Latest Offenders

Description

A former teacher who failed to tell his school about his colleague's inappropriate relationship with a pupil, and was later convicted in court of having sex with an underage girl himself, has been banned from teaching for life.

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) hearing was told that Lian Laidlaw, previously known as Ian Featherstone, 44, did tell another pupil about the relationship between his colleague and a pupil but did not report it to Abbotsholme School, in East Staffordshire on the Derbyshire border, as a safeguarding concern.

In a statement of agreed facts, Mr Laidlaw admitted the allegations, which it was decided amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that could bring the profession into disrepute.

Mr Laidlaw was employed as a teacher and head of department at the Rocester school from September 2017 to July 2022. He attended a disciplinary meeting in respect of allegations that he disclosed confidential matters to a pupil related to his employment at the school on July 18, 2022, and was dismissed on July 28, 2022.

The hearing panel heard that Mr Laidlaw could have filed a safeguarding report about his suspicions about his colleague's inappropriate relationship as early June 2022, which he would be likely to know about because he had spent time with both the fellow teacher and the pupil and had a close relationship with the teacher. He also told another pupil about the relationship.

Mr Laidlaw had previously denied knowing anything about the relationship between the pair but later admitted he had lied at his disciplinary hearing in July 2022.

He himself was convicted of two counts of sexual activity with a pupil on November 2022 at Derby Crown Court. He was sentenced to a total of:

• 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years
• rehabilitation activity for 55 days
• electronic monitoring for six months
• 200 hours of unpaid work
• 45 days on the sex offender programme
• 10 years on the sex offenders register
• A £156 surcharge

The hearing accepted the certificate of conviction as conclusive proof of the commission of these offences by Mr Laidlaw.

In banning Mr Laidlaw from teaching indefinitely, decision maker Sarah Buxcey said: "The findings of misconduct are extremely serious as they include a finding of failing to report a safeguarding concern, conduct found to be dishonest and to lack integrity and an offence involving sexual activity with a child. This was conduct that was, very clearly, at the most serious end of the spectrum, amounting to a breach of the trust placed in him as a teacher.

"Mr Lian Laidlaw is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against him, I have decided that Mr Laidlaw shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach."

Mr Laidlaw has a right of appeal to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days from the date he is given notice of this order. Derbyshire Live has approached Abbotsholme School for comment.

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A bus passenger caught a man performing a sex act behind her between Lochgelly and Cowdenbeath.

Jordon Morris, 24, made the woman “jump out of her seat” when she turned to see him with his trousers pulled down.

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A man caught by paedophile hunters in Shropshire has been locked up after trying to meet a ‘13-year-old’ he spent weeks grooming for sex on WhatsApp.

Anthony Allen, 30, of Cae Daniel, Rhosllanerchrugog, committed the offences in 2018 when he lived in Whitchurch.

Simon Parry, prosecuting, told Shrewsbury Crown Court that Allen had eventually been confronted by members from the paedophile sting group ‘Decoy Central’ outside an Indian restaurant in Whitchurch - when he was expecting to meet a 13-year-old girl called ‘Ruby’.

Allen pleaded guilty to four charges - attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to arrange or facilitate the commission of a child sex offence, and two counts of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity. 

Mr Parry told the court that Allen had sent an unsolicited message to a dormant profile for 13-year-old ‘Ruby’ on a social media app at 1.53am on August 7, 2018.

The court was told how the adult woman behind the account had immediately messaged back to tell Allen she was 13 - he replied saying he was 24.

Mr Parry said Allen had asked for a picture of the girl, and replied telling her she was ‘cute’ after one was sent.

Description

A SEX offender from Anglesey breached his notification requirements and sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) by running a Bangor hotel under an alias and by walking alongside a woman in the street in the city.

Bakhtor Singh was issued with the notification requirements and SOPO in 2007 after being convicted of causing a female to engage in sexual activity without consent.

But having admitted these breaches, Singh, 45, of Trem Arfon, Menai Bridge, was today (November 19) jailed for a year at Caernarfon Crown Court (sitting at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court).

Prosecutor Emmalyne Downing said that, in October 2023, police were informed that Singh was running the Baytree Lodge in Bangor, which was being used to house vulnerable individuals temporarily, under the alias “Dee”.

