Latest Offenders

Description

An "abusive and possessive" sexual predator is a "significant danger" to women everywhere, a court ruled.

Martin Marko, 35, subjected the terrified woman to three hours of horrific abuse after imprisoning her in his Seaforth Road flat in the early hours of August 15 last year. He threatened to kill her, forced her to strip, sexually assaulted her, brandished a kitchen knife in her face and beat her with a shoe. He also choked her, punched her, and threw a bowl full of urine at her.

The prolonged attack was caught on CCTV, in which the woman could be seen cowering and falling to her knees with her hands in a praying position. On two occasions she attempted to escape by climbing out of the first-storey window before returning to the locked flat, where Marko continued to abuse her.

Afterwards, he sent a slew of texts to the woman both apologising and threatening her as he tried to convince her to take back her report. He urged police officers to check the CCTV footage - in which his horrific crimes could clearly be seen.

He appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, March 18, where he pleaded guilty to sexual assault, assault causing actual bodily harm, and making threats to kill.

Judge David Aubrey said: "Your victim was petrified and in fear to the extent she even contemplated escaping from your violence, from your threats, through a window of the flat, which I'm told was a first floor flat.

"In my judgement, you are an abusive and possessive person. You are demanding. You were treating your victim as a chattel, as an object. You were abusive to her. You degraded her.

"This case has been fully opened and if this sentence were ever to be reviewed elsewhere, then in my judgement it's absolutely essential that the footage is examined.

"You have a number of issues, but important in respect of these issues is how you treat women, and how you treated this particular victim. On this particular evening, over a protracted period of time, you were demeaning her, you were controlling her, you used violence. You had a knife in your hand on a number of occasions. You were brandishing that knife towards her face. You were threatening her with it. You were being abusive. You were gesturing towards her in a stabbing motion. On one occasion, you threatened to kill her.

"There she was in fear of you over a considerable period of time. She backed away. She was seen cowering in a corner. You threw a potty of urine over her. You hit her. You slapped her with a shoe. I have also had the opportunity of examining the injuries she received. And there came occasions when I have no doubt you were instructing her either to remove her top or her lower garments.

"In the aftermath you sent to her numerous texts, no less than 43, some of which were of a menacing nature, some of which may have been conciliatory. But your intention was to ensure that she didn't speak to the police. Fortunately, while you may be a coward, your victim is a courageous woman. She did make a statement to police. She didn't retract that statement, notwithstanding the pressure she was under from you.

"And then there was much victim blaming and much seeking to minimise that which you did. I return to that footage, which ironically came to this court because you had insisted on it being produced.

"The court accepts that you now show some remorse, but that remorse must be assessed against that which you said to the probation officer in seeking to blame your victim and minimise your culpability in what occurred under the influence of drink and/or drugs.

"There was much degradation. There was much humiliation. In my judgement, these offences occurred over a sustained period to time. There was violence. There were threats of violence. And your victim was particularly vulnerable.

"Your issues are deep rooted. Almost within your DNA is the domination and controlling of women. And so it's notwithstanding you're not highly convicted, and notwithstanding you have never come before the court for offences as serious as this. Everything I have seen from that footage, this court does find that you represent a significant risk of harm to the public, and in particular women."

He sentenced Marko, of Seaforth Road, Seaforth, to a 12-year extended sentence, ordering him to serve nine years in custody and an extended three years on licence. He also made a restraining order banning him from contacting the woman.

Description

A Worthing man who groomed two children on social media and engaged in sexual activity with one of them has been jailed.

Jack Laingchild, 36, of Pond Lane in Worthing, began communicating with two girls – aged 14 and 15 at the time – via social media in the summer of 2018.

Laingchild sent sexualised messages and pictures of his genitals, before meeting both of the girls on multiple occasions, giving them cannabis before engaging in sexual activity in his car.

Both girls reported the incidents to their parents, who informed the police, and an investigation was launched while both children were safeguarded.

Laingchild was identified as a suspect and subsequently arrested.

