of indecent images of children and possession of a firearm without a certificate.

He was jailed for three years and four months by Judge Anna Richardson at Exeter Crown Court, put on the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order which restricts his future access to children and the internet.

She told him that the offence which he had tried to arrange was in effect a child rape but that he deserves credit for having no previous convictions and for deciding to abandon his planned meeting when he realised he was moving ‘from a digital conversation to reality’.

Mr Lewis Aldous, prosecuting, said an undercover officer started exchanging messages with Courage, who was using the screenname OlddevonMforFem on eh Chatiw site and posed as a woman with access to an 11-year-old girl.

Courage’s messages became sexual and he discussed having sex with the girl before he booked a room in a budget hotel on the outskirts of Exeter for the night on August 10, 2022.

He cancelled the meeting on the day before, claiming he had Covid, and although he stayed in touch with the decoy officer, he dd not try to arrange a new rendez-vous. His messages made it clear that he intended to have sex with the girl but wanted to minimise the discomfort she suffered.

Police found 14 child images of girls aged seven to 16 on his laptop but they were all at the lowest level, showing sexual posing rather than any sexual activity. A dismantled shotgun was found in his car which could have been reassembled and which needed a licence.

Mr Jason Beal, defending, said Courage had reached the age of 75 without ever being in any kind of trouble and had made a positive contribution to the community. He has important caring responsibilities for his wife, who is in poor health.

He said Courage did not have Covid when he cancelled the meeting but realised he had gone too far and used it as an excuse to back out.

Description

A man has been jailed for a string of sexual offences against two young girls.

Nottinghamshire Police said Anthony Evans assaulted his primary school-age victims multiple times, in the Worksop area, before he was arrested in February last year.

Evans told the girls to keep his crimes secret but was caught after one of them told her mother about his abuse.

He was jailed for 12 years at Nottingham Crown Court on 19 January.

The 63-year-old, from the Worksop area, initially denied the offences but later pleaded guilty to nine sexual assaults by penetration between January 2019 and February 2023.

He also admitted two charges of causing his victims to watch images of sexual activity, three charges of causing or inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, and two offences of assaulting a girl by touching.

'Catalogue of abuse'

Evans' 12-year custodial sentence will be extended by two years on licence when he is released.

He has also been placed on the sex offenders' register for life and made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order to restrict his access to children when he is released.

Det Con Emily Bucklow, of Nottinghamshire Police, praised the victims' bravery and determination.

She said: "Evans is a predatory sex offender who was responsible for an appalling catalogue of abuse against two young children he appeared to believe he could manipulate and control.

"As this very strong sentence demonstrates, he couldn't have been more wrong."

Description

A man who made plans to travel across the country in order to rape two children has been jailed.

Martin Allaway, aged 47, of Nobes Avenue in Gosport, also downloaded more than 2,000 child abuse images, 166 of which were Category A – the most serious.

Allaway appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on 27 September 2023 where he admitted three counts of making indecent images of children, and one count of attempting to arrange/facilitate the commission of a child sex offence.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard on Friday 19 January this year that between January and May 2021, Allaway had been speaking to a woman online and detailed how he intended to travel to Sheffield in order to rape two children.

Allaway researched train times and ticket costs, and planned the date and time in which he would travel. He did not proceed with his plans, however, and subsequently withdrew from further communication with the woman.

The person Allaway had been speaking with was in fact a covert investigator from the Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Organised Crime Unit (YHROCU), and the ‘children’ that were discussed during their conversations did not in fact exist.

Following further investigation by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, Allaway was charged in August last year, and at the sentencing hearing he was jailed for 32 months. He was also ordered to sign on to the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

Description

A man from Kent has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to directing the sexual abuse of young children around the world.

Matthew Bower, aged 52, from Swanley, was identified by National Crime Agency officers after information was received by the FBI that a man from the UK had been paying for images of a young girl being sexually abused.

The victim, a 15 year old girl, spoke to police officers in the US in early August 2017 and told them she had been sexually abused by a female family member for a number of months. She stated that the abuse was photographed and the images were being sent to a man in the UK for various sums of money.

Officers from the FBI arrested the woman and she provided them with an email address, username and Paypal details of the man she had taken the photographs for.

