Latest Offenders Bradford

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A former priest in North and West Yorkshire has been sentenced to a further eight and half years behind bars for sex offences against young boys.

David Leslie Crowley, 69, is already serving an 18 year sentence (extended by two years) at HMP Full Sutton for 13 similar offences committed between 1979 and 1985. Crowley appeared before Leeds Crown Court on Monday (June 19) and pleaded guilty to a further 15 offences.

The crimes took place between 1982 and 1993 when the defendant was a priest at St William’s RC Church in Bradford, Our Lady of Lourdes in Huddersfield and St Mary’s and St Michael’s RC church in Settle. There were five victims.

Crowley used his position of authority as a priest to groom the boys, taking them on day trips, plying them with gifts, alcohol and food, and visiting pubs. Some of the victims came forward as a result of media coverage of Crowley’s previous offending.

The abuse he suffered caused one victim to experience flashbacks and to attempt suicide as an adult and left another with drug and alcohol dependence. Graham Guest from the CPS said: “Crowley flagrantly abused his position of authority and trust within the communities he served to commit vile offences against young boys, leaving many of them with lifelong trauma.

“The true extent of his offending when he was in holy orders is now becoming clear. It is difficult to imagine a more appalling breach of trust and complete betrayal of the values of his priestly vocation. Our thoughts remain with his victims, as they have been throughout.”

In 1998 Crowley was given an 11-year sentence for 15 sex offences against young boys. The latest sentence will be served consecutively

Detective Inspector Oliver Coates, of Kirklees Child Safeguarding Unit, West Yorkshire Police, added: "This conviction follows a lengthy and comprehensive investigation by DC Moorhouse into the West Yorkshire offences. It ensures that this dangerous man will remain behind bars where he belongs.

"These offences were reported to the police many years after they occurred, and I hope the work that has been done to bring Crowley to justice shows that we will investigate historic offending. I would urge anyone who has been the victim of sexual offences, whether recent or non-recent, to report it. By doing so, we can ensure that you are supported and get the justice you deserve."

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A persistent sex offender who got away with his crimes against two young girls in Calderdale has finally been jailed after he went on to rape another child.

Daren Skillings, now 57, was interviewed by police almost a decade ago about his abuse of the first two complainants, but he denied any offending at the time and no further action was taken.

Prosecutor Jayne Beckett told Bradford Crown Court on Tuesday that the case was only reopened after Skillings, now of Sticker Lane, Bradford, was accused of abusing and raping a third young girl several years later.

One of Skillings’ first victims faced him in court and finally saw him jailed for 11 years. He was handed an additional extended licence period of one year, to be served at the end of the sentence.

Mrs Beckett read moving victim impact statements from all three complainants, who must not be identified for legal reasons, in which they described the nightmares, flashbacks and trauma they had suffered as a result of Skillings’ offending.

One of his first victims said she was sad it had taken years for her to get justice. She said: “I never got my justice when I first reported it...I wasn’t believed." She said the subsequent rape offence could have been prevented and she now hoped Skillings would never hurt anyone again.

The third victim said she suffered nightmares and flashbacks on a regular basis and every part of her life was difficult.

Skillings, who will now have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, pleaded guilty to the rape and abuse charges involving his most recent victim and was found guilty of abusing the two other complainants by a jury following a trial.

Catherine Silverton, for Skillings, said he had always accepted responsibility for the rape and was deeply ashamed and remorseful. She said he had been a hard-working man who appeared to have been a “functioning alcoholic”.

Jailing Skillings, Judge Armstrong said the victim statements made very moving reading. He said the original case had not been pursued nearer the time and it was only following the more recent matters that it had been resurrected.

Skillings will now have to serve two-thirds of his 11-year prison sentence and he will have to comply with an indefinite sexual harm prevention order when he is finally released on licence.

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A paedophile who hopes his sick behaviour might one day be legal has been given a 10-year extended sentence as a "dangerous offender".

Bradford man Nathan Roe groomed two teenage boys over social media and tried to meet up with them for sexual activity - despite already being prosecuted and sentenced at Leeds Crown Court for similar offending relating to a “decoy” undercover police officer posing as a child online.

In May last year, the 21-year-old, of Tyersal Close, was given a two-year community order with conditions that included attendance on a sex offender programme.