At Lewes Crown Court on 17 January, 2024, he was found guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a child and two counts of engaging in sexual communications with children. A charge of rape was ordered to lie on file.

At the same court on 8 March, Laingchild was jailed for four years, ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register and was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order significantly reducing his access to and ability to harm children.

Detective Constable Katie Brixey said: “Jack Laingchild showed a calculated plan to groom his victims, isolate them with the offer of illegal drugs and exploit them for his own sexual gratification.

“Thankfully they had the courage and foresight to report his offending to their parents, who in turn came to the police so they could be safeguarded and Laingchild brought to justice.

“He now faces a period behind bars and is subject to orders designed to stop him causing further harm to young people.”

Description

A 46-year-old man sexually assaulted a lone woman at a London Underground station and spat at a police officer. The incident happened on May 24 last year at Seven Sisters Tube station as Nathan Gordon, of Wightman Road, Hornsey, was later caught lying down on a bench in the same station after the attack.

Immediately after the incident, he was reported to a member of station staff who challenged him before he left the station. Later the same day officers were alerted to the suspect lying on a bench at the station, who was identified by staff as the same man.

Officers recognised Gordon from an incident back in March 2023 when he was arrested for a separate offence and spat at an officer while in custody.

Investigating officer DC Stephen Allen said: “Gordon’s blatant intimidation and harassment of this woman was both unnerving and sickening. Thanks to her bravery for reporting the incident immediately, despite being understandably upset, meant that officers were able to attend the location and identify and arrest Gordon within hours of the offence.

“He’s now been issued with a SHPO which will go some way to protecting women on the rail network once he is released from jail.

“We will stop at nothing to deter, pursue, arrest and bring sex offenders on the railway network to justice. Every report is important. We urge everyone to save 61016 to their phones and download the Railway Guardian before you travel so you can discreetly get in touch with us if you need us.”

Nathan Gordon pleaded guilty to sexual assault and assault of an emergency worker and was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on Monday 11 March.

He was also handed a seven year Sexual Harm Prevention Order which prevents him from approaching, touching or making any attempt to communicate with any lone female traveling on the railway network.

He must also leave any station immediately after leaving a train or make his way directly to the next available connecting service.

Description

A man who raped and strangled a woman in an alleyway behind a row of shops in Barking has been jailed. Daniel Jordan, 28, was identified using DNA and was revealed to be a known offender.

Jordan had carried out the violent and sustained attack in Barking in October 2022, and, since then, the woman has received support from a team specialising in investigating sexual offences. The woman who was attacked called police to say she had been raped and that her attacker had fled the scene.

Police immediately responded and set into motion the appropriate steps to look after the victim survivor, and gather vital evidence.

She told officers how a man had approached her and quickly began a physically and sexually violent assault in an alleyway behind a parade of shops on Longbridge Road. She described how, at one point, he had strangled her so she fell in and out of consciousness.

Detective Sergeant Charlie Yexley, who works in Met Police's east London office investigating sexual offences, said: “This was a horrendous attack and I have the utmost respect for the victim survivor, as she has worked to come to terms with the extreme violence she was subjected to.

“She has demonstrated grace and tenacity through this trial and I hope it brings some comfort that a jury unequivocally saw this man for what he is.”

Officers swiftly arrested him at his home seven days after the attack. He was charged and remanded the next day.

Jordan was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on March 15 to ten years’ imprisonment with an extended license period of five years, and a 30-month sentence for both the non-fatal strangulation and assault.

He will serve both sentences concurrently and will also be on the sex offenders' reregister for life. The woman has received support from a team specialising in investigating sexual offences.

Description

A sexual predator has been convicted of raping and sexually assaulting two males and a female under the age of 18 more than 20 years ago. He was brought to justice after one of his victims reported the abuse to police in 2019.

John Webb, 70, was arrested at his home in Neath after an investigation was launched by the force. A further two victims were also identified and provided statements. All three victims were under the age of 18 at the time of the abuse, which took place in Cardiff in the 1990s.

