Latest Offenders

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A WEST Cumbrian man arranged to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex, unaware that the meeting was a sting organised by paedophile hunters.

The "teenager" that 42-year-old Cleator Moor man Leroy Sheehan was communicating with was in fact and adult decoy working with the Online Child Safety Team, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The defendant, of Henry Street, Cleator Moor, admitted attempting to communicate sexually with a child and attempting to facilitate a child sex offence by meeting the “child” in Whitehaven.

Tariq Khawam, prosecuting, described what happened.

He said volunteers working with the paedophile hunter group use fake child online profiles to flush out adults who have a sexual interest in children.

This involved the creation of fake profiles.

In July of last year, the group created a Facebook profile for what appeared to be a 14-year-old girl, complete with a photo. On June 13, Sheehan sent the person a friend request.

He told her his age and said he was feeling “low,” after recently losing his partner. Mr Khawam said: “The witness said she was sorry to hear that; and she said she was 14.”

In subsequent messages, Sheehan asked if they could communicate on WhatsApp. Telling her she looked older than 14, he asked for a topless photo. He went on to discuss having sex with her.

The contact then agreed to meet Sheehan at Whitehaven railway station. When he arrived there, he was confronted by the Online Child Safety Team volunteer and two of her colleagues.

After making a “citizen’s arrest”, they called the police. The defendant had no relevant previous convictions, the court heard.

Tim Evans, defending, said that while Sheehan did not comment during his police interview, he had been honest with probation staff. A background report spoke of a “rapid deterioration” in his mental health and two suicide attempts.

At the time of his offences, he was drinking four litres of vodka a day, and he consumed eight litres of whisky over a period of days, as he tried to “drink himself to death.”

“None of that is an excuse but that is the background for what is described as the disinhibitory impact on his offending,” said Mr Evans.

The report explained that Sheehan, grieving after the death of his partner, was in a “very dark place” when he committed the offences.

The barrister added that Sheehan, who had a mild intellectual disability, was far from being a classic predatory online sexual offender of the sort often seen in the courts.

Judge Michael Fanning recognised the defendant’s psychological difficulties and the loss of his partner a week before the offending.

“It’s clear you were drinking vastly to excess,” the judge told Sheehan, accepting that this would have disinhibited the defendant. The judge continued: “But you are 42, three times the age of this supposed 14-year-old girl.

“You thought you were engaging with a genuine 14-year-old girl." Sheehan intended to have sex with her and there was no indication of him being influenced by alcohol when he went to Whitehaven to meet her. 

“You knew what you were doing,” added the judge.

He jailed Sheehan for two years and eight months and ruled that he must be on the Sex Offender Register for a decade and subjected to a sexual harm prevention order for the same period.

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A Fife football coach sent videos of himself performing a sex act, along with sexualised messages, to someone he thought was a child.

James Devine, at the time a senior figure at the John Thomson Football Academy in Cardenden, was unaware he was chatting online to an adult member of a paedophile hunter group.

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Calls have been made for changes to restrictions on sex offenders after a Dundee pensioner who tried to groom a girl online was spotted attending a children’s dance event.

James Yule was photographed attending a majorette event in Inverness in November.

Description

A man has been jailed for chatting sexually online with a 13-year-old girl, during which he offered her “a grand” to send him images of herself in her underwear.

The three-day exchange of messages with the girl in September put 28-year-old Luke Ovington in breach of not only a Sexual Harm Prevention Order but also a suspended prison sentence imposed in July last year for exactly the same type of behaviour.

Ovington had already been before the court for minor breaches of the order for which he received community orders, in November last year, but his luck ran out after his arrest for his latest offending.

Durham Crown Court was told Ovington received a ten-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, in July last year, for the online sexualised exchanges with a 12-year-old girl.

He was also made subject of a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), forbidding him from contacting underage girls and restricting his use of the Internet, as well as registration as a sex offender.

Philip Morley, prosecuting, said despite those prohibitions and with the suspended sentence hanging over him, Ovington engaged a female child in conversation on Snapchat which went on for three days in September.

Mr Morley said unlike some online “stings”, this was a real child who, despite making it clear that she was aged 13, kept receiving messages of a sexualised nature from the defendant.

Using the alias of ‘Ryan’, in breach of the terms of the SHPO, he suggested that the girl keep their conversation a “secret” from her parents.

He asked her for pictures and told her what he would like to do to her, suggesting giving her “a grand” if she sent him her picture in her underwear and told her he loved her.

Mr Morley said the police were alerted and he was arrested in possession of his phone, which was seized for examination, but Ovington had deleted a lot of the incriminating messages.