But less than a fortnight after the sentence was passed, a monitoring service alerted the police after software installed on his computer equipment picked up his sexualised messages to one of his latest victims.

Today Recorder Paul Reid KC jailed Roe for six years, but he also imposed an extended licence period of four years after he said the defendant posed a significant risk of serious harm. Roe, who had been an engineering student, will have to serve at least two-thirds of the six-year jail term after he pleaded guilty to a series of offences involving the two boys, who must be identified for legal reasons.

Recorder Reid said Roe had groomed both youngsters and had tried to meet both of them for sexual activity. Roe admitted various charges relating to arranging to meet a child for sexual activity, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and sexual communication with a child.

He will now have to register as a sex offender with the police and comply with an indefinite sexual harm prevention order. Recorder Reid said Roe had preyed on his two vulnerable victims in a deeply manipulative way.

Referring to a “disturbing” pre-sentence report on Roe, the judge said he had shown no remorse for what he had done and had expressed the hope that such behaviour may become legal in the future.

The court heard how Roe, who admitted having an active sexual interest in underage boys, had met up with one of the boys and touched the youngster’s bottom and hugged him on that occasion.

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A Bradford paedophile has been jailed for over a decade after years of raping a child.

On Thursday, April 6, 35-year-old David Smith was charged with multiple counts of non-recent rape against a female. The Allerton man was jailed by the Crown Prosecution Service’s Rape & Serious Sexual Offences Unit, for eleven and a half years after admitting to multiple counts of rape against a child.

He was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will also be required to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life. The offending took place on several occasions between 2003 and 2009 during the victim’s childhood, who reported the crimes as an adult.

Sentencing Smith, Recorder Jason Pitter acknowledged the mitigation put forward by his defence team but also highlighted the devastating impact of the "horrible" abuse on the victim and her family.

Detective Sergeant Roshan Pitteea, of Bradford Safeguarding Unit said: "Smith committed multiple rapes against his victim when she was a child and the impact on her has been profound. I welcome the lengthy sentence handed down today.

"We hope this sends a strong message to any other victims of non-recent abuse to come forward and report this to the police. We will listen to you, and we will investigate. We will do all we can to seek justice for you." 

Roshan added: "I hope the sentence today brings the victim some comfort and closure for her and her family. I commend her bravery in coming forward to report the abuse and her resolve throughout the investigation and court process.

"I would like to thank her Independent Sexual Violence Advisor from West Yorkshire Victim Support for supporting her every step of the way." Recorder Pitter commended the victim for her bravery, having listened to her victim impact statement, which was read out in court by prosecuting counsel Mr Soheil Khan K.C.

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A convicted child sex offender has been jailed again after he admitted becoming ‘fixated’ by a young girl and fantasising about the victim he abused around three decades ago.

Bradford Crown Court heard today that Dennis Lane, 79, was jailed for ten years in 1996 for child abuse and in subsequent years he had repeatedly been given long prison sentences for breaching the terms of protective orders designed to stop him committing further offences.

Judge Ahmed Nadim said that those previous jail terms had not curbed his behaviour and he referred to a report which concluded that Lane was now an ingrained offender with an incapacity to acknowledge guilt.

Last year, police were alerted to concerning behaviour involving Lane and when officers searched his home in Denton Row, Denholme, they seized Diana, Princess of Wales, books containing images of children, and a large child-like doll that was found in his bed.

Prosecutor Maryam Ahmad told the court that children had complained about ‘the weird old man’ who had been engaging them in conversation and a teacher had seen Lane talking to a young girl who looked uncomfortable.

Lane’s indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention order, imposed in 2018, banned him from having any contact with children and he was also prohibited from going within 50 metres of any playground.

The order also banned Lane from being in possession of any child images.

After his arrest last October, Lane denied having any sexual interest in the young girl, but later admitted being ‘fixated’ with her and fantasising about his previous victim.

He also accepted he used child images and the doll for sexual gratification.

Lane admitted breaching the terms of the Sexual Harm Prevention order and was jailed for three years and nine months.

Imran Khan, his barrister, said his client wanted a simple quiet life away from people and to remove himself from society.

“So his strategy for avoiding further offending is to become a recluse?” Judge Nadim said.