The defendant faced trial at Cardiff Crown Court last year and was convicted of 21 charges including three counts of rape, five indecent assaults, and seven counts of indecent assault on a male. He was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment, at the same court, on March 8.

Following the hearing, detective constable Jenna Hargraves, of South Wales Police, said: "Webb’s actions have taken a massive emotional toll on all three victims. For one of them, their life headed towards criminality because they struggled to cope with what had happened. Another victim described Webb as a violent man. But thanks to their bravery and a thorough investigation, he has been brought to justice.

"South Wales Police takes all reports of sexual violence extremely seriously and it is never too late to report a crime. Help and support is available for all victims of sexual violence, and we would encourage any victims; no matter how long ago the offence happened, to please come forward. If anyone has any more information about this or similar matters, and they have not yet spoken to police, please come forward."

Description

Brett Sitch, aged 52, was convicted of 12 charges following a lengthy investigation led by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary’s specialist Operation Amberstone team.

The charges are as follows:

• 10 counts of indecent assault on a boy under the age of 16
• 2 counts of inciting a boy under the age of 14 to commit an act of gross indecency

The Amberstone investigation began on 9 January 2020 when one of the victims – now an adult man – bravely contacted police to disclose that he had been abused by Sitch once or twice a week over a period of two years at an address in Gosport.

Through subsequent enquiries, police spoke with other men who were believed to have been abused by Sitch as children. Some reported that when they were children, Sitch had encouraged them to carry out sexual acts upon him, and to play ‘dares’ which involved them having to commit indecent acts on the other boys.

Sitch, of Hammond Road in Fareham, denied all of the abuse, and the case went to trial on Monday 20 November 2023 at Portsmouth Crown Court. Sitch was found guilty of 12 offences on Friday 7 December. Appearing at the same court for sentencing today (Friday 22 March), he was jailed for 30 years.

DC Sam Couchman, from Operation Amberstone, said: “What these children, now grown men, experienced at such a young age was appalling. The bravery shown by the victims in this case has been commendable. I want to praise them for the courage they have shown through the investigation, and for talking to Police about what had happened to them to help bring Sitch to justice. Sitch completely took advantage of these children, using the façade of dares to mask his abuse and normalise his disturbing sexual behaviour.

Description

A sex offender who committed 'abhorrent' crimes against a child has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

Scott Grineau, aged 38, of Pegasus Close in Thatcham, was found guilty by a unanimous jury verdict of five counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity following a trial at Oxford Crown Court, which concluded on Friday (March 15).

He was acquitted of a further count of sexual activity with a child.

Grineau was jailed for a total of seven years with 12 years on licence.

He will also be on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

The offending took place in Witney over one night in September 2021 and the offences were reported to the force on September 15 that year.

Grineau was arrested on September 16 2021 and was charged via a postal requisition on December 23 2022.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Samantha Hunter of the Child Abuse Investigation Unit said: Scott Grineau has now been held to account for some abhorrent offences against a child.

I would like to place on record my praise for the victim in this case for having the courage to support the investigation to ensure that Grineau is sent to prison where he belongs.

We will always investigate offences of this nature and seek to bring offenders to justice.

Description

Following an investigation by Thames Valley Police, a man has been jailed for two years and ten months after he was convicted of child sex offences in Burford.

Stephen Painter, aged 67, of Frethern Close, Burford, pleaded guilty to a count each of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to meet a girl under 16 following grooming and attempting to breach a sexual harm prevention order, following a hearing at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on 19 March.

Appearing at Oxford Crown Court on the same day, Painter was jailed.

Between 3 and 25 February this year, Painter communicated in a sexual manner with a person he believed was a 14-year-old girl and was making arrangements to meet with her.

He was, in fact, talking to an adult member of the public, who gathered evidence, confronted him at his home address, and contacted police.

Painter was arrested on 25 February and charged the following day.

Detective Sergeant Mark Personius of Cherwell & West Oxfordshire CID, said: “Painter was already a registered sex offender, having previously been convicted of a similar offence.

