Latest Offenders Bridgend

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A Welshman filmed himself performing a sex act on a bus in sight of a young girl sitting nearby. The offending only came to light after former steelworker Christopher Howells lost his phone outside a rugby club and it was found by a passer-by.

When the Good Samaritan looked at the phone to see if he could find the owner's details he saw photographs which troubled him, and he immediately took the device to the police. Sending the 58-year-old to prison a judge told the defendant it was clear he had gained sexual gratification from his behaviour on the bus.

The judge said he had no doubt relived the experience while watching the footage over again. He also noted that Howells had been assessed as posing a high risk of harm to children.

Craig Jones, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that on June 17 this year a man walking near Pyle rugby club noticed a mobile phone on the ground and stopped to pick it up. He said the man took the device home with the intention of seeing if he could identify its owner and return it.

But when he looked at the phone he saw pictures of a young girl on a bus - photographs which were taken from behind and which appeared to have been taken without the child's knowledge. The man immediately took the phone to Bridgend police station, and there officers carried out a full examination of the device.

On the phone police found a three-minute video clip showing a man performing the sex act on himself on a bus while sat across from a young girl. The court heard the child, who could see what was happening, has never been identified.

The prosecutor said police also found a photograph of the defendant's driving licence on the phone, and that led them to Howells' front door. The defendant was arrested and subsequently answered "no comment" to all questions asked in interview.

Christopher Howells, of Ffordd y Goedwig, Pyle, Bridgend , had previously pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He had also originally been charged with outraging public decency - an offence contrary to common law - but the prosecution did not pursue that charge.

The defendant has previous convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and for failing to provide a specimen for analysis.. John Allchurch, for Howells, said the references before the court painted a picture of a decent and hard-working man.

He said his client had cared for his mother for many years and under the burden of those responsibilities had turned to drink. The advocate said at the time of the offending Howells had lost his job at the steelworks and was drinking a bottle of vodka a day.

Judge Paul Thomas KC said it was clear that Howells had derived sexual enjoyment from the what was happening on the bus. He said that enjoyment was no doubt repeated when the defendant subsequently watched back the footage he had shot.

The judge noted that the author of the pre-sentence report on the defendant had concluded that due to factors including the nature of the offending, Howells' attitude, and his mistrust of professionals, he posed a high risk of harm to children. Judge Thomas jailed Howells for 15 months.

The defendant will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Howells will be a registered sex offender for the next ten years, and was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same period of time.

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A teenager sent sexual messages to a 15-year-old girl in care and asked her to send naked photos of herself. He later got caught by a decoy who pretended to be a 14-year-old.

Joshua Tatchell, 19, of Bridgend, contacted his victim on Instagram and Snapchat in March 2022. The conversations started on friendly terms but he went on to demand photographs of her privates and her bottom.

A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Wednesday heard Tatchell expressed "annoyance and short temperedness" when the victim refused. He also sent indecent images of himself and videos of himself masturbating.

In November 2022, the victim told her foster carer that Tatchell had asked her to meet up and the police were called. But Tatchell went on to contact a decoy pretending to be a 14-year-old girl this year.

The defendant attempted to solicit indecent images from the decoy and again showed a shortness of temper in persisting with requests.

Tatchell, of Pleasant View, Heol y Felin, later pleaded guilty to engaging and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to commission/facilitate a child sex offence.

Recorder Dyfed Thomas sentenced Tatchell to 32 months imprisonment. He made him subject to sex offender notification requirements and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely.

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A man performed sex acts in front of a vulnerable young girl, a court heard. David Robinson subjected his victim, who was of primary school age at the time, to the disgusting acts on two occasions.

A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court heard Robinson, 46, was found guilty on June 23 this year of two counts of sexual activity in the presence of a child when he masturbated in front of the girl on two occasions. The sick incidents were described by the judge as "appalling" while the court also heard Robinson, of Coity Road, Bridgend, had left his victim afraid to be left alone and unable to feel comfortable with men.

Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, read a victim statement on behalf of the girl who said she now "didn't want to be anywhere on [her] own" and "feels alone" since the incidents took place. It said she had sought counselling but had struggled to talk directly about what happened and that she now "doesn't feel comfortable around men" as a result. The court also heard the girl struggled to sleep and suffered from "repetitive nightmares."

Hashim Salmman, defending, said Robinson had previous convictions related to exposure in 2008 and 2010 but asked the judge to consider the time that had elapsed since these were committed. He said the defendant was at low risk of reoffending generally and at medium risk of future sexual reoffending. He asked the judge to consider his client's lack of recent offending, adding that he had witnessed and suffered domestic violence as a child. He said Robinson had a history of alcohol abuse and psychiatric treatment and other health issues, adding that he had not worked for four years.