In interview, he made no comment to police.

Mr Morley said the defendant breached the terms of the SHPO by not only communicating with an underage girl, but also by deleting his messages.

Ovington, 28, of Linden Place, Newton Aycliffe, admitted charges of sexual communication with a child, breaching a SHPO and possession of a small amount of cannabis found in his possession upon arrest.

Tony Davis, in mitigation, said psychiatric and probation reports prepared for last year’s hearing were still pertinent.

“Clearly, this was a persistent, deliberate breach and I can’t argue with the Crown’s assessment.”

Mr Davis said the defendant’s background includes contact with mental health services during his adult life.

“Perhaps, here, he has slipped into his dark ways again.

“His fascination with smoking cannabis and going online is only going to lead to the revolving door of going into and out of custodial institutions.

“But he has been using his time in custody usefully.”

Judge Nathan Adams told Ovington: “You find yourself back here again, relating to your behaviour in September this year, in breach of a suspended prison sentence and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order only imposed on July 14, last year.

“Despite all the clear warnings, you find yourself back here again for breaching all those orders you were under.

“You were told the girl was only 13, nevertheless you spoke to her about masturbation and tried to solicit images of her in her underwear.

"You offered her £1,000 for those images, and then you said you would leave her alone.

“This was undoubtedly the sort of behaviour those orders were trying to prevent.

“It’s quite clear it would only lead to s significant prison sentence.”

Judge Adams imposed a total 28-month prison sentence, including six months activated from last year’s suspended sentence.

Ovington will be subject to new ten-year SHPO and registration requirement periods, starting afresh from Friday (December 13).

The judge also ordered forfeiture of the seized cannabis and Ovington's mobile phone.

Description

A PROLIFIC paedophile found in possession of more than a thousand indecent images of children has been jailed.

Richard Simon Morris, aged 59 and of Bournemouth, appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, November 29, 2024, to be sentenced after admitting three counts of possessing indecent images of children.

Morris was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, with an extended licence period of a further 18 months.

On Wednesday, June 28, 2023, an offender manager and his colleague visited Morris, who was a registered sex offender and the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, at his home address.

The officers asked to inspect his phone, and the defendant produced a different one to the device he had been seen using moments earlier. They challenged Morris, and when he showed them the other device, officers saw what they believed to be indecent images.

Morris was arrested, and a number of electronic devices were seized.

The defendant was released on bail, and when officers paid a further visit to his address on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, an inspection of a mobile phone again revealed suspected indecent images.

In total, officers uncovered more than 1,500 indecent images of children. These were categorised with 282 at the most serious Category A, 446 Category B images and 811 Category C images which were both accessible and inaccessible.

Detective constable Phillip Riggs of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team said: "Richard Morris is a persistent offender who continued to illegally access indecent images despite being a registered sex offender and the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, showing a clear lack of remorse for his previous offending or the sanctions imposed on him by the courts.

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A convicted sex offender targeted children after he was released from prison for similar offences.

Joseph Parkin has now been jailed for eight years after admitting sexual activity with a teenager after being released from custody for similar sexual offences.

He also admitted to communicating with two other teenagers, putting him in breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Parkin, 26, who was formerly living in the Belle Vue area of Wakefield, previously pleaded guilty to four charges of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a boy under 16 years-old and two charges of breaching a Sexual Harm Protection Order. He appeared at Leeds Crown Court last week for sentencing.

He received an eight-year custodial sentence and was made subject of an extended licence period of six years on his release from prison. One of the victims reported the offences against him to the police in October 2023.

West Yorkshire Police said Parkin was quickly identified, arrested, charged and remanded in custody. He has been held on remand since that time.

A police spokesman added: "Further enquiries established telephone contact that Parkin had had with a number of children. This contact was all thoroughly investigated by specially trained officers which resulted in the police identifying the further offending."

Description

Francis O'Connor brutally assaulted his victim by grabbing her throat and putting his legs around her neck, before later trying to rape her as she slept.

The victim bravely managed to fight him off and get to safety, but not before 30-year-old O'Connor grabbed her throat again in another terrifying assault.

O'Connor, of HMP Doncaster, then fled the scene in the victim's car and stole £300 of cash from her before officers located him and arrested him.

After answering no comment to all questions during a police interview, he was charged with multiple offences after an investigation by the PVP team.

While on remand in custody, O'Connor was heard on a phone call encouraging a relative to contact the victim in order to get her to drop the charges against him.

He told the relative to "sort it out" and "go round to speak to her and then put me on speaker phone".