Officers attended on October 27, and Singh, who should have disclosed this alias per the terms of notification requirements, was arrested.

He was released under investigation, but then on January 3, 2024, a woman was walking to Bangor railway station when Singh parked his van alongside her.

Singh got out of the van and started walking beside the woman, which made her feel “uncomfortable”.

After asking her for directions, the woman walked off at a “fast pace”, having not liked how Singh made her feel by walking so close to her when she was alone.

Police later located the woman, who provided a statement.

Defending Singh, who had previous convictions for 10 offences and had breached his SOPO before, Ember-Jade Wong said he has complied with his “extraordinarily onerous order” for a significant number of years”.

Ms Wong added that Singh is a father-of-four who also has the “bulk of caring responsibilities” for his wife, and who “assists fairly significantly” in the care of his elderly mother.

Sentencing, Judge Timothy Petts told Singh: “I’m very concerned you would commit such a flagrant breach of your order while you were under investigation for breaching your notification requirements.

“The fact it was an onerous and indefinite order isn’t a defence. Until the order is changed, you have to comply with it.

“In the circumstances, only immediate custody will do.

“I don’t think there’s a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. You need to learn a lesson, and I don’t think you’ve learnt it yet.”

Description

A convicted Derbyshire sex offender who thought he was messaging a teenage girl online – sending her naked photos and asking for them in return – has been jailed.

Daniel Stout began messaging who he believed to be a 14-year-old girl on an online chat app, sending her naked photos and asking for her to send the naked photos back.

However, the girl was actually a decoy from an online child abuse activist group. Having arranged to meet the ‘girl’ in his home town of Buxton, Stout was arrested.

The 28-year-old, who has a previous conviction for a similar offence, was the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order at the time of the offence – which banned him from having contact with any girl under the age of 16.

Stout, of Fairfield Road, Buxton, was subsequently charged with attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He admitted the offences and appeared at Derby Crown Court for sentence on October 22, where he was jailed for two and half years.

PC Jodie Norris, who led the investigation, said: “The fact that Stout committed this offence while under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order shows what a dangerous predator he is with no regard for the law.

“Thankfully in this case, the ‘girl’ he was messaging was an adult so a child has not been caused mental or emotional harm because of Stout’s depraved urges.

“I sincerely hope that this time behind bars will now give him the opportunity to reflect on his behaviour and realise the error of his ways.”

Description

A convicted double murderer who engaged in a sex chat with someone he thought was an underage girl has been sentenced to a further 22 months.

Eoin O'Toole was caught by a paedophile-hunting group when he used a smuggled mobile phone to send photographs of his genitals from North Sea Camp, an open prison near Boston.

Lincoln Crown Court heard the 58-year-old, who was serving a life sentence, bought a mobile phone from an Asda supermarket in January while on temporary licence release.

He then used it the following month to engage in sexual conversations with a Facebook user he thought was 14, the court was told.

'Pose a danger'

Tom Heath, prosecuting, said O'Toole had initially given the false name Danny Cardiff, but later confessed to his real identity and that he was in jail for murder.

Mr Heath said O'Toole engaged in increasingly sexualised conversations with the user, who was actually a decoy for the paedophile-hunting group.

During the conversations, he asked for photographs, lied about his age and spoke about having "angry sex" with his ex-girlfriend.

Prison authorities were alerted by the group on 15 February, after O'Toole sent two photographs of himself naked from the waist down.

The mobile phone was found during a search of his cell.

O'Toole was jailed for life at Sheffield Crown Court in December 1991 for the murder of his grandmother Mary Goodrich, 92, and her sister Jessie Thomas, 89, by setting fire to their home.

Originally named Ian Kentzer, O'Toole carried out the murders to cover up the theft of more than £30,000, which he stole to fund his cocaine addiction and to keep his failing video business afloat, the court heard.

It was told he had nine previous convictions for more than 20 offences, including gross indecency and sex with an underage girl in 1990.

'Worrying sign'

O'Toole, who has now been returned to closed conditions at a higher security prison, admitted two charges of conveying a listed item into prison and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

In addition to his custodial sentence, he was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Passing sentence, Judge Philip Head said he had no doubt O'Toole revealed his background as a murderer to impress the other party.