Judge Wayne Beard said Robinson's offending was "significant" and that there were circumstances that "demonstrated that this was a persistent pattern" when taken with his earlier convictions. "No-one can be anything other than touched by the trauma that this has impacted upon a young woman," he continued, adding that the defendant was at medium risk of future sexual offending.

Robinson was jailed for a total of two years and three months. There was also a restraining order imposed indefinitely and he is required to sign as a sex offender on the register indefinitely. A sexual harm prevention order was also imposed indefinitely as well as a £181 statutory surcharge.

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A man who spent years subjecting a schoolgirl to sexual assaults has been jailed still protesting his innocence.

Alan Owens abused the girl in the 1990s and then intimidated her into not reporting the offending. The victim has been left suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and night terrors, but in a statement read to the court she said she was grateful to the 12 strangers on the jury who believed her at trial adding: "The best thing I have ever given myself is the courage to speak up".

Owens had denied indecent assault of a child and attempted rape of a child but was convicted at trial at Cardiff Crown Court. The 52-year-old returned to the dock on Thursday to be sentenced.

The court heard the offending happened in the 1990s when the victim was of primary school age, and involved repeated sexual assaults over the course of around four years. The offending also included the attempted rape of the child. The court heard Owens intimidated the youngster into not revealing what was going on, and it was not until she was an adult and a mother to a daughter that she felt able to report him.

In an impact statement which was read to the court by prosecution counsel Julia Cox, the victim said she had spent years wondering "why me?" and wondering about what she had done to deserve what happened to her. She said Owens "tainted and took away my childhood" and left her with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and night terrors, and needing medication to allow her to get on with her life. She said she was grateful that 12 strangers had believed her story and given her justice after so many years of suffering, adding: "The best thing I have ever given myself is the courage to speak up".

Alan Roy Owens, of Maple Avenue, Brackla, Bridgend, had previously been convicted of seven counts of indecent assault of a child and one count of attempted rape of a child when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has two previous convictions for unrelated offending - a public order matter, and driving with excess alcohol.

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A paedophile sexually assaulted a young girl while giving her a massage and was found with indecent images of children on his phone when arrested. He later went on to blame a friend for the images, claiming they were already on the phone when he bought it off him.

Mark Lewis, 44, of Bridgend, took advantage of his victim while rubbing her back before taking her underwear off and touching her on the vagina and buttocks. Giving evidence at a trial at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, the victim said: "When your hand is there for five to 10 minutes it can't be a mistake."

The defendant was arrested in 2021 and his phone was seized by police. Examination of the device resulted in the discovery of indecent images of children, categorised as category A, B and C. He went onto to blame three people for the images before blaming a friend who had sold him the phone.

He was later found guilty of sexual activity with a child and three counts of possessing indecent images. A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Friday heard Lewis maintains his innocence.

Defence barrister Marian Lewis said there was "little" she could say in mitigation. She said the assault was an "isolated incident" and it was not a penetrative offence. She said her client had lived a "blameless life" and had "served his country" in the Armed Forces but had recently suffered with mental health difficulties, depression and PTSD.

Sentencing Lewis, of St David's Close, Brackla, Judge Jeremy Jenkins said he had assaulted the victim in "the most cruel way". He added: "When you gave evidence about (indecent images) you denied all responsibility but blamed another man who had shown you kindness by allowing you to stay at his home following your arrest. He supplied you the phone but was not responsible for the content on it.

"You're entitled to no credit and maintain your innocence.... You have not accepted any responsibility for your actions and have shown no remorse whatsoever."

Lewis was sentenced to a total of 18 months imprisonment. He was also made subject to sex offender notification requirements and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for five years.

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School IT teacher, 40, is jailed for six years after he hacked into his pupils' mobile phones to steal naked selfies from teenage girls and store them on his computer

A school IT teacher was jailed for six years today after hacking his pupils' phones to steal naked selfies of teenage girls and storing them on his computer.

High school technology expert Richard Edmunds, 40, told pupils he could fix their broken devices but took their private nude picture when he took their phones home.

Edmunds targeted a string of girls while working at a high school in Cardiff to gain iCloud passwords to download more than 1,700 images onto his home computer.

A court heard he also groomed school girls telling them they could make money by sending him naked selfies that would be published on modelling websites.

He was arrested after one former pupil made an anonymous call to Childline and officers searched his home.

Prosecutor John Ryan said: 'He would assist them with technology problems with computers or mobile phones. He would take them home, download their devices searching for indecent images of these girls and storing them on his computer.

'Others were incited to send pictures of themselves to him and indecent images were later found.'

Mr Ryan said Edmunds repeatedly asked one sixth form student to send him naked pictures that they could sell online.

Newport Crown Court heard Edmunds would continue to ask the girl for pictures even when he knew she was suffering from depression and feeling suicidal.

Mr Ryan said: 'He made out that she owed him something for the emotional support he had given her and he persisted to ask for images saying he needed photos of her to get money.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55187406.amp