A second investigation was subsequently launched and O'Connor was charged with the additional offence of attempting to intimidate a witness.

The calibre of evidence secured in both investigations led to O'Connor pleading guilty to intimidating a witness, attempted rape, intentional strangulation, affray, theft and driving a motor vehicle without the owner's consent.

Last Thursday (12 December), he was jailed for 11-and-a-half years at Sheffield Crown Court, with a four-year extended licence period.

Detective Constable Chloe Wharmby, who was the officer in charge of this case, said: "O'Connor subjected his victim to a brutal, horrifying and unforgivable attack which has impacted her life significantly.

"What she endured was utterly traumatic and I want to commend the victim for her bravery and courage in coming forward and reporting O'Connor's crimes to us.

"Even in the face of intimidation, she remained resolute, and I hope O'Connor's prosecution and conviction will bring her some sense of justice and allow her to move on from this awful ordeal.

"We remain absolutely committed to targeting perpetrators of sexual assaults and tackling violence against women and girls.

"The PVP team worked diligently on this case to safeguard the victim and build up a strong case against O'Connor which has now resulted in a lengthy prison sentence.

"If you have been a victim of a sexual assault, please come forward and report it to us. You will be listened to and we will support you through the process in order to secure justice for victims."

O'Connor must sign the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely and has been given a restraining order which prevents him from making any contact with his victim.

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A foster carer found guilty of indecently assaulting two girls more than 20 years ago has avoided a prison sentence.

Alastair Legge, 52, was convicted following a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court of two counts of sexually assaulting the girls at an address in Macduff and within a car during journeys across the region.

Description

A man who sexually assaulted a teenager has been jailed.

Jamie Gorton, formerly of Burnley, assaulted the girl twice on one day in February.

The 34-year-old, appearing via video link at Burnley Crown Court on Thursday (December 12) kept his head in his hands and his sweatshirt over his face for the duration of the hearing.

When Judge Sara Dodd returned from a brief retirement to consider her sentencing remarks, she asked Gorton if he was more comfortable with his hands over his face, to which he replied "yes".

Before Judge Dodd had finished giving her remarks, though after she had told Gorton of his sentence, the defendant got up and left the conference room at the prison, leaving the judge to finish the final sentences of her remarks without the defendant present.

Lancashire Police put out an appeal to find Gorton earlier this year saying he spoke "with a Burnley accent" and that he had links to Darwen, Blackpool, and Fleetwood.

The offences took place in Blackpool. 

A victim impact statement read to the court by prosecuting barrister Aubrey Samson said the victim had self-harmed since the incident and has suffered from anxiety and flashbacks.

She said: "I can't believe this has happened to me."

John Woodward, defending said his client was now receiving the "best medication" for his mental health.

He said: "He feels he's getting better and feels confident that given time he'll be able to understand his difficulties and be able to act accordingly in the future."

Gorton, now of Osborne Road, Blackpool, and previously of an address in Burnley, has 21 previous convictions for 33 offences, including engaging in sexual activity with a child and failing to comply with notification requirements and a sexual harm prevention order.

He was found guilty of assault by penetration and sexual activity with a child following a trial.

Judge Dodd, sentencing, said the victim in this case was "particularly vulnerable".

She said: "There has been significant psychological harm. I do not find the harm caused to have been severe, though this is not to underplay in any way the damage you have done to this young girl.

"You are rightly described as being unable to comply with court orders. I have no confidence you would comply with licence conditions upon your release."

Judge Dodd considered Gorton to be a dangerous offender and sentenced him to an eight-year prison term with a further five years on extended licence, making a total sentence of 13 years.

Description

A pervert who shared sick images of himself sexually assaulting a child has been locked up.

Liam Waldron appeared before Teesside Crown Court to be sentenced for a string of offences including sharing depraved sexually explicit images of children and possession of extreme porn involving a dog.

The court heard the 29-year-old was snared after West Mercia Police found evidence Waldron had been contacting a suspect in their force area and alerted Cleveland Police. Officers attended Waldron's Redcar home and found a number of devices with the depraved images on and also evidence of correspondence between the two. Police also discovered a photograph, which had been shared, of Waldron assaulting a child.

Philip Morley, prosecuting, said the defendant admitted he had been sharing and distributing indecent images on platforms such as Whatsapp and added: "He had been doing it regularly for some years and normally under the influence of drink and drugs."

Waldron, of Ryehills Close, pleaded guilty to a string of offences including the sexual assault of a child under the age of 13, taking indecent photographs of a child, distributing indecent photographs of a child, making indecent images and possession of an extreme pornographic image involving sexual activity with a dog.