“Yes,” said Mr Khan.

He added that Lane understood that a prison sentence was inevitable and he had made peace with that.

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TWO men have each been jailed for two and a half years for sexually abusing two vulnerable teenage girls who had gone missing from a Bradford children’s home.

The underage victims were assaulted at a house in Bradford, after meeting Stanislav Himal by chance in the street late at night and giving him directions.

He took them to the address where they thought they would receive money and cigarettes for helping him, prosecutor Abigail Langford told Bradford Crown Court today.

Himal, 35, a father of seven, of Runswick Terrace, Wibsey, Bradford, and co-accused Jozef Fedor, 56, of Frank Street, Great Horton, then sexually molested the girls who were so frightened that they fled the house without their shoes and jackets.

The men denied abusing the girls but were convicted by a jury of sexual assault.

Miss Langford said the girls arrived at the house in the early hours of the morning on a day several years ago.

It was then suggested to them that the men were offering the money and cigarettes in return for sex, saying they ‘would have to work’ for them.

Things then ‘spiralled out of control’ with both girls being molested.

One was pushed upstairs and assaulted on a bed by Himal. She was screaming and kicking out as she tried to fight him off.

She was then forced on the floor and abused again.

Fedor was kissing one girl against her will and trying to take off her leggings, the court was told.

The teenagers fled the house without their shoes and jackets and summoned help from a passer-by. One had a neck injury after struggling with her attacker.

The police were called and the defendants denied the assaults at trial.

Miss Langford said the girls were particularly vulnerable. They were missing from a children’s home and out late at night.

The men were acting together and there was an offer to give the teenagers alcohol.

“One young female saw her friend being assaulted and vice versa,” Miss Langford stated.

Andrea Parnham, for Himal, said he had no previous convictions. The offending was opportunistic, impulsive and out of character.

He had a wife and seven children and was in work at the time.

He and Fedor had been held in Leeds Prison on remand for several months.

Catherine Duffy, Fedor’s barrister, said he too had no previous convictions.

It was one incident more than three years ago.

Fedor had been working as a plumber and now intended to return to Slovakia on his release.

Recorder Patrick Palmer jailed both men for 30 months.

He made Sexual Harm Prevention Orders for ten years and each must sign on the sex offender register, also for ten years.

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A 70-YEAR-old Bradford man has been jailed for more than eight years after raping a teenager.

Edwin Gill, of Dulverton Grove, Holme Wood, initially pleaded not guilty to the offence, claiming the teenager had consented.

But after seeking legal advice, he changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court today (March 14).

Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp told the court that Gill had first asked to cuddle the teenager, touched their bottom and inner thigh, then proceeded to rape them.

The victim was left shocked and felt helpless after the attack, but was able to tell family about what had happened, and Gill was arrested.

In interview he initially denied any rape, but later admitted having sex with the teenager, which he claimed was consensual.

In a victim impact statement read out to the court, the victim described how they had suffered panic attacks as well as struggling to sleep and concentrate on studies following the attack.

Judge Ahmed Nadim praised the young victim for “courage and fortitude” in assisting the authorities in bringing Gill to justice.

Laura McBride, for Gill, told the court that there was genuine remorse from Gill and that “he is truly sorry for what has happened”.

“He can’t put into words the shame and regret that he’s felt,” she added.

In sentencing Gill to eight years and nine months imprisonment, Judge Nadim said he had broken moral and legal norms, adding: “A child’s carefree days have been marred." 

He added that his victim suffered “degradation and humiliation” at his hands.

A life-long sexual harm prevention order was imposed on Gill, and he must register as a sex offender for the same length of time too.

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A young woman was forced to give up her job after being followed and attacked on her way to work in Bradford last year.

The woman, who must not be identified for legal reasons, had been walking along Manchester Road at about 6am when she became aware of 27-year-old Patrik Lukacs crossing the road and walking right up behind her.

Bradford Crown Court heard on Friday that Lukacs, a father with a long-term partner, told the woman she was “looking good” and asked for her number. Prosecutor Philip Standfast said the woman refused to give him her number, but tried to get rid of him by saying he could add her in Facebook.

The court heard that Lukacs followed the woman all the way to the Ripley Street area where he then began groping her bottom and between her legs. Mr Standfast said: “He went to hug her from behind and tried to pick her up."

