Latest Offenders

Description

A prison officer sexually assaulted a young woman and used fake profiles to abuse her online. Christopher Gould, who worked at HMP Parc in Bridgend, tried to "control, dominate, and sexually abuse" the teenage victim, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

The 45-year-old from Maesteg used a range of fake social media accounts to "befriend" the victim and her friends. Gould was then able to monitor her whereabouts and whom she was with. On one occasion he pretended to be a disgruntled customer at her place of work and used a pseudonym to email a malicious complaint to her employer, which caused her to be fired from her job.

The sexual assault happened following a night out when the victim was feeling "upset and paranoid, thinking she was being stalked" because of the relentless online campaign against her. The person she turned to in her distress was Gould whom she believed to be a caring and trustworthy adult but was in fact the architect of that campaign. After giving her a lift home he sexually assaulted her.

In her personal statement, read out in court, the victim said: “He tried to destroy me and my life. It led to me having a deep mistrust of others – something I worry will take a long time to overcome. I felt sick, I couldn't eat, I would hyperventilate, and went into a downward spiral. It has left me constantly looking over my shoulder for danger... I want Chris to know he loses his power over me. I refuse to allow his twisted, abusive, and controlling behaviours to dictate my future."

Gould, of Cwrt Coed Parc, pleaded guilty to controlling, coercive behaviour and malicious communications. He denied sexual assault but a jury found him guilty. He had no previous convictions though he received a caution for theft in 2016.

His barrister Owen Williams said Gould was a prison officer for seven months. He resigned when the allegations were made and later found employment in insurance but was dismissed from that job following the jury's guilty verdict. Mr Williams added: "Throughout his adult life he has worked consistently. He is living with his parents in their home. He provides care to them because both to some extent are elderly and unwell."

The judge said Gould was "completely obsessed and infatuated" with the young woman, and had tried to "control, dominate, and sexually abuse" her. He imposed a jail term of four years. Gould will serve half that time in custody and the remainder on licence. He must pay a £190 victim services surcharge.

Detective constable Cath Moore of South Wales Police said: “This was a complex case where the victim showed tenacity and courage to come forward and make a complaint. After a prolonged investigation we were able to link the social media and email accounts back to Christopher Gould. It takes tremendous courage and bravery for victims of sexual offences to revisit what are traumatic times in their lives, especially as the offences often remain hidden from family and friends. My message to victims out there is that it is never too late to come forward and report matters. We will fully support you and do everything we can to bring abusers to justice.”

Description

A man who began sexually abusing a boy nearly 30 years ago has been jailed – after the victim’s family made an audio recording of him admitting his crimes.

Anthony Moore committed the abuse between 1994 and 1998, while living in the Charnwood area. His crimes came to light in 2022 when his victim – now an adult – told police about what had happened.

When interviewed by detectives from the Child Abuse Investigation Unit’s non-recent team, he initially denied the claims. However, he then answered ‘no comment’ to all further questions when an audio recording made by people known to the victim was played to him, in which he could be heard admitting what he was alleged to have done.

He was subsequently charged with seven counts of indecent assault on boy under the age of 16 years and five counts of gross indecency with a boy under 16 years of age. He pleaded guilty to both offences when he appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court on 14 July last year.

Yesterday (Thursday 14 March) at Leicester Crown Court, the 58-year-old was sentenced to 10 years and eight months’ imprisonment.

Moore, of Lonsdale Road in Stamford, Lincolnshire, was made subject to a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and a lifetime restraining order forbidding contact with the victim.

Detective Constable Aisling McPhillips, the officer in the case, said: “Moore was an adult when the abuse began – and the victim was a child. The abuse started nearly 30 years ago and I’m certain he thought his crimes would never come to light.

“However, his victim has shown great courage in reporting what happened to police, meaning that Moore is now serving time in prison for what he did and I hope he can continue to move on with his life.

“I also hope this case serves as an example to any other victims of non-recent sexual abuse that it’s never too late to report things to police and that we will endeavour to bring those responsible to justice.”

Description

A pair of Derbyshire brothers, who carried out a “sustained and determined” campaign of sexual abuse against young girls, have been jailed for more than two decades. Bryan and Ian Wren gave the victims cash and sweets to buy their silence as they touched them sexually multiple times, Derby Crown Court heard.