“I am happy that this matter has been resolved so quickly and that Painter has been sent to prison.

“He poses a significant risk to children, and I hope that the community feels safer now that Painter is behind bars where he belongs.”

Description

A former Lincolnshire scout leader was today (Friday) jailed for 14 years after he was found guilty of sex offences against a boy more than three decades ago.

John Pycock, 83, had denied sexually abusing the boy in the late 1980s and early 1990s while he was a scout leader in Billinghay and then Fiskerton.

But a jury at Lincoln Crown Court convicted him of indecency with a child, two counts of indecent assault and two other serious sexual offences.

Sentence was adjourned on Tuesday for an impact statement to be taken from the victim who is now an adult and can not be named to protect his anonymity.

Pycock was today jailed for 14 years by Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight who heard evidence from the victim during the seven day trial. His licence period was also extended by a year.

It will be the third prison term served by Pycock. He was previously jailed for six years in November 2020 after admitting three charges involving sex offences against a young girl.

Pycock, formerly of Winn Street, Lincoln, was also previously jailed for 51 months in June 2014 when he admitted five sex offences against young boys.

At the time, the court heard that he invited the boys to his house and abused them while his wife was working night shifts as a nurse.

However, he had been released from that sentence by the time the 2020 offences came to light.

Pycock, who hung his head but showed little reaction when the jury returned their guilty verdicts on Tuesday, will also have to register as a Sex Offender for the rest of his life.

Defence barrister Jon Dee argued Pycock's previous jail term in 2014 should be taken into consideration in deciding the length of his current sentence as it occurred on boys in the same period as his most recent conviction.

Mr Dee accepted the same circumstances did not apply to Pycock's 2020 conviction.

The court heard Pycock was in poor health and now faced the prospect of never leaving prison.

Description

A Plymouth man has been jailed for internet-based child sex offences and the sexual assault of a young girl.

Stephen Humphries, 58, from Pendeen Close in Plymouth, was sentenced to an eight year custodial term with a further two years to be served on extended licence at Plymouth Crown Court on Thursday 21 March.

He had pleading guilty to attempting to arrange/facilitate the commission of a child sex offence, making indecent photographs of children, distributing indecent photographs of children, taking indecent photographs, sexual assault of a child and possession of extreme pornography. He was also made subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

The court heard how Humphries had been engaging with someone online since 4 October 2023, who he believed would enable him to commit an online child sexual offence. However, what Humphries didnt know was that individual was actually an investigating officer.

Humphries home was raided at 12.10pm on Saturday 14 October and inside the defendant was found with evidence open on his phone suggesting he was preparing to commit the act.

A large number of devices were seized from inside the property and later found to contain thousands of indecent images and videos of children spanning all three categories. There was also evidence that Humphries had shared some of the indecent images with others.

Humphries was also sentenced for sexual assaulting a girl aged under 16 in Plymouth.

Following the sentencing, officer in the case DC Sophie House said: This was a complex police investigation which incorporated work from both the Devon and Cornwall Police Paedophile Online Investigation Team and the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit (NEROCU).

We welcome todays sentence and hope this conviction serves as a stark warning to those with an unlawfully blurred view of consent and the wider implications of the sexual abuse of children. This was a collaborative effort involving officers from the NEROCU, Devon and Cornwall Paedophile Online Investigation Team, the Force Support Group, and the Data Forensic Unit.

I would also like to thank the victim in this case for her bravery and courage in coming forward. Its not an easy thing to disclose something very personal to you, particularly when it relates to sexual offences. I hope this investigation highlights that the police take sexual allegations seriously, you will be believed, and we will support you as much as we can.

Description

A drug addict who used to spend 200 a day on cocaine looked at sexual images of children.

Ryan Parker, 39, of Whalley Road, Blackburn, said that his offence of looking at indecent images of children was "one million per cent" down to his alcohol and drug addiction.

Burnley Crown Court heard that on March 29 last year, Lancashire Police attended Parker's home address as they had evidence he had been looking at child pornography.