The woman was telling him “no”, but Lukacs then tried again to pick her up and take her into a snicket near some flats.

“He tried to grab her hand, but she told him she was not going with him because she had to get to work,” said Mr Standfast.

Lukacs, of Denbury Mount, Holme Wood, Bradford, continued to grope the woman and followed her all the way to her workplace. The court heard she was in tears when she arrived in work and a friend alerted the police after she told him what had happened. The complainant’s jeans were tested and DNA linked to Lukacs was found on them.

Lukacs was arrested a week later and denied sexually assaulting the woman. He suggested that she “quite liked him” and nothing happened that she did not want. But at a court hearing in January Lukacs admitted the two charges of sexual assault and on Friday he was jailed for 18 months.

Mr Standfast said as a result of the attack the complainant had given up her job because she felt unsafe going to work along the same route.

Barrister John Batchelor, for Lukacs, said his partner had been away and his client had been out drinking with friends. He suggested that Lukacs may have been more drunk than he recalled.

Recorder James Baird said the woman had made it clear to Lukacs that she did not want his attention and he had persisted in following her. He said the complainant had been left feeling anxious all the time and found it difficult to sleep.

Lukacs will now have to register as a sex offender with the police for the next 10 years and he is also subject to an indefinite restraining order which bans him from contact the complainant.

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A sick paedophile who escaped justice for more than 40 years is finally behind bars.

Peter Suscenko, 72, was first reported for rape to social services in 1982 and although the crime was fully investigated it remained undetected at the time.

The case was reviewed by West Yorkshire Police's Major Investigation Review Team in 2018 and thanks to forensic advances in technology they were able to continue. These advances led to Suscenko, of Seldon Street in Bradford, being charged with a number of sexual offences and following a trial at Leeds Crown Court he was found guilty of rape and four counts of indecent assault.

West Yorkshire Police said the offences were committed against a young girl in Leeds in the early 1980s. Suscenko has now been jailed for 13 years.

Following the sentencing, Detective Sergeant Richard Ord, from the Major Investigation Review Team, said: "We would like to thank the victim for the great bravery and courage she has shown throughout the investigation and subsequent proceedings. We hope today’s outcome will give her some form of closure and allow her to move forward with her life, knowing that her attacker is finally behind bars.

“Suscenko probably thought he would never go to jail for what he had done, but advances in forensic technology meant we were able to fully review the evidence and charge him with these offences. Cases of such seriousness are never closed and the Major Investigation Review Team will continue to do all in its power to achieve justice for victims.”

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A MAN aged 41 has been jailed for seven years and three months after plying an under-age teenager with cocaine and having sex with her.

Michael Dawson, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on Monday on a video link to HMP Leeds where he is remanded in custody.

Prosecutor Gerald Hendron said Dawson had pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual activity with a child.

The court heard that he had pressured his victim, given her cocaine and threatened to slap her.

Mr Hendron said Dawson had sex with the girl in fields in Bradford as well as at a house.

When arrested and questioned by the police, he accused the child of lying, saying her allegations were ‘all fictional.’ The girl told the court in a victim impact statement that she had been left with anxiety and sleeplessness. Her mother spoke of her own stress, anxiety and problems with sleeping.

Dawson had three previous convictions for six offences, including a wholly separate matter of perverting the course of justice, dating from 2018. Mr Hendron said he had threatened a witness in an assault case.

Rukhshanda Hussain said in mitigation that Dawson now regretted trying to minimise his actions to his probation officer. It was out of guilt and shame and he had gone on to fully accept the Crown’s case.

He was homeless and addicted to drugs when he committed the offences.

Miss Hussain said he had no similar previous convictions and that his best mitigation was his guilty pleas.

Recorder Paul Reid said Dawson had committed ‘appalling sexual abuse’ against the girl.

“This is about as serious a case of its nature as it’s possible to envisage,’ he stated.

Dawson had taken her virginity and then told the police ‘a pack of lies’ and minimised his actions to his probation officer, even saying he blamed the child for encouraging the offences.

Recorder Reid said he had considered sentencing Dawson as a dangerous offender within the meaning of the Act but had drawn back because of his lack of similar offending in the past.

