Latest Offenders

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."

Description

A creepy passenger who stared at a woman and her children while fondling himself on the bus to Cullompton has been sent to prison - a year after being convicted of an almost identical offence. Nikolay Nikolov was on his way home from some unpaid work ordered by the court when he sat himself close to a family on the top deck.

The 23-year-old Bulgarian was soon staring at the woman's breasts before shifting his perverted gaze to her three-year-old daughter. The woman told him to stop and moved seats but Nikolov followed them and carried on acting strangely.

The children told the woman that the man had exposed himself and CCTV later revealed he spent much of the journey between Exeter and Cullompton rubbing his crotch and masturbating.

Nikolov admitted outraging public decency when he appeared at court. The offence also put him breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed by the courts in 2022 for touching himself while staring at teenage girls on a bus.

Nikolov, of Fore Street, Cullompton, has now been jailed for 16 months. The judge said he had not learned his lesson from his previous sentence and was still a risk to the public.

The offence happened in September after Nikolov had completed a session of unpaid work and boarded at Exeter Bus Station. The woman, two children aged three and seven and her 13-year-old nephew, were upstairs on the back seat.

Nikolov sat in the row in front of them - ignoring many empty seats, said prosecutor Ms Hollie Gilbery. He started staring at the woman, trying to look down her top, and at the younger child. When she told him to stop he said he was sorry but 30 seconds was at it again.

The woman moved with the children to a different part of the bus but Nikolov crossed the aisle to get closer. He resumed his staring at the child and the woman went downstairs to tell the driver.

While she did that the older children noticed his exposed penis. CCTV revealed he had been fondling for a significant proportion of the journey. The woman called police who recognised the description and arrested him at his home.

He initially told police he had been masturbating on the bus but denied he was aroused by the other passengers.

Nikolov was banned from sitting next to females on public transport at the time because of his previous behaviour. He has breached his SHPO twice before and been punished with more unpaid work.

Mr Brian Fitzherbert said he had not been able to complete rehabilitation work with probation previously because of his lack of English. But he said his English language skills were not much improved. He is sorry for his behaviour and wants to stop.

Judge David Evans said Nikolov was not a good prospect for rehabilitation at the moment and his risk could not be managed in the community. The defendant will serve half of his sentence in prison and be subject to a SHPO for seven years.

The order bans him from following and sitting next to females on public transport.

Description

A stalker sexually assaulted a woman in a hostel by groping her breast after he had repeatedly sent sexually explicit messages to her over a number of days. He later claimed he had no memory of the assault as he had taken £50 worth of cocaine and drunk 20 pints.

Clinton Davies, 55, carried out the assault against his victim at the hostel in Cardiff when he called her into his room on the pretense that he needed her help. Once she did so, he unzipped her hoodie and groped her breast over clothing.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday heard the victim had told the defendant she didn't want this to happen and wanted to leave. There was a knock at the door from a concerned man, but Davies told him "Go away, I'm busy".

Fortunately, the man entered the room and the victim was able to escape. The witness described the defendant breathing heavily, the belt on his trousers was undone and there was a sealed condom packet on the table. Davies turned to the man and said "This is going to cause trouble". When he was asked what he had done, he changed the subject.

Prosecutor Harry Baker said the defendant had got hold of her number and had been incessantly contacting her for days through calls, texts and voicemails. She had told him to stop contacting her but he carried on and left crude and sexually explicit messages. On one occasion he called her 20 times in one day.

The victim said she was worried he was going to persist in contacting her. She added: "Since the incident, it has left me distressed, upset, has affected my mental health and has left me feeling suicidal... I'm scared when I hear people knocking at my door, I'm on edge and I suffer from panic attacks."

Davies, originally from South Africa, was arrested and interviewed, claiming he had not touched the victim but had little recollection of the incident because he was under the influence of cocaine and alcohol. He later pleaded guilty to sexual assault and stalking. The court heard he had previous convictions for exposing himself in the USA and repeated offences of harassment. He is in breach of a suspended sentence.