The defendant also agreed to a number of other matters being taken into account, dating from June 2022 to June 2024, including possession of 110 category A images of children, possession of 79 category B images of children, possession of 33 category C images of children and 12 images of extreme pornography.

Robert Mochrie, mitigating, said: "As in all cases like this there is no rational explanation for this behaviour." He said in Waldron's case there was a combination of drug misuse and pressure from a third party to become involved.

He said: "There is nothing that can be sensibly said to try to mitigate his actions. The best mitigation is that he entered a guilty plea."

Judge Joanne Kidd said Waldron had shared images and was in discussions with other paedophiles and they shared some of "the most depraved ideas, desires and fantasies."

Judge Kidd said she took the view that this was fantasy and nothing more, but said the images were particularly depraved and showed "children being subjects of the most heinous violations".

Waldron was jailed for a total of 42 months and placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

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A PERVERTED former Ayrshire school teacher who admitted taking secret, inappropriate, pictures of his former colleagues has avoided jail.

Brian Smith has instead been placed on a community based order - which includes a number of requirements - as a direct alternative to custody.

The 52-year-old took the upskirt images while he was employed as an English teacher at both Stewarton Academy in East Ayrshire and Wellington School in Ayr.

The indecent photos were surreptitiously snapped over a near seven-year period between June 2015 and January 2022.

The 52-year-old pleaded guilty to a pair of charges in relation to operating equipment beneath the clothing of females at both schools - with the intention of enabling himself or another to observe the genitals, buttocks or underwear of the victims - when he appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court previously on Tuesday, November 5.

The court heard that the incidents only came to light when Smith, of Cardhu Gardens in Kilmarnock, committed another offence - a breach of the peace - which he also admitted in the dock last month.

This incident took place on January 25 of last year at Tesco on West Shaw Street in Kilmarnock, procurator fiscal depute Gemma McKechnie told the court at that time.

Here, he followed a woman around the store with a mobile phone in hand. It was later discovered that - unbeknown to the woman involved - he had photographed images up her skirt.

Though Smith was caught out after she expressed her feeling of being followed to the shop's security guard.

The police were later made aware of the matter, and this ultimately uncovered other images held by the former teacher.

His details were obtained and then passed to police, who obtained a search warrant for his property.

A MacBook laptop and a hard drive were later analysed and found to contain "voyeuristic" images which depicted people associated with both Stewarton Academy and Wellington School.

Smith returned to Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on Friday, December 13, to be sentenced in relation to all three matters brought to light.

Defence advocate Janice Green addressed Sheriff Murdoch Mactaggart on his behalf before a final disposal was imposed, following the preparation of background reports.

She stated that these were offences "society disapproves of" which involved an "abuse of trust" - though commented that the content within was not "at the higher end of the scale".

Ms Green added: "He expresses extreme regret and remorse for affect on the victims and his own family. His guilt and shame is evident. That will now live with him.

"It is clear he has taken significant steps himself to try to manage his proclivities. He has been working with a registered counsellor intensively since May in order to address and face the underlying deviant motivations.

"Despite the setback in terms of his catastrophic fall from grace he continued to work when able to in a less public facing role. He intends to maintain this.

"He knows custody is something that could follow from these offences. Though a robust community order would serve the purposes of punishment.

"Allow him to continue to work toward rehabilitation. He is content to accept any condition that gives him his liberty."

Before sentencing, Sheriff Murdoch Mactaggart addressed the court in terms of the case.

Following a previous hearing, which followed on from the initial guilty pleas provided by Smith, it was determined by the court that some images did not meet the threshold required to be considered appropriate to the charges brought by the Crown.

As a result, two school pupils listed as victims, and one former colleague, were removed from the charges.

The Sheriff added that these images may have been considered criminal under a different charge - though the court was unable to amend those brought by prosecutors.

Addressing Smith, he added: You have pleaded guilty to three serious offences. You took advantage of your position of trust. People are entitled to feel safe in their place of work.

You did this for your own sexual gratification and caused them considerable stress.

In terms of the final charge (relating to Tesco in Kilmarnock) this lady was alarmed and distressed by your conduct.

You presented a risk to woman and this court needs to act to protect woman from you in future.

The 52-year-old was then placed on a community payback order, which will include a range of conditions.

Smith will be placed under social works supervision for a period of three years and will be required to complete the 'Moving Forward Making Changes' program - which helps adult men convicted of sexual offenses to lead a life without harming others.

He was also ordered to complete 210 hours of unpaid work over a period of nine months.