Prosecutor Stephen Parker told the court that the defendant had allowed the police into the address, and admitted to looking at the images under the influence of drugs.

When the police searched the house, they found empty snap bags believed to have contained drugs.

Parker handed over his laptop, mobile phone, and passwords to the devices including to the iCloud database.

The court heard that when the police investigated the devices, they found 506 images of children aged between five to 12 years old were viewed by Parker over a period of three years.

In mitigation, Shirlie Duckworth told the court that Parker had gone on to attend rehabilitation services for drug addiction and child pornography before he had been charged with the offence, a rare occurrence for the courts.

She said: "He is a man of previous good character in his late 30s with a lack of convictions.

"He has accepted and shown remorse for his offences, and there are many people who appear before this court who do not accept their crimes until they are forced to by the justice system."

Parker pleaded guilty to three counts of possession of indecent photographs of children.

Judge Daniel Prowse sentenced Parker to 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, ordered him to take 25 days rehabilitation and 150 hours unpaid work.

He said: "You had 296 of some of the most serious images for this offence.

"You admitted at the scene and provided the police with the devices and passwords you used to look at these images.

"You also engaged with members in groups such as Twitter, Gmail and Kick who then shared these images to you.

"I have read your psychiatric report and I believe you are genuinely remorseful and have taken steps to see why you accessed these images.

"I accept you were on drugs at the time of the offending, and believe your rehabilitation with the Probation Service will work better out of immediate custody.

"But if you do commit any offence again, you will immediately go to jail and you will only have yourself to blame."

Parker was also placed on the sex offender's register for 10 years and handed a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

Description

A rapist who sent a text message to his victim after the crime to say he was sorry has been jailed for ten years.

Jordan Doughty, 33, texted, sorry about that mate, shortly after raping the woman at his then home in Woolpack Lane, Whittlesey, during the early hours of 26 January, 2020.

Doughty had taken the victim there after they left a bar in Peterborough at about 1.30am.

Shortly after arriving, the victim fell asleep on a sofa, but awoke to find Doughty lying next to her, forcefully groping her.

She immediately pushed his hand away and told him to stop, however, Doughty ignored her and continued to sexually assault her.

The victim, who was frozen with fear, was then raped by Doughty and when the ordeal stopped, he got off from the sofa and said, come on, sort yourself out.

The distraught victim collected her belongings and ran to her car, which had been parked nearby.

While sat inside, she called a friend to say what had happened, but as she was so upset, she couldnt talk for long.

The victim drove home and at about 5am, she received the apology text from Doughty.

She contacted a friend who immediately came to her aid and the police were called.

The victim told officers it was not the first time Doughty had raped her, with another offence three years previous. Officers arrested him at his home a few hours later.

Following a trial last year, Doughty, of Farm Road, Boston, was found guilty of two counts of rape and assault by penetration.

On Thursday (21 March), at Cambridge Crown Court, Doughty was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Description

A great-grandad drove for two hours to Leeds to meet what he thought was a 13-year-old girl, but was confronted by a paedophile hunter group.

Pervert pensioner Malcolm Allwood spent months grooming the "girl" online, telling her he wanted to take her to his caravan and back to his home.

The 77-year-old then drove from his home in Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire to meet the youngster at McDonald's in Hunslet, where he was intercepted by members of the Yorkshire Predator Hunters, who had set up the decoy profile of the girl. They then livestreamed the confrontation.

He appeared at Leeds Crown Court this week where he admitted attempting to meet a child following grooming, and attempting to engage a child in sexual communication. Prosecuting the case, Emily Hassell said that Allwood contacted the fake profile online in December 2022, with the supposed girl telling him she was just 13.

He told her that he "loved her photo" and asked if she was single. Over the months he bombarded her with messages and would tell her that that she was "gorgeous". He sent photos of himself with his top off and asked her for photos.