But he pointed to the disparity in age and the use of Class A drugs.

Dawson must serve at least two thirds of the seven years and three months behind bars. His case will then be referred to The Parole Board for it to decide whether to release him before he has served the full sentence.

Recorder Reid made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered Dawson to sign on the sex offender register, both without limit of time.

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A taxi driver who planned to collect a 13-year-old girl from school for sex has been jailed.

Naveed Ansari, 46, of Beckside Road, Bradford, exchanged sexual messages with a decoy profile set up by a group of paedophile hunters.

The cabbie sent the 'teenager' a picture of his genitals and arranged to meet her in Leeds.

He was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Bradford Crown Court on Friday after admitting three child sex offences.

Prosecutor Richard Walters told the court Ansari was repeatedly told the girl was only 13 during conversations on Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

The married taxi driver, who initially claimed to be aged 20, said he would treat the girl "like a princess" and promised to buy her presents.

"He suggested he would buy her a dress and a bra and he showed her images of a teddy bear he had bought for her," Mr Walters said.

Ansari encouraged the 'girl' to perform sex acts on herself and told her she must keep their conversations secret or they would both get in trouble.

He suggested picking her up from school in his cab and said "no-one would be suspicious because people would think he was just a taxi driver," the prosecutor told the court.

Ansari arranged to meet the girl for the first time in Richmond Hill, Leeds, on 23 October last year.

When he arrived he was confronted by members of the Net Justice online predator hunting group, who detained him until police arrived to arrest him.

Police found Viagra tablets, condoms and a receipt for the playsuit, which he had bought the previous night, in his car. They also discovered indecent and extreme pornographic images on his mobile phone, the court heard.

Ansari pleaded guilty to attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in penetrative sexual activity, attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming, and attempted sexual communication with a child.

'Denial of responsibility'

Katherine Robinson, in mitigation, said Ansari had found it very hard to accept what he had done.

Ansari had lost his family, his reputation and his job as a result of his actions, the barrister added.

Recorder Tahir Khan KC told Ansari the only sentence that could be justified was immediate imprisonment.

The judge added: "I'm satisfied this wasn't just talk. You wanted to meet this 13-year-old child, as you believed her to be.

"You had come prepared. A black playsuit for a 13 to 14-year-old girl was found in the car."

The judge added Ansari, despite his guilty pleas, continued to "deny responsibility" for his crimes.

Ansari will have to register as a sex offender with the police for the rest of his life and will be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order which prohibits contact with girls aged under 16.

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A sexual predator has been jailed for over two years for performing a lewd act near a children’s playpark.

Kevin Payne, 67, was under a strict court order not to go anywhere near children’s play parks following previous convictions for child-sex offences.

But on June 12 he parked his car at Valley Gardens in Harrogate and made his way to a wooded area near a children’s play area, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said a passer-by spotted Payne performing a lewd act in woods overlooking the play park.

Payne was “startled” by the passer-by, who spotted him through a gap in a hedge and shouted over to him as Payne ran away.

“The passer-by gave chase and (as) he followed Payne, he took a number of pictures of him before apprehending him and keeping him there until police arrived,” added Ms Morrison.

Payne was arrested and admitted breaching a sexual-harm prevention order which prohibited him from going within 100 metres of any recreational area where there may be children present.

However, he denied a separate charge of outraging public decency by behaving in an indecent manner, namely performing a lewd act.

Payne, from Bradford, was due to face trial today but admitted the offence at the last minute.

Ms Morrison said that Payne committed the offences in Harrogate while under investigation for downloading indecent sexual imagery online.

He was arrested for those offences in December last year after police monitoring officers paid him a routine visit to check he was complying with the sexual-harm prevention order following a previous jail sentence for child-sex offences.

Payne handed over his mobile phone on which police found internet searches for sexual images of children and an indecent photo of a child rated Category A – the worst kind.

They also found six images of extreme pornography, namely bestiality.

Payne admitted making an indecent image of a child and possessing six extreme-pornographic images following his arrest and was recalled to prison to serve the remainder of a six-month jail sentence imposed in June last year for making indecent images of children.

He was released from prison in January this year and went on to commit the offences at Valley Gardens in June.