This information was sent to officers at the NCA who were able to identify Bower.

He was arrested on the 22 August 2017 on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children and arranging & facilitating the commission of a child sex offence. Officers searched his house and a number of devices were seized.

Upon examination of the devices, chat logs were recovered which showed Bower using the username evo5_mat - telling the woman what he wanted her to do to the victim. In some of the chat, he says OK KINDA LIKE TO SEE BOTH OF U PICS, SO MAYBE WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW IS SHE FREE and then SENT U 80 SO EXPECT A LOT.

NCA investigators identified that she had sent Bower 308 images of herself with the victim, as well as two live-streamed videos between 2016 and 2017. Financial records showed that over a six year period, Bower had sent her approximately 6,000, the majority in return for the abuse material.

NCA officers also found additional chat logs and online conversations where Bower was actively encouraging others to sexually abuse young children.

They also identified a woman in Romania who had been abusing a child under the age of two, as directed by Bower. Information was shared with international law enforcement partners and the woman was arrested in August 2018. She was convicted in December 2019 of rape and child abuse offences and is currently serving more than eight years in prison.

Bower had also been contacting a number of children online via Skype, encouraging them to send him naked photos and perform sexual acts on camera. Two girls, aged 8 and 15, from the United States were identified as having been coerced by Bower into sending indecent images. Both have since been safeguarded by the US authorities.

He initially told officers he had been the victim of hacking, but in October 2023, pleaded guilty to 15 offences including causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and making over 1,700 indecent images of children, including category A images.

Jen Cruickshank, Senior Investigating Officer at the NCA, said:

Bower is clearly a dangerous individual who has a depraved sexual interest in children. For a significant period of time he actively sought people online both adults and children whom he could coerce into sending him abuse material for his sexual gratification.

Id like to pay tribute to the victims who bravely spoke about the abuse they had suffered. The initial victim report was the catalyst for this investigation and ultimately led to us being able to identify Bower and ensure further victims were safeguarded.

The NCA is dedicated to protecting children and disrupting the highest harm offenders wherever they are in the world. Collaboration with our international colleagues is imperative in achieving this.

Sentencing him at Croydon Crown Court today (25 January) HHJ Lowe gave Bower an extended sentence, saying he had no hesitation in concluding you are dangerous.

The offences Bower pleaded guilty to were committed between 2008 and 2017.

Description

A paedophile 'systematically' groomed a young girl for years. Dale Pendleton-Briers, 32, 'pretended it was just a game' when the abuse first started, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

The abuse was non-recent and involved a victim who Pendleton-Briers targeted from a young age. She 'knew what was happening was wrong and asked Pendleton Briers to stop repeatedly', but the abuse continued.

When the victim was a teenager, she accessed counselling due to her declining mental health and eventually challenged Pendleton-Briers.

Several years after, she reported the abuse to her family and the police, who launched an investigation. When Pendleton-Briers was interviewed, he denied the allegations and said his victim had made them up. He said she had told him she 'intended to ruin him.'

A review of his mobile phone by police revealed he'd searched for extreme pornography and the sexual abuse of children. Last September, Dale Pendleton-Briers, of Latham Road, Manchester, was charged with 28 offences of sexual abuse of a child; and possession of indecent images. He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual assault of a child under 13; one of assault by penetration of a child under 13; four counts of sexual assault; two of sexual assault by penetration; and one offence of possession of extreme pornography.

He was sentenced at Chester Crown Court on Thursday (January 25) to 12 years in prison. He was made the subject of an indefinite restraining order; an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order; barred from working with children; and ordered to sign the sex offender register for life.

DC Herminder Hira of Cheshire Constabulary said: “The victim was supported from the moment they made the call to us right through to the court process. As well as our specially trained officers, we have a network of support services which we can direct the victim to, to get professional help and advice.

“I hope seeing justice done today will help the victim with their ongoing journey to recovery. I would like to acknowledge the bravery they have shown and their belief in the Criminal Justice System. Trauma no matter how long ago is still very raw and the toll it takes should never be underestimated.

"I hope others are encouraged by this victim's bravery to come forward, no matter how long ago the abuse took place. It doesn't always have to end in a court case, just telling someone and being believed is a vital step for anyone who has suffered in this way."