Further to this, he will not be able to use any internet enabled devices unless their written history of use is made available for inspection. He must not delete his browsing history at any stage.

Smith was also made subject to a restriction of liberty ordered which means he must remain within his home address between 7pm and 7am each day for the next three months. His movements will be electronically monitored during this time.

Lastly, the former teacher was placed on the sex offenders register for a period of five years from his court appearance.

Description

Paul Sild, aged 34, from Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to more than 20 offences of sexual assault, possession of indecent images and extreme pornography.

Sild was arrested and charged by Hartlepool CID officers in June, after a number of women came forward to report incidents which had taken place on residential streets in the town in May.

Officers found that Sild had approached women who were unknown to him in the street and used a syringe to squirt them with a substance, which was found to contain traces of his DNA. He had filmed these assaults on his mobile phone, which he carried in a hollowed-out book to conceal it.

Following his arrest, officers found evidence of further sexual assaults which had not been reported to police, along with indecent images of children and extreme pornography on his mobile phone.

Sild received four-and-a-half years in prison, with an 18-month extended licence.

Description

A 42-year sentence has been imposed on a man who raped and sexually assaulted a number of women and girls in the Dover and Canterbury areas.

Ian Hamilton was charged with numerous sexual offences after Kent Police's Cold Case Investigation Team reviewed a 1988 investigation into an attack on a girl in the village of Hersden.

That in turn linked him to a 1992 report concerning abuse he inflicted on a child in Dover in the mid-1980s.

Cold case investigation

Detectives began tracing and interviewing people who had come into contact with Hamilton around that time, leading to a number of women revealing they had also been the victims of violence and sexual abuse at his hands.

In total, officers identified a further nine women who had been victims of sexual offences between 1977 and 2000, and a man who had been seriously assaulted by him in 1991.

As a result, more than 50 previously unreported offences were investigated and Hamilton was arrested at his home in Snodland in March 2024.

Following his arrest, a computer in his possession was found to contain more than 1,500 indecent images.

The 63 year old stood trial at Inner London Crown Court and was convicted by a jury of all 59 charges including rape, indecent assault and causing grievous bodily harm, having admitted possession of indecent images at the start of the trial.

Jailed

On Friday 13 December 2024, he received a sentence of 42 years and one month. His Honour Judge Silas Reid described Hamilton as 'cunning and sadistic' and a 'monster of the night'.

Description

A man has been jailed for six years and three months, after being convicted of sex offences.

Dillon Robb, aged 29, of HMP Hewell was convicted of four counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged between 13 and 15 and two counts of engaging in sexual communications with a child.

He was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court today (Friday 13 December). Robb was also given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and has been placed on the sex offenders register for life.

The offences took place in Telford between August and September 2023.

Description

A MAN who met an underage girl for sex after grooming her online has been locked up for six-and-a-half years.

Bradford Crown Court heard how Damien Hughes set up a fake Instagram account under the name “Simon” and sent a friend request to the teenager.

Over the next three months they exchanged messages, which became sexualised, and he sent a video of himself masturbating.

He also asked the teenager to send nude photographs of herself and encouraged her to agree to meet in a hotel for sex despite knowing she was under the age of consent.

During the school holidays they met up three times and on two occasions Hughes, now 41, had sex with the girl in his car.

The court heard that the girl tried to call a halt to the situation, but Hughes would tell her that he would miss her and was “really upset”.

The relationship was discovered when a relative of the girl spotted a message from Hughes on her phone and responded pretending to be her.

He then investigated her Instagram account and found sexually explicit photographs and videos as well as messages arranging to meet up.

The police were informed, and, on being arrested, Hughes gave “no comment” answers in an interview.

When his phone was examined it showed where he had travelled to meet the girl and CCTV footage was located that placed the pair at the scene.

A forensic examination of his car found evidence of sexual activity.

Hughes was picked out by the teenager in an identity parade but denied the offences and went to trial where he was found guilty by a jury.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecutor Laura McBride the teenager said her experiences with Hughes had left her feeling “very worried, anxious, and intimidated” as he had taken advantage of her vulnerabilities.

She revealed she had undergone therapy and suffered from trust issues that had impacted other relationships.

She said: “Each day I must live with the memories and flashbacks of what he did to me.”

Sentencing Hughes, of Westbourne Grove, Halifax, at Bradford Crown Court Mr Recorder Andrew Haslam KC said he had denied his crimes “despite overwhelming evidence”.

He jailed Hughes for a total of six-and-a-half years, imposed a ten-year sexual harm prevention order, and said he must sign the sex offender’s register for life.