Latest Offenders Birmingham

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A 101-year-old man thought to be the oldest person convicted by a British jury has been jailed for child sex offences.

Ralph Clarke is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced to 13 years.

The former lorry driver abused three children in the 1970s and 1980s.

One of his victims was as young as four.

Clarke, from Erdington in Birmingham, was convicted of 21 offences of indecency with a child and indecent assault committed against two young girls.

During the trial at Birmingham Crown Court, he admitted nine charges relating to a young boy after describing the offences as "something that happened" in his past.

After his conviction he showed no emotion as Justice Richard Bond told him it would be "amazing" if he lived long enough to be released.

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A delivery driver has been jailed for four years after sexually assaulting a woman as he dropped off a parcel at her Chelmsley Wood home.

Wasim Bhar, 24, exposed himself and groped the disabled householder after she opened the door to him.

The terrified victim told a court she had been unable to fight off the Hermes delivery driver, who denied the attack when arrested by police.

But Bhar, of Lawford Grove, Highgate, was convicted after a jury at Warwick Crown Court was told he had left traces of DNA at the scene.

The court also heard he had hid criminal convictions of theft to get the self-employed job with Hermes.

As well as being jailed, Bhar was ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Prosecutor Scott Coughtrie said: This case is about a man who, while conducting his role as a parcel delivery driver, came across, or even targeted, a disabled and therefore vulnerable woman in her own home.

He sexually attacked her. Firmly grasping her by her arm, he sexually assaulted her for his own gratification.

Bhar was a self-employed delivery driver for Hermes when he arrived at the womans home with a parcel in January.

The victim told the court: He gave me the parcel, and I threw it behind me in the hallway, and said thank you.

He said, Ive seen you before. I fancy you, love.

I said, You dont even know me, and I dont know you. I stood there feeling shocked.

She said Bhar asked whether she was alone and she said someone else was in another room. He backed off, but then he came back at me..., she said.

He grabbed my arm and held it up, and then he pulled my t-shirt up... I started pushing him out of the door, but he kept coming back, asking me to do things with him.

I was scared for my life.

Police were called and enquiries with Hermes led to Bhar, whose Facebook posts including him posing with British boxing champ Amir Khan.

But after being arrested he claimed nothing unusual had taken place that day and that the woman was delusional.

After DNA tests linked him to the scene he accepted there had been sexual contact, but claimed it had been consensual.

Judge Richard Griffith-Jones said: You attacked a woman who was disabled. She manages very well, but she needs that important commodity for someone who is disabled, confidence; and she puts great store by the haven and refuge of her home.

You had access to her by reason of your employment as a delivery driver, something you should not have been doing. They would never have employed you if they had known what a thoroughly dishonest person you were.

The grave features of this case are that you attacked a disabled woman for your own sexual gratification, you went into her home to do so, what you did was an abuse of trust, and you have shown not an ounce of regret.

The judge added: The defendant has no convictions for sexual offences, but the jury may be concerned to learn that an employee of Hermes has a number of convictions for theft and other dishonesty.

An impact statement from the victim was read out before sentencing. She said: My home was all I had, and was my safe place. Since this thing happened to me its not my safe place anymore, because of this man.

Jasvir Mann, defending, said: Whether the defendant understands it or not, a victim is entitled to feel they have sanctuary in their own home. He does not admit the offence, but acknowledges the jury found him guilty and that he is going to be punished accordingly.

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A Birmingham rapist, who told two girls that his sick assaults were their secret so he could continue to sexually abuse them, has been jailed for 16 years.

Paedophile Dwayne Kesto, of Parkfield Avenue, Harborne, assaulted the girls over a number of years.

The 40-year-olds reign of terror continued until one of them confided in a teacher.

As soon as he had been exposed, Kesto went on the run for three years, but he was eventually snared by police in March.

Kesto was convicted of the non-recent offences at Wolverhampton Crown Court after an eight-day trial and was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court to the lengthy prison term.

Det Sgt Jayne Killoch, of West Midlands Police Public Protection Unit, said: Kesto told the girls it was their secret, so that he could continue his predatory behaviour.

Kesto evaded arrest for three years, but we caught up with him in March and he was remanded into custody while a meticulous investigation was carried out.

He will be deported to Jamaica upon his release from prison.

Det Sgt Killoch added: Both girls gave evidence in court, acting with dignity and courage throughout the trial and I commend their bravery.

I hope that seeing their abuser brought to justice goes some way to help them overcome the nightmare they must surely have suffered.

I hope that their story helps other young girls find the courage to report abuse, even if it happened many years ago.