The siblings, now both in their 70s, then carried on with their normal lives leaving the now women “utterly destroyed”. At one stage, after being arrested, Bryan Wren called his brother and told him “I have been a naughty boy”. And one of the victims this week broke down as she bravely read out her impact statement saying “you may see this as historical, but it’s not historical to me”.

Jailing Bryan Wren, who less than seven years ago was sent to prison for sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl, for a total of 13 years and four months, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: “Some people who know you have high regard for you. They were not subjected to the abuse you subjected your victims to.

“You destroyed (one of your) victim’s lives, completely and utterly destroyed it. You could obviously live with what you did because it did not stop you abusing another girl who was even younger in 2015 and for which you were sent to prison in 2017 and rightly so.

“You took many opportunities to abuse her in ways which satisfied your sexual desires and while you lived your life, she has had a life of complete misery. What you did to her has turned her into a wreck, mentally.”

Jailing Ian Wren for seven years for abusing a different underage victim, the judge said: “You might have put it behind you but it has stayed with her forever and will continue to do so even after your release. She stayed silent for 45 years and buried what happened to her so deep but then she gets the double whammy of finding out your brother had been doing things to the other victims at the same time.”

Richardo Childs, prosecuting, said the sexual abuse of the victims began more than four decades ago when they were under the age of 13. He said it included multiple occasions where the brothers touched the girls sexually and then gave one of them 50p and another one of them sweets.

He said it took them decades to pluck up the courage to report their ordeals to the police and an investigation began and led to multiple charges against both men.

One of them read her own victim impact statement to the court. In it she said: “I have been filled with hurt and shame for so many years and for over 45 years I have been silent and I hope they finally understand that their behaviour is unacceptable? You may see this as historical, but it’s not historical to me.”

A second victim’s statement was read by the prosecutor. In hers, she said: “The abuse I suffered left me traumatised and not feeling worthy of life. I moved out of Derby to get a clean slate.”

Bryan Wren, 76, formerly of Mundy Street, Derby and now of Wilton Street, Ilkeston, pleaded guilty to a number charges including indecency with a child and sexual abuse of a girl under the age of 13.

Lesley Pidcock, mitigating, said: “He has a similar conviction from the 1980s and went through two years of electric shock treatment at the former Pastures Hospital (in Derby). It may be felt to be trite but he offers his apologies, his regret, remorse and shame.”

Ian Wren, 73, of Pinfold Lane, Bradley, Ashbourne, also pleaded guilty to similar charges against his single victim. James Varley, his barrister, said: “He worked his life on market stalls and was both a popular and well-liked man making hanging baskets for people. He came prepared and brought a bag knowing he is going into custody.”

Both men were handed lifetime sexual harm prevention orders and were placed on the sex offender register for life.

Description

A SEX offender told an undercover police officer, posing on a dating app, that he was a ‘genuine paedophile’.

Leonard Vandervail confessed his sexual interest in children on a dating app and bragged that the youngest he had abused was four years old.

The 43-year-old thought he was messaging a woman, aged 22, with three children on the app but was speaking to an undercover police officer.

Prosecutor Rod Blain told Bournemouth Crown Court on March 7 that Vandervail told the woman he was looking for a little girl.

After saying she had three children, the undercover police officer asked the defendant if he wanted to meet them, and he said yes.

They began messaging on another messaging platform where the defendant ‘wasted no time’ in asking how old the children were.

She told Vandervail that her two ‘daughters’ and ‘son’ were aged 10, two and seven.

The defendant then admitted his sexual interest in their ages, saying the youngest he had abused was four years old.

He said that this happened regularly and ‘assured’ her that he was a ‘genuine paedophile’.

When asked if anything was off limits, he said he would do anything.

After confessing further details of ‘activities’, Vandervail and the woman arranged to meet her ‘children’.

The defendant said he was from Bournemouth and sent a picture of himself, which police were able to use to identify him.

Dorset Police then confirmed that Vandervail was already a known sex offender and had previously been given a sexual harm prevention order.

Mitigating, Nick Robinson said that the harm made was to a fictitious child and that according to the defendant, the comments made were fantasy whilst under the influence of drink and cannabis.

Mr Robinson said that Vandervail completed the sex offender programme eight months ago and ‘did very well’, but has regressed to previous behaviour.

He added that the defendant is sorry and is keen to engage with probation to reduce the risk of this happening again.