The Crown proceeded to sentence on all matters today as the prosecution outlined Payne’s 40-year criminal history, which comprised 51 previous offences including many for indecently exposing himself in front of young girls and making indecent images of children.

His rap sheet also included voyeurism, kerb-crawling, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, serious violence, harassment, public disorder, and breaching court orders.

He had been given extended prison sentences in the past for child-sex offences as various judges deemed him a dangerous offender.

Defence barrister Derek Duffy said Payne “did not intend to be seen by anybody” in Valley Gardens when he carried out the lewd act.

He said that Payne had rented accommodation in Bradford before being remanded in custody, but he had since lost that and intended to live with a friend in Harrogate upon his release from jail.

He added that Payne - formerly of Ling Park Avenue, Bingley, but currently of no fixed address - was a retired man who had lost all contact with his family and was a “rather despondent” figure.

Judge Simon Hickey described Payne’s latest offences in Valley Gardens as “quite revolting” and told him: “You are, worryingly, 67, and you are still committing offences of this nature.

"Fortunately, the children were not to see what you did.”

Payne was given a 27-month jail sentence but will only spend half of that behind bars before being released on prison licence.

He was ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for ten years and the judge ordered that the sexual-harm prevention order would remain in place.

Mr Hickey said the named witness who chased and detained Payne would be paid £150 from the public purse for his “very-public-spirited” actions.

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A BRADFORD man has been jailed for 17 years for sexual and violent offences.

Anthony Mawson, 38, was convicted by a jury in May of offences including rape, sexual assault by penetration and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court today on a video link to prison.

Mawson, who had been held on remand in HMP Leeds for many months, was guilty of serious and depraved conduct, the trial judge Recorder Gavin Doig said.

He had read the probation and psychological reports prepared following the trial.

Recorder Doig told Mawson he had shown ‘no hint of remorse, humility or understanding’ during his trial.

He had twisted the victim’s fingers and leg and punched them on the hip.

He was imprisoned for 13 years for the sexual offences with four years to run consecutively for the matters of violence.

Recorder Doig ordered him to sign on the sex offender register for life.

Mawson’s barrister, Ian Howard, said he had significant learning difficulties and had recently been found to be dyslexic and autistic.

While on remand he had addressed his drugs misuse and he was gaining qualifications to equip him to gain employment on his release.

Mr Howard said that Mawson had an aptitude for music and lyrics and had been put forward to feature on national prison radio. There was talk of moving him to London to better access those facilities.

He was taking steps to ensure he was fully rehabilitated on his release.

His disabled mother had been unable to visit him in prison because of the Covid pandemic.

Mr Howard said Mawson knew he was going to get a sentence of more than seven years so he would not be released at the halfway stage.

After the case, Detective Sergeant Matthew Harrison said: “We welcome the lengthy sentence handed down to Mawson today.

“He is a violent man.

“I would like to praise his victim’s bravery throughout the court process. I hope this sentence brings them some closure so that they can finally move on with their lives.”

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A FORMER vicar has been jailed for possessing indecent images of children just a few years after a 10-year order against him for the same offence expired.

Peter Leslie Benson, 62, of Duckworth Lane in Bradford, pleaded guilty to four counts of making indecent photographs/pseudo-photographs of a child on September 1.

On Monday, he was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court.

Benson – who appeared in the dock wearing a stripey blue top and had a thick grey beard with the same colour hair – was caught with 67 illegal images on devices seized by police. 

 These included nine category B images – those of children which involve non-penetrative sexual activity, and 58 category C images – footage which does not fall into the more severe categories.

There was also a category B video.

Police received a referral on August 22 this year from the National Crime Agency (NCA) stating a Twitter account associated with a similar address to Benson had uploaded indecent media, the court heard.

There had also been uploads made on Facebook, on an account registered to a “Peter James”, which police later linked to Benson.

He was arrested on August 30 and a number of items and devices were seized.

The court heard indecent images of children were found and there was evidence indicative of Benson having chats with children on Facebook.

The court records show Benson had possessed the images between September 19, 2014 and August 30, 2022.

But the prosecution said the 62-year-old claims he did not download them in 2014 – when Benson was the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order in relation to a conviction in 2010 – and that they may have been made then.

Benson’s defence lawyer said: “This is someone from an early age who has struggled with his sexuality.