Senior Crown Prosecutor Lydia Durkin, a specially trained lawyer in the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) unit of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: "Dale Pendleton Briers used his victim almost as some sort of experimental toy for him to do whatever he wanted with. What he systematically failed to acknowledge was that his victim was a human being who did not want any of this to happen.

"She has had many years of counselling that has helped her see this as the dreadful destruction of her youth. She gained the skills to end what was happening to her and finally told the police and he has been brought to justice for his crimes.

"The Crown Prosecution Service would like to thank her for her persistence and courage in supporting this prosecution. We hope all the efforts she is making to rebuild her life."

Description

A high school teacher is facing jail after sending a 15-year-old girl sexual Snapchat messages and seedy photos, and trying to entice her to go to a hotel with him.

James Connal, 31, a maths teacher at Larbert High School, Stirlingshire, groomed the girl while giving her private tuition at her home.
She was not a pupil at his own school, and he had been given her phone number so lesson times could be arranged.

A jury at Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that his contacts with the girl "started out innocently enough but within a couple of weeks had developed into something that was anything but innocent".

Connal began to text her throughout the day, including during school hours, telling her she was "pretty", that he "looked forward to seeing her", and then asked her to go away with him and stay in a hotel in Edinburgh with him.

He added her on Snapchat and sent her selfies of himself topless and with his hand down his trousers, messaged asking if she "wanted to see something hard", and texted to ask if he could put his hand down her top.

She said in evidence he had tried to kiss her on two occasions when he turned up for maths lessons, and he had also told her to delete some of the messages he had sent.

Connal tutored the girl, now 18, for about two months from the start of October 2021 to November 28th 2021, when her mother spotted on her daughter's phone some of what Connal had been sending, cancelled a lesson set for that day, and the police were called in.

The seedy pics showed some had been taken in his classroom at Larbert High School, and showed his "distinctive tattoos".

The court heard that because the Snapchat app only transmits new photos just taken, the "obvious conclusion" was that some of them had been sent "live" from the school.

Connal, of Hallglen, Falkirk, denied a charge of indecent communication and causing the girl to look at sexual images. He did not give evidence himself but entered a special defence of incrimination that suggested the photos and messages had been sent by another, unspecified, person.

Prosecutor Jamie Hilland told jurors: "Use your common sense. The ragingly clear conclusion is that they were sent by Mr Connal. I would suggest you should have little difficulty in rejecting the possibility that someone else had been sending them."

Referring to Connal's suggestion to the girl about going with him to an Edinburgh hotel, Mr Hilland said: "The implication of that is pretty clear."

After a two day trial, jurors took less than 15 minutes on Wednesday, January 24, to find Connal guilty. The decision was by majority. He was also found guilty of breaching the terms of an undertaking -- so-called police bail.

He showed no emotion when the verdicts were returned.

Peter Keene, defending, said: "The benchmark in this case might not be a jail sentence."

Sheriff Christopher Shead deferred sentence for reports until February 22nd, and continued bail.

He told Connal: "These are serious matters, and the court is duty-bound to consider all disposals, including custody."

Placing Connal on the sex offenders' register, he added that he "had been professional person", but that had been ended by the jury's verdicts.

Description

Steven Hicks, 60, was one of the healthcare professionals who had been providing care to a woman after she was released from hospital following a fall.

On 5 January 2022, wearing medical clothing and disguised with a surgical mask and thick-rimmed glasses, he made an unscheduled evening visit to the woman’s home in Earley, where he sexually assaulted her. 

Hicks denied the assault, but a jury found him guilty after the Crown Prosecution Service presented forensic and phone evidence linking him to the offence. 

Hicks’ DNA was found to match that found on the woman’s body and clothing, and phone location data disputed his claim he was at home that night, indicating he was more likely to have been near the woman’s address. 

This evidence was supported by a detailed account from the victim about what happened to her, and footage from her video doorbell confirming someone had come to her home that evening.

Hicks had accessed the woman’s clinical records several times while she was receiving out-of-hospital care, often when he was on annual leave and had no reason to check them. The woman had cancelled any further evening care on 4 January; however, Hicks visited her the next evening having checked her records again that day.

Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Shilpa Shah said: “This was a shocking crime carried out by someone in a trusted profession. Steven Hicks knew the victim was vulnerable and that no other carers were due to visit her that evening, and he used his position to gain access to her home to assault her, in her own bedroom. 

“Hicks denied the charges against him, but we were able to present evidence to the court clearly linking him to the assault. His DNA matched that found on the victim and her clothing, and his phone data placed him near her home at the time of the offence. He will now spend time in prison for his crime.”

Description

A PERVERT and voyeur has been jailed for a string of sexual offences. 

Ryan Mountford appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday, (January 23). 

The 30-year-old, of Rundlemead, Mathon, near Malvern, was sentenced for five sexual assaults; sexual assault of a child; sexual assault on a male and arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence. 

Additionally, Mountford was also sentenced for voyeurism; intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence; four offences of making indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child and three of distributing an indecent photograph / pseudo-photograph of a child. 

The offences were committed in Malvern, Ledbury and Ross-On-Wye between January 1, 2013 and January 27, 2023.

Mountford was given a total of 12 years in jail being told he would serve a minimum of two-thirds of the sentence in custody before referral to the parole board to decide if he could be released. 

Description

A rapist who went on the run before he was due to be sentenced has been jailed for 10 years.

Muarug Abraham Gebremcal, 34, vanished from a bail address in Plymouth after being convicted of rape at Exeter Crown Court in September 2023.

He had been living in Torquay when he targeted a woman leaving a nightclub before raping her in his bedsit in December 2021.

Judge Anna Richardson sentenced him in his absence to 10 years in jail.

She said he would face a further prosecution when he is found for breaching his bail conditions.

Gebremcal, originally from Eritrea, was released on bail after being convicted and had surrendered his passport.

The court heard Gebremcal targeted a woman who he saw leaving a Torquay nightclub on her own at about 03:30 GMT six days before Christmas in 2021.

The victim told the trial jury that Gebremcal befriended her as she sat on a wall trying to call her boyfriend after leaving the club, where she had become separated from other members of her party.

The jury heard Gebremcal posed as a Good Samaritan who was helping her get home safely, but instead guided her to his bedsit on Warren Road where he raped her.

She escaped and raised the alarm after seeking refuge at a neighbour's home.

'Vulnerable victim'

Gebremcal, who denied rape, told the jury the woman had not only consented but been an enthusiastic partner until she suddenly got up and left his house.

Sentencing, Judge Richardson said "significant" planning went into his attack.

"The victim was particularly vulnerable because of her intoxication and solitude," she said.

"There was significant pre-planning Gebremcal went to a club and waited to identify a lone vulnerable victim.

"He chose a route back to his home which avoided busy roads.

"The mitigation is extremely limited."

Devon and Cornwall Police said Gebremcal had family links to Plymouth, Birmingham and London, but could be anywhere in the UK.

Description

A sick sex offender who preyed on a young girl is now behind bars.

Anthony Fallows, 40, of Raglan Road in Burnley, was found guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a girl between the ages of 13 and 15 following a trial at Bradford Crown Court. It was said his offending took place in the Southowram area.

When he appeared in court on Thursday, January 18, he was handed a sentence of seven years and nine months.

Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Carly Hemingway of West Yorkshire Police’s Calderdale District Safeguarding said: “I’d like to thank the victim who has shown tremendous strength to come forward and report this. She feels that she has now got the justice she deserves.

“Our dedicated child protection team here in Calderdale is committed to investigating and supporting the victims of sexual offences and I hope the jailing of Fallows demonstrates that, no matter when the offence took place, victims will be believed and treated with sensitivity and dignity.”

Description

A teenager who tied up and 'bound' a boy on vile YouTube videos was caught out by a school after the headteacher recognised the victim as one of their pupils.

Romeo Smalley has been jailed after sexually assaulting the boy having posted two videos of him online while he was restrained, Manchester Evening News reports.

The 20-year-old's barrister tried to claim that it was a 'game that young people play', but Smalley, who was 18 at the time of the offence, admitted his actions were sexually motivated, at Manchester Crown Court.

The two videos lasted a little over six minutes and just over five minutes. In one the boy was tied up with tape and was seen trying to escape. Officers also found 'other videos of concern', which he was not prosecuted for.