Vandervail, of Wootton Mount in Bournemouth, was charged with three counts of making indecent photograph/ pseudo-photograph of a child and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

His Honour Judge Robert Pawson said the defendant has a ‘very troubling’ history that is rooted in sexual attraction to children which goes back over 10 years.

Vandervail was sentenced to three years in prison, given a sexual harm prevention order indefinitely and put on the sex offender register for life.

Description

A 58-year-old who indecently exposed himself in front of children playing in woods has been jailed.

On Saturday (March 9), Alan Mercer asked girls to stand guard while he went to urinate.

Having then told the victims he had finished, they turned around to find Mercer with his trousers around his ankles in the area close to Lockeyer Park in Burnley.

Following CCTV enquiries, police arrested Mercer a day later.

He was charged with exposure on Monday this week and appeared at Blackburn Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

Mercer, formerly of Astley Street, Dukinfield, was jailed for 26 weeks and was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for seven years.

A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: “We do not tolerate behaviour of this nature and we will do everything in our power to identify the offender and put them before the courts.”

Description

A Stirling dad was caught with hundreds of sickening child abuse photos and videos, a court has heard.

Police raided Steven Anderson’s home after receiving a tip-off illicit files were being downloaded to his computer.

The 43-year-old appeared at Stirling Sheriff Court and admitted possessing the offensive material between August 2022 and March 2023.

He will be sentenced next month and was warned he could be jailed.

Early morning raid

Fiscal depute James Moncrieff said that Police Scotland received information child sexual abuse material had been downloaded to a device at Anderson’s home in Randolph Terrace.

“At 7.35am on March 3 last year, officers from the National Child Abuse Investigations exploitation unit attended at the address.

“The nature of the visit was explained and the officers were afforded entry.”

A extensive search of the home was carried out.

Anderson handed over his mobile phone, while investigators seized a computer system unit from the floor of a first floor office and an external hard drive from a window sill.

“The accused provided a PIN number for a secure folder within his mobile phone,” Mr Moncrieff said.

“He also gave police a password for the system unit.”

Anderson was arrested after police carried out a brief preview check for illicit images on the devices.

Later analysis by cybercrime specialists found 618 obscene photo files and nine videos.

Of those, 52 pictures and two videos were described as at “Category A,” the most depraved level.

The videos had a total running time of 83 minutes.

Rehabilitation

Solicitor Billy Milne said his client had been keen to get his case resolved and had pled guilty at an early stage.

“He has been undertaking a number of rehabilitation steps,” the lawyer said.

Sheriff Keith O’Mahoney told Anderson: “From now on you will be subject to the Sex Offenders Register.

“The period that you remain on this order will be determined at sentencing.”

He added: “All options are open to the court, including imprisonment.”

Description

Malachi Smith, of Humbrills Close, in Huntingdon, was found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl at an address in the city in late 2009. Smith was in his late teens at the time of the offence.

After pleading not guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court on Tuesday 29 August 2023, Smith appeared again at the court on Wednesday 6 March, where a jury found him unanimously guilty. He was then sentenced immediately to six and a half years imprisonment and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

The judge stated that whilst he took into account Smith’s age at the time of the offence when considering the sentencing, it also reflected the “severe psychological harm” he had inflicted on the victim, which had affected her “for 14 years, formal diagnosis, medicated everyday numbing her feelings, flashbacks and nightmares”.

DS Samantha Brown said: “The victim in this case, now a grown woman, has lived with the memory of this awful assault for over a decade. I’m pleased we can give her the outcome the case deserved and finally some closure. I’d like to commend her bravery for coming forward and I hope this case encourages others to speak out and seek support.

Description

A sex offender from Whitstable has been jailed after admitting to a series of online offences.

Detectives from Kent Police’s Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) led an investigation in which charges were brought against James Clark, of Victoria Street, who carried out his crimes between December 2020 and January 2024.

Multiple crimes

Clark was charged with multiple offences, including nine counts of attempting sexual communication with a child; three counts of attempting to make a child watch a sexual act; three counts of attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity; three counts of publishing an obscene article and making and distributing indecent images of children.

Sentenced

After pleading guilty, Clark, 26, was sentenced to five and a half years’ imprisonment at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday 8 March.

He was also made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Description

A registered sex offender who had hundreds of illegal images of children has been sentenced. 

