Latest Offenders Bolton

Description

A PRIMARY school caretaker and married father-of-three has lost his job and his family — after trying to arrange for a 12-year-old girl to be sent to him for sex.

Police raided Joseph Hart's Horwich home in May, 2012, after intercepting texts sent to a notorious paedophile arranging to pay £100 per hour for the girl.

He was immediately suspended from his job at Chorley New Road Primary School — and has now been banned from working with children.

His former employer, Bolton Council, stressed that none of the charges related to his employment or place of work.

Police found 61 indecent images of children on the 34-year-old's computer when he was arrested, Bolton Crown Court heard.

The caretaker, who has Asperger's syndrome and an obsessive compulsive personality, initially claimed he was trying to trap paedophile Darren Leggett.

But a jury rejected this and found him guilty of arranging a child sex offence.

He admitted six further counts relating to the indecent images before his trial in November.

Giving a suspended two-year jail sentence yesterday, Judge Elliot Knopf said Hart's case was "unique" and that the deal was in its "early stages".

He also said the defendant did not understand the "outcome of his actions".

Hart made contact with Leggett by text on February 6, 2012 after finding him on a website.

But Kent Police arrested Leggett on February 10, seizing a phone which was found to contain texts sent between February 6 and 9.

Hart, of Green Lane, Horwich, was arrested in May the same year and was then suspended by Bolton Council.

Hart arrived at court expecting to be jailed and had a suitcase with him in the dock.

Vanessa Thompson, defending, said Hart had been married with three children, but that he had split from his wife since the case came to light.

She said: "He is never going to work for the council again and never will he work in the capacity he was before."

Judge Knopf said: "Your case is different and complex and in many respects unique.

"You are someone who suffers from Asperger's and the result of it would appear to be an obsessive compulsive personality, and you do not understand the outcome of your actions.

"It is an explanation as to how you came to be involved in all of this.

"The arrangement with Leggett was very much in embryonic form. No venue had been agreed for what was to happen. Very little had been discussed.

"Once Leggett was out of the way there is no evidence that you tried to pursue enquiries with anyone else."

A council spokesman said: “We can confirm that Mr Hart was immediately suspended from duty as soon as he was arrested and no longer works for the council.

"None of the charges related to his employment or place of work.”

Hart was given a prison sentence of two years, suspended for the same period, for arranging a child sex offence.

He was given a concurrent nine-month sentence for the six charges of making indecent images.

The former caretaker was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years and given a five-year sexual offences prevention order.

Leggett, a convicted paedophile from Kent , was jailed indefinitely in June, 2012, for 31 counts of child sex abuse.

He will be in jail until at least 2019 and must then prove he is no longer a danger before his release can be considered.

Description

A college welfare officer and young person's football coach who downloaded thousands of indecent images of children has been jailed.

Daniel Dawson, 36, of Darcy Lever, Bolton, had pleaded guilty to 19 offences of possessing and making indecent images of children.

At Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, he was jailed for 12 months.

He was also given a sexual offences prevention order and made to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Police said Dawson was caught in April following an international investigation into the activities of an online retailer based in Canada selling films containing child pornography and indecent images of children.

1.5 million images

When warrants were executed at the Canadian premises, customers from around the world were identified and cases were passed to the relevant police forces.

Greater Manchester Police raided Dawson's home and seized a number of computers and media storage devices and a total of 1.5m images were recovered.

A computer specialist sampled more than 15,000 of these images and identified more than 6,500 indecent images of children aged six to 14 years old.

Due to the sheer volume of indecent images, the specialist could not examine all of the pictures.

Officers also recovered evidence that Dawson had repeatedly searched the internet for indecent images of children.

At the time, Dawson was working as a welfare officer at Glossopdale Community College in Derbyshire and coached at Middleton Lads and Girls FC.

He was suspended from both roles immediately following the initial police involvement.

Dawson previously held similar positions in other schools across the region.

There was no evidence to suggest Dawson committed any offences against the children he came into contact with in a professional capacity, police said.

Description

A convicted sex offender who got a job at Manchester Airport frisking passengers has been sacked.

James Burns, 56, got the post despite facing fresh allegations of abusing a teenage boy.

As reported in the M.E.N he was employed as an aviation security officer and passed a criminal record and counter terrorism check.

Checks failed to highlight his convictions for historic sex assaults because the Police National Computer at the time did not include all offences from the 70s and 80s.

Burns was also being investigated over new allegations of abusing a 16-year-old boy when he was offered the job in 2013.

He kept the latest allegations a secret from his bosses while working at the airport on a six month probationary contract.

It was not until he was convicted after a trial at Manchester Crown Court in March this year that Burns came clean with his bosses.

At that point the airport management decided to suspend him on full pay.

Last week Burns, of Church Street, Westhoughton, Bolton, was given a nine month sentence suspended for two years, a 12-month supervision order, made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order, and placed on the sexual offenders’ register for ten years.

Burns was found guilty of four counts of sexual assault on a 16-year-old boy.

Now airport bosses have dismissed him. A spokesman for the airport confirmed that Mr Burns was no longer with the company.

Burns role at the airport included physical contact with passengers, checking them as they go through security when boarding.

The sexual offences prevention order means he cannot be allowed unsupervised access to any children under 16, and must not seek to befriend any male under 16 years old.