Smalley can be heard asking viewers to 'like and subscribe' in one video. A judge said it was clear that he was 'sexually aroused' in one of the clips.

Prosecutor Peter Wilson said Smalley had an interest in 'restraint' and 'bondage'. The 20-year-old from Oldham said he was 'aroused by the thought of people being tied up', rather than being interested in children sexually.

The abuse happened after he gave the boy a mobile phone so they could message each other on Snapchat. In one video he said he would be paid money if he completed the 'activity'. The boy said he 'didn't like' being tied up.

The court heard how the boy was told not to tell his parents. Smalley was arrested and denied sexually assaulting him. He claimed it was the boy's idea to film the videos and that the child had suggested posting them on YouTube 'for a laugh'.The boy said Smalley 'never did anything funny'.

"What you did was very serious," Smalley was told by Judge Tom Gilbart. "You have taken advantage of a much younger person.

"You sexually assaulted him on two occasions. There was evidence of grooming and manipulation in what you did."

The boy's mother said the crime had affected him 'hugely'. "Romeo was devious in how he did this," she said. "He [the victim] thought it was him that had done something wrong." Defending, Howard Bernstein claimed it was part of a 'game'.

"This was a game that young people play," he said. He said Smalley's sexual motivation 'raised it from an innocuous game to a sexual offence'.

Mr Bernstein said Smalley, who has no previous convictions, has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and is 'lacking in maturity'. He said Smalley has been in custody for the past eight months.

"He has been bullied in prison, he is finding prison extremely difficult," he said. Smalley, of Longfellow Crescent, Oldham, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.

He was sentenced to three years and three months in prison, and ordered to sign the sex offender register for life.

Description

An Angus predator caught by a hunter group at Arbroath bus station as he waited to meet a schoolgirl from Glasgow has been placed on supervision.

Mark Falzon thought he had been grooming a 13-year-old but was actually being set up by the online paedophile hunters.

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Description

Previous name Jamie Waller.

Abigail Waller returned to the dock just three years after she was jailed for child sex offences under birth name Jamie. The 29-year-old, who now likes to be called 'Abi', breached court-imposed conditions by messaging three schoolgirls on Facebook - using her wife's phone.

Jurors heard that using a fake profile with photos of an 'attractive' young man, Waller told the 13 and 14 year old girls that they were 'so pretty' and 'really beautiful'. Waller, who now has long dark hair in a pony tail and wore a pink floral dress during his trial, tried to argue her wife of nine years Lucy Waller was behind the messages.

Now, the sex predator - formerly a disability care worker - has been jailed again, this time for three and a half years. In court, 'she' and 'her' pronouns were used by barristers and the judge when referring to Waller.

However, Mrs Waller - who appeared as a prosecution witness and gave evidence against her spouse - referred to Waller as 'Jamie', used the pronoun 'he', but also referred to her as: "Abi, as she is now". Waller, from Gosport, was jailed at Portsmouth Crown Court for

five years in 2020 after admitting a string of 'serious' child sex offences. The offences included blackmailing a 13 year old girl into sending Waller sexual photos of herself, and having the child call Waller 'sir' or 'daddy'. 

At court in 2020 Waller was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order [SHPO], banning any contact with children under 18 and the use of devices connected to the internet unless Waller informed police about them.

The following year, while in prison, the paedophile 'started identifying as a woman'. In May 2022, Waller was released from jail half-way through the sentence and was taken back by wife Mrs Waller at their home in Gosport. But within three months, Waller had started her 'grooming process' again.

At his trial, prosecutor Tim Dracass told jurors at the same court where Waller had been previously convicted that the paedophile breached the order in August 2022 by messaging three girls on Facebook, two of whom were 14 and one of whom was 13. Waller used his wife's second phone, a Samsung in a pink case, while she was out at work and used a Facebook profile under the name of Jake Smith, it was heard.

Waller told the girls 'you are really beautiful', said they were 'so pretty', sent a love heart emoji, and claimed to be aged 14. Waller was caught by police on August 4, 2022, when officers visited the house for a separate reason and discovered Waller hiding the Samsung in her lap.