Ian Crockford, 52, of Stone Lane in Salvington, was the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) after being jailed for child sex offences in 2019. The SHPO severely restricted his access to digital devices and vulnerable people.

On 7 March 2023, new information was received about Crockford being in possession of further indecent images of children.

He was arrested and analysis of his mobile phone and computers showed hundreds of indecent images of children.

He also had shared illegal images of children and instructed another person on how to abuse a child.

He was subsequently charged with six counts of making or distributing indecent images of a child, one count of publishing an obscene article and breaching his SHPO.

He pleaded guilty to all charges at Worthing Magistrates Court on 12 December 2023 and was released on court bail awaiting sentence.

While on court bail, officers identified that Crockford had breached his bail conditions and committed further criminal offences by obtaining a new mobile phone and attempting to sexually communicate with children.  More indecent images of children were also found on his device.

Crockford was again arrested and charged with four further counts of making or distributing indecent images of children, publishing an obscene article and another breach of his SHPO.

He pleaded guilty to all charges again and, at Lewes Crown Court on 29 February 2024, was sentenced to three years imprisonment for all matters.

Description

A paedophile who boasted about molesting young children was caught sharing baby abuse videos with sick predators on a fetish website. Mark Penfold, 53, of Turberville House, Brixton, was arrested in 2009 and 2015 for 'similar' indecent images offences, but the investigations were dropped ahead of his third arrest in December last year, Inner London Crown Court heard on Tuesday, March 12.

Police raced to Penfold's South London flat on December 18, 2023, after he told an undercover police officer he had abused young children. But a subsequent investigation into his claims found no evidence to back them up. Judge Ian Darling said the boasts were 'worrying' because 'it shows a specific interest', but added 'on the face of the material before me it appears more fantasy than real'.

When the dad-of-three's home was raided, police seized three mobile phones, including a Samsung which contained 361 indecent images and videos, including 122 Category A, the worst kind. The images include a video of the rape of a one-year-old baby.

Prosecutor Gregor McKinley said Penfold spoke to an undercover officer for around two weeks, sharing parental abuse fantasies and details of the child sexual abuse content he had been looking at online. He also admitted to sharing the vile content with other sick users.

"He admitted occasionally, and in a limited way, he had shared images with other like-minded people across the fetish network, and that's what gave rise to the distribution charges," Mr McKinley told the court.

"He also claimed he had taken part in illegal activities with minors, so police decided to arrest him on December 18. What Mr Penfold said has been investigated and there's nothing to suggest that this activity took place."

Penfold answered no comment under questioning, but pleaded guilty to three counts of distributing indecent images and three counts of making indecent images at Croydon Magistrates' Court on December 19 last year.

On Tuesday, Penfold was self-represented as he blamed drug addiction and childhood trauma for his deviant behaviour. Gripping his handwritten mitigation speech, he stammered about being 'deeply ashamed, sickened, and disgusted', adding 'I fully blame what I did on cocaine addiction and mental health issues'.

But Judge Darling decided only immediate custody could protect the public, noting Penfold's 'particular interest in parents abusing children' and his admission 'age was a significant exciting factor'. Judge Darling also said the 'specific naming' of alleged victims was 'worrying' even if the evidence before him suggested Penfold's abuse claims were fantastical.

"The worst images involved the penetration of the vagina and mouth of a very young child who must have been in distress. I expect you did not consider for a moment the distress those children must have been going through because your sexual interests override any thought of what was going on," said Judge Darling.

As Judge Darling sentenced Penfold to 20 months in prison, he concluded the paedophile's interests are 'an entrenched issue' and he would need the help of prison services to stop repeat offending.

Penfold was also given an eight year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) and was put on the sex offender's register for 10 years.

Description

A 75-year-old man from Eccles has been jailed for eight years after abusing a boy for more than a decade. 

Raymond Willan pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault on a child under 13, two counts of sexual activity with a child aged 13-16 and possession of extreme pornography.

Willan, who has been described as the “worst kind of predator”, was jailed for eight years at Manchester Crown Court on March 12 2024.

The abuse came to light after the victim disclosed it had been happening for several years.

Specialist GMP investigators praised the young victim for his bravery in reporting the abuse.

Description

A rapist who sexually assaulted two young girls has been put behind bars.

Christopher Powis raped one girl, aged under 13, in March 2023 after forcing himself upon her.