“It’s clear he’s had difficulty to deal with that.”

He added: “If it was adult males it wouldn’t be a problem but it’s young boys and that’s what he needs to sort out.”

The court heard: “It’s not the strongest point but he hasn’t in the last 12 years reoffended, it’s clear if he has supervision and help it’s likely he won’t reoffend again.”

The magistrate said: “I’ve heard and read a lot about you, it goes without saying it goes across the custody threshold.”

He added: “This has happened 12 years after you were sentenced fpr previous sexual offences.

“I accept what your advocate again says that you haven’t been before the court in that time but it was right to say that once up, the sexual harm prevention order for your previous conviction you had, you have, on the face of it, reverted to type.”

The court also imposed a new Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will last indefinitely, preventing Benson from using any device that can access the internet unless it is registered with police, who can use software to monitor his activity.

The magistrate said this was to protect the public from harm and Benson.

He added the indefinite nature of it was “made on the facts in this case” and what happened at the end of the last order.

Benson was handed a nine-month jail term, suspended for two years, back in 2010 at Carlisle Crown Court for downloading 38 indecent images of children – who were aged between six and 16.

He was also made subject to restrictions under a sex offender’s prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Benson was a vicar at the time and lived in the Cockermouth area of Cumbria, serving parishes including St Bridget Church in Brigham, Christ Church in Great Broughton and Columba Church in Broughton Moor.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Carlisle revealed Benson was suspended when he was arrested in November 2009 and was asked to resign when he pleaded guilty to the offences.

The spokesperson said:  “We are appalled to learn that Peter Benson has re-offended and are shocked and saddened to learn of his further crimes.

“They are crimes, of course, which have seen the terrible mistreatment of children and young people.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are abused and violated in this way and we must continue to do all we can to protect these victims.

“As a diocese we continue to place the utmost importance on upholding all necessary safeguarding protocols and procedures.

“In Peter Benson’s case as soon as he was accused of his original crimes he was suspended and moved from the vicarage in which he was living.

“In August 2010 he received a suspended sentence and two years’ Supervision Order (Probation).

“He was also subject to a Sexual Offences Protection Order.

“He was prohibited for life from ministry and subsequently left the Church of England.

“All appropriate safeguarding plans were enacted should Benson have wished to attend church.” 

Description

A CONVICTED paedophile who hoarded more than 900 indecent images of children has been jailed for just over two years. David Henderson, 30, of Exmouth Place, Bolton, Bradford, was caught with 931 images on a mobile phone he had been hiding from the police. Just over 400 of the images, both still and moving, were at Category A, the highest level of seriousness. Henderson has earlier pleaded guilty to six offences of the possession of indecent images of a child, as well as breaching a Sexual Offences Protection Order which was imposed in 2015 for similar offences. Prosecutor Heather Gilmore outlined how police had initially received intelligence connecting Henderson's IP address with a Twitter account which had shared a Category B indecent image. Further intelligence linked him to a Snapchat account where more indecent images were shared. But a search of his home in September 2020, found nothing. A second search almost a year later resulted in a handful of images being found on a device, but it wasnt until a further search in May 2022, that a hidden mobile phone was discovered. A forensic examination uncovered 403 Category A images, 424 Category B images, and 104 Category C images. Ms Gilmore said there was a high number of images and that they were of girls between the ages of four to 13. There were also searches on the phone consistent with looking for images related to familial sex abuse. Hendersons barrister, Camille Morland, said that Henderson was an intelligent and able man, but that things deteriorated for him during lockdown once he was furloughed. He relapsed and committed these offences, she added. Judge Colin Burn said that the used of a hidden phone was in full disregard of the order made in 2015 and that this as both deliberate and devious. His actions have undoubtedly led to harm he added, sentencing him to 26 months imprisonment. He must also comply with notification requirements for the next ten years. A new Sexual Harm Prevention Order was also made. The court had also heard that Henderson was convicted in October 2015 of four counts of distributing indecent images and six of making indecent images more than 12,000 images in total. He was also convicted of possessing 2,500 prohibited images and possessing six extreme pornographic images. He was sentenced to a three-year community order, an indefinite sexual offences prevention order and ordered to register as a sex offender for five years.