Opening the three-day trial, Mr Dracass told jurors of Waller's gender change and that she was 'previously Jamie Kevin Harold Waller'. Mr Dracass said: "The defendant is Abigail Waller, that's how the defendant wishes to be known and currently identifies. She has been charged in that name. She was previously known by a different name, her birth name, Jamie Waller."

Giving evidence against Waller, Mrs Waller said: "I've decided to divorce [Waller]." She said her Samsung was a secondary phone which she mainly used as an alarm clock, but that it was connected to the internet and had Facebook on it.

The phone had three Facebook accounts linked to it - Lucy Waller, Jamie Waller, and Jake Smith. Mrs Waller said when she left for work at 7.30am on August 4 she left the phone upstairs - not on the sofa where it was found in Waller's lap. Mrs Waller told jurors: "I've never done anything with it [the Jake Smith profile]... I've never used it."

Defendant Waller gave evidence and was asked her name. She told jurors: "Jamie Kevin Harold Waller, but I prefer Abi. I started [identifying as a female] around 2021, the end of September 2021. I identify as a female. I'm waiting to [be seen by] a gender identity clinic."

Waller has been serving time at men's prisons - HMP The Verne on Isle of Portland, Dorset, and HMP Winchester. Giving evidence, Waller claimed she 'didn't send messages' to the young girls, 'didn't recognise them', and suggested her wife was behind a plot to frame her to 'set me up'.

Waller said: "The only person who I know had access to [the phone] was my wife, Lucy. We were arguing quite a lot, there were difficulties. As far as I was aware, we were still together. I believe [Mrs Waller sent the messages] to maybe get me in trouble, to get me put back in."

Waller added: "She knows that I have been in trouble for it before in the past. I believe she was actually in another relationship with another, current boyfriend that she is with at this time and she wanted me out of the way without telling me."

Waller also claimed she is no longer aroused by children. "I had a sexual interest in young girls, not anymore", she said. "I've done offending behaviour courses whilst I was inside."

Waller was convicted by a jury of four counts of breaching a SHPO. Mr Dracass said: "This was the start of something that could have resembled the circumstances of the previous conviction. Had the police not intercepted this phone when they did so, the crown submits it may well have been that there was a risk that serious harm could have taken place."

At the sentencing hearing, Ellie Fargin, defending, asked the judge to consider how Waller will cope in prison as an inmate who identifies as female. She said: "We ask you to bear in mind the conditions in prison and the issues Ms Waller will face in prison due to her ADHD and autism and because of her gender identity matter which she is awaiting treatment for."

Judge Michael Bowes KC jailed Waller for three and a half years, saying that her messages were a 'pre-cursor to what Waller had in mind'. Sentencing Waller, Judge Bowes KC said: "You have a serious record for offences involving children. "Looking at your previous convictions... There is a very unpleasant background of seeking to blackmail children."

Judge Bowes KC highlighted the fact Waller re-offended three months after being released from prison. He continued: "The messages themselves would appear to be fairly innocuous, but I am satisfied they were part of a grooming process.

"[The messages] were to gain their trust, with a view to take matters further and that's part of the gravity of these offences. At your trial, you denied matters, seeking to blame your wife, but the jury convicted you."

Description

A paedophile who carried out rapes against young girls and women over a period of nearly four decades has been locked up for more than 20 years. Brian Guest, aged 65 from Walsall, carried out his offending over a span of 37 years.

He was finally brought to justice after a complaint was made against him in October 2022. Several victims bravely came forward and reported him for rape and sexual assaults, which took place in a number of different settings.

An investigation was carried out by West Midlands Police and Guest was arrested, charged and went on trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court. There, he was found guilty of rape, sexual assault and indecent assault against his victims, which included children, in June last year.

On Tuesday, January 23, at Stafford Crown Court, Guest was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Det Sgt Nadia Cooper, from West Midlands Police's investigations team, said: "This was an appalling sequence of abuse in which Brian Guest abused his victims.

"Thanks to their bravery, we were able to build a case to bring him to justice and hopefully grant them some measure of closure. We would urge anyone who knows or thinks they were a victim of sexual abuse in the past to contact us and tell us your story.

"In doing so you could secure justice for yourself and others, as well as potentially protecting current or future victims."