Powis called police the following day to ask whether he should hand himself in after the child’s mother discovered what had happened.

He was arrested and detectives launched an investigation.

A second victim revealed Powis, aged 65, had also sexually assaulted her on multiple occasions.

The abuse of the second victim began in 2016 when she was at primary school. Powis told the girl not to say anything.

Powis, of Bulwell, was jailed for a total of 12-and-a-half years when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Monday (11 March).

He was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and was added to the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

Description

A man who repeatedly exposed himself to girls in South Cambridgeshire has been jailed.

Patrick Connors, 22, approached five different girls aged between 13 and 17 June last year, in Sawston, Arbury and Great Shelford.

He drove next to them and asked for directions before indecently exposing himself.

Connors was arrested on 19 June and made no comment in interview but has since pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent exposure and one count of outraging public decency.

Yesterday (11 March) at Cambridge Crown Court, Connors, of Carshalton Road, Banstead, Surrey, was jailed for three and a half years.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

Description

An Ellesmere Port paedophile who continued to download indecent images of children while on police bail has been jailed.

Mark Donaghey, 58, of Elaine Close, Great Sutton, pleaded guilty to two sets of downloading and possessing indecent images, which Chester Crown Court heard included children as young as 18 months.

Appearing at the court, sitting at Chester Magistrates Court, for sentencing on Tuesday, March 13, Donaghey received an extended prison sentence as Judge Patrick Thompson said he posed a "very high risk" to members of the public, particularly children.

Prosecuting, Nadeem Nemat said Donaghey had originally been arrested in February 2023 on suspicion of downloading indecent images, putting him in breach of his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). He gave a 'no comment' police interview and was bailed.

While on bail, Donaghey continued to acquire indecent images and was rearrested and charged.

The court heard it was accepted there was some time overlap between the two sets of indecent images cases, and they had been obtained between March 2018 and October 2023.

Computers and laptops were seized, and among them were several hard drives.

Analysis of the devices after the first arrest showed 944 indecent images of children assessed as the most serious category, category A, plus six category A videos. There were also 840 category B images and 4,907 category C images, as well as 142 prohibited images of a child. One category B image was of an 18-month-old child.

There was also evidence Donaghey had used internet search terms to seek the indecent images online.

Analysis of a second set of devices after Donaghey was rearrested showed 583 indecent images and 22 videos assessed as category A, 459 images assessed as category B, plus 914 images and two videos assessed as category C. There were also eight prohibited images of children.

Donaghey had previously been jailed for 18 months in 2002 for attempted gross indecency with a child. In 2005, he was handed an extended sentence of five years plus five years for engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child aged 13 or under, as well as outraging public decency.

A report from probation said Donaghey was a "very high risk" of serious sexual harm.

Defending, Peter Barnett said the best mitigation that could be put forward for Donaghey were his prompt guilty pleas, for which he was entitled to full credit from his sentence.

The defendant showed "self-inflicted destruction" with his behaviour.

Judge Thompson told the defendant: "It is clear to me you have a very unhealthy sexual interest in children."

Donaghey was sentenced to three years in prison for which he must serve at least two-thirds before being eligible for parole plus two years extended licence.

He was handed a new life-long SHPO and he was deprived of all the seized devices.

Description

An abstract artist who molested a schoolgirl after inviting her to his studio to see his work and plying her with cider has been jailed. 

Ralph McGaul, then 36, admitted to sexually abusing the 14-year-old on four occasions over a three-month period in 2020.

The artist took advantage of the teenager, who said she 'sometimes doesn't recognise herself anymore' after the abuse, on a picnic and at his arts studio in Bollington, near Macclesfield.

The sex offender also spoke to her about them eloping to Cornwall where he said they would go surfing and then have 'hot steamy sex' in his tent.  

After McGaul got back together with his long-term partner, he declined to see the girl anymore and when she asked why, he messaged her: 'I'm sorry for what happened and the things I have done and how I treated you. I'm ashamed of myself.'

McGaul was eventually reported to police and was arrested in February 2022.

The girl, now 18, told police how she gets 'intrusive thoughts' about McGaul which leave her feeling 'upset and disgust'. 

In a statement to police, the victim said: 'I try really hard not to think about what happened and the man who did it to me, but I often get intrusive thoughts about him and when I do, I get an overriding feeling of upset and disgust.