Between August and December 2007 Burns assaulted the victim telling him he was gay, despite Burns being happily married with a wife and children.

At the time of the offences Burns ran his own courier business. His firm folded in 2010 and he later applied for and got the job at the airport in 2013, despite being arrested in connection with the assault allegations in 2012.

His latest victim only came forward in 2012 after seeking medical help from his GP.

It was revealed during his trial that Burns had previous convictions for indecent assault on a teenage boy in 1980 when he impersonated a polie officer, and two convictions for public order offences in 1983 and 1984 for propositioning young men for sex in the Shifnal Street area of Bolton.

Description

A COUPLE lured vulnerable girls to their home, got them drunk and gave them drugs before sexually abusing them.

At Bolton Crown Court yesterday, a jury unanimously found 28-year-old Kieran Huelin guilty of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, and sexual activity with a child.

They also unanimously found Huelins girlfriend, 26-year-old Laura Crank, had engaged in sexual activity in the presence of a child, incited a child to engage in sexual activity and had sexual activity with a child. Crank was in the dock but as she has a learning disability, Judge Timothy Clayson found she was not fit to enter a plea or stand trial.

The court heard the couple, of Longfieldu Road, Daubhill, invited vulnerable children to their home, gave them drugs and alcohol, and sexually abused them.

In 2009, a 13-year-old girl went to Huelins flat, in Brookhouse Avenue, Farnworth, after falling out with her mother.

Crank and Huelin gave her seven or eight cans of lager and amphetamines.

They made the girl sleep on a mattress on the living room floor with them, before forcing her to watch them having sex.

When the teenager tried to turn her head away, Crank took hold of her head so she was still watching.

Huelin had sex with the girl later in the evening when she gave in to their requests. Gary Woodhall, prosecuting, told the court: They encouraged young, probably vulnerable, teenagers to come to their flat. They supplied alcohol and drugs to underage children.

In that unusual and highly inappropriate environment they were able to take sexual advantage of vulnerable young girls.

Huelin denied the charges but was found guilty.

The jury also found Crank committed another offence with a 15-yearold girl, who went round to the flat with a different group of friends on a separate occasion.

The couple will be sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on May 31. Huelin was remanded in custody and Crank was released on unconditional bail.

Description

A CROSS-dressing paedophile who sexually abused a six-year-old girl while wearing a wedding dress has been jailed for a total of 15 years.

Stephen Owen, aged 62, was yesterday found guilty of four counts of indecent assault, three charges of indecency with a child, and two counts of attempted rape committed against two girls in Bolton in the 1980s and 1990s. The court heard he wore his wifes dresses and shoes before touching one of the girls and forcing her to perform sex acts.

He later gave her money for sweets and told her that it was their little secret, the court heard.

Owen gave the second girl money after forcing her to perform sex acts, the jury of six men and six women heard.

One of the girls is now in her mid 30s and the other in her late 20s and cannot be named for legal reasons.

The abuse took place when they were aged nine to 15 and six to 11. The case came to light after one of the victims saw an article in The Bolton News about Owen, who was jailed for nine years in 2008 after being found guilty of 13 sexual offences against a third young girl.

Owen was sentenced to a further nine years for the latest offences and given an additional six years to run consecutively to his existing sentence, totalling 15 years.

Detective Constable Mike Mather, of Bolton CIDs Public Protection and Investigation Unit, said: Owen was quite clearly a danger to the public and todays sentence reflects that.

His crimes were heinous and I just hope todays result will give some comfort to his victims who were brave enough to come forward and report him.

I also hope that this conviction will act as a ray of hope to other victims of sexual abuse and encourage them to come forward to police.

Description

An ex-hotel porter and child abuser who killed an elderly couple in a hotel arson attack has been jailed for life. The judge at Liverpool Crown Court described Lee Carson as an "extremely dangerous young man".

Carson, 24, of Bolton, Greater Manchester, was found guilty of manslaughter after the fire at the Moat House Hotel, Bolton, in April 2001.

William Robertson, 75 and his wife Margaret, 81, from Blackpool, Lancashire, both died in the fire.

Carson was caught after telling friends he started the blaze at the hotel, which was caused when he set fire to mattresses in a corridor.

The couple were on holiday when they died

The bodies of Mr Robertson and his wife were found in a corridor after the attack.

They both died from smoke inhalation.

An inquest jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing in September 2003.

Carson had denied starting the fire and pleaded not guilty to murder and two alternative charges of the manslaughter of Mr and Mrs Robertson.

In February a jury took just under four hours to find him guilty of the manslaughter of the couple but acquitted him of murder.

Convicted sex offender

Carson had previously been convicted of indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl in 1998.

He is currently serving four-and-a-half years for another indecent assault on a young girl in May 2002 and will serve at least 15 years after being given two life sentences for manslaughter.

Speaking outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Tony Cook from Greater Manchester Police, who led the investigation said: " We are pleased that a very dangerous man has been removed from the streets for a long time.

"Lee Carson admitted his involvement to those close to him yet he still refused to plead guilty.

"I hope that the victims and families of the victims involved in the fire will now be able to move on with their lives knowing that justice has today been served and that Lee Carson will have a long time in prison to reflect on his actions that tragic night."