The resurgence of sexual conduct was also "a very worrying sign", he said.

"You do pose a danger to, particularly young females," the judge added.

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A man from Swindon has been sentenced to 21 years in prison for sexually assaulting a child.

Damian Kinston, 27, of Park North, was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court today (18/11) after being found guilty by trial for sexually assaulting a child under 13, multiple counts of rape of a child under 13, multiple counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, and multiple assaults of a child under 13 by penetration.

Kinston has also been given a Sexual Harm and Prevention Order, placed on the Sex Offenders register and given an indefinite restraining order.

Description

A sex offender from Sussex who subjected his Kent victim to a campaign of fear and misery while controlling her life has been jailed, following a Kent Police investigation.

Andrew Wilson, formerly of Brompton Close in Brighton, met his victim – who was living in Ashford at the time – in 2023.

Controlling behaviour

As time went on, Wilson’s behaviour turned aggressive and unpredictable, causing the woman to become frightened and isolated.

Wilson, 29, became increasingly controlling and violent - insisting his victim delete social media contacts, dress in different clothes and give in to his sexual demands.

He dictated where she could go and whom she could speak with, subjecting her to sexual assault and suffocation.

The woman told Wilson she wanted no further contact with him, but he persisted in harassing her and making repeated threats.

Arrested

A report was made to Kent Police and Wilson was arrested in Brighton on 19 January 2024, with the support of officers from Sussex Police, before being charged the following day.

Jailed

Following a trial at Lewes Crown Court, Wilson was found guilty of sexual assault, suffocation and coercive and controlling behaviour and, on 12 November, was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Wilson will spend a further two years on licence after that term, and was also given an indefinite restraining order, forbidding him from any further contact with the victim.

Description

The man behind the viral Willy Wonka Experience has been exposed as a sex pest who left a woman traumatised and is now on the sex offenders register.

William Coull, 36, hounded his victim at a property in Glasgow’s Darnley between March 26 and July 2 2024.

Description

A sex offender has been jailed for more than a decade for multiple sexual offences against a child

Corey Furey (27) from Huddersfield was sentenced to 12 years at Leeds Crown Court today ( Monday November 18) after being convicted of serious sexual offending.  

The 27-year-old was found guilty in a trial in October of seven sexual assault offences against a female child aged under 10 and causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

Offending took place between 2021 and 2022 and was reported to police in August 2022.

The report resulted in an investigation being launched by the Kirklees District Child Safeguarding Unit with Furey being arrested shortly afterwards.

As well as his sentence, Furey was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will make him subject to immediate arrest and prosecution if he breaches any of the terms set, on his release from prison.

He will also have to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life.  

DC Amy Green of the Kirklees District Child Safeguarding Unit, said: “Furey committed some very serious sexual offences against his young victim and we welcome his sentencing today.

“He undoubtedly poses a risk to young children and this has been reinforced by safeguards such as the Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed upon him for when he is eventually released from prison.”

She added: “I want to commend the bravery of the victim and her family in this case.   Reporting such offences is not easy, and they have shown great courage in coming forward and supporting the prosecution to put this dangerous man behind bars.

“All reports of such offending are investigated by specialist detectives, and we can also signpost victims to the help and support they may need.”

Description

A registered sex offender has been jailed for a second time after looking at indecent images of children.

Steven Smith, from Sittingbourne, was convicted at Maidstone Crown Court in January 2022 for sexual communication with a child, causing or inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity and making indecent photographs of children.

He received a prison sentence of two years and seven months.

Upon his release, he was subject to strict sex offender notification requirements (SONR) along with a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

This included conditions that allowed police to have access to any device capable of storing images and to install monitoring software on his mobile phone and computer.

Smith was arrested again on May 13, after investigators identified he had accessed seven illegal images of children on his phone.

His home was searched and several bank cards he had failed to log with the police were found.

This, along with his failure to register his use of several social media usernames with officers, were breaches of his court orders.

Smith, of Peregrine Drive, Sittingbourne, was charged and pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to making indecent images of a child and six breaches of his SONR.