We have specially trained officers who can help survivors of sexual assault through every step of the process, from initial reporting to the court procedure.

We work with a raft of other agencies who also provide support and comfort.

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A Birmingham grammar school teacher has received a suspended jail sentence after admitting making and possessing indecent images of children.

Oliver Downes, 40 and from Erdington, had also pleaded guilty in court to the production of a Class B drug, cannabis, following his arrest by police.

He had taught for more than 13 years at the prestigious Bishop Vesey Grammar School in Sutton Coldfield, a role which included him coaching rugby to pupils.

The teacher was suspended after the police investigation and he resigned from his post last July.

In a statement after the court case, a Bishop Vesey spokesman said: “The school has co-operated fully with the police. The offences relate to the former teacher’s behaviour outside of school and there is no evidence to suggest any child from the school was involved in any way.

“The member of staff was suspended and resigned on 18 July with immediate effect.”

Downes had appeared at Birmingham Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to nine counts of making indecent images of children and nine counts of possessing indecent images of children. He had also admitted production of a Class B drug, cannabis.

He received a 12 month jail sentence for making indecent images, suspended for two years, along with concurrent suspended sentences of nine months for possession of indecent images and two months for the drugs charge.

He was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the community. He was also ordered to attend a sex offenders’ work programme for 50 hours and was placed on a two-year supervision order.

Bishop Vesey is one of the oldest schools in the West Midlands, founded in the 16th Century. Today it caters for more than 900 pupils and has almost 100 full and part-time members of staff.

Downes, an avid football fan, had joined the school in 2001, having graduated from university in 1998.

He had previously been a student at King Edward VI School in Aston.

On his Facebook site, Downes describes himself as single and as ‘‘chilled, different, fun, intense, work that out.’’

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A nursery worker who raped a toddler and groomed 22 other girls over the internet has been jailed for life. Paul Wilson, 21, admitted 47 charges including rape and grooming and must serve at least 15 years of a life term. Wilson, of Nechells, Birmingham, abused the toddler at Little Stars Nursery in the city, and filmed the rape on his mobile phone. Prosecutors said concerns raised by other nursery staff did not stop the abuse. Wilson began working at the nursery in October 2009. Six members of staff raised concerns about his behaviour before his arrest, on 5 January this year, but he had continued to work there despite receiving a written warning. The judge said it was "a matter of some incredulity" that he had not been disciplined further for "deliberate blatant" flouting of nursery rules. The Birmingham Safeguarding Trust board has started a serious case review into the matter and will not comment further at this stage. Sentencing, the judge described his offences as "chilling, vile and depraved". 'Girls threatened' Mrs Justice Macur said he had caused unknown harm to the toddler and more than 20 young girls who were abused online. "You are highly deviant, highly manipulative. You are intelligent and the more dangerous for being so," she said. The court heard Wilson, of Newbold Croft, was arrested after being reported by one of the girls he groomed. He contacted 22 girls on the internet then made them perform sex acts via a webcam. The victims were aged between 12 and 15, the court was told at an earlier hearing. He would record images and use them to blackmail his victims into carrying out sexual acts for him. After sentencing, Wendy Bounds of the Crown Prosecution Service, said Wilson had "preyed" on young girls he met in internet chat rooms. "He hid his real identity and led the girls to think he was a friend and asked them to turn their webcams on and by this means he was able to see them in intimate situations," she said. Pictures sent on If his approach failed, he would use other aliases on social networking sites to gain their trust, or threaten them in order to get them to perform sexual acts which he would watch, she said. "Unfortunately, the teenage girls did not realise that they were in effect allowing a stranger into their bedroom with a camera." Pictures of one of the girls were then sent on to another male, she said. "He then took this one step further by targeting and raping a vulnerable child at a nursery where he was working. "Unfortunately, concerns raised by other staff about his behaviours and the appropriateness of his relationship with the child did not prevent this happening." It was left to one girl to come forward and report the abuse to police, she said. Ofsted issued a statement earlier in the case proceedings saying it had referred allegations to the local authority, Birmingham City Council. An Ofsted spokesman said: "When Ofsted received allegations from a member of staff about possible safeguarding concerns at Little Stars Nursery, we immediately referred the allegations to the local authority, the lead agency locally with responsibility for safeguarding, and with them conducted a joint visit to the nursery. "Following the visit, we required the nursery to ensure, amongst other things, that safeguarding policies were in place and procedures were properly followed. "We are sorry that investigation did not bring to light what was happening sooner and for any additional distress this may have caused those affected by Mr Wilson's actions." Wilson pleaded guilty in June to two charges of rape, 16 of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, 25 of making indecent images and three of distributing images of children.