Latest Offenders Basingstoke

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THE most evil of offenders thats how a detective described Basingstoke paedophile Paul Thomas, who was this week convicted of 25 counts of various sexual offences against four young girls committed over several years. Sick Thomas crimes included rape and indecent assault, and one of his victims was just eight when she was first abused. A jury found 50-year-old Thomas, of Western Way, South Ham, guilty of 25 of the 31 charges he faced during a two-month trial at Winchester Crown Court. A second man, Jerry Lee Howe, 40, of Dunnyshop Avenue, Accrington, Lancashire, was found guilty of three charges, including rape, invoving one girl. Both men had denied all charges. The trial heard the crimes spanned some 15 years, from the mid-1990s to 2010, when the first victim came forward to Hampshire Constabulary. The victims were abused separately at different times and locations. Kerry Maylin, prosecuting, said: The victims were, the Crown say, sexually abused. They were children and some of them very young. A victim told the court how Thomas gave her cash and cigarettes after sexually abusing her at the age of 14. The woman appeared in court behind a screen in the witness box, although her evidence was taken from a series of filmed police interviews. She said she only realised that she was being abused when she started to have a relationship with someone her own age, and told him about what happened. A jury of seven men and four women found Thomas, pictured, guilty of two multiple counts of rape against one girl that took place when she was aged 13 and 14. He was also convicted of two other counts of rape, 11 indecent assaults, seven counts of sexual activity with a child and three counts of inde-cency with a child. Judge Andrew Barnett, adjourning the sentencing hearing until January 29, told Thomas: Be under no illusion when the matter comes back, you must prepare yourself for a prison sentence of some considerable length. Detective Inspector Scott Clarke, from Hampshire Constabularys Major Investigation Team, led the two-year investigation which brought Thomas and Howe to justice and he praised the courage of the victims. Speaking after the convictions, Det Insp Clarke said: These men systematically abused and degraded children to the point where their victims felt their ordeal was just a part of growing up. It is down to the courage of the victims that these most evil of offenders have been brought to justice. I only hope that with the ordeal that ruined their childhoods finally over, these people can start to rebuild their lives and enjoy their first Christmas free from fear. He added the offending has now been referred to the Hampshire Safeguarding Children Board. Clare Chamberlain, independent chair of the board, said: Even though the majority of these crimes appear to have taken place many years ago, we are keen to establish the facts about this case and ensure that frontline practice and management across all agencies is able to learn from and deal effectively with these complex abuse cases. Thomas, who has been remanded in custody, was found not guilty of six further counts, including an indecent assault on a boy, and Howe was found not guilty of three offences involving two girls. Two other men, Timothy Pittway, 49, and Paul Flynn, 30, both of Bath Road, Reading, were found not guilty of all child abuse charges that they faced.

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A judge jailed a sex molester for 27 years after telling him he wanted to protect Britain's children, including those not yet born. The sentence is one of the longest imposed for offences which do not carry a life term.

A charity worker, Raymond Hodgson, 43, carried out a catalogue of sex abuse on nine young girls. Police caught him after he had abused four children but he escaped by locking officers in his house.

He went on to sexually abuse another five children, after winning the trust of their parents as he travelled around Britain. He was caught when his photograph was shown on the BBC television programme Crimewatch and the station was inundated with calls.

Winchester Crown Court was shown a pornographic video Hodgson made in which he forced a six-year-old girl to perform sexual acts. Judge Martin Tucker QC told him: "Having seen in the video of the sort of things you were doing, it must be realised what a revolting series of offences these were.

"When you are eventually at liberty the overwhelming probability is you will try to do it again. I have got to protect children and unborn children.

"I am passing a sentence that will keep you inside until your sexual life is on the wane."

The court heard Hodgson re-offended when he was released from prison after a conviction for raping a 12-year-old girl.

The girls he targeted on his release were aged 6 to 13.

The court heard Hodgson began working for a charity and befriended one of his employees who had young children. Once he won the family's trust he began abusing the girl. After befriending this girl he met other youngsters by "wheedling himself into the affections and trust of their parents".

One girl told police Hodgson pulled her into his bed, stripped and removed her pants.

While visiting friends in Gosport, Hampshire, Hodgson abused an eight- year-old girl after giving her shandy. The girl woke in the middle of the night to find Hodgson touching her. She began crying and later told her sister. Police were alerted.

But when police went to arrest Hodgson he conned them into letting him say goodbye to his landlady, locking them in the house while he escaped. He then moved north to Morecombe under an assumed name where he again used his work with a charity to abuse another set of children.

Hodgson said he did not know why he had abused the children. "Ninety per cent of the time I am like any other in the street and then situations crop up and I lose control," he said.

Hodgson, of Basingstoke, Hampshire, admitted six counts of indecent assault, four of indecency with a child and five counts of taking indecent photographs, and one of unlawful escape.