Last Tuesday (November 12), the 44-year-old was sentenced to a year in prison.

On his release, he will be subject to a further SHPO indefinitely.

Police investigator Thomas Briant said: “Smith was given the opportunity by the court to show he could reform and be trusted not to reoffend whilst living in the community.

“Once we identified he was blatantly accessing indecent images of children on a phone we were actively monitoring, he was immediately arrested.

“This led to the identification that Smith had breached his court orders multiple times.

“He is now serving another prison sentence and will be subject to ongoing checks when he is released.”

Description

A man has been jailed for more than three years after he was convicted of sexually assaulting seven different women.

Jason Larry Colbourne, 56, of High Street, Stockbridge, was found guilty in September of this year of eight counts of sexual assault by touching.

This relates to offences between March 2023 and October 2023 which happened in the Winchester and Andover areas.

Colbourne appeared at Winchester Crown Court today (15/11/24), where he was handed a three and a half year prison sentence.

He was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and all seven victims were given restraining orders against him.

Description

A man has been jailed for more than three years after he was convicted of sexually assaulting seven different women.

Jason Larry Colbourne, 56, of High Street, Stockbridge, was found guilty in September of this year of eight counts of sexual assault by touching.

This relates to offences between March 2023 and October 2023 which happened in the Winchester and Andover areas.

Colbourne appeared at Winchester Crown Court today (15/11/24), where he was handed a three and a half year prison sentence.

He was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and all seven victims were given restraining orders against him.

Description

A Leicester DPD delivery driver sexually assaulted multiple women in a village in just two days. The actions of Ionut Torodoc, who also took a photo of one of his victims, was labelled "disturbing" by the recorder who jailed him today (Thursday, November 14).

Torodoc, of Stuart Street in Leicester's Westcotes, engaged in a series of disturbing actions including touching, kissing, and grabbing five different victims. The incidents happened over a two-day period in the Nottinghamshire village of East Leake, reports Nottinghamshire Live.

Nottingham Crown Court heard how the assaults began on Tuesday, May 21 when Torodoc parked his van in front of a woman's car to deliver a parcel. Prosecutor Thomas Welshman said: "She had her nine-year-old son in the car but got out as she recognised the defendant and opened her house so she could take the parcel in. He told her she was a 'beautiful girl' and tried to kiss her but she turned away.

"She was shocked and returned to her car and he got in and sat in the front passenger seat and said 'let's go' before turning to her son in the back seat and telling him 'your mum is very beautiful'. He then got out of the car and said 'you must order more parcels'."

The second incident happened just 20 minutes later when Torodoc delivered another parcel in the village. When the female resident answered the door, he placed it on the floor and as she picked it up, he put his hand on her thigh, telling her she had a "nice tattoo".

Mr Welshman said Torodoc then pushed "his hand further up her thigh and started to grab her shorts". He said: "[Torodoc] told her 'I need to get a photo' and took a photo from above and when she saw it, it was not of the parcel but just her body. He said 'I had to get your legs in'."

The third victim was at her workplace when Torodoc arrived with a delivery, claiming to be unwell. He was given a glass of water and something to eat. While there, he kissed one of the female workers on the cheeks before "grabbing her face and kissing her on the mouth".

Mr Welshman stated: "She felt him trying to put his tongue in her mouth and clenched her teeth together to prevent this from happening."

The fourth victim was at East Leake Leisure Centre when she was approached by Torodoc a few hours later. He had just made a delivery when he "grabbed" the woman and tried to pull her close to him.

The following day (Wednesday, May 22), Torodoc targeted his fifth victim - a 17-year-old girl who was walking to work. Court heard how he pulled up alongside the teenager and asked her for a light before grabbing her hand.

Mr Welshman said: "She walked off and he followed her in the van wound down his window and said 'where do you work, I will take you, get in'. She said 'get away from me' and when she got to work she suffered a panic attack and had to be sent home."

Court was also told that prior to the East Leake offences, Torodoc had picked up a boy who was at a self-service checkout at a Leicester Tesco Express with his mother. Prosecutors said the boy's mum demanded he put him down, telling Torodoc he should not do that and he walked away.