'It is these same feelings that leave me unable to behave normally or carry on. I am left completely deflated, experiencing feelings of dread and I withdraw into myself, away from those that I love.

'I often don't seem to have the energy for anything else, I struggle to engage with others to maintain conversations with family, friends, I can't concentrate on work, or school. 

'Because of this, I have had to take time out from school and work, unable to dictate my own routine and schedule because of what happened.'

She added: 'These events have completely changed my ability to be around people.  

'I'm normally an outgoing, bubbly, conversational person, yet often I have found myself wanting to be alone, withdraw and push people away. I sometimes don't even recognise myself anymore

'There is an overwhelming sense of disassociation from myself as an individual and everything going on around me. 

'I feel as though I have been transformed into a new person, someone who I do not always recognise, sometimes a complete stranger from the girl I once was before this all happened.

'I used to be confident and independent when out alone in public, but now I find myself thinking twice about everything I do and how people behave around me.

'Even in broad daylight I am anxious and hypervigilant of everyone. I find myself attempting to anticipate what their intentions are, predicting the worst in some cases.

'I feel estranged from the idea of safety in some cases, a feeling I never had prior to all that happened. 

'I have had multiple nightmares about the event and what he did and what he might have done if I had never spoken up.'

At Chester Crown Court, McGaul now 40, who studied art in Brighton and Barcelona was locked up for five years and four months after he was convicted of sexual assault. 

He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely and was banned from contacting the girl under the terms of a restraining order.

He admitted four charges of sexual activity with a child but denied having sexual intercourse with her. He was cleared of rape and a sexual grooming offence.

The pair became close after originally meeting in December 2018, by chance whilst cycling.

Prosecutor Mr Matthew Dunford said. 'She described an occasion when the two of them had been out for a picnic and were laying down outside.

'She described that he began to spoon her and she asked him what he was doing. He said he could not help it and tried to ignore him and she felt she could not just get up and leave as she was, as she put it, "in the middle of nowhere".

'She described other occasions where the defendant had spoken to her about moving with her to Cornwall. 

'He said that after surfing they could go into their tent and have hot steamy sex. The defendant went on to say to her that he saw her as more than just a friend.

'For her part, she told him that she saw him as a really good friend. She told him that she was 14.'

The prosecutor added: 'There was an occasion in June 2020 when she had gone to his shed where he was living at the time. During the day, he had shown her how to carry out screen printing and she ended up staying for tea.

'But he gave her some cider to drink and she described how it made her feel quite dizzy. Afterwards, she describes being sat on the bed when he started to touch her and she says she did not know how to tell him to stop.

'He began taking his clothes off and not knowing how to leave the situation, she went along with it. She describes feeling like she was frozen and described that she did not know how to say no.'

'Some time after this, she describes becoming aware that the defendant had got back with his partner and she says that that made her feel confused. She messaged the defendant setting out how she felt.

'She said to start with she had blamed herself for what happened, but as time had gone by, she realised it had not been her fault. 

'The defendant replied saying he was sorry for what had happened - for the things he had done and how he had treated her. He said he was ashamed of himself.'

Police arrested McGaul in February 2022 but he gave no comment in the police interview.

His counsel Mark Ford KC, said: 'In the months leading up to when the offences took place, his relationship with his partner had broken down and the defendant was effectively disconnected from the services that previously provided stability in his life.

'Their chance meeting had profound consequences for them both. As the evidence of messages on social media make clear, the complainant was keen to accompany the defendant and without having any preconceived notion as to where the meeting was likely to lead, he found himself falling in love with the victim.

'She was an intelligent and articulate young woman.

'She was interested in all the things that the defendant was interested in, the outdoor life, music and art. 

'The defendant became utterly smitten with her as is often the case when someone's emotions are caught up in the delirium of romantic love.

'Illogical or hopeless as it may seem, people in this situation may believe their feelings are reciprocated. Mr McGaul certainly did.'

At the sentencing, the judge Mr Recorder Eric Lamb told said: 'It has been put forward on your behalf that your actions were illogical and foolish and ultimately damaging but it was based on the self delusion that there was or could be a relationship between yourself and the victim.

'She was 14 and you were 36 and as you rightly acknowledge in your course of self analysis and demonstration of remorse you were the adult and you should have known better.'