In mitigation, Andrew Davies said his client had not touched the victim's naked breast, and he does not remember doing it. He said the defendant had previously done work in the community, and had carried out work in food banks.

Recorder Caroline Rees KC sentenced Davies to a total of 32 weeks imprisonment. She also made him subject to a restraining order for five years and sex offender notification requirements for seven years.

Description

Aiden Rollin had been "extremely sexually preoccupied" and forced himself on young girls to "quell and satisfy" his desires.

Rollin, from Beccles Road, Bradwell, near Great Yarmouth, appeared at Norwich Crown Court for sentencing having been convicted of nine sexual offences against four young victims between September 2017 and March 2020.

The court heard in an attack against one of the victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, he "covered her mouth and nose" with his hand before raping her and then attempting to sexually assault her.

Before Rollin was jailed for nine years on Friday, the court heard statements from three of his victims, one of whom described Rollin as a "monster" and a "demon" and hoped he "rotted in jail".

The victim, who was 15 at the time, said he had "destroyed", manipulated and broke me".

She said what Rollin did to her made her feel as if "I wanted to tear every single bit of skin off and tear my eyes out.

"I wanted to rip my heart out so I couldn't feel the pain.

She said: "Now you're going down for it because you're a monster."

The victim said he "became my demon", was everything she feared but now hoped he "rotted in jail".

Another victim, who was raped in August 2019, said she felt "haunted for life" by what Rollin had done to her and just wanted the nightmares and flashbacks to end.

Before jailing Rollin, Judge Andrew Shaw said it was "difficult to express how sad it was to read the impact of your behaviour on such young women".

Marc Brown, representing Rollin, said the defendant was "very young" when some of the offending occurred.

Mr Brown said Rollin was "still a young man" and an "immature man" who committed "the bulk of the offending" before he turned 18

Rollin was made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and also put on the sex offenders register for life.

Description

A man who used a young girl for his own sexual gratification, repeatedly raping her, remains in denial despite being convicted at trial recently.

Jamie Michael Shields was today (Monday, January 22) sentenced to a term of 18 years’ imprisonment for what a judge described as, “a multiplicity” of, “extremely serious offending.”

The 28-year-old defendant was initially charged with three counts of rape, offences he denied at a plea hearing at Durham Crown Court, last March.

A trial in the case was fixed for October, but a further two rape offences were added to the charge sheet and the trial was put back to December.

Following a three-day hearing, in the week before Christmas, Shields, of South View, Evenwood, was convicted on all five counts and remanded in custody pending sentence.

Claire Anderson, prosecuting, read an impact statement to the sentencing hearing provided for the court by the victim’s mother.

She said her daughter found the whole ordeal traumatic, causing her mental health difficulties, for which she has sought help from a specialist agency.

It has led to her daughter being in “a low mood”, missing a lot of schooling and becoming “increasingly distressed”, leading to behavioural issues.

She is now said to also have trust issues with men.

The court heard it had left her mother feeling as if the life of her once “happy little girl” was “in ruins”.

Miss Anderson said the defendant has four convictions for four offences, but all were of a dissimilar nature.

She added that an aggravating feature of the offences was Shields having told the victim not to say anything about his actions or she would get into trouble.

Derek Duffy, representing Shields, told the court: ”There’s very little that can be said on his behalf.

“He does not accept that this has taken place.”

Judge James Adkin told Shields: “You were convicted on abundant evidence of a number of offences.

“You used her (the victim) for your own sexual gratification.”

Judge Adkin said there has been some “significant impact” on the “vulnerable victim”.

He told Shields: “There was a multiplicity of offences all aggravating the criminality.

“It’s extremely serious offending.”

Imposing the 18-year sentence Judge Adkin told the defendant he must serve at least two-thirds before he will be eligible for release on parole.

He made Shields subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and registration as a sex offender, both to run for life.

A restraining order also prohibits him from contacting or approaching the victim, also for life.