Emma Coverley, mitigating, said Torodoc had a wife and son in Romania, and at the time of the offences, his wife had informed him she wanted to end their relationship. She explained: "He has been in custody for six months now and has not had a family visit. He was given indefinite leave to be in the UK in 2020 and was working and quite properly sending money home to his family in Romania."

Torodoc, who required a Romanian interpreter at this week's hearing, pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual assault and also to common assault. He was jailed for 17 months.

Recorder Ciaran Rankin said: "This case paints a very disturbing and troubling picture. You displayed a bizarre attitude towards others you came into contact with when working as a delivery driver. It is an extremely worrying set of offences and in your pre-sentence report you don't seem to recognise the seriousness of these offences."

As well as the prison sentence, Torodoc was also placed the sex offender register for 10 years.

Description

The devastated father of a 10-year-old girl groomed on Snapchat and WhatsApp by a paedophile posing as a teenage boy told a court he feels he has failed as a parent.

In a moving statement read out at the sentencing hearing of Chartham resident Jacob Bean, the dad described the damaging impact on his daughter of having been "exposed to one of the world's greatest evils".

He wrote: "As a father you never want anything bad to happen to your children. You do what you can to protect them and right now I feel like I have failed.

"My 10-year-old daughter has been exposed to one of the world's greatest evils. We have lost our daughter, the way we knew her to be.

"What can a parent possibly do to make this better? She has been stripped of her innocence. She is angry and has tried to stab herself.

"I cannot explain how hard that is to see and not be able to take her pain away.

"She has so much of her childhood left but it has now been tarnished by this person who thought it was OK to talk to her like this and send her such obscene things."

But he added that although the conclusion of legal proceedings would not bring the family's suffering to an end, he vowed to "do my best to be there for my daughter and help her however I can".

Canterbury Crown Court heard that Bean's twisted behaviour with the girl included sending her child abuse videos and photos of his penis, as well as encouraging her to perform sex acts on herself.

The 23-year-old also talked about rape, saying he would carry on even if told 'No' or to stop, and asked her to try to recruit her friends into watching him having sex and masturbating.

She later told police she had deleted some of their messages because she thought she would be in trouble.

At the time, Bean was already under investigation for the grooming of three other underage girls - one said to be living in Germany - on Snapchat, as well as making indecent images.

Prosecutor Paul Valder said Bean also asked a victim - one of whom was later identified by police through her school uniform - to call him "a pervert" and told another aged 13 that he wanted to make her pregnant.

Following his initial arrest in August last year, the sex offender, of Highland Road, had claimed that his accounts had been hacked and accessed by others.

He also said a friend had regular use of his phone and denied any knowledge of the 24 child abuse images found, one depicting a victim as young as 12 months old.

However, after the abuse of the 10-year-old came to light in July this year, he later pleaded guilty to four offences of sexual communication with a child, four of making indecent images, two of attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act and causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in penetrative sexual activity.

Shanda McAteer, defending, told the court Bean did not offer any excuse for his offending and had shown genuine remorse.

But telling the court the defendant "struggles" to explain why he did what he did, Ms McAteer added: "He was suffering from very low mood and social isolation, was having difficulty opening up to his family and how he was feeling, and turned to the internet to communicate with others and then these offences have occurred.

"He doesn't attempt to excuse what he did in any way at all, and has now heard the impact of his actions."

Bean, who has no previous convictions, was jailed for a total of five-and-a-half years.

Passing sentence on Tuesday, Judge Simon James told the convicted paedophile he had used the internet to "actively pursue" his sexual interest in children.

But although he accepted Bean was suffering from poor mental health at the time which may have contributed to making poor and reckless choices, he said he "struggled to comprehend" how it could be argued that there was a direct causative link between his depression and seeking to incite children to engage in sexual activity.

Speaking of the "obvious, wholly understandable, and profound" impact on the 10-year-old victim and her family, Judge James added: "Children, and indeed parents, are entitled to look to the courts for protection from adults seeking to sexually exploit, abuse and corrupt children over the internet."

He also remarked that the disparity in age between Bean and his victims, together with his pretence of being a child in order to gain their trust and response, were both significant aggravating features.

On release, Bean will be subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order.