Search results for Bradford

Record details

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.

Record details

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.

Record details

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.”

Record details

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.

Record details

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.

Record details

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.

Record details

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.”

Record details

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.” 

Record details

Record details

Record details

Record details

A sick predator who raped a teenage girl, subjected a young man to a violent sexual assault, and kept footage of children using a bathroom has today (Fri) been jailed for more than ten years.

Bradford man Damien Smith, 35, will now have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and will also be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

The citys crown court heard how Smith subjected the young man to a "violent and shocking" sexual assault in 2017, but he was not prosecuted until his later offending against a teenage girl came to light.

Neither of Smith's victims can be identified due to legal reasons, but Judge Colin Burn said his offending was something they will never forget. Judge Burn said the picture presented was of Smith being "a predatory person" and his best piece of mitigation was his guilty pleas to all of his crimes.

He said the teenage girl had bravely reported Smith's repeated abuse of her and when he was arrested, police found indecent images of children on his phone along with recordings of youngsters using a bathroom. Smith, who is currently in custody at HMP Leeds, pleaded guilty to a series of offences including rape of a child, sexual assault, voyeurism and possession of indecent images of children.

In her victim impact statement the girl bravely said: "I feel a lot of anger towards Damien for what he has put me through." Barrister Fiona Clancy, for Smith, said he accepted absolutely that his behaviour was unacceptable and he was disgusted with himself.

"He is remorseful. He is ashamed," said Miss Clancy. "He wishes to serve his time and be punished for this offending."

Judge Burn sentenced Smith to a total of 10-and-a-half years in jail and explained he would have to serve two-thirds of the term before he could apply for release.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Julie Deacon, of Bradford Safeguarding Unit, described Smith as "a danger to children".

"I would like to praise the bravery and courage from his victims in coming forward and reporting his crimes to police," said Det Insp Deacon.

"Thanks to a thorough investigation by Bradford District Safeguarding Unit and partner agencies, it left Smith with no choice but to plead guilty to the offences.

"This guilty plea has spared his victims a trial. I hope that knowing he is behind bars for a long time will bring them some closure as they try to move forward with their lives. West Yorkshire Police take all reports of this nature seriously and anyone who is a victim of a sexual assault can rest assured we will do all we can to bring the perpetrators to justice."

Record details

Record details

Record details