He would repeatedly ask her what she was wearing in bed and quizzed her about sex education she had in school. He said he would massage her and take her away in his caravan or take her abroad. Then in April 2023 he suggested they meet for food, and that she should stay at his address. On April 21 last year he travelled the 85 miles from his home on Calais Road, Burton-on-Trent, to meet her at the McDonald's. Having been detained by the hunter group, he was then arrested but gave a no-comment interview to officers.

Mitigating, Stuart Field said that Allwood has no previous convictions and pleaded guilty at an early opportunity. He said: "He is not able to explain how this all arose. Thankfully, it was not a 13-year-old girl."

Judge Tahir Khan KC gave him a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months. He also gave him 40 rehabilitation days, put him on the sex offender register for 10 years and handed him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use.

Description

A FORMER school bus driver in Witney has been jailed after raping a 14-year-old girl and encouraging a 13-year-old girl to send him naked photographs.

Peter Gibbs, 60, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court of three counts of historic child sex abuse which happened in the early 2000s – two counts of indecent assault and one count of rape – after being found guilty at trial.

Over two decades later, Gibbs, pleaded guilty to one count each of sexual communication with a child and making indecent images of a child after six naked photographs were found of the teen on his device in 2022.

Sentencing Gibbs, of Briary Lane, Carterton, to eight years and seven months imprisonment, Judge Michael Gledhill said: “You ought to be thoroughly disgusted with yourself.”

During the sentencing, it was heard that the historic counts were first reported to police in August 2001 after the victim made a report, telling her GP she had been raped.

It was heard the assaults had happened in his car as well as on a bus where he worked as a driver.

However, the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed the case.

Gibbs was not charged at the time but was arrested again in February 2021 when a school reported that Gibbs, who was the authority’s bus driver at the time, had been messaging a 15-year-old student.

In May 2022, Gibbs pleaded guilty to the counts relating to that incident and the victim in the latest trial, who is now an adult, was contacted again by police and the case was reopened.

A victim impact statement written by the woman and teen were read out in court.

The first wrote: “Peter Gibbs ruined my life. After it happened, I couldn’t go back to school. I was extremely embarrassed. I felt my parents were disappointed in me.

“What he did to me affects me on a day-to-day basis.”

The teen wrote: “He was a person employed to keep children safe yet he made as a child feel unsafe.

“I feel like I can’t enjoy myself like my friends do because of what he has done to me.”

Defending Gibbs, his barrister explained that the defendant has not been ‘eating, drinking or taking medication’ in custody and has been placed on ‘a particular watch’.

He said: “He is very, very sorry for what he’s done and he’s remorseful for his actions.

"The man has fully, completely and totally come to his senses and has expressed his great sorrow and shame to his partner.”

Description

A convicted sex offender has been jailed again after he was found using his phone to send explicit messages to a child.

Former East Malling resident, David Knight, used social media apps to befriend the young boy and made repeated attempts to meet the victim on his own. 

Knight, 46, was previously sentenced in 2005 to more than six years’ imprisonment, for offences relating to the sexual abuse of children.

He was convicted under his former name of David Thomas and added to the sex offenders register, for life.

Name change

Upon his release from prison, he changed his name to David Knight and became the subject of new allegations made to Kent Police in August 2022.

An investigation established Knight had been communicating with a child by using internet platforms including TikTok.

Posting under the profile name of FireKnight2017, he sent several inappropriate and explicit messages, and expressed a desire to be with the child on their own.

Knight was arrested on 16 August. A police analysis of his phone found searches on the internet including ‘nude junior archives’ and ‘kids’ nudists chase game’.

Sentenced

He was charged with attempting to meet a child following grooming and with failing to comply with a notification requirement (relating to the sex offenders register).

Knight pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court, where a further offence of engaging in sexual communication with a child was ordered to lie on file.

On Tuesday 19 March 2024, Knight, of no fixed address, was jailed for four years and one month. He will have to serve two thirds of the sentence before he can apply for parole.

Upon his release from prison, Knight will be the subject of an additional licence period of three years, as well as a sexual harm prevention order and restraining order